how to beat players who are good at blocking?

Yeah man we need like online table tennis battles, where people put up videos and vote for whose better based on their video. Be like I challenge you to TT video dual.

chu_bun wrote: pnachtwey wrote: I hadn't even heard of Kenta Mutsudaira before today.  I like his blocking.  I looked for other Kenta Matsudaira videos but they didn't show him blocking as much as in the Ma Lin video. I don't think he plays that good before or since.  He had another good match against WLQ a while after that (world against CN or something like that).  If you like blocking watch He Zhi Wen.  His style is so logical and effective.  I think your blocking will improve just by watching his matches!

He Zhi Wen uses short pips. That's why he can move spinny loops around he table so well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFO86h0oh2w&feature=related

Guess Danie could teach some of these guys something about sidestepping A couple of points played that shows why it's such a big risk to step around and committ to the shot.

chu_bun wrote: If you like blocking watch He Zhi Wen.  His style is so logical and effective.  I think your blocking will improve just by watching his matches!

moderately keen to see danie play actually :D

I am not a very high level player but I do have some opinions on the best way to play blockers. This is assuming that you are playing an inverted blocker and not antispin/LP.
Typically blockers try to take the ball very early in the bounce and put very little energy back into the ball. They rely on placement.

Also I have noticed that blockers tend to be very stationary, standing near the center of the table and typically don't possess good footwork. Usually they tend to be older players, younger players tend to gravitate towards an attacking style.

Unless you are very very consistent and have good footwork you will not be able to beat a blocker using a power game. Hitting the ball as hard as you can without regard to placement will lose you points through missed shots and not having the footwork and reaction to attack a ball that is blocked off the bounce.

My advice is to first explore the blocker's game. Is blocking the ONLY thing he can do? If so, beating the blocker might not take anything more than performing high spinny loops that require a smash. In this case it's best to land your lobs near the end of the table since it is exceedingly dangerous and difficult to drop shot a deep lob. If the blocker can only smash the ball 30% of the time then you should have this game won, the more he misses the slams the less confident he will become. If he fishes the ball back over, take a strong angle shot (do NOT go off the end of the table. Your ball should go off the sides).

If the blocker is a competent blocker then you'll need to rely on placement and spin. Slow loops are good here. The point is to MAKE THE BLOCKER MOVE, and make him MOVE A LOT. Sacrifice power and spin for placement.
Vary your loop placement, spinny with the first bounce just over the net. Spinny long, spinny mid-distance. Figure out where he has problems blocking.
Another thing to try are deep chops to his body. These really can't be blocked, he needs to do SOMETHING with the ball whether it's to chop it back or loop it back.

All - in - all, avoid trying to win the game with power. Experiment with spin and focus on placement. By their very nature blockers tend to have bad footwork and attackers tend to have better footwork. Use that to your advantage, pull him off the center, push him off the table (not through power but through very spinny loops or high spinny lobs).

Also if you are playing at a lower level the blockers you encounter usually favor their backhands and sort of crab walk all over the place. They usually stand very centered so they can cover their FH with a BH block reasonably well. Exploit the fact that this leaves BH angles open and punish them for it. When they adjust their positioning to cover the BH, then start going for sharply angled FH hits.

Remember placement>spin>power when playing blockers.

I try to be careful of the angles I give a blocker.  They tend to hug the center of the table, so if you give them anything in this center area, they will have you running all over the place and eventually running out of steam even if you have very consistent loops.  Worse, if you hit with speed, those shots come back with speed and good placement.