STROKE PRODUCTION IN TABLE TENNIS

Southland Times, Issue 23308, 18 September 1937, Page 20

STROKE PRODUCTION IN TABLE TENNIS

Development Of Stance And

Grip

This is the first of a series of four articles written specially for The Southland Times by M. Istvan Kelen, the famous Hungarian table tennis player, who with M. Nicklos Szabados, took part in an exhibition of the game at Invercargill.

When the beginner grasps his bat’ for the first time, his attempts to return the ball will be rather awkward and he will miss the ball entirely a great number of times. The causes of this are lack of co-ordination—the player “has not got his eye in,” the smallness of the ball and the fast pace at which it travels.- Therefore the first thing the beginner has to learn, is to adapt himself to conditions, to time his movements to the rhythm of the game. This is not a very difficult task. One or two longish practice games will do the trick. It is important, however, that the player should hold his bat in the right way and hit the ball with the right movement. The settled style of a player is always based on the mannerisms he acquired when a beginner and when he did not even dream of taking part in competitions. The initial way of holding the bat remains practically unaltered and so does the swing of the drive and the cut.

In a way the case is the same with lawn tennis, but not in the same measure as in the game of the green table and the celluloid ball. At tennis it is well nigh impossible to rely entirely on a forehand or a backhand, yet alone to use one side of the racket only, and this is quite" possible at table tennis. It is true that there are only a very few front-rank adherents of this style. These are Haydon of England. Hexner of Yugoslavia and the Hungarians, Mechlovits and David. All these take the ball on the forehand only, that is to. say, with that part of the bat which faces the table. This stroke of theirs is better and more secure than any of the other players’ strokes on either side, yet they are always at a disadvantage, because there is less variety in their game and less of the element of surprise. For this reason it is best for the beginner to practise both forehand and backhand strokes at the same time, and also the main defensive stroke, namely, the cut or drop shot. There are three stages in the development of a player. The first is confined to the procedure of getting acquainted with the game and consists of “tapping” only. Later, the player, finding confidence, increases the pace of his shots and begins to hit and to drive on that side of the table which best suits his

individual style. This can be called the second period. The third stage is reached when the player can hit and defend with reasonable skill on both wings, although he may still prefer one side to the other. THE BAT GRIP

To attain a good style, the way of holding the bat is most important. I shall not deal here with those grips which only allow the player the use of one side of the bat; they are bad and do not produce the required results. The description of the proper grip as used by an overwhelming number of leading players is as follows: Grasp the bat between the end of the handle and the beginning of the rub-ber-covered striking surface. One or two fingers, not more, rest on the rubber surface of the backhand side. Most players use the one finger grip, and this is the better one. On the forehand side, the thumb is pressed to the striking surface at about right angles to the first finger. This is the position in which we wait for a service, and we should always return a service with a backhand stroke. In the course of the game the grip alters and every stroke has its own specific grip. When executing a backhand stroke, the above grip remains practically unaltered, only the thumb has to press rather more firmly on the rubber. With the forehand stroke, the angle between th a thumb and forefinger becomes an acute one and the two fingers on the back side of the bat stretch themselves right across the bat, in the direction where the ball is to be sent.

The beginner has a few other things to remember. First and foremost he should pay attention to the correct balance of the body, not forgetting to keep his eye incessantly on the ball. Therefore, he must always have a clear mental picture of the other side of the table, without actually looking at it—an achievement which will be quite easy with some practice. He must remember to lift the ball over the net and that his movement when hitting the ball must not be too sudden or too strong, otherwise he will hit the ball out. -It is useful to remember that the table tennis stroke consists of two fundamental elements. With the first part of the motion we lift the bat so as to help the ball over the net, with the second we carry it forward towards the net with a covering motion. We v> must, however, remember that the two movements must be executed in one joined uninterrupted action. [ln the next article the TECHNIQUE of table tennis will be discussed. This article will appear on Wednesday.]