Backhand Strokes
From TableTennisTraining
Contents |
Basic Strokes
When hitting a back hand stroke, the ball is generally contacted with the racquet in front of the body, unlike forehand strokes where the ball is typically contacted beside the body. One side effect of this is that most of the power of the stroke comes from the arm, whereas most of the force of a forehand stroke tends to come from rotation of the upper body just above the waist. Since less of the body's muscles can be used in a backhand loop, they tend to be less powerful than forehand loops. Thefore, many attack-oriented players will often "turn the corner" so as to use their forehand to attack weaker balls sent to their backhand court instead of using a backhand stroke. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule: for a good example of a player known for favoring strong backhand loops, take a look at some of the games of Kreanga Kalinikos.
Although backhand strokes are typically less powerful than forehand strokes, backhand strokes have one big advantage: since they are hit in front of the body and mostly with the arm, it is easy to change the trajectory of backhand shots with only slight modifications of the stroke, making it difficult for your opponent to anticipate where you will hit the ball. Therefore, it's especially important to work on varying shot placement when doing backhand practice, to compensate for the lower speed of the strokes.
Another way some players compensate for the relative weakness of backhand strokes is to use a less spinny rubber such as Anti-spin or Long Pips, seeking to disconcert their opponent by returning a slower than expected ball with a difficult to read amount of spin. Most players who use long pips or anti play with it on their backhand side, although some will occassionally rotate their bat to use it on their forehand strokes (this takes a fair amount of skill), and a very few will actually use long-pips on both sides of their bat.
Counter
Block
Push
Touch Shot Against Backspin
A touch shot is a shot where the player utilizes the spin already on the ball to return the ball properly instead of introducing his own spin. To this extent, blocking a topspin by closing the bat as needed or blocking a sidespin by appropiately turning the bat sideways can both be viewed as touch shots.
One unusual shot I've seen several penhold players employ to good effect is to hit a soft flat shot near the bottom of the ball with their bat open as if they were about to push back the ball. This shot can only be used when they receive a backspin push and works most effectively when the ball they receive has a lot of backspin (if hit against a topspin ball, it will cause a long pop-up, similar to attempting a push against a topspin ball). This shot returns a medium speed topspin ball to the opponent, who is typically expecting a backspin push instead, so it can be very disconcerting. This stroke can also be performed using other grips: I suspect that it is simply not taught much as a technique here in the USA.
Looping
The loop is the main attacking shot in a players arsenal. To play a loop you want to scrape the top of the ball to impart it with top spin, this will bring it down onto the table. The loop can be played of both the forehand and backhand sides with the forhand being the prefered because of the extra power that can be generated from the use of the legs and upper torso. There are many different variation of the loop, you can play a slower loop with more spin or the faster ball this less spin and less control(it is often wise to open up with the slower loop then go after the return). You can also play a loop with side spin making it harder for the opponent to time and play, you can generate alot more angle with a well placed loop that spins away from the opponent. If you want to be an attacking player the loop is your number one priority and once perfected makes for a very entertaining spectacle
