How to Beat a Blocker in Table Tennis: 4 Real Tactics
A good blocker returns most attacks, often faster and better placed than you sent them, and it is tempting to keep hitting harder. The tactics below follow the coaching article “Tactics for beating a blocker” by Tom Lodziak (tabletenniscoach.me.uk), which advises varying your placement, spin and speed and recovering quickly after every attack. Points that go beyond that article are marked as general advice.
Short answer: Vary your placement (deep, wide or at the playing elbow, avoiding the middle of each side), vary your spin and speed, be prepared for a point to take several attacks, and recover your position quickly after every shot. These are the tactics in Tom Lodziak’s coaching article on beating a blocker.
Table of Contents
Why Pure Power Is Rarely the Answer Against a Blocker
Lodziak describes blockers as using your own speed and spin against you: they can rush you, slow you down and move you around the table. As general reasoning, hitting harder and flatter gives a blocker more pace to redirect, which is why this guide focuses on variation rather than power.
Tactic 1: Vary Your Placement, Avoid the Middle
Lodziak calls the middle of each side of the table the “buckets”: balls that bounce there come onto a blocker’s bat perfectly, and the blocker barely has to move. His advice is to attack deep, which forces a blocker backward, or wide, which forces sideways movement. He also recommends attacking the playing elbow with speed, because the blocker has to decide between forehand and backhand and has far less time to react. One caution from an archived PingSkills coach reply to a reader question: do not play too many wide balls unless you can finish the rally, because a blocker can use your placement to out-place you.
💡 Pro tip: Think in terms of forcing movement, not just finding an open spot. As general reasoning, a blocker who has to move may find it harder to keep a stable base.
Tactic 2: Mix Your Spin and Speed
Lodziak says it is easier for a blocker if you always attack with the same speed and spin, because they know what to expect, set their bat angle and keep blocking. If you mix up the speed and spin of your attacks, they have to keep changing their bat angle, timing and stroke length. In his experience, blockers are more comfortable with fast, spinny topspins but can struggle with slow, spinny topspins and flatter attacks, so he suggests trying different things to keep them guessing. An archived PingSkills coach reply gives the same advice, to vary spin, speed and placement, and notes that blockers often like the ball coming fast because they use your speed.
Tactic 3: Stay Patient, Expect Multiple Attacks Per Point
Lodziak notes that you may have to play 3, 4, 5 or more attacks to win the point against a blocker. As general advice, that means not treating every attack as the point-ender: a rushed, low-percentage winner on the first chance hands the ball straight back to a player who returns most balls. Building pressure over several shots and waiting for a better ball is one way to apply this.
📊 Note: Patience here doesn’t mean passive play, it means controlled aggression. You’re still attacking on nearly every ball; you’re just not trying to end the point prematurely with a low-odds shot when a slightly better opportunity is one exchange away.
Tactic 4: Recover Immediately After Every Attack
Lodziak calls failing to recover “the number one mistake players make against blockers”: they attack expecting to win the point, the ball is blocked back, and they are out of position to attack again. His advice is to always expect the ball to come back and to recover quickly after each attack so you are ready to attack again.
What a Blocker Is Actually Doing to You
In Lodziak’s description, a blocker stays close to the table and returns lots of attacks, using your own speed and spin against you. As general reasoning, a block with a short stroke borrows the pace you gave the ball rather than generating its own, so varying your pace and spin takes away something the blocker depends on.
Watching the First Few Points
Rather than committing to one fixed game plan before a match starts, it is worth treating the opening points as information gathering: does this blocker struggle more with deep balls, wide balls or spin variation? Adjusting to what happens in the first few exchanges is more reliable than assuming every blocker has the same weaknesses, since the tactics above are general starting principles and not a formula that works identically against every blocker.
The Serve-and-Third-Ball Setup Against a Blocker
As general advice, the serve and the next shot are chances to get ahead in the point before the blocker settles into a rhythm, because a blocker’s strengths show once a rally is underway. A well-placed serve that draws a weak, high or short return gives you a first attack.
Physical Conditioning and Staying Unpredictable
Lodziak notes that playing a good blocker can be exhausting. As general reasoning, points that run to several attacks plus recovery movement are physically demanding, and a tired player tends to fall back on easier, more predictable shots, which works against the variation described above.
⚠️ Watch out: If your attacks become more predictable late in a long match against a blocker, fatigue may be one reason. Conditioning work outside match play can help you keep varying your shots.
A Common Mistake: Attacking the Same Winning Spot Repeatedly
It is a natural instinct to keep attacking whatever spot just worked. Lodziak describes falling into this himself: he kept attacking a training partner’s forehand because it was the position he was most comfortable attacking, but it was also comfortable for the blocker, who knew where the ball was going. When he attacked both sides, he had more success. As general advice, avoid leaning on a single winning pattern.
- ✓Attack the playing elbow and the corners rather than the comfortable middle
- ✓Mix fast and spinny, slow and spinny, and flatter attacks so the blocker cannot settle
- ✓Expect and plan for a point to take several consecutive attacking shots
- ✓Recover your base position immediately after every single attack
- ✕Rely on raw power alone against a skilled blocker
- ✕Repeat the exact placement that won you the last point
- ✕Rush a low-percentage winner on the very first attacking opportunity
- ✕Assume a single well-placed attack will consistently end the point
Practicing These Tactics Before You Need Them in a Match
Multiball training, in which a coach or partner feeds a basket of balls in a set pattern, is one way to drill these tactics, because the feeder can place balls in the zones you want to practice attacking (deep, wide, the elbow) without needing a live blocker. Practicing varied placement and pace in low-pressure drills may make it easier to do under match pressure.
It is also worth practicing attack, recover, attack again as one connected sequence rather than drilling attacks and footwork separately, since quick recovery after each attack is one of Lodziak’s tactics.
The Short Version, Restated
Beating a blocker is mainly a variation problem rather than a power problem: mix your placement away from the middle of each side, mix your spin and pace so the blocker cannot settle into a rhythm, be prepared for a point to take several attacks rather than forcing an early winner, and recover fast after every attack so you are ready for the next one. Speed still has a place, since Lodziak recommends attacking the playing elbow with speed, but speed alone is not the plan.
Common Questions
What’s the best way to beat a blocker in table tennis?
Vary your placement, spin, and speed rather than relying on power alone, and stay patient across what’s often a multi-shot exchange rather than trying to end the point on the first attack.
Why does hitting harder not work against a good blocker?
Lodziak describes blockers as using your own speed and spin against you. As general reasoning, more pace gives a blocker more to work with, so variation is usually a better plan than power alone.
Where should I attack against a blocker?
Lodziak recommends deep, wide or at the playing elbow, and avoiding the middle of each side, where balls are the easiest for a blocker to deal with.
How many shots does it usually take to win a point against a blocker?
Tom Lodziak writes that you may have to play 3, 4, 5 or more attacks to win the point against a blocker.
Why is recovery position so important against a blocker?
Lodziak calls failing to recover the number one mistake against blockers: if the ball is blocked back and you are out of position, you cannot attack again.
The Short Version
- →Beating a blocker is about variation, not raw power.
- →Attack deep, wide, or the playing elbow, avoid the comfortable middle.
- →Mix spin and speed to prevent the blocker settling into a rhythm.
- →Be prepared for points to take several attacks, not one winner.
- →Recover your position immediately after every single shot.
- →Avoid repeating the exact placement that just won you a point.
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