We often talk about the attack: attacking playing style, using an offensive blade, attaching with a fast/grippy rubber.
However, what is the attack in table tennis? It’s all about First Speed and Second Speed.
First Speed refers to how fast the ball goes after you hit it, the higher First Speed is, the quicker your ball will land your opponent’s table.
Second Speed means how fast the ball goes after it bounces at your opponent’s table, the higher Second Speed is, the quicker your ball will bounce away from where it lands.
You can never have both of them together, you will always need to think about the balance between them.
If you want more First Speed you need to move your arm more forward to generate and transfer power to the ball rather than swing your bat side to side to create more spin.
If you want more Second Speed you need to use your bat to chop the ball which means you will not hit the ball with your bat facing straight to it.
It is like a mathematical formula:
First Speed + Second Speed + power loss = Power you generate.
Different balance means different strategies.
Choosing the right blades and rubbers will not help you to generate more power, what they will do is to create more spin when you go for the First Speed or make the ball goes faster when you chop it, and at the same time, to reduce the loss.
