Nishkarsh Gupta asked 4 years ago
Sir when I am hitting my backhand counter with a right technique, still my ball is hitting on the edge or sometimes on net . When I try to open my racket it goes outside the table or on forehand side . Please tell how to improve my backhand counter and overcome my mistake.What should be racket angle and forearm angle ( like up and down) to give a good quality backhand counter.?
Tom Lodziak Staff answered 4 years ago
If your ball keeps going into the net or hitting the edge of your bat, it is likely that your bat angle is too closed. Try opening the bat angle a little bit more. If the ball goes off the end of the table then you have opened the bat angle too much. Experiment until you find a bat angle where the ball consistently goes over the net.
I had problems with my backhand drive for a long time. To fix it, I had to go back to a very basic technique and slow the shot down. I could then focus on the timing, contact and stroke swing. Honestly, I did this for about two years! Then gradually the shot became more and more consistent, until I didn’t think about it anymore. Then I was able to speed the shot up and add more spin.
It’s very important to get the basics right first. Take a look at these two videos which may help:
Backhand drive – basic technique: Backhand drive – basic technique
3 backhand drive mistakes – 3 backhand drive mistakes
Finally, when your backhand counter is consistent, you will benefit from adding more spin by brushing over the top of the ball. Here is a video from TTEdge which helped me a lot when I was trying to develop my backhand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3inKrRCDiCY