SPIN

 

 Previously we have tried to impress upon you the fact that every table-tennis ball your opponent hits to you has some sort of spin on it. This spin prevents the ball from rebounding normally and from following a straight arc. In stroking, you have learned how to employ under spin and over spin in order to slow up your opponent's attack or increase the accuracy of your own drives. Now, in resume, a few words on how to return spins.

Watch your opponent's racket to see what kind of spin he is using. If he starts his racket up high and comes down and under the ball, he is using under spin. If he starts low, brings his racket up and forward, ending his stroke over his head, he is using topspin.

Under spin causes the ball to shoot downward as it strikes your racket and thus go into the net. To return a chop or an under spin shot with a block shot, you should tilt the top edge of the racket back and lift up. To return a chop with a forehand or backhand drive (the usual problem of the attacking player against the defender), you should hit in and lift up, all in the same motion. The harder the chop the more topspin you apply to your drive. Learn from experience. It is quite obvious that if the ball lands in the net despite all your efforts, you have not lifted it sufficiently, whereas if your drive lands off the table you have lifted it too much. By a process of trial and error you will soon learn to use the correct amount of topspin necessary to counteract even the heaviest chops.

Topspin causes the ball to shoot upward after it strikes your racket and will result in a return high enough for your opponent to smash unless the correct counterstroke is used. To return a topspin drive with a block shot, you should tilt the top edge of your racket slightly forward and try to deaden the speed of the shot, letting the momentum of your opponent's stroke control the speed necessary for the return. However, the most consistent way of returning a drive is to chop it back. Instead of standing at the table and per­forming a difficult block shot, retreat ten or fifteen feet behind the table, allow the friction created by passage of the ball through the air to slow up the drive, and use a forehand or backhand chop which will keep your return low, force your opponent to lift up on his drive or else net the ball, and give him no opportunity for a straight smash.
To summarize: Return a topspin shot with an under spin shot; return an under spin shot with a topspin shot; in unusual cases (a) when caught out of position, (b) for variation in speed or direction, (c) in changing over from attack to defense or defense to attack, use a block shot (with appropriate tilting of the racket) to return either an under spin or an over spin shot.

In conclusion, a reminder: Never drive a "drive" or chop a "chop" until you reach the expert class. So doing reverses the spin on the ball, causes a clashing of spins and tends to throw the shot entirely out of control. In build­ing up your game, concentrate on playing the correct and safe way: returning one type of spin with the opposite type—that is, returning the chop with the drive and the drive with the chop. By doing this your errors will diminish and your table-tennis game will improve rapidly.