PHOTO OF THE WEEK
TIP OF THE WEEK
Pick Hit Winners
By Carl Danner
It's a classic sequence -- the defender brings back a low, deep return that puts the attacker on his heels. The attacker pushes high, setting up a spectacular pick-hit kill. The crowd goes wild. Our question is how each player can either avoid, or play better, his role in this little drama.For the defender, the key is concealing the amount of spin on the deep return -- such as by moving your racket quickly just after striking the ball. Fear of looping off the table then makes the attacker tentative, while the lack of spin on your shot will encourage your opponent to err by pushing high. To close the deal on the highlight film, you need to move your feet in quickly when the pop-up push becomes apparent.
For the attacker, the key is shot selection. To return a deep, low chop of indeterminate spin, a push is absolutely the wrong choice -- because you will tend to play it too high and too short to allow for the possible underspin you can't read. (High and short leads right back to the wrong kind of highlight film, at least for you.) Instead, play a soft, deep topspin, ideally to your opponent's backhand hip where he can't easily get leverage on a kill shot. Such a topspin is a high-percentage shot even when the spin is unclear, and will keep your opponent several feet further back than will a push. Also, your shot will carry some indeterminate spin of its own, tossing some useful uncertainty back in your opponent's direction.
Finally, both players should remember that a rushing pick hit can leave its architect in no position to return another shot. For the one hitting, try to contain your exuberance enough to be able to deal with a return, if it should materialize. The one being hit at should relax and just try to get a racket on the ball, since any kind of return could be a winner.