Infotainment Resource

You should be prepared to play ping-pong just like you are mentally prepared for any other sport. Preparing early is a big step forward, and a good way to do this is to study how your opponent plays so you can understand where they are weak points are and what their strengths are. It is not entirely necessary to prepare like that though, as you can determine what their strength and weaknesses are simply by being the "Explorer".

Your main tactic as the Explorer, is to get a feel for your opponent by sending them at many different types of shots. If you wish to be an effective explorer, you are going to have to use many different types of shots, such as loops, counter drives, drives, blocks, pushes, spins, and other types of shots.

By doing this, you will be able to adjust quickly and determine what shots are your opponent's weakness. Try varying the different speeds at which you get the ball, and used many different types of serves as well.

As was previously mentioned, this is going to help you narrow down exactly what your opponent strong points and weak points are. This is going to allow you to be the aggressor and concentrate on sending your opponent balls and serves that they are weakest against.

For instance, if you notice that your opponent can't ever hit the ball from your backhand, try to send them more hits from the backhand. Another strategy is by forcing your game to your opponent right at the start of the game and adjust your plays or tactics as you go. This is known as the "dominator" trait.

A dominator will come into the game and use their best shot straight off the bat. This method will force your opponent to make adjustments to how you play and not vice versa. Even though this can truly be an advantage for you, you also need to be able to adjust to how your opponent plays as well. If you aren't able to adjust to your opponent's shots, then this will probably mean the loss of the game for you.

My being in a dominator, you are going to need to bring your best shots out first and be able to make adjustments according to how your opponent responds to your shots.

Now, try to figure out whether you are an explorer or a dominator. If you are going to become a good ping-pong player, you're going to have to learn how to mix both styles together so that you can make adjustments to your opponent rapidly.

So it really doesn't matter which type of player you are, in the end that you need to learn how to adjust your opponent so that you can come out the victor at the end.