ScolPingTab

If play is slow

Then accelerate the game without making more faults than the opponent, or maintain the slow rhythm and place the ball accurately- just make sure that you're not just happy to play one more return than your opponent.

You can also use spin.

Even if the rhythm of play is slow, these students still vary their shot placement, sometimes involuntarily.

Progressively, the trajectories flatten out and the ball accelerates;

You'll notice that the student with his back to us sends the ball directly to the half-way point on the opponent's table during service. This “open” serve enables both students to start a rally, and maybe even a duel.

Exercise

During a slow rally, a player decides to accelerate off a favourable ball (close, slow, no spin).

Each player taking turns, or from a serve.

If play is fast

Then I control and direct it, because wanting to play faster will leave me with the problem of limited speed and control, which is a major risk. This requires your body to be available (being ready, the “body concentration”, without being too tense and remaining able to play effectively).

Here, we can clearly see high speed play which alternates between voluntary breaks using high-risk acceleration and ball placement to unsettle the opponent. Mastering this speed (playing soon after the bounce) goes hand in hand with the capacity to direct it. The player varies both how open or closed the racket head is (the faster it is, the more I close the racket) and also the lateral direction, switching from linear to cross-court play.

The player here starts a game with speed, but is not prepared to continue in this way. She is surprised by the return of serve. The speed she has generated has come back to her. She can only accelerate on the forehand, as she has not yet learned to close the racket over a fast ball off the bounce (block) on the backhand.

Advice from the coach

By playing cross-court from service, using a forehand to the outside of the court rather than the centre, will cause more balls to come back to your forehand side.

Working on the backhand block will prevent you from being vulnerable to fast balls to the backhand;

An open posture (like a goalkeeper or boxer) and a chosen distance from the table will give you greater freedom and coordination.

The student seems to have found a compatible distance, but has confused playing hard with playing fast. Playing fast and hard close to the bounce is tricky; he needs to go back and find the right distance, and not try to attack every ball.

The play generated here is all about taking risks. Often, the first player to attack is the one who wins the point. There is not a great deal of openness on the body, and there is a good chance that the point ends here.

Once again, the server starts fast but doesn't maintain the speed. He has problems maintaining it on the backhand side.

This player has started to adapt, without playing the backhand too far under the ball. She has found a distance which is compatible with:

• The speed of play,

• Her backhand technique,

• Her tactics.

The player varies his fast serves considerably. This is one of the key elements you need to keep surprising your opponent.

When it is his turn to receive, the same student has understood the benefit of returning aggressively to deprive the opponent of time to react.

If play includes ball rotation (spin)

Then I “decode” (recognise the type of spin) and find a solution which fits in with my strategy (attack or defend, overwhelm, finish, force errors, etc.)

Example: IF my opponent hits a TOPSPIN shot and I want to control this ball (and/or unsettle my opponent) THEN I “block” the ball at the point of impact on the table (bounce) and direct my racket (closing it) in order to control the spin and I direct the ball to a chosen location.

By mastering certain spin serves, you can gain a significant advantage

Some spin serves are less dangerous (less useful in terms of gaining the advantage) as they are placed long into the opponent's favoured area, so are easy to attack.

Advice from the coach

The spin on a serve is only a determining factor right at the beginning.

At this point in the student's education, a good server can make a difference because the opponent does not have time to identify a different spin and change their return.

This means finding what will cause the most problems for the opponent as quickly as possible:

• The direction of serve (control is not guaranteed to be the same on both sides, the crossover and side edges are always good targets),

• The depth (length of the ball) requires delicate adjustment if the opponent is not ready (open receiving position),

• Speed combined with spin can be a very effective weapon.

Exercise: “The game show”

Like in a game show, the students set each other questions (if play is...)

The other team must offer solutions and demonstrate them in play.

Time to think and adjust is permitted (1 to 2 minutes).

Bonuses and scoring keep the exercise interesting.