Hitting the ball late.
johnknee asked 5 months ago
Hiya Dan and Tom
I’ve been playing 3 or 4 hours a week for the past couple of years. I’m not in a team, its more for enjoyment.
But… I can’t get out of the habit of HITTING THE BALL LATE!
It doesn’t matter if it’s backspin, topspin, fast or slow, I often leave the ball till it’s well past the top of the bounce. Sometimes I know I’ve hit it late, other times not, then a coach might remind me (if seen). How can I get out of this bad habit?
We have a robot at the club, so is there any specific drills I can do on that, or maybe practice some at home?
Please help a frustrated table tennis enthusiast.
Tom Academy Coach answered 5 months ago
Hey! Yeah this can be frustrating hitting the ball late and cause a lot of mistakes so I definitely understand what you mean. I would say to begin with focusing on regular drills so for example 2 to your backhand then 2 to your forehand and trying to focus on hitting the ball at the top of the bounce and in front of you. Sometimes giving yourself a bit more space away from the table can help, lots of players I’ve coached with this problem tend to get a bit to close to the table and then end up hitting the ball late.
Also try on the forehand to imagine a triangle out in front of you from each hip, this is your Ideal timing point and can help a lot. On the backhand it’s not so bad as you just need to hit the ball in front of your stomach.
The last thing I would say is try to focus on having a shorter and compact swing, this will give you more time and a quicker recovery to be in position for the next ball and not get late on the timing! Give those a go and let us know how you get on, I hope that all helps! 🙂
johnkneeOki doki Tom. Thanks for them pieces of advice.
I know its not going to improve overnight, so i’ll be back in approx 3 months with hopefully a big thumbs up for you.
