Transferring skills to play different styles

Hi Alois and Jeff,

I played a few players whose styles were quite different the other day and lost quite badly. This made me think quite a bit: how do your tactics against normal offensive players transfer to say a blocker or chopper? Will I have to start again from the beginning and learn each and every style bit by bit or can I transfer my skills from playing normal players to different players? Ma Long seems to have no more trouble playing someone like Joo Se Hyuk than say Michael Maze, but Joo's style is much rarer. Is it because he has choppers play him in the training hall or do his normal tactics work as well?

Hi Oliver,

The top players have a wide range of ability and experiences.  They have played against the different styles of players many times and will rarely be faced with a ball that they have never seen before.

Once you have learned balance and good stroke techniques you will be able to adapt more easily.

Skills are transferrable.  However it is important to think about the strategies you are going to use against each of these styles.

We have some lessons on the different styles in our Match Strategy lessons.