How to Master the Table Tennis Forehand Loop: A Comprehensive Guide for All Levels
You've mastered the basic techniques, especially learning the forehand drive tutorial in and out. Now you're ready to start spinning the ball so hard that it seemingly defies physics. It’s time to learn the forehand loop. This tutorial will cover the body mechanics, paddle angle and stroke trajectory, ball contact point and timing, and some drills to help you utilize the forehand loop in real game situations
Understanding the Forehand Loop
It is a heavy top spin, powerful, arching shot used to return any type of spin from any point when the ball bounces off the end line of the table. Name a ball: half long and long serves that come off of the table, long pushes, blocks, drives, chops, flicks, and other loops, the forehand loop can counter them. This makes it the most heavily used shot in club and professional table tennis. It is the jack of all trades, and when performed properly will open up your game to endless possibilities.
Stance
The basic table tennis stance is discussed in detail in phase 1 of our Free Beginner to Intermediate Table Tennis Lesson Plan
Position to Table
Stand around 1 meter away from the table and position yourself to the forehand corner keeping mind to not stand completely to the side of the table
Technique
Backswing:
As the ball is about to bounce on your side of the table, rotate your shoulders and hips back
Keep your elbow about a fist's width away from the body. Let your arm loosely fall back behind your knee. Your forehand rubber faces towards the field of play
Forward Swing:
As the ball approaches, push your right foot into the ground and allow your hips and shoulders to rotate to the forward-facing position
While your waist and shoulders turn forward your arm naturally comes forward with them and your paddle trajectory should be diagonal upwards as you snap at the elbow into the ball. The muscles in the arm must be relaxed
Hit the ball at the height of its bounce or shortly after at your side. Ensure the racket face is very slightly angled forward (15-20 degrees) to add topspin. Don't close the angle too much as the contact will become too thin causing slippage and hitting the top edge of the racket
Your wrist should be relaxed but firm at the moment of contact. When looping you should hear the ball engaging the rubber and wood equally making a high-pitched clicking sound
Follow-through:
The elbow snap should naturally swing your racket upward and forward, finishing with the paddle nearly in front of your forehead similar to a military salute.
Always complete the stroke to assert maximum topspin to make the ball dive safely back onto the table. Half-completed strokes have half of the spin and often miss the table because they float instead of diving down
Stay loose and prepare for the next ball and begin your backswing quickly to repeat the process
Practice Drills
Shadow Practice:
Without a ball, practice the motion of the forehand loop. Focus on your stance, grip, follow-through and reset in front of a mirror.
Basic Drill:
Stand opposite a partner who will block to your forehand side as you consistently forehand loop with good form at a slow to moderate pace. Only pick up the speed when you can both continually return the ball diagonally without messing up or deviating from the predetermined placement on the table.
Movement Drill:
Have a coach or partner block to your forehand, middle, and even your backhand side. You use small lateral shuffle steps to move into position to forehand loop drive back to the blocker. You are moving but the blocker is blocking from a static point on the table.
Match Play:
Integrate your forehand loop into practice matches. Focus on using it strategically against your opponent's shots and try to place it to different areas of the table
Common Mistakes
Tensing the Body and Arm: Do the technique in a relaxed manner instead of trying to muscle through the shot. Power and speed come from flawless execution and relaxed muscles that can move swiftly. If you find your shot lacks spin, consistency, and endurance, you are likely too tense to create the racket speed needed for quality spin
Forgetting Footwork: Always be ready to move. Don't reach for the ball. Proper footwork is essential for effective striking wherever the ball may land
Racket Angle: Ensure your racket angle is correct at contact. Most people close it too downward which results in slipping because the rubber cannot bite into the ball. For the forehand loop the paddle angle is slightly angled downward to assert a large amount of topspin while hitting diagonally and upwards into the ball.
Incomplete Strokes: You must completely snap your elbow and commit to executing the stroke completely. A half-completed motion will reduce the spin that makes the ball dive back onto the table. You will hit the table more when you commit to spinning
Timing: With the forehand loop it is actually best to let the ball come to you and welcome it with your backstroke. At this point your arm has built elastic tension and can literally slingshot your stroke into the ball. Take the ball at you side when it has reached the height of the bounce or shortly after and see the quality of the loop skyrocket
Conclusion
If you have already developed a good forehand drive, changing the trajectory of the stroke and increasing hip and shoulder rotation should be quite easy when attempting the forehand loop. If you haven't learned the forehand drive, you are missing the foundational stroke mechanics for the loop and may find it extremely challenging to learn. Learning properly in a step-by-step manner is much faster than unlearning bad technique from an out of order training plan.
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