Sports Then and Now

If you’re super competitive and want to win at table tennis every single time, that’s perfectly understandable. While it’s highly unlikely for you to never find yourself in the losing end, there are some tips that can help level up that winning percentage significantly.

Ping pong is fun, trendy, and great for beginners. Unlike other sports, it’s also more accessible and has a relatively low risk for injury. A table tennis “court,” otherwise known as a ping pong table, is pretty easy to set up, and you can pick up a pair of rackets and some ping pong balls at your local sporting goods store with no problem.

So, now you’re ready for ping pong. Then again, you don’t want to simply be ready for table tennis; you want to be able to beat everyone you go up against! We admire your determination and ambition. Committing to that extra bit of practice and following some effective tips might just turn you into everyone’s ping pong nemesis.

What You Must Know Before Anything Else

Before we proceed to give you advice on how to win every game, let’s first discuss your gear. Now, if you’re looking to get ahead in ping pong, you need to invest in some great equipment, starting with your table tennis bat.

Some recreational players think skills determine everything, and a racket is just as good as the player who uses it. Unfortunately, that’s far from the case. In fact, we wager there’s a good chance you haven’t found the racket for you yet.

So, there’s a ping pong bat made specifically for a player? While we won’t get into too much detail about that, we will say that it’s all about “the feel of things.” You will know that a bat is for you by the way it elevates your particular game style.

A huge part of table tennis is about spin, so you need to get yourself a bat that generates lots of vicious spins. Sadly, you won’t get this from most ready-made rackets. Invest in a decent one that’s affordable and is great for any style of play.

The right bat allows you to veer away from the traditional “tap-tap” ping pong that’s common among beginners and move on to the powerful drives, strokes, and tricky spins that expert table tennis is all about.

Key Tips to Winning at Ping Pong

So, without further ado, here are some effective tips for upping your ping pong game so that you stand a good chance of beating that player across the net.

1. Focus on Consistency

In ping pong, a player is either an attacker, a defender, or both. An attacker tends to finish off points with powerful, irretrievable shots, while a defender wins points by drawing errors from their opponents.

An all-court player, on the other hand, focuses more on building up a strategy than relying on rhythm. They tend to construct the point by rallying and moving their opponent until they get an opportunity to strike. They can defend when necessary, too.

Whichever type of player you are, you have to be consistent and solid off the backcourt. If you’re an attacker who’s lost rhythm on your powerful strokes, try to control your aggression and focus on getting the ball inside the court.

If you’re a defender, get the ball back consistently until you manage to get an error from your opponent. Lastly, if you’re an all-court player, focus on the part of your game that’s working well. Luckily for you, you get to resort to plan B in case plan A isn’t working. 

2. Go for Heavy Backspin

We’ve already established that one way to end up as the victor is to draw errors from your opponent. A heavy backspin is one way to do this, as it can mess up your opponent’s rhythm by surprising them with a change of pace.

While this is something you expect a defender to throw in every now and then, it’s less common for attackers to do unless they have no other choice. This shot also isn’t something offensive players are used to doing, so they’ll likely commit an error playing it.

Whatever your style of play is, make sure to develop a really good spin game to throw your opponent off. Having the heavy backspin shot as part of your arsenal is especially cool if you’re a power player because opponents aren’t likely to see it coming.

3. Have Some Tricks up Your Sleeve

Be a little bit more creative with your service, and add some variation. When you give an opponent the same kind of service throughout the game, they’ll be able to anticipate where it lands and attack it.

Make sure to mix it up and throw in some vicious spinning serves to draw an error or a weak return from the player on the other side of the net.

Final Thoughts

While we all have our strategies for winning matches, these three tips provide a very good place to start. Take these basics into consideration as you fine-hone your game and discover what works and what doesn’t. Remember that it’s when you focus on yourself that you start to see results in your favor.

If you’re serious about improving your ping pong game and dedicating the time and effort necessary to master it, don’t forget to drop by pingpongruler.com.