Something interesting I’ve noticed in my time as a local league table tennis player is how some players create their own ways of playing.
Clearly, they have never had coaching, but they use shots, serves or even ways of holding the bat which are unique to them. This is always fun to play against because it really keeps you on your toes as they can often be unpredictable.
A lot of players at local league level do have some natural quirks because only professional players have every shot, serve and movement perfectly coached. This includes me, because over the years people have commented about my backhand. It is my best shot and wins me a lot of points, but it looks a bit odd. This is because I tend to use my whole arm in the shot instead of flicking my wrist.
Therefore when I demonstrate the shot without a bat in my hand, it just looks like I’m trying to do some kind of 70s disco dance move!
In the most recent season I played in, I can think of two players from the same team that had very distinctive styles. One of them, I was told, was a decent badminton player. This was clear from the way he moved around the table tennis table and the way he hit the ball. He was a very defensive player who tended to push most balls back. However, some times he would let a ball drop very low until it was almost touching the floor and then try and loop it back.
He was fairly consistent, but sometimes he’d let the ball drop too low and miss it completely. When he chose to attack, which was rare, it almost caught me by surprise and his smash was savage. If he used it more often, he would be a much better player. But such is the eccentricity of local league table tennis players.
The other player, from the same team, had a very unusual way of holding the bat. Not only that, but he would play in a sleeveless top in cargo short and wearing a cap. I thought the cap was to keep his hair out of the way until he took it off and I saw he was bald!
I’m not sure if the grip he used had an official name, but essentially the way he held the bat meant there was no need for a handle. He used his hold hand to grip the bat around the paddle end and would thrust his arm out to hit the ball. It looked very awkward, bit it seemed to work for him.
I played him once in a cup match which was a dead rubber as my team had already won before the match. So I wasn’t really that switched on. I did win, but he took me to five sets. I believe he beat me 11-1 in the fourth set, but I can’t remember what he did. Anyway, it worked for him.
Another player in the same league used an odd style, but used it so well thath he was one of the best players in the league. He rarely attacked. He would just roll the ball back with a bit of top spin and set himself away from the table. He never missed. So what that meant was that you had to hit the ball past him to win a point, so it was a good test for your attack.
Also, he would sometimes whack the ball back with all your power plus more, that it would take you by surprise. The only way of beating him would be either to play an outstanding short game or to make the match court very narrow and to use the angles well.
As I’ve said many times before, the most important part about local league table tennis is to have fun. If you’re style’s a bit odd, that’s ok. Even better if you can make it work well for you and pick up wins as a result.
The Local League Table Tennis Player 