Table Tennis Push, Forehand, and Backhand Shots
It's fun and exciting to learn more about the necessary ping pong shots if you're interested in the game and taking playing it more seriously. While you probably won't be playing on professional table tennis tables early on, perfecting the four basic shots will help your game. They are the forehand drive and push and the backhand drive and push. Perfecting them will have you on your way to becoming a better ping pong player. When you try the first one, the forehand drive, you'll quickly learn that accuracy and consistency are crucial to success. You're trying to place shots on your opponent's side of the table precisely.
Give yourself some latitude when you're practicing the forehand drive shot in table tennis. If you overthink it, you might psych yourself out. Most coaches advise you'll want to practice the shot for about five hours in playing time to begin feeling comfortable. Some would even say you want to play about 100 forehand drives in a row, mistake-free, to feel you've mastered it. The next one to try is the backhand drive shot. You may find it easier to learn, and the technique is very different from the forehand. You'll change your grip slightly by moving your thumb, but the group should be essentially the same.
Play your backhand drives with a natural, relaxed grip. Once you start feeling comfortable, alternate back and forth between forehand and backhand shots. It's an excellent skill to develop because you'll use many shots when playing table tennis games. You need to be able to switch among them with ease. Your drive and topspin shots need to be controlled, accurate, and consistent to develop an excellent game. The next thing to learn is push shots. For these, you may want to try the backhand one first. You'll likely pick it up quickly, and, ultimately, you'll add a backspin. Be strategic and varied in all of your shots.
Play long practice hours working on your table tennis push shots, and the goal is the add heavy backspin to the ball. When it comes time to practice and develop an excellent serve, you'll be adding heavy backspin for a competitive advantage. The forehand push is the last one of the four to learn, and it is the hardest. Most players try to use a backhand push as often as possible, but there are times the ball lands in a spot where the forehand side is the only option. Try to get your racket under the ball and add the maximum amount of spin for the most effective forehand push shots. You want them low, fast and spinning.
Give yourself some latitude when you're practicing the forehand drive shot in table tennis. If you overthink it, you might psych yourself out. Most coaches advise you'll want to practice the shot for about five hours in playing time to begin feeling comfortable. Some would even say you want to play about 100 forehand drives in a row, mistake-free, to feel you've mastered it. The next one to try is the backhand drive shot. You may find it easier to learn, and the technique is very different from the forehand. You'll change your grip slightly by moving your thumb, but the group should be essentially the same.
Play your backhand drives with a natural, relaxed grip. Once you start feeling comfortable, alternate back and forth between forehand and backhand shots. It's an excellent skill to develop because you'll use many shots when playing table tennis games. You need to be able to switch among them with ease. Your drive and topspin shots need to be controlled, accurate, and consistent to develop an excellent game. The next thing to learn is push shots. For these, you may want to try the backhand one first. You'll likely pick it up quickly, and, ultimately, you'll add a backspin. Be strategic and varied in all of your shots.
Play long practice hours working on your table tennis push shots, and the goal is the add heavy backspin to the ball. When it comes time to practice and develop an excellent serve, you'll be adding heavy backspin for a competitive advantage. The forehand push is the last one of the four to learn, and it is the hardest. Most players try to use a backhand push as often as possible, but there are times the ball lands in a spot where the forehand side is the only option. Try to get your racket under the ball and add the maximum amount of spin for the most effective forehand push shots. You want them low, fast and spinning.
