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Winning at Table Tennis Takes Excellent Serves and Returns

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Winning at Table Tennis Takes Excellent Serves and Returns

One way to tell an amateur (or beginner) table tennis player is how they serve the ball. If it's the same every time, they aren't an accomplished player. Variation in serve is required to keep an opponent on his toes in competitive play. No matter what type of table tennis table you're playing on, you need an accurate and varied serve to win. Notice the range that you see when watching intermediate and pro players win games. At a minimum, you need at least two styles of serve. One is fast and powerful, and the other is best if it has a heavy backspin. Whether to serve forehand or backhand is your choice.

As you become serious about table tennis and improve your play, it's common to work on your fast/power serve first. You'll want to drop the ball very close to the tabletop and land it as close as possible to the end lone on your opponent's side. The point is to make it hard for someone to return your serve successfully. It takes a successful serve to improve your game – and notice intermediate and pro players as they land various serves to keep other players on their toes. You'll see high toss, forehand, backhand, forehand, and backhand tomahawk, and forehand and reverse pendulum.

You'll feel great about your progress as a table tennis player when you begin successfully returning tough serves with consistency. You need to be ready for virtually anything when you're up against a player with considerably developed skills. There are limitless combinations of speed, spin, and shot placement, and you can't be intimidated or outsmarted. To improve your results returning serves, you need to practice and decide on your opponent's likely serve and position yourself to be ready. The game is fast-moving, and you need to play nimbly and adaptably. When you're serving, you get to control the game; when the other player is serving, he has that advantage. Winning requires doing well at both.

Spin on the ball is one of the essential elements of table tennis play, and you need to figure out what kind of spin your opponent uses. For example, come back with a drive shot if he is adding topspin. If you're facing backspin, you want to return with a push shot. The decisions are made in split seconds during play, and as you improve, you'll gain proficiency at making the best decisions. It's also common for players to put sidespin on their serves. You need to adjust your strokes depending on which one you're dealing with, and the only way to improve is to practice. Training drills also will enhance your skills.

 

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