What Are You Looking for?
When scouting your opponent, what are you trying to do? The main aim should be to gather as much useful information as possible about him, so that you can come up with a tactical plan (or plans) to use against him in your upcoming match, and which will give you the best possible chance of winning. I've discussed the subject of making your tactical plans here.So here is a comprehensive list of things that you should be taking note of to help you make your plans as good as possible:
Patterns
What are his favorite patterns? This includes:- What are his best serve and follow up routines? A short no-spin serve to the forehand followed up with a third ball kill of his opponents flick? A double-bounce sidespin-backspin serve to the playing elbow followed up by a heavy spin loop to the sidelines, and a fifth ball kill?
- How does he return service? Short and tight? Push long then counterattack? Loop anything in sight? Forehand or backhand? How does he shut down his opponent's attacks and take the initiative? What ratio of flicks to pushes does he use on short serves?
- Rallying - what is he comfortable doing? Does he like loop to loop rallies from a distance, or does he stay close and block? Does he run around the backhand to hit his forehand, or is he equally strong from both wings? Is there anything that he obviously doesn't like?
- Favorite shots - does he have any? Does he have a point-winner that he uses often (and is it really as good as he thinks it is)? Does he try to use it too often - if he does you may be able to tempt him to use it at the wrong time. And conversely, any shots that he is really bad at? Could you force him to play them during a match? How?
- Best shot - what is his best shot in your opinion? Does he use it as much as he should? Try not to give him the opportunity to use it too much.
- Tactics - is he willing to change tactics and play a different game if that is what is necessary to win? Or does he stay with his own style and tactics regardless of the situation? This is handy to know, because if he never changes, once you can find a winning set of tactics they should work well for a long time.
- Pace - does he favor a fast or slow pace between points? Or does he play fast when on top and slow the match down when losing? Be aware of the speed he likes to play, and try to play at your speed instead.
- Watch him play, and see whether you can guess which serves he will make, which return of serves he will use, and what follow-ups. Visualize that you are facing him at the time - is he doing what you would expect from what you know of his game? If not, why not?
Pressure
- What serves or service returns does he use when the match is close (ie at 9-9 in the seventh)?
- What patterns does he favor under pressure?
- Does he get more aggressive, play safer, or seem unaffected by the score?
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Does he make more mistakes or play better under pressure?
- If he plays worse, make sure that you keep him aware of your desire to win and let him know you are fighting hard during the whole match - it might just make him tighten up. Also, if you can keep in touch with him during the match, you should have an advantage due to the pressure he will be feeling.
- If he plays better, don't show too much outward intensity - you could end up lifting his game - play hard but keep it under the surface. Don't give him an excuse to fire up.
Mistakes
- Can you see any pattern to his mistakes? If so, can you identify the cause? If you are able to work out what is causing his mistake you can attempt to repeat the cause yourself.
- For example, if you notice that your future opponent consistently misses his forehand flick because he tries to hit it with too much power, you could serve often to the forehand with heavy backspin/sidespin and occasional pure sidespin, and leave an opening in your forehand side, to tempt him to try to flick the ball for a winner. He should be likely to hit the backspin serve into the net, and the sidespin only serve off the end of the table.
