Problems when looping
dango asked 7 years ago
I have an opponent who I am really struggling against, particularly my forehand loops. I have a pretty good open up off a long push. But when i play this chap, he steps back from the table and just slaps/punches my loop away with disdain. I have tried backhand forehand and middle placements, but his anticipation is too good. The ball comes back fast and flat with all the power that my opening loop gave him. It’s so frustrating. Should i just push back?
Tom Academy Coach answered 7 years ago
Hi Dango,
Ok, so there are a couple of things that can really help you in this situation. Firstly you need to think about the depth of your first loop on the table, if your forehand loop is landing short on the table it will be easier for your opponent to punch the ball back strong. So have a look where your loop is landing or video record yourself playing so you can see, if you can get the ball deeper on the table with spin it will be much harder for him to play strong. In addition make sure you aren’t lifting too much up the back of the ball when playing the first shot, ensure your bat is still brushing forward to keep the ball low and hard to counter attack.
The second is the variation of spin and speed on your first loop, quite often with players who punch/slap like you mentioned its variation they struggle with, so mix up the speed and spin on your first loop as well as direction. This forces your opponent to adjust a lot more for each shot and deal with the different pace/spin coming at him.
Give that a go and see if you have more success! Tom
