By Carl Danner

Most points in competitive table tennis matches are decided in the first several shots. But many players neglect an important dimension of the serve and its return, and may cost themselves matches as a result.

The key is this: Are you more comfortable beginning your attack against topspin, or underspin? Most of are better either one way, or the other.Too many of us also don’t think about which way works best, or what we can do with our serves and service returns to encourage the attacking opportunities we want. For example, I have often seen players (including highly-coached juniors) repetitively serving underspin, and then struggling to hit an opening loop against the underspin push they get back. If they land their loop, these same players might play very well against their opponent’s topspin returns in the rally that might follow. But by choosing to serve underspin, too many points are lost in the initial effort to get to the type of strokes they really wish to play.

Similarly, is your opponent more comfortable opening against topspin, or underspin? Here again, most players are stronger either one way, or the other. So your choice of how to play the points can also hinder your opponent.

To benefit from this idea, you need some match intelligence — both on yourself, and on opponents. Just being aware of this dimension can help you appreciate your own strengths, and preference. Watching some frequent opponents play against others can be an eye-opener, if you have never observed in this way before. Once you know what seems best for a given encounter (topspin or underspin), it’s not that difficult to modify your service pattern in the right direction, or to decide whether rolls and flips should replace pushes in your returns. Ideally, you should be able to play well both against topspin and underspin, while matching up your choice of services and returns to a consistent approach for a given opponent.

Not only can you play better by paying attention to how points are opened, but you may have more fun in rallies that are more comfortable for your style. Give this approach a try, and put some more wins in your pocket and some more smiles on your face!