Contents
Every stroke choice answers the incoming spin: that's the logic organizing all of table tennis technique. Own the base first, FH/BH drive plus FH/BH push, then the modern weapon, the topspin loop. Underneath it all sits the most neglected quality: footwork.
Lexicon · The strokes
The official stroke vocabulary
Eight strokes in the official vocabulary, and one the hall has renamed.
Source: Côté Coach, fundamental techniques and signature gestures (official stroke vocabulary).
The grip
- Shakehand (the global standard): "as if shaking hands": balanced FH/BH coverage and the widest stroke range. Beginners start here. Key cue: a relaxed, neutral grip: too tight kills the wrist snap. Weakness: the crossover (middle) where the FH/BH choice is ambiguous.
- Penhold: held like a pen. Chinese penhold (relaxed fingers, round head) frees the wrist: spinnier serves, dominant forehand; Japanese/Korean penhold is built around one powerful forehand wing.
- Reverse Penhold Backhand (RPB): striking backhands with the reverse blade face: the flicks and loops classic penholders lacked, keeping the style elite-viable (Wang Hao, Xu Xin, Félix Lebrun). Trade-offs: crossover ambiguity, long relearning.
The stroke family
- Forehand drive: shoulder-width stance, rotate from the hips (not shoulders), elbow and bat back together, contact at the peak out front with a closed bat, forearm accelerates, weight rear→front. Faults: twisting shoulders, tucked elbow, late contact.
- Backhand drive: compact, played in front of the body; the elbow is a hinge, small backswing near the abdomen, contact at the top of the bounce, little body rotation.
- Forehand loop (the modern staple): a fast upward brushing contact that grazes the ball for heavy topspin, a dipping arc that kicks forward. Vs backspin: start low, drop the racket below the ball, brush low-to-high with strong leg drive. Vs block/topspin: contact over the ball, faster and flatter. Brush contact (thin and grazing = maximum spin) is THE concept separating a loop from a drive.
- Backhand loop: bat low and in front, brush low-to-high with forearm-and-wrist snap; the rally-opener for two-winged and RPB players.
- Push (FH/BH): the control stroke vs backspin: close to the table, open face, brush under, contact early to keep it low. Short push (double-bounce, denies the loop) vs long push (deep, pushes the opponent off). Faults: late contact; pushing attackable balls.
- Block (passive/active): absorb the opponent's pace, or punch through with a little topspin (more consistent, more pressure). Early contact, weight forward, angle set by incoming spin.
- Flick / banana (attacking short balls): step in, bat toward the chest, wrist cocked inward, elbow up, whip the wrist over the top corner of the ball at the top of the bounce; the loose grip is the engine. The "strawberry" cocks the wrist the opposite way.
- Chop: the defensive downward stroke for heavy backspin at mid-to-far distance; the more incoming spin/speed, the more vertical the chop. Never chop backspin: push it.
- Lob & smash: the high, deep, topspun recovery ball; and the near-flat kill on a high ball: full rotation, contact in front, aim the angles.
Spin, the physics core
- Topspin: dips in flight, kicks forward off the bat → close the bat, contact over the ball.
- Backspin: floats, drops into the net off the bat → open the bat, push or lift.
- Sidespin: curves and jumps sideways → aim toward the middle, oppose the curve.
- Corkscrew: barely curves in flight, kicks sideways on the bounce (tomahawk serves).
- No-spin: easiest to return, and the most dangerous, because it looks like spin. Attack it.
Reading spin: watch the racket at contact: its direction gives the spin direction, its speed relative to the ball gives the intensity (fast grazing = heavy spin; thick contact = little or none).
Footwork
Ready position: knees bent, weight forward on the balls of the feet, wide stance, bat neutral in front. Patterns: shuffle/two-step (the default), one-step (small adjustments), in-and-out (distance to the table), cross-step (large distances), and the pivot/step-around: playing a forehand from the backhand corner, the aggressive move that exposes the wide forehand and demands instant recovery. Positioning determines shot quality; it is one of the most neglected training areas.
Frequently asked questions
Which grip should a beginner learn?
The shakehand grip, the global standard: beginners start here. Keep it relaxed and neutral, because a grip that is too tight kills the wrist snap.
Which strokes should players learn first?
The base first: FH/BH drive plus FH/BH push. Then the modern weapon, the topspin loop.
What is the difference between a loop and a drive?
Brush contact. A thin, grazing contact gives maximum spin, and that is the concept separating a loop from a drive.
How can a player learn to read spin?
Watch the racket at contact: its direction gives the spin direction, and its speed relative to the ball gives the intensity (fast grazing means heavy spin, thick contact means little or none).
Sources
Larry Hodges / TableTennisCoaching.com · Tom Lodziak · PingSkills · Butterfly Online: reputable independent coaching authorities (non-federation sources flagged as such), cross-checked with ITTF/FFTT frameworks. Verified July 2026.
These skills exist as filterable drills (with progressions and regressions) in the Table tennis training hub.
Last updated: October 2, 2026