Do you want to be good at your table tennis gameplay? Are you not sure about the skills that are more important and vital in most parts of the ping pong game? There are 4 basic shots you should learn to be good in ping pong i.e., forehand drive, backhand drive, forehand push, and backhand push. In this article, I will explain to you the table tennis forehand drive technique. It is one of the four.
Following are the other three important shots in table tennis. Check out!
What is forehand drive in table tennis?
Table tennis forehand drive is an aggressive technique that is used to attack the opponent player. It demands high practice and good coaching to master it. It has less margin of error. When you hit the ball from the back foot with your forehand with force, the ball should hit near the sideline or the baseline. If the ball hits near the sideline or baseline, it makes it difficult for the opponent to pick the length of the ping pong ball. Returning the ball with such speed and accuracy requires a hell of skill.
Forehand drive lesson
- Put your weight on the backfoot while playing this shot.
- Bend your knees a little to generate force and make the body in line with the ball.
- Point your shoulder towards the ball which will make your position sideways.
- Lean body forwards.
- Rotate slightly backward from the hip.
- Try to hit the ball when it is at its highest point.
- The ball should be near your body.
- To generate power, keep a gap between the playing elbow and the body. Don’t minor the gap.
- Move your free arm towards the ball when the ball is ready for the strike.
- Rotate your body forwards pointing towards the opponent when you strike the ball.
- Before hitting the ball, your body weight should be at the backfoot while hitting shift it from the back foot to the front foot.
- Follow the path of the ball towards the target point with the table tennis paddle.
The table tennis forehand drive video illustration is below!
Forehand drive table tennis drawing
The forehand table tennis drive drawing is below!
What to avoid while playing ping pong forehand drive
- Make a balance on the shot, don’t make more angle of the ping pong paddle downwards. It increases the chances to strike the ball in the net.
- Be fast in your recovery because table tennis is a quick game and needs agility.
- Don’t lose the peak of the ball because at that point, you can execute this shot effectively.
Table tennis forehand drive drills
There are many drills to describe but i’ll only explain the main ones.
- At the playing area, play shots at varying speeds, and keep in view the above-mentioned forehand drive lessons.
- The ball should be pitching in the middle of the table at a slow speed firstly. Then increase it to a moderate speed. Try the forehand drive with the same posture. It would be difficult at first to execute the shot while maintaining the posture but this forehand drive drill will make this posture a habit while playing this shot.
- Hit the ball angled and try to hit it near the lines of the opponent’s end.
- Drill receiving the ball from an angled point pitching near the sidelines. Hit the same shot.
- Remain in the posture described above in every drill.
Importance of forehand drive in table tennis
As I have mentioned that table tennis forehand drive technique is one of the four basic shots you need to learn to be a good player. Mastering this shot requires skill and practice but once mastered, it is lethal. Forehand drive generates speed with accuracy that provides a little room for the opponent player to return it. Even if he returns it, it would be a loose shot. So, you can dominate the next shot as well.
