Hey! That’s great to hear you enjoy the TTD team episodes, the TableTennisDaily super league will be starting this summer as well which will be really exciting and lots more episodes coming soon!
Ok so yes this is something that players we’ve coached have had some problems with too, usually as you said you can tense up and rush the shots and this happens when you feel rushed into attacking too fast. A good technique myself and Tom like to use is trying to focus on the backswing on the follow up attack and getting a slight pause before you come in to meet the ball. I wouldn’t say you definitely need to take a step back away but avoid stepping in too close and getting cramped for sure, sometimes this can happen as you play the open up and you’ll find yourself too close in the follow up and rushed into a mistake.
It’s better to try to stay fairly close and not drop off where possible for sure and as you said with a decent feeling for the ball and wanting to attack this would suit you.
Another key thing to focus on when playing a follow up attack is not forcing it or playing too fast it’s to think about placement and making it difficult for the opponent, like into the body/crossover or wide angle for example.
When someone gets the first attack, a block isn’t always bad but of course again trying to hold the table and thinking about soft hand and blocking into a difficult area for them. These 2 things you can definitely work on in practice and with time will improve!
Of course feel free to send us in a video of you playing for us to analyse any time, but hope that’s helpful for now! 🙂
Dan
