Small change, big effect

In order to play successfully with long pimples or antitop, you should act as variably as possible. In the second and last part of this article Sebastian Sauer explains how to train this and why correct timing is so important.

The first part of this article was about basic considerations about playing strategy with pimples. Now it becomes even more concrete. After you have thought about which striking techniques you like to play, it is now important to use them in the best possible way.

1. Faster vs. Slower

There are many players who have a good command of a stroke technique (explicitly: keeping the ball simple is also considered a stroke technique), but who always perform it at the same pace, possibly always playing the ball in the same place. No matter how well you master this technique, your opponent will find your game calculable after some time because of the consistency and will be able to adjust well to it.

At some point, you will not have the means to increase your speed You do not exhaust your potential to the fullest. Play the same technique consciously a little faster and then a little slower. You will notice massive differences. The change in rhythm will cause your opponent to make significantly more easy mistakes. It will take much longer until he feels that he has adjusted to your playing system. This works up to the highest playing levels. The difference in speed does not have to mean that you work in extremes and play the ball at 100 percent and then only very slowly at 5 percent. Even small differences are enough to bring about a change in rhythm, for example, sometimes 60 and sometimes 70 percent. Irrespective of this, it is in any case extremely difficult to play a ball safely at 100 percent with the pimples.

2. Earlier vs. Later

Of all the tips mentioned, this is the one with the greatest impact. If you follow this one, your game will be much more dangerous and less predictable for your opponent. It will also make your dangerous game look effortless and easy for outsiders. Take the ball after bouncing on your half of the table, sometimes a bit earlier and sometimes a bit later In the early version, this can be done almost volley (drop kick) You have already changed your playing rhythm massively and can do this with loose and safe strokes.

Many players believe that to play more dangerously, they have to play a shot incredibly tight. This leads to a significantly higher error rate. If you simply take the ball a little earlier, the ball will also get to the other half of the table faster. With the big difference that now a loose and safe shot is absolutely sufficient. In addition, if you take the ball earlier, you can play the ball at more extreme angles.

3. Longer vs. Shorter

Similar results can be achieved if you let the balls drip off a little longer and sometimes very easily a little shorter or half-long. Often your opponent makes the mistake of not making the necessary step forward on the half-long ball.

4. Change of position

Play not only on one point, but sometimes parallel, sometimes diagonal, sometimes in the middle or on the elbow of your opponent. Especially in the middle of the table or on the elbows, many players have problems because they have to decide whether they have to play the incoming ball with their forehand side or with their backhand side. In combination with the variants of playing faster vs. slower or taking the ball earlier vs. later, the change of position is a real game-changer that makes your game system much more effective. And all of this is basically already possible if you do not learn any new techniques at all, but simply use the existing ones more profitably.

In the adult sector, only a few clubs offer structural training such as a training course. Therefore I would like to present here very simple first exercise approaches, which you can use even if no training partner wants to participate. However, structured training is already helpful if you do it for example only 15 minutes at the beginning of the training. And you can usually win a few players for that. An interesting observation: Some players get terribly upset about their performance match after match and at the same time smile at their club mates who go on a training course, who want to train structured exercises or who simply do serve training to improve their game. Something goes wrong here and you should not be discouraged by the behaviour of such a club mate, but try to develop yourself and your game.

Step 1: Let your training partner simply play the ball back safely to your half of the table again and again, and try to play the ball with a focus of the tips 3, 4, 5 or 6 (for example 3: Here you play the ball with a technique of your choice, sometimes a little faster and sometimes a little slower)

Step 2: If this works well, your opponent can play the ball back to you over a larger area (for example, over your entire backhand half).

Step 3: Try to mix different recommended tactics. For example, play the ball a little faster and a little slower and then take it a little earlier and then a little later.

You can also switch between different striking techniques.

From practice: Even if your training partner is not prepared to train this in a structured and patient way, you can simply decide to implement this advice in a training game. In the beginning you should not care about the result. Usually you will make more mistakes at the beginning when you get new impulses and change your game until you can eliminate them and until your game becomes more successful.

Now I wish you success on your way to make your game more varied and successful. Revitalize your game with new impulses! Your motivation, your fun and last but not least your results will thank you. And as already written in part 1 of this article: Even if the content of the article does not apply to you, you can give it to your club colleagues who play with pimples.