Lesson One
Basic Stroke Production

1. Grip:
   Basically, there are two different ways of holding the bat:

A. European style (shake hand)
B. Chinese style (pen hold).

The player should hold the bat in a relaxed manner and not too tight. The bat should be held between the thumb and the index finger and should not be changed when playing any strokes. The head of the bat should be pointed forward towards the opponent at the ready position.

2. Angle of the bat:
   The angle of the bat is dependent on what strokes you are playing. If the stroke is a (Push shot), then the angle of the bat should be (open); if it is a (drive shot), then the angle of the bat should be (closed).
3. Table position:
   Most players, especially beginners, should stay close to the table to help reduce the element of error.

The player’s feet should be placed slightly wider than the length of their shoulder to help stability.
Both arms should be pointed at the opposition, bent 90 degrees at the elbows. You should not hold your arms too close to your body.
The players should bend their knees like a football goalkeeper and be ready to move to any direction with maximum speed without losing balance. Both feet should be pointed at the opponent at the ready position for receiving serves. Make sure the centre of gravity of the body doesn’t pass the base of support or you lose balance.

4. Basic playing arm position:
   Generally speaking, for producing a stroke, 3 different parts of your arm need to move: first, your initial movement starts with your body then the force would transfer to your shoulder then to your upper arm then to your wrist through your forearm. Beginners should avoid using their wrist unless the coach advises to do so.

Arm position for Forehand drive: When practicing Forehand drive, the angle of your arm from elbow should be about 90 degrees, unless you are in mid-table position which could be about 120 degrees.
You don’t stick your upper playing arm to your body, there should be a gap between your playing upper arm and your body. The non-playing arm should be paralleled with the playing arm especially when playing backhand strokes. The non-playing arm helps to track the oncoming ball and also it helps the rotation of the body and balance.

5. Weight transference:
   The basic principles of many strokes are taught to have forward movement using weight transference of the body to the desired position. When striking a ball, you must move to the ball and not wait until the ball has reached you.
   When transferring your weight, the foot that takes the weight should be pointing at the direction of the weight which is being transferred, with the knees bent over the foot, then to start playing the stroke while transferring your weight onto other leg and forward.
   It is very important right from the beginning to incorporate your body weight transference with the type of stroke you are playing.
6. Eyes tracking ball:
   Most players have no idea of how to track the ball and where to look when striking the ball.
   It is very important to learn to track the ball with your eyes from when it leaves your opponent’s bat to when you are striking the ball, in that way you can tell the speed, spin, the direction of the oncoming ball, and the height of the ball, plus you can see the angle of your bat and so can be adjusted according to the type of ball you are receiving.
   For this purpose, it is advisable to reduce the distance of your head to where you are striking the ball.

Until the next time,
Play well,
Javad

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