5 Most Effective Strategies To Win At Table Tennis!

Hey guys! In this video we wanted to show you 5 effective match winning strategies that will help you improve your game and results. We demonstrate and explain how to implement these strategies as well as showing real life match examples of them in action.

Strategy 1: Play to elbow

By finding the opponents elbow/crossover with your shot placement it forces them to make a decision and doesn’t allow them a comfortable shot with no movement. This can cause indecision and a weak shot where you can take advantage and attack. Sometimes even slow shots into the body can be effective and once you catch out your opponent a couple of times, they will have doubt in their mind and you can then make use of the wide angles. Some players also prepare very early for an attack after they have played a shot, so if you find their cross over, it will force them have to quickly change their shot pattern and give you a weak return or win the point directly.

Strategy 2: Don’t force it

Very often we see players breaking down early in the point and making too many unforced errors which doesn’t give them a chance to work their way into the game and gives the opponents cheap points. Being able to control the ball in the first few shots and keep it in play is vital to winning more matches. Players tend to force aggressive attacking shots too quickly in an attempt to win the point, but usually this causes frustration and mistakes. If you can focus more on safety and consistency early in the you’ll find the opponents break down and miss too but you need to keep the ball on enough to force these errors.

Strategy 3: Quality of spin

A great way to win more points in matches is improving your spin quality it and using slow but heavy topspin shots which make it really difficult for your opponent to attack or counter topspin and helps create more openings for you to attack strongly and keep them on the back foot. If you can keep your shots low and deep in the table with spin this makes it much harder for your opponent to handle and therefor gives you more opportunities to attack and dominate the rallies.

Strategy 4: Awareness of the opponent

Being aware of your opponent’s position on the table will give you a huge advantage in match play. If you are able to assess where the opponent is and where they are moving too it means you can avoid playing straight to their bat or a comfortable area. Not only awareness of your opponents position but also of their strengths and weaknesses means you will have a better understanding of what to target and what to avoid. This isn’t an easy skill to become good at and definitely requires practice but will have a massive impact on your game if you can have awareness of your opponent and make sure to play into unexpected and more difficult areas.

Strategy 5: Make Your Serve Count

Often in the heat of matches players forget to really take time and think about their serves or fall into patterns without any variation of placement of spin. When you have your serve it is the only time you are in complete control and can dictate exactly how the point starts so maximising your advantage here is key. Knowing the likely returns from different serves is also vital to dictating and initiating your style of play right at the start of the rallies.

By implementing these strategies effectively you will improve your match play and in turn results, it may take time to master and become comfortable using all of these but with practice they are achievable. By using these tactics you will also develop a game plan that will give you the ability to vary the speed, spin and placement and over time you will become an unpredictable player and harder to beat.

At the TableTennisDaily Academy we have over 100 coaching videos covering technical, tactical and psychological aspects as well as in depth match analysis. As a member of the TableTennisDaily Academy you’ll also have full access to our “coach corner” which gives you the ability to ask questions that professional coaches Dan and Tom will answer. Whatever your questions, get swift and reliable coaching feedback you can trust right at your fingertips. You can even post videos of yourself in action for Dan and Tom to analyse, they will provide specific advice to help you take your game to the next level! So what are you waiting for, access your free trial today!