The article on basic wrist management mentioned three basic methods of using the wrist during a table tennis stroke, but I only explained the first two in detail. Now it's time to take a more in-depth look at the third method – using last moment changes in wrist angle to deceptively change the direction of the ball.
Method 3 - Deceptively Changing the Direction of the Ball
This usually refers to a last moment change in the angle of the wrist, causing the ball to be sent in a different direction to that expected by the opponent, from a left/right perspective. When performed correctly, this is very difficult for the opponent to deal with, since the player's body language and stroke technique makes it look like the ball is going to be hit in one direction, encouraging the opponent to start moving in that direction, and then with a tiny change in wrist angle the ball is suddenly sent the other way.The downside with this use of the wrist is that it is very easy to make a mistake when attempting to combine the last moment change of wrist angle with the rest of the swing, resulting in the ball going into the net, off the table, or even causing the player to miss the ball completely. Essentially this technique can be categorized as moderate risk but high reward.
Theoretically, it is also possible to use a last moment change in wrist angle in a forwards/backwards manner to change the tilt of the racket and thus the power to spin ratio, resulting in either a slower, spinnier ball than expected, or a faster, less spinny stroke than expected. In practice, this method tends to be used to make smaller changes which are harder to see than larger changes, which are more obvious to the opponent.
Adding Method 3 to Methods 1 and 2
Once a player has successfully learnt to combine Methods 1 and 2 of wrist usage together at will, it is time to start adding Method 3 to to the mix.This will typically cause the player to make many extra mistakes as he learns how to successfully incorporate deceptive last moment changes in racket angle, but once mastered, the player will typically take a big step forward in his progress, since it greatly increases the amount of pressure that can be placed on the opponent.
One important thing to note is that the difficulty of performing Method 3 with left/right changes in placement increases greatly whenever there is a significant amount of sidespin on the ball. This is because the change in wrist angle must be correctly matched to the sideways curving of the ball's flight, which is a lot more difficult to do compared to a ball that has only pure backspin or topspin with no sidespin. In addition, it is much more difficult to make successful contact when the the ball is curving in the same direction as the player is trying to switch to at the last moment (e.g. the ball is curving from the player's left to right, and the player wants to pretend he is hitting to his left, with a last moment change to the right), since the ball and racket face start to get closer to parallel to each other. In other words, when your opponent plays a typical hook forehand loop, curving the ball from your left away to your right, it's quite difficult to pretend to aim at his wide forehand but switch at the last moment to his wide backhand, since the angle of your racket means that your hitting area reduces to a small fraction of the overall racket face.
Remember that this technique does not have to be performed on every stroke, so you can pick and choose the situations where you are most comfortable at using this technique. As your skill improves, you will be able to successfully use this technique more often.
Other Advanced Wrist Techniques
While the method outlined above is the most common advanced method of using the wrist, it is by no means the only high level way of using your wrist to improve your play. Here's some other methods that are also useful, although not as commonly used.- Beginning the stroke with a big, obvious wrist cock, but actually snapping the wrist before or after making contact with the ball. This produces a ball with much less spin and speed than would be expected from the size of the wrist cock. This is a favorite technique employed by defensive players when chopping away from the table.
- Beginning the stroke with only a small amount of wrist cock, but using a very powerful, short and quick wrist snap at contact. This produces a ball with more spin and speed than expected, but it does require a strong wrist to perform successfully. Care must be taken to stop the wrist snap quickly, or else the change in racket speed will be fairly obvious to the opponent.
- Pulling the wrist back just before contact with the ball. This technique is usually used to produce much less speed than expected, such as a sudden drop shot when the opponent is moving backwards to handle an expected strong shot. This is very difficult technique to perform when used to reduce the amount of spin, and I wouldn't recommended trying it.
- Loosening the wrist and grip, which is used to deaden the contact with the ball, generally when attempting to play a touch stroke such as a drop shot or short push, or a soft block against a hard attack. This can be a useful and effective technique, but it does require practice to be able to produce a consistent effect from the loosened grip and wrist.
