Play the inner forehand against backhand players

Many players with strong backhands cover the center of the table with their backhands. It’s a smart strategy and allows them to dominate all parts of the table with their best shot. To stop this, players often play on their forehand – only to see the “backhand” player slam it down their throat. What should they do?

The problem is that the backhand player often limits his forehand shots to just the forehand angle, and so doesn’t have as much table to cover – and thus has a good forehand against those shots. But he does so at a cost – he is weak on security inside in advance. Because that is his ‘middle’, his transition point between forehand and backhand. For these backhand players it is about a few inches from the forehand side of the center of the table and perhaps 6 to 12 inches wide.

Most players expect the opponent’s transition point to be in the center of the table, or slightly towards the backhand side, and so they automatically play to that spot – which is exactly where the backhand player is strongest. Or they make the mistake mentioned above by going to the forehand at the wrong time. (This doesn’t mean you don’t go after the forehand at the right time. If you play with their wide backhand first, they’ll likely be wide open on the wide forehand.)

So, the next time you play against a strong backhand player, go for his “middle” – that inner forehand!