Third ball just long ball
Strokes
Abhiram Reddy Asked 12 years ago
How can I make my third ball attack against a low and slow push which barely goes long, better? What is the best way to attack this ball? The ball isn't fast enough to make my full topspin stroke, neither is it short or high enough to flick. when I do perform a lifting topspin, I cannot put enough speed on the ball and simply gift my opponent a medium paced and net high ball with topspin which he attacks with ease.What should I do in this scenario?
Also , because the stroke has a long follow through compared to the slow speed I put of the ball , my opponent is able to anticipate better and catches me out of position. If the ball does come a tad longer with backspin, I can hit a faster stroke.
My short serves are pretty slow too.Is there a way to speed them up without making them half-long?
Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago
Hi Abhiram,
The key here is to get the judgement right of the length of the ball. Once you have this then you can swing through faster. Even though you may not be able to get as much speed, you will be able to get a lot of topspin on the ball which will trouble your opponent.
THe other thing you can try is to swing over the table with a more horizontal stroke, but you will need a lot more speed on your racket to lift this over the net.
For the faster short serve try to hit the ball into the table on your side a little faster. THis is a very precise technique and one that needs a lot of prate to get just right. Take a look at this previous Ask the Coach video response on How to do a short fast serve.
Question actions
Recommended Video
Forehand Counterhit
The forehand counterhit or forehand drive is the foundation for more attacking strokes such as the forehand topspin or forehand loop. There are 3 critical factors:
- Your feet position
- Your start position
- Your finish position
If you concentrate on these 3 factors then your stroke will become extremely consistent. Once you can reliably hit 100 balls in a row then you are ready for more attacking strokes. If you can hit 1,000 balls on in a row then you know you've truly mastered the stroke.
Watch NowThoughts on this question (2)
Become a free member to post a comment about this question.
Abhiram Reddy Posted 2014-08-10 00:59:22
Thanks a lot Alois.
One major difficulty I have is: keeping the slower topspin low .Higher top-spins are easily punch-blocked. I'll probably get this stroke with more practice but are there any things I can do to improve my progress?
Hi Abhiram,
Just try to turn your bat forward. This will get it lower, but you then need to have a very good fine contact on the ball to generate that spin as well.