What is?
The forehand is the 'king' of the basic table tennis strokes. This is done when contact with the ball is made on the same side that we hold the ping pong paddle. That is, the right side for right-handed players, and the left side for left-handed ones.
When to make a forehand in ping pong?
The Forehand Drive in table tennis can be made in response to a short shot, or a deep, high ball. In each case, it must be adjusted to the particularities of each one.
Short Drive Response
In this case, the forehand drive should be an attack shot in response to a short ball towards the middle of the table, or to the right. This is played on the table, with a ball that if left unhit, would bounce twice into your side.
Response to a deep and high ball
The forehand can also be used to hit a ball deep and high, thus preventing the opponent from executing an aggressive and offensive shot. With this, it's important to try to land your ball as close to the opponent's baseline or sideline as possible.
The proper posture
The posture that we must adopt varies depending on whether the forehand blow is from the forearm or from the wrist.
Forearm Forehand
If the blow is forearm, you don't need a quick turn of the wrist, but a good rotation of the forearm. In this case, the forearm and paddle hand are quickly moved from the initial palm-up position to the palm-down position. For this reason, this technique is also called "turn around".
For a good execution of this forehand, the body should be positioned close to the table, with the right leg slightly further away than the left (the reverse if the player is left-handed). The weight should be on the balls of the feet, with the knees slightly bent to obtain a faster movement.
Before hitting the ball, a backswing is made, which consists of taking the racket back to accumulate the power needed to be able to hit a stronger and more aggressive shot. At this time, the body is turned to the right, and the body weight is transferred to the back foot. When the ball touches the side of the player who is going to hit the forehand, go for it, turning the body in the opposite direction and leaving the weight of the body on the front foot.
The ball should be struck with the racket slightly closed, with the racket face facing the top of the table. Now the ball is hit at the highest point of the bounce, accelerating the speed of the racket stroke at this time.
When you finish hitting the ball, you will have to continue the movement of the blow and finish the forehand with the blade up.
The forehand wrist
blow When the blow is made with the wrist, the effect is greater. To do this, you'll need to do something like draw a V backwards with the ping pong paddle. That is, it starts in a high position, with the angle of the blade flat or slightly closed.
Then move your wrist quickly to position the paddle down and up. With this shot you can hit the ball with a topspin or topspin effect.
Remember that in our online ping pong store you will find all the table tennis material you need to put these tips into practice and become a professional.
