We have a couple of competitive junior tennis hotshots who occasionally come and play the 'rec' (non-rated) tournaments in the area. Both are highly ranked high school 'college recruitment/scholarship prospects' in the state for their age group and likely have very strong tennis fundamentals. Both just seem to play every now and then on a whim 'for fun' to kill time during the tennis season. They're both unrated and I've seen them lose to players in the 1200-1300 range but also beat some players up to around 1650. I usually play in the 1800 range but have admittingly been playing other sports lately and my table tennis game has been hit or miss at times, especially with keeping a consistent grip (keep changing it too much and losing confidence in certain strokes). Double Tenergy user here with an all-around game.Player #1: fairly dead smooth rubber on FH / long pips on BH He's very quick and can cover the entire table with his long pips. Most shots are chopped low and with a lot of backspin. He's very patient and can keep a rally going for 20-30 balls if needed if I'm hesitating with loop placement and power. It's always a guess which shot will be played on the forehand - many of them are with the pips. But he also has a strong flat smash that seems to just die whenever it hits my paddle. Player #2: Sportcraft-like premade
This kid also slices the majority of balls but can hit really quick two-handed backhand shots as well. Most of those shots, like with the player above, would hit my rubber and then die on contact a couple of feet short of the net.
Basically, both were very frustrating since they could both return every serve just fine and were patient enough to force me into easy mistakes. Plus, as mentioned, they both have flat smash returns that were very tough to return as they'd die early.
I usually am successful playing their dink game of push and selective looping but it wasn't working the other day. How to better play these young cross-training players who can chop with high skill and also have lethal flat putaway shots?
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