How-to-play-a-counter-hitter
maurice101 asked 3 years ago
I pay against a excellent counter hitter. A fast topspin from my backhand and forehand comes back even faster and she plays close to the table taking my time away.
I usually have to block her return due to lack of time and anything that is short she uses angles close to the table to win the point.
She does a side swipe backhand block for balls into her elbow so I think I can return balls to her forehand as her balance could be on the right foot.
I can get her to hit out if I put a lot of topspin on my loops. Next time I play her I will vary the spin instead of just hitting hard.
She is weaker on open ups but she can out push me and my open ups are not good enough to cause her issues.
She is weak on the corners if I can get a fast ball there. Fade and hook shots could be used to get her out of position or win outright I think.
Any tips to try to be more competitive?
Tom Academy Coach answered 3 years ago
Hey Maurice,
Ok yes this type of player can be tricky for sure. But the main one to help is something you mentioned above and that is going for more spin on the open up shots in particular. Slower spin against these types of players is often much better than speed because they can feed of the pace and use it to thier advantage. So trying to heavy slow spin loops is key.
Also really trying to vary the placement and positioning on the table is vital, so finding the wide angles when you spin heavy and then when you get a weaker ball trying to hit quickly into the body.
But for sure the main key area here is slow heavy spin and trying to really mix up the tempo and not allowing the game to just be fast hard attacks which will suit this style.
Cheers, Tom
