How to Play a Forehand Drive in Table ... - Expert Table Tennis

The forehand drive is one of the four basic table tennis strokes. · The forehand drive is an attacking stroke played with a small amount of ... Skiptocontent TheforehanddriveisalwaysthefirstofthefourbasicstrokesthatIteach.ItisalsoDay4ofmyHowtoPlayTableTennisin10Dayscourse(followinggrip,stanceandfootwork). Oncemastered,theforehanddrivewill becomeoneofyourmostusedtabletennisshots.It formsthebasisformoreadvancedstrokessuchastheblock,theloopandthecounterloop,soit’sreallyimportanttodevelopastrongandconsistentstroke. Thispostwillhighlightthecorrecttechniqueforplayingaforehanddriveintabletennis.IwillusemyownknowledgeasatabletenniscoachandavideofeaturingHeadTableTennisCoachatGreenhouseCharity,JasonSugrue. WhatIsTheForehandDrive? Theforehanddriveisoneofthefourbasictabletennisstrokes.Theotherthreearethebackhanddrive,backhandpushandforehandpush. Theforehanddriveisanattackingstrokeplayedwithasmallamountoftopspin.Itisadriveshotandnotatopspinloop! Theforehanddriveisplayedagainstlongormediumlengthtopspinorfloatballs.Youcan’tplayaforehanddriveoffashortball(thatwouldbeaflick)andyoucan’tplayaforehanddriveoffabackspinball(thatwouldgointothenet). Theforehanddriveisusuallyplayedfromtheforehandsidebutplayersarealsoencouragedtousetheirforehanddriveagainstballsthatcometotheirmiddle.Advancedplayerswillevensometimesmovearoundtoplayaforehanddrivefromtheirbackhandside,iftheyseetheballearlyenough! JasonSugrue’sVideo Hereisareallygoodvideogoingthroughsomeofthekeypointsfortheforehanddrive.Thereareafewthingsitdoesn’tmention,suchasweighttransfer,butoverallitdoesagreatjobforatwominutevideo. MyCoachingPoints Herearemykeycoachingpoints.I’vetriedtogointoabitmoredetailthanthevideo.Ibreaktheforehanddrivedownintofoursections;thestance,thebackswing,thestrikeandthefinish. TheStance Feetshouldbeslightlywiderthanshoulderwidthapart. Ifright-handed,therightfootshouldbeslightlyfurtherbackthantheleft. Kneesshouldbeslightlybent. Bodyshouldbeleaningforward. Botharmsshouldbeoutinfrontofyou. Abouta90-110degreebendattheelbow. Standquiteclosetothetable,anarmslengthaway. Weightdistributedonbothfeetandontheballs/toes,notheels. TheBackswing Rotateyourbodytotheright,fromyourhips. Elbowandbatrotatebackwithyou. Batanglecloses. Weightshiftsontothebackfoot,rightfootforaright-handedplayer. Thebodyismovingthearm,nottheotherwayround! TheStrike Hipsandshouldersrotateforwardstomeettheball. Thearmmovesforwardwiththebody. Acceleratetheforearmslightlyasyoumakecontact,similartodoingamilitarysalute. Weighttransferstothefrontfoot,leftfoot. Batanglestaysclosedthroughouttheshot. Taketheballatthepeakofthebounceandoutinfrontofyou. Keepasmallgapbetweentheelbowandthebody. TheFinish Followthrough,forwardandupward. Yourbatshouldfinishroughlypointingwhereyouhavehittheball. Alwaysgetbacktothereadyposition. CommonErrors Herearesomecommonerrorstolookoutforinyourownshot. Ensureyourweightismovingfrombackfoottofrontfootduringthestrike.Someplayersendupwiththeirupperbodymovingforwardswhiletheirlowerbodymovesbackwards. Rotatefromyourhipsnotyourshoulders.Theforehanddriveshouldcomefromthehips.Youwillsometimesseeplayerstwistingbacktheirshouldersandnotmovingtheirhips.Theywilllookabitlikearobotplayingthestroke.Thelowerpartofyourbodyisveryimportant. Keepagapbetweenyourelbowsandbody.Acommonmistakeistuckingtheelbowsintothebody,givingaverylimitedrotationandlateron,littlepower. Letyourbodymoveyourarm.Beginnerswilloftenswingtheirarmattheballwithoutmovingtheirbodyatall.Acorrectforehanddriveshouldhavetherotationofthebodymovingthearm.Thepowerwillcomefromthebodyandgoodweighttransfer.Thearmisjustforcontrol. Keepyourwristrelativelystraight.Someplayersdroptheirwristthroughtheforehanddrivesothattheracketisfacingdownwards.Thismakestheshothardertocontrolandusuallysofter. Finishtheshotwiththebatpointingwhereyouhittheball.Manyplayersoverrotateandendupwiththebatacrosstheirbodyorovertheirneck.Thisisfineisotherracketsportssuchastennisbutnotintabletennis.Youshouldaccelerateoncontactwiththeballandthenmakeasolidfinishwiththebatoutinfrontofyou. Taketheballatthepeakofthebounce.Itmayseemeasiertowaitfortheballtodropslightlybeforemakingcontactbutthisisnotadrive.Onsometopspinloopshotsourcontactpointislowerbutthedriveisalwayspeakofthebounce,overthetable. Keepthebatangleclosedthroughoutthestroke.Don’ttrytochangetheangleofthebatduringtheshot.Someplayersstartwithaneutralbatangleandtrytocloseitafterthebackswingastheystriketheball.Thisisnotagoodtechnique. Andthat’severythingyouneedtoknowinordertomasterthe forehanddrive! Ihavespentthelastfewyearscoachingthousands ofchildrentheforehanddriveingroupsessionsandindividually,anditisusuallytheonesthatarebestatlisteningthatmakethebiggestimprovements.There’salottotakein! Trytoaddonepointatatimetoyourtechniquetocombatanybrainoverload.Onceyouhavemadeanimprovementthere,addanotherpointer.There’snorushandlearninginthiswaywillincreaseyourabilitytorememberthekeytips. Ifyou’veenjoyedthisarticlepleasecheckoutmyHowtoPlayTableTennisin10Days course, whichgoesthroughthe10fundamentaltabletennisskillsyou’llneedtomasterinordertoplaythegamecorrectly.   StartHere About Blog Podcast Coaching HowtoPlayTableTennis ExpertinaYear Equipment TableTennisBats TableTennisRubbers TableTennisBlades TableTennisBalls TableTennisTables TableTennisRobots Courses