slap-shot
Slicepong asked 4 years ago
Hi Tom and Dan. I know at your level you probably don’t see a plethora of semi-high or high balls, but they’re much more common at the club level. I’m looking to take advantage of them on the forehand side with a flat slap shot. High balls aren’t prevalent even at the club level as people realize the danger and also pushing keeps the ball low, generally. My question is how to instantly judge when one is a good opportunity? Is it how the ball leaves the opponent’s bat or it’s height as it crosses on my side, and do you use chest level as a guide to try a flat hit? Do you think it’s a good idea to try this shot from deep in the table or even behind it? I have a fairly accurate, compact stroke on these where I don’t swing too hard but keep the bat from crossing outside my shoulders to keep it on the table.So these are of course below shoulder level like a smash, but high enough to tryan aggressive shot. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.
Tom Academy Coach answered 4 years ago
Hey Slicepong, yes it’s always important to judge quickly when the ball is high enough to attack and put away. Usually its about reading the ball off the bat and by the time it’s at the net level you should be able to see if it’s high enough to attack. What’s important in these situations is to not rush the flatter attack shot and still play with more spin if the ball isn’t too high to keep the safety.
From what you described your swing sounds good and keeping it compact is important as you mentioned. Usually the higher the ball the flatter you can hit and maintaining a good body position keeping your weight forward.
Usually most pro players still keep a bit of topspin on the ball even when it’s fairly high, this helps keep more control and direction. Of course when the ball is very high like above shoulder height then you can play flatter as you have much more margin for error then.
Hope that’s helpful and let us know if there’s anything else we can help with on this topic. Cheers
