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Chop With Inverted Rubber

Chop With Inverted Rubber

856x480 pixels - 119MB, 30 min

428x240 pixels - Part 1 - 31MB, Part 2 - 36MB

Summary Notes

Forehand Chop - Side View

• The swing angle is approaching a 45 degree downward swing, with not much wrist snap.
• The bat face is still fairly vertical, since I am attempting to float the ball, not spin it. A little bit of backspin is still acceptable, since it is very difficult to completely float the ball, and a little backspin will improve my control.
• The stance in the video could be wider, and the knees could be more bent, to improve balance and stroke technique.
• There is not a lot of difference between the way my float chop and standard chop look, which is good, since it makes it harder for my opponent to detect which version I am using.
• The bat is taken up to shoulder level on the backswing, which helps give a better forward swing. It is difficult to get good spin on the ball if not enough backswing is used. Also, it is a good idea to use the same amount of backswing on all your chops - whether they are floated, medium, or heavy backspin. That way your opponent can't tell what spin you are using from the length of your backswing.
• As the spin is increased, the contact with the ball moves further towards the bottom of the ball, and the bat angle also becomes more horizontal.
• Although in the super heavy chop version, I mentally picture myself contacting the ball at the bottom of the ball with a very horizontal swing, in actual fact the swing angle is not that much different. What does change is that I am trying to take a very thin brush of the ball towards the bottom of the ball, giving a very heavy spin.
• You should also change your swing speed at times, so that your opponent can't always tell what spin you are using by the speed of your swing. So occasionally swing quickly when floating the ball, or swing slower but use a fast wrist snap when attempting to spin the ball heavily.
• Notice that at the top of my backswing I use a semi-circular motion to change from swinging up to swinging down. This keeps my bat in motion at all times. It's not an essential technique though, just a personal habit, so you could (and some would say you should) swing up, then pause, then swing back down along the same swing angle. The downswing is still essentially a straight line when viewed from the side.
• My wrist is usually used in the same line as the swing, to add spin. By changing the angle of my wrist snap a little, sidespin can be added to the ball, making it more difficult for the opponent to read the amount of backspin.

Forehand Chop - Front View

• The ball is taken generally between the knee and hip. Many modern defenders take the ball earlier and higher, while in the past more traditional defenders took the ball lower and later. Taking the ball early is more aggressive and puts more pressure on your opponent, but is also more difficult to do.
• When you are unbalanced, it may be better to stick with your standard safety chop. When you are well balanced, it is then a good time to start looking at spinning the ball more heavily.

Backhand Chop - Side View

• The stance in this video is far too narrow, due to tired legs at the end of a hard day. This affects my balance and recovery speed, as well as making it more difficult to get down to low balls.
• Get the bat back into position as early as possible, rather than waiting until the last moment to bring the bat back.
• In comparison to the forehand backswing, the backhand backswing is basically straight up and back and then straight down again, without the little semi-circle at the top of the swing. Again, this is just my personal technique - there would not be anything particularly wrong with using a little loop motion at the top of the backswing. Don't ask me why I do the little semi-circle on the forehand but not the backhand!
• In terms of deception, it is better to have a medium backspin ball that your opponent thinks is light backspin, then it is to produce a superheavy backspin ball that is obviously superheavy spin, or a float ball that is obviously a float. So you do not have to always use extremes of no spin or heavy spin to produce good results with your deception.

Backhand Chop - Front View

• For the backhand chop away from the table, the stroke is played in a fairly traditional backhand stance, roughly at 45 degrees to the table, with the left foot behind the right foot. This is different to my pushes close to the table on the backhand side, where I use a forehand stance. There are a couple of reasons for this - firstly, since the contact point for the long range backhand chop is more to the left side of the body, and also taken later and more in line with the body from a depth point of view, the traditional stance is more comfortable and gives better technique. Secondly, because I am far away from the table, I have plenty of time to move back into my basic stance after the stroke.
• For shorter balls, I will occasionally step forward with the left foot to take the ball (ending up in a square stance), and sometimes step forward with the right foot to take the ball with a traditional backhand stance. You can get away with stepping in with the left foot to chop the short balls, since the contact point (when viewed from the side) will be in front of the body, and not in line with the body. But it is probably better to step in with the right foot if you have time to do so. You will see top choppers use both techniques, depending on how much time they have to play the ball, and how good their balance is at that point in the rally.
• The standard chop with inverted on the backhand is generally used by me to get some deception without taking a big risk. The bat is twiddled from the long pips that I usually use on the backhand, and a standard safe chop is played. I am hoping that my opponent may not notice the twiddle at all, or that he may notice the twiddle but still guess incorrectly how much spin I am putting on the ball, since he is used to the chop with my long pips.
• Normal spin variation with the inverted rubber  is possible of course. Another good option (although a little more difficult) is to chop the ball heavily with my long pips on the backhand, then twiddle and float the ball with the inverted. There is a good chance of getting my opponent to pop the ball up or hit the ball off the end of the table, if he misreads the spin a little.
• Don't forget that the swing speed, contact height, amount of brush, wrist snap, and forearm snap can all be varied to help vary your return and provide better deception.
• Try to avoid having any obvious signs of a particular spin - don't always swing slower when floating the ball, or faster when spinning heavily. The same goes for your contact height or the size of your backswing.

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