How to beat Tennis style help!

Hi guys,

This is my first post so please bear with the Newb.  Basically, I play with this guy and he is so annoying because knows nothing about the game but brags all the time because he is decent at tennis and uses the same technique.  Why it is so annoying is because it works and he beats me more often than I beat him, despite me trying to use proper Table Tennis techniques.

His favourite shot is an underhand smash (very Tennis-like) where he swings through the line of his body hitting the ball when the bat is upside down and the ball and just dropped off the end of the table resulting in the ball travelling at 1000 miles an hour and nearly always goes in.  Occasionally I can put my bat in the way and luckily get a high bouncer to land but most of the time I don�t.  It�s especially annoying when he does it straight off the serve not even letting a rally get going.

First off, why is this shot weak?  I mean I have never seen a pro or semi-pro use this type of shot at yet it seems unstoppable to me.  I smash with my arm at a 90 degree angle (like you should I believe) but whereas I have to hit the ball at the top of the bounce, he can wait for the ball to drop and SMASH.  The only disadvantage I can guess is you can guess where the ball is going because it ways goes straight so occasionally you can get it back.

So far the only way I have found to counteract this (at the serve anyway) is to serve very short but then he just does it during a rally.  The only thing I can think of is to play very short balls so they don�t drop off the table and thus giving him the opportunity but I find getting a double bounce very hard when not off a serve.

I hope this is clear and someone can advise��

That last point is quite interesting because he normally beats me more easily than when he plays less skilled players and it is is directly because they hit the ball high and he admits he can't smash when they high.  However I've always been nervous about playing like this as I don't want to look like a complete"noob" when I play;  I will try to improve my loop though as a penholder I should be able to get good loops with my style.

I played him today and at 9-3 down, I decided to serve really high bouncing, looping serves out of apathy but I actually made a comeback and nearly won the set.

Thanks for the advice.....+

P.S. He doesn't use a two handed grip buit another friend of ours does.  He plays just for fun and will occasionally try a two handed smash when receiving a serve (Rarley goes in though...)

A friend of mine is also a tennis player and plays tennis style. His backhand is really lethal, he can kill shots to both corners with ease, and without hinting which side he's aiming for. It's surprising how effective unconventional strokes can be.

dunmer wrote: if you can produce desent underspin then chop, they are not used to it

True, I play as a chopper against him. He gets so mad it's funny. He's one of those short-tempered players that throws his racket when he's mad. His favourite tennis player (fittingly) is Safin, who has a really short fuse.

I'm not visualizing the smash-technique either.

I have played people like this too.It is kinda like a flick/smash i ususally see it from the bh side.In my experience they only drive it straight down the line or cross table to the corner unless really short they will drive it at an extreme angle.I too play penhold are you playing traditional or rpb?or one rubber or two?work on your footwork .stick to your bh corner be patient the longer you play the slower the game will become.if he goes bh just block wait till he goes fh then put him away.once you get your fh down with penhold you will easily beat him and as your footwork gets better you will be able to step around those bh shots and loop them as well.

i've encountered a guy at work that does the same thing... he holds the bat kind of like a dumbell.... when he smashes he raises it up and pulls it across his body... kinda like a fan motion...

That is what I mean GenomicsKnight , I�m sure there�s a proper tennis name for it but I can�t think.  For clarity, imagine standing up straight with your arms by your side,  turn your wrist so the back of you hand is facing away from you (hence you�ll be playing forehand side when you smash).  Now pull you arm backwards but not out to the side at all, then simply swing through the line of you body keeping the arm hanging down and straight.  He contacts the ball at the bottom of the swing as the ball is roughly at the same height as the table as it drop off it.  The ball the loops slightly but enough to take it over the net and hit your side.  I would probably liken it to the action of bowling a tenpin bowling ball (but more snapped obviously).

you've come across a hitter with a good natural eye and timing. Tennis players are used to timing their shots and hitting through the ball.
Concentrate on the quality and length of your own shots.
Be positive and play the angles well and you should do better

estebanrey wrote: That is what I mean GenomicsKnight , I�m sure there�s a proper tennis name for it but I can�t think.  For clarity, imagine standing up straight with your arms by your side,  turn your wrist so the back of you hand is facing away from you (hence you�ll be playing forehand side when you smash).  Now pull you arm backwards but not out to the side at all, then simply swing through the line of you body keeping the arm hanging down and straight.  He contacts the ball at the bottom of the swing as the ball is roughly at the same height as the table as it drop off it.  The ball the loops slightly but enough to take it over the net and hit your side.  I would probably liken it to the action of bowling a tenpin bowling ball (but more snapped obviously).

Yeah I know what you're talking about. But anyone who hasn't seen it probably won't know, because it's hard to describe with words. But yeah, the guy I play is tall, so he can still get a good angle on it at the bottom of his swing.

Then it's probably not a tennis stroke that hes describing. A tennis stroke is either a normal flat hit drive or a inside out loop or strong backhand stroke.