Session 1: Forehand Drive/Backhand Drive

To kick off yesterday’s table tennis session; we paired up and had a little game to get warmed up before receiving the instructions the lesson’s objectives. The lesson’s objectives were to be able to perform two of the most attacking shots in table tennis, they were: a forehand drive and a backhand drive. The aim of these shots are to hit hit the corners of the table, the key is not to try and hit the ball too hard, but to meet the ball whilst its on its way up. By playing this shot you trying to force your opponent to move around the table. This can be an advantage because by pressuring your opponent they are prone to making more errors in the shot that he/she plays As the majority of the group were not able to perform these shots, our teacher gave us a live demonstration on how to perform these shots. He also gave us certain actions that we needed to think about whilst attempting to perform the shot. The techniques to play this shot were:
1.Ready position: Bat above of the height of the net; feet should be shoulder width apart and in relation to your last target your right foot slightly back; close to the table; leaning slightly forward; weight on the front part of the foot
2.Back-swing: Rotate body to the right at the waist; arm back at the elbow and downwards; closed bat angle; weight moves on to the right leg
3.Forward swing and contact: path of the bat is forward and upwards with slightly closed angle; waist rotate to the left keeping a space between arm and the body (to help with this imagine that there is an orange between arm and the body); weight is transferred from the right leg to the left; contact with the ball at the top of the bounce and in front of the body.
4.Follow through: to the point where bat is pointing in the direction of intended point of play; then return to a neutral ready position using semi-circle move

This shot is one of the more commonly played attacking shots in table tennis. The time during in which this shot would be played is when it comes to the players forehand.The activity that we had taken part in was to help us perform the shot and execute the shot to the most effective place on the table. The activity included placing a circular mat to the right hand side of the player on the table and the same for your opposition. The aim of the game was to perform the forehand drive correctly and try and hit the mat, if succeeded then the person who hit the shot will get 1 point.
The next shot that we had to learn was the backhand drive; another demonstration was given, as was the key coaching point in playing the shot correctly. The same activity was used but the mats were moved to our left, the idea again, was to perform a backhand drive and try and hit the mat, if so then 1 point will be awarded. The technique to play this shot are:
1.Feet shoulder width apart square to the line of play. With the bat held at a slightly closed angle, the stroke starts slightly to the left of the abdominal.
2.Elbow at about 90 degrees slightly lower than the bat and wrist bend downwards.
3.Bat moves forward in an upward direction and striking the back of the ball at the peak of the bounce
4.he wrist should be turning at the point of contact. Free arm should point towards the ball to assist with your balance.

Tactics
The tactics of the forehand/backhand drive is very simple, this is because it is predominantly an attacking shot, so the only time that this shot will be played is when you are taking the game to your opponent and playing offensively.