Universal topspin against backspin

Table Tennis Strokes and Technique

Last updated 15 years ago

Lionel Unknown

Lionel Unknown Asked 15 years ago

Owing to my difficulty to judge how heavy the backspin ball is, majority of the times I could only return the ball with top spin but having the bat contacting the ball mainly in almost vertical motion (more spin, less speed).

The results are that sometimes it works, the ball clears the net and reaches opponents' table (for heavy back spin).  However, sometimes for light back spin, the ball will be over the net but too long.

There are also occasions as I err too much towards brushing against the rubber, not so much of hitting towards the blade, so, the ball was too short and dropped into the net.

Is there any topspin stroke which is universal which I can execute for all types of back spin (either weak or strong) and still can return well to opponent's table?


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Lionel,

The soft brushing topspin is the safest way to play this stroke. It gives you the best chance of getting the ball on the table. Unfortunately, there is no universal fix.

But, the key is to play enough so that you start to see what type of spin is on the ball.  This only comes form playing a lot of different opponents.  It is one of the interesting parts of table tennis and one that takes a while to master.

Keep going with it and it will get better.


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