(By Larry Hodges)
- Attack first. Most attackers want to attack first.
- Push well. This means low, deep, heavy or varied, quick off the bounce, and to wide angles, with last-second changes of direction.
- Go to his strong side first, when you get to choose the shot. If his strong side is the forehand, then go there, and then come back to the backhand, forcing the forehand attacker to move and play backhand.
- Serve short to his strong side, bringing him over the table, then go deep and wide to the other side.
- Fast, breaking serves to the weak side. If he has a big forehand, serve deep and very wide to the backhand so the ball breaks away even wider – making it very difficult for him to play forehand. (If he does, develop a fast down-the-line serve with the same motion, and ace him when he moves too soon.) If he’s stronger on the backhand, set up on your forehand side and do a deep sidespin serve to his wide forehand (such as a tomahawk serve), so it breaks even wider.
