Push, Block and Attack.

Control vs Attack, most players would categorizes themselves as either an Offensive or Defensive player. Which is more suited to you ? Answer, you need both although I mentioned that 30% Returns and 15% Offensive on the statistics. A lots depends on your physiology and mental make up, and in turn the strokes you need to master in order to be a winner, at least for the matches you are involved in.

The beauty of table tennis is that it teaches us about life itself. Of course everyone should play to win, but how ? Height and weight does have an influence to your game but generally the Push, Block and Attack is executed to win.

Let's use the WIN formula. "WIN" - Ask yourself "What's Important Now". By that I mean, you must have a variety of strokes and know when to use them. These includes Push, Drive, Block, Top Spin, Flicks and Smash to name the very basic ones. Over time and practice, you will improve in the respective strokes to move on to strategic play.

As you progress, remember the following strokes. For your forehand, Flicks, Top Spin, Drive and Smash. Do not be in a hurry to learn these stokes for your backhand. Anything that goes to your backhand use Push, Block and at most Flicks. Build up your accuracy on the forehand up to 90% before your embark on your backhand strokes.

This video on Ryu Seong Min's (Olympic Gold Medalist 2004) to understand a bit more about Push Block and Attack.

As you progress, find a "sparing" partner. One who will block your forehand drives and for whom you will block for his/her forehand drives. Begin with slow simple strokes and eventually speed up the drives to spins. Speed not important at this point, consistency is. Count mentally to achieve 500 strokes. If you reached 497, start from zero. Purpose of this exercise is consistency, slowly but surely, your footwork improves so does the rhythm and your connection with the bounce timing and trajectory. Remember, this is a critical exercise to playing a good and proper game of table tennis.

To win you must have a strategy. Knowing your strength and weaknesses is just as important as knowing / discovering your opponent's. As you face different players, a different strategy is employed for the match.

There is a learning curve for each individual on each skill he/she is developing. It is never a "one size fits all" situation where everyone learns different skills for the same given time, also every individual have their own unique style and character.

Generally realizing the above, we are taught to just return the ball as it comes to your backhand using push block or mild attack such as a flick, and focus on your forehand for attack strokes such as smash, top spin, drive and flicks.

Take your time, do not be in a hurry learning the various strokes focus on forehand attacks and backhand push and block.

Get ready to move to the next level. Cheers and Enjoy.