Tournament Tips
Jackie Lee
7/16/2008

1. Try to always return back to neutral after every shot. Neutral means having the elbow up and in front of you.
2. Bend your knees when in a receiving stance, rather than bending over at the hip.
3. When serving, it is a good idea to pause for a second before tossing the ball up to serve. The pause will help focus on the serve and concentrate what you will do in the following point.
4. When looping against backspin with the forehand, the key to creating power is to bend your left knee at 90 degrees.
5. When flipping or pushing, really try to move closer to the ball, keeping your head close to your racket.
6. When looping with your backhand, remember to turn your waist and use your elbow as a pivot to generate power.
7. When playing a match, there are waves of momentum between both players. If you feel like you need to break their momentum, use your towel. You can use it every 6 points. Take this time to think about what you can do and sometimes, all you need is a breather to stop your opponent's momentum.
8. Learn how to serve with your backhand. It does not even have to be great, and it can score you a lot of points. The reason for that is because people in the U.S. are used to receiving forehand serves and even the simplest backhand serve will throw them off.
9. One of the most basic strategies to use against all players is to play to their middle/elbow. What do you do when they go to your middle? The key to hitting the ball from the middle is having enough distance from the ball. This, of course, goes hand in hand with footwork, speed, and strength.
10. When people push hard, they commonly only think to push heavy backspin. It is good to always change and push no spin, making your heavy backspin push much more effective.
11. Many people focus on practicing their power shots— loops and smashes. But what they don't realize is that they may never use that shot in a match if the opportunity never arises (for example, if their opponent only pushes short and keeps taking the attack away). That is why it is just as important to practice the “small” things in table tennis such as the short push. At every session, it would be beneficial to practice pushing short for 5 mins.
12. When people lose, they always say, “Oh I played SO bad.” Well, unfortunately, you might only play great for 10% of the time. For example, let's say in one year you play 100 matches. Out of 100 matches, you will play your absolute best in 10 of those matches. What happens to the other 90 matches? Is it okay to just lose because you were playing bad? Well, no…not to great athletes anyways. A part of being good is being able to struggle through the bad and rough times. Anyone can win and play great when everything goes their way. The true test of a great athlete is taking a fight even when they are not at their best—surviving even through the hardest struggles.

Jackie Lee’s Equipment

[Playing Tips.]