How to Do a Table Tennis Forehand Smash | Ping Pong

Put some Spin on that Backhand:

Ping pong is enjoying a surge in popularity and professional tennis table player Tahl Leibovitz is here to help you jump on the bandwagon. In this video, he'll teach you how to do a forehand smash.

My name is Tahl Leibovitz and I'm here at SPiN, New York. I am a professional table tennis player who has been competing internationally since 1995. I am here today to speak to you about the intermediate and beginner aspects of the Olympic sport of table tennis. Okay I'm gonna demonstrate the forehand smash. What's really really important in not only the forehand smash but everything in table tennis is to be able to pass through the ball, especially on the forehand. You need to get the racket to pass through the ball quickly. Okay and the way we do this, it depends on the ball that we get. Now, if somebody's giving us a normal ball we're gonna start here, we're gonna get our shoulder back a little bit, and we're just gonna try to smash through the ball, just like this. Now, if somebody gives us an under spin ball we're gonna smash, but our racket face is gonna be open a little so we can hit the bottom of the ball. And if somebody gives us a top-spin ball we're gonna smash on top of the ball. But the main key with the forehand smash is to be able to get the racket to pass through the ball. You start with your right leg behind you, you have your shoulder back a little bit, and you transfer your weight from left to right. Transfer. The forehand stroke is a very important stroke in table tennis, and we use the forehand smash to, usually, win the point. So we, we try to smash through the ball, the ball travels very fast. And the forehand smash was very effective in the 1970's and the 1980's. It's still very effective today, but the forehand smash is mainly used in order to finish the point, to try to win the point.

[itskelvinn]

Is it just me or are his arms extremely short

[BCBBCL]

He said that if your opponent gives you a backspin ball you need to hit the ball in a different angle in order to counteract the spin. What he said is completely CORRECT!

[CarsMusic]

because the back-spin of the ball will actually counteract the angle of the racket. if the racket was vertical, the ball would grip the racket and just dive downwards after contact

[henochgirma]

Very useful video but which corner of the table should you stand if you are left handed

[RUGGEDBREED]

Good technique, I tried this at home and I beat my cousin for 25 dollars, thank you for this wonderful video, I hope to beat Roger Federe one day

[mayurpiprottar]

Can you demonstrate how to play smash on Backspin ball ?

[jhonpeter]

thnx for the that, i have a table tennis competition in 2 weeks at my school from year 8-12 table tennis is a great game to play and hopefully if i get win, and one day win the world championship cheers!

[ryuzen]

Lmao who noticed the background picture . The guy eating the table tennis racket

[AkashKevat-kszu]

Who is watching this video in the year of 2024 😅😅😅

[jadamitis]

your grip is really bad and why do you come full body when you smash? your recover time will take way to long if it comes back

[immmoud]

i am a very beggenir ping pong player can you tell me some tips on how my body should look like and about the strenght and is the body important to play ping pong or no?? i am 14 and 6 month

[tourzo]

NICE IM GOING TO A COMPETITION SOON ANY TIPS?

[therightgame]

i don't get it, how can you smash the ball when you hit under the ball?

[mayankgupta]

what exaclty is the point of contact on the racket, is it right at the center or a little bit below the center closer towards the edge of the racket, where is it exactly because i find it difficult to control especially when i see u guys hitting as if no matter how hard you hit the ball it will always land on the table on the other hand i keep thinking of the racket angle, power, point of contact and which is why a lot of time is wasted on just thinking all this thing to make sure ball lands on the other side of the table. Please clearify my doubt if possible!!

[rexyboi]

Can you give tips for better use of pen hand grip

[calebconner]

I don't see why some pros don't "drop it in" and hit it soft when there opponent is so far back

[Valerieee]

How do you smack with the pen hold way? I'm holding the pen hold way I do not know how to smack

[visibledib]

Bro looks like if he was john nash but 5''4

[miltontordas]

because he does't know what he is talking about. If you are going to get a hard stroke on a underspin ball you have play it like a hard loop.

[SUNIT]

Sorry but the information here isn't quite correct. The "loop"is the preferred stroke against backspin balls (not the stroke described at 0:50). In the current TT meta where inverted rubber is preferred brushing is far more important than passing through the ball (0:27). Furthermore in such a play style smashes are only employed against high balls with a completely different setup and stroke from what is described here. The stroke described here would be appropriate for players employing aggressive short pips on the forehand (Mattias Karlsson comes to mind as a current player using this style), a rather uncommon play style. I'm afraid that this video would be extremely misleading and unhelpful for beginners who intend to develop a solid foundation and technique for table tennis.