Yesterday I discussed whether or not being left-handed is an advantage, and basically concluded that it was. Today I’m going to talk about how to dispel that advantage and play against us god-forsaken lefties. You can find the article on the benefits of left-handedness here

Get some table time with ‘em:  So, first off is the most obvious one: Get practising with the left-handers at your club. As mentioned yesterday, one of the reasons that the advantage arises is because of the lack of practice against left-handers. If there aren’t any lefties available, you can just mimic the tactics they are likely to use: Get your right-handed pal to pivot round the backhand side and attack your backhand, so you get used to dealing with attacks on the backhand, which your opponent will likely target as your weaker side. 

Work the angles: True, the lefties get more practice against your style of play, but you can still work those angles to your advantage. Generally speaking, from my experience at least, left-handers tend to be vulnerable wide on the forehand. Try working on your backhand, focussing mainly on getting as wide an angle as possible – this is where a robot could come in handy, as you will get loads of repetitions in a short space of time. Alternatively, multiball is always a good substitute.

Make the most of the serve: You need to take control of the points, not allowing your opponent to exercise their powerful forehand into your backhand, and instead attacking them. This all starts with a good serve: Short to the middle should set you up for an attack a lot of the time. There’s also the opportunity for a quick pendulum serve wide to the forehand, which will put your opponent out of position and allow you to dominate. Finally, you could serve from the middle of the table to open up the angles a little more.

Take each opponent as they come: Of course, this is just a general guide. You should spot your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses as usual, and use them to form your tactics. 

Please comment below if you have any questions or suggestions…

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