The Block Shot

Although expert players use a great deal of spin on almost every shot, and perform drives and chops with ease, you will want to learn the block shot first because it is the easiest and simplest way of returning the ball. The block shot is also valuable for you as a beginner because it teaches you to keep your eye on the ball, helps to develop accuracy and the "feel" of making a good return, and illustrates the important fact that you can keep the ball in play simply by holding your racket upright and "bunting" the ball across the net, thus reducing your errors and loss of points to a minimum.

TECHNIQUE FOR THE BLOCK SHOT
The block shot is usually taken on the backhand, with the right foot in advance of the left and the right side of the body turned slightly toward the net. Left-handed players, of course, reverse these directions. Bend your arm at the elbow and keep your wrist firm. Stand close to the table, keep the blade of the racket horizontal and block the ball with a quick motion just after it has bounced on the table (Figure 3). (Note: In table tennis it is against the rules to volley, that is, to hit the ball before it has bounced.)

Practice the block shot until you can return the ball consistently without missing it. You will learn by experience that a slow shot is best returned by giving the ball a little push with the racket, whereas, in returning a faster ball, a slight withdrawal of the racket will deaden the shot and slacken its speed.

It is very important to keep your wrist firm and steady while learning to block (Figures 3 and 4). Your wrist acts as a hinge, giving direction to every stroke. When you have learned to execute the straight block shot, you can place the ball to either side of the table simply by turning your wrist and angling the ball. Thus, in the advanced stages of play, a simple defensive shot may score many points for you by keeping your opponent constantly on the run and thus tiring him.

ERRORS IIS MAKING THE BLOCK SHOT
It should give you a great deal of confidence to see how quickly you can learn to perform a passable block shot. Do not allow the stroke to become jerky, as this will cause you either to miss the ball completely or to send it too high in the air. This is a fault of timing, and is usually due to over anxiety. Try to slow up your stroke. Don't start preparation too soon. Be deliberate. You have more time than you think to make your stroke. Try executing the stroke on counts: count one, place yourself in position; count two, place your bat on the table; count three, make contact with the ball.
t Do not "sky" the ball—that is, do not return it too high in the air. This fault results when the racket meets the ball at an incorrect angle. The racket should be almost at a right angle with the table for a simple return, if any­thing leaning slightly toward the net.

Figure 3.
The simplest form of the block shot, used to return a ball with no spin on it. The blade of the racket is perpendicular.

Do not return the ball with a curve. This cuts down your control, and is due to involuntary use of the wrist. Many beginners put too much power behind the block shot because of their impatience to end the point. Do not try to add a wrist flourish to your stroke because it spoils your accuracy.
There are other common errors in the execution of a block shot which cannot be dismissed as easily as the ones previously described. You may be executing the shot correctly, but still find that you are returning the ball too high in the air or pushing it into the net. These faults may be due to the fact that your opponent is using a slight amount of spin.

SPIN
The dictionary definition of the word spin is "a revolving or whirling motion." Table tennis is a game of spin. It is practically impossible, in hitting the light celluloid ball through the air, to keep it from rotating on its own axis, in one direction or another. Backspin, topspin, and sidespin are the three kinds of spin which may be applied to a table tennis ball. Backspin is caused by making the ball rotate, on its own axis, downward; topspin by making it rotate upward; sidespin by making it rotate sideways, one way or the other.

Most readers will be familiar with spin and the effects of spin from other ball games, such as baseball and golf. But since most other ball games are played with much heavier balls, it is not generally realized how much effect topspin and backspin have on the flight of a table-tennis ball. For example, in lawn tennis, a kindred game, spin may be safely ignored 70 per cent of the time because its effects are negligible; but in developing table-tennis technique, it is impossible to ignore spin for a single instant because the ball is so light that a slight involuntary pressure will cause it to spin on every shot, and this spinning motion will affect the stroke. Remem­ber that spin in table tennis is natural and lack of spin is unnatural—that using spin in table tennis is simple, and that not using it is what is difficult.

THE BLOCK SHOT AGAINST SPIN
Let us re-examine the fundamental block shot in the light of spin. The probability is that, if you are returning the ball too high on your block strokes, your opponent is causing this by using topspin. To counteract this topspin, slope your racket slightly downward, toward the table, thus neutral­izing the tendency of the topspin ball to "crawl" up the racket and cause a high return. If your opponent uses under spin, you must counteract it by sloping the face of the racket backwards, and giving a scoop effect to your shot (Figure 4). In blocking an underspin return, a player often hits the ball into the net. The cure for this fault is to exaggerate the scooping effect by following along the path of the ball with your racket for a few inches. Do not permit your wrist to move to either side or you will get a curving shot rather than a straight one.

If a particularly vicious topspin shot causes your block shot to get out of control, this may be remedied by taking a firmer grip on the racket and by applying more pressure with the thumb. As suggested previously, you may deaden the shot by pulling back the racket a trifle.