OOAK Table Tennis Forum

One of things I'm discovering about my own game as I advance in the ranks and face tougher opponents is the need to be more tactical. Obviously I have to work on the key areas of my game like technique and mental strength, but I suspect when I come up against a difficult opponent for a second or third time and get closer to winning the match the advantage I often lack is the strength of my tactical game.

For instance, there are certain styles of play that compromise the strengths I already have in other areas of my game, i.e. serve variations, backhand smash and forehand drive/loop. I consistently struggle against players who are very experienced at just keeping the ball alive. These players have enough control that unless I 'put it away' they will just continue to return the ball and force me to play their game. There's one particular player who I'm getting close to beating, but I just fall short because I end up playing his game, i.e. push, push, push ... yawn.

I know that one definition of tactics in sport is to have a plan of attack before the game. Fair enough, and I find myself doing this, but I do think that tactics are also part of the game as it progresses. An example of this for me happened a couple of night ago when I was 4-10 down and decided to take a little more time to try and climb out of that hole. At that stage I quickly accessed what was working for me. Obviously I didn't have much opportunity to be flamboyant, but I tried to maintain my focus playing what I thought was my strength and my opponent's weakness. And it worked. Final score was 12-10, which gave me the match and a huge relief!

One open-ended definition I found was: A procedure or set of manoeuvres engaged in to achieve an end, an aim, or a goal.

What do you think about before and during a match, especially if you know it's going to be tough?

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

As I mentioned to Oskar - there is a seriously good book - "Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers" - which is very well written, tells of tactics against all different styles, when to change a game plan, etc. It is very interesting to read - and to flick through to remind yourself every now and then.

My main issue is that I seldom follow the plan as to how I should play an known opponent - even though I keep written notes on what their weaknesses are! Also, I think that I will remember on the table, but get caught up in the mement...

What I find is best to to give myself a few simple rules - eg. on return of serve: long to forehand = loop return; long to bh = roll or loop to bh corner; short to fh = flick to body. Having too many variables just gets confusing - and I still need to train into my brain to carry out these tactics, irrespective of the level of opponent. It is easy to fall into the trap of not to using the "rules" when are playing guys of higher or lower levels - higher because you are not sure that you can, and lower because you can afford to wait for an easier shot.

What I've found increasingly obvious is that lack of tactics can compromise the other skills and abilities you bring to a game. I find that it's not enough to have decent technique, footwork or mental strength if I'm not applying some sort of tactic to the game. You see this with elite players, too. A player might have some devastating strokes, but what use are they if they're not thinking tactically.

I understand that the topic of tactics is a big one. There are so many ways one can devise certain plans of attack and it's important to try and keep things simple. My thought is that this simplicity begins by knowing your own game and, more importantly, learning your opponent's game. I will do whatever I can within the bounds of good sportsmanship to try and learn my opponent's game, which usually means targeting his weaknesses and taking away his strengths. Finding the tactic to do so is not always easy. But, as they say, practice makes perfect.

BTW, PRW, I'll see if I can find a copy of that book you suggest.

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

PRW, that's a good post. In my club were I mostly play the same few dozen people over and over, I think I tend switch off the tactical portion of my brain to my detriment out of sheer boredom. I need to make some personal rules to follow for the people I regularly play rather than just wing it.

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

While you can develop some good responses to a given shot, I don't think it is wise to make the same tactical response for any given shot. If an opponent can see if he does A he gets B and if he does C he gets D then he can control getting what he wants. Best to have a list of "what not to do" and "what is acceptable" to play against player X and change it around if its not working for you.

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S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
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It's better to have rules as opposed to just playing on auto-pilot without thinking about a specific strategy. I do the latter all the time.

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My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

I think - if you have a couple of strengths around your game, but you don't use them, because you are trying to make the opponent guess what you are going to do next, you end up losing more points than you win. For example, people are welcome to serve long to my forehand, and I am very happy for them to know that I am going to attack it as best possible. rather than me guessing what return I should do, and then pushing, thereby giving them a chance to attack first - the chances of me winning the point is far higher if I loop first, even if they expect me to do so.

I agree that if the shot is more passive, that there should be more variation - but the shot with the highest % chance of winning the point should be the opening gambit.....

Absolutely agree. If there is a particular strength, it should definitely not be left out just because the opponent might be expecting it. However, sometimes a strength can be turned against you...such as a good blocker wanting a smash to where they expect so they can pass you on the return. Sometimes in a case like this, its better to hit a slightly weaker smash to the BH if they are more capable of blocking off their FH, for example. These kind of tactics can only really be decided during the game if you haven't played someone before and don't know where the strengths and weaknesses are. For someone you play repeatedly obviousl tactics can be pre-planned much more easily - but not to say they will always be successful

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Some players' strengths are just following a particular pattern of play. A case in point is a guy I played on Monday night who, like clockwork, would hit winners in exactly the same way every time. His pattern was that he would serve topspin at my body and I'd return it fairly softly to his body where his backhand was waiting, and then he'd swipe at the ball and get a cross-court winner. I let this happen about 3-4 times and then found out a way to prevent him doing this by either putting more speed on the ball or putting more angle on it. That tactic took his strength away and his game scores dwindled.

I think, for me, the biggest hurdle I face is preventing my opponent from playing his own game. I already mentioned that there is this guy who I get very close to beating but I find myself unable to get out of playing his game, which is a kind of defensive/retriever style of game. This guy can push all day and he has just slightly more ability than I do in this sort of play, so statistically it's a winning style for him. The only time I had any say in how the game progressed was when I played my own, attacking game. However, my opponent was so skilled and experienced at preventing me going for the kill that I usually slipped back into his style.

_________________

Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

My stock reply to a reasonably short serve is to push to the server's backhand or crossover point. Against a few players who can loop consistently with either wing this gets me into trouble. I then try dead ball returns, and if this is still getting me killed (either immediately or as a set up), then I will go to rolling or very weak flicking of the ball in return.

There are some players if I remember I will not even start with my stock reply.

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