Basic Strokes And Skills

The basic strokes are the “meat” of the sport. The majority of your practice time should be spent on developing your strokes until they are “grooved.” You want to do them by automatic response; not thinking about the individual components of the stroke, but rather “feeling” the entire motion. Once the basic strokes are grooved, your time with the robot will be more fun and rewarding and you will be more successful against your opponents in a real match.

Robo-Pong will be especially helpful in learning, then grooving your strokes. Learn the strokes and skills in the order listed. For quickest improvement, acquire consistency with each stroke or skill before starting the next. This manual will first discuss strokes used to return topspin, then will cover strokes used to return backspin. These are followed by chapters discussing serve, serve receive, and footwork—all the basic skills you will need to play well.

The learning process is greatly assisted when you start slowly and simply, then gradually build up your speed, power, and touch as you become more skilled. A common mistake of beginners is hitting the ball too hard. Take your time and learn consistency first, power second.

When you first attempt to hit the ball, your stroke should be very small. Your racket should not travel more than 12 to 18 inches. Only after you have gained control over this short stroke and are able to make the ball go in any direction that you choose, should you attempt to perform a longer stroke. Again, when first learning a stroke or skill, START SLOWLY AND KEEP IT SIMPLE.

A few helpful suggestions when you practice on the robot:

(1) The control settings given are estimates. Exact settings will vary from robot to robot. It may be necessary to slightly adjust the settings from the ones suggested.

(2) All photos and illustrations represent a right handed player. If you’re left handed, substitute left for right and right for left in all directions.

(3) Periodically, you will have to turn off the robot and pick up balls from the floor and reload them into the ball return trays or ball bucket. The more balls you have loaded, the less often you will have to stop and pick up balls. Pong-Pal is an accessory that will make ball pickup quick and easy. It even works when balls roll under your table or other objects.

(4) Remember that another ball is always coming, so don’t stop to pick up a ball that gets past you. If a ball rolls by your feet or lands on the table directly in front of you, quickly brush or kick it away so it won’t distract you.

(5) It is important to learn how to adjust the robot to your skill level. Start with the robot adjusted to the suggested settings. When you acquire consistency at these initial settings, turn the ball frequency and/or ball speed controls up slightly. Practice at this higher speed until you feel comfortable and your strokes are consistent. Never turn the controls up to a level that causes you to lose good form. The idea is to increase the difficulty in such small increments that you hardly notice any difference. If a partner is available, have him/her turn up the controls for you very slowly until you begin to lose consistency.

(6) Keep a player’s logbook with the date, skill practiced, maximum settings you were able to handle comfortably, and number of strokes or patterns you did without missing. By keeping a logbook such as this, you can accurately gauge your progress by looking at your previous maximum settings and comparing those to your current maximums. Sample charts that you can reproduce can be downloaded by clicking here. One note about maximum settings: It is unrealistic to set the ball speed or ball frequency higher than 3–4 when practicing against backspin because similar shots would never occur in a real game.