How to Beat Blockers in Table Tennis

Last Updated on April 26, 2024 by Alex Horscroft

Blockers are some of the most frustrating players to play against. Whatever you throw at them, the ball just seems to come right back at you! It’s like you’re playing a brick wall! 

While they may seem difficult to overcome at first glance, blockers are some of the easiest types of players to beat in my opinion. There are many avenues to defeating a blocker: topspin variation, wide placement, and slow spinny loops to name a few. What’s key to note is that blockers like controlled topspin, especially if it’s consistent.    

Below I detail why these players can be so intimidating to play against and outline all of my strategies for defeating them. This is info I’ve garnered after playing for 15 years, so you don’t want to miss out!  

Strengths of Blockers in Table Tennis

1. Consistency

When it comes to consistency, blockers are up there with the best. They can return almost anything you throw at them bar a winner. 

Blockers make few mistakes and one of their main strategies is to simply outlast you. This means a good chunk of their points come from unforced errors. You may think that you can outlast a blocker, but ask yourself: what is more difficult, a block or a drive/loop? It’s the former every day of the week. 

This means if you can’t generate enough spin and speed to make blocks challenging, you’ll likely make a mistake before a blocker will. Remember, blockers love topspin, if you don’t use it, they can’t block.

2. Using Your Own Pace Against You

Generating good levels of speed usually requires a long stroke or swift stroke motion. This takes time to perform and makes it easy to identify the shot during the backswing and the stroke itself. Yet when it comes to blocks, there may be no stroke motion at all. It’s instant. The blocker simply gets their paddle behind the ball and lets the pace on the ball do all the work. 

As a result, these fast balls seemingly come out of nowhere, and it can be difficult to react quickly enough to make a return. Therefore, it’s important to be aware that your speed is potentially as much a weakness to you as it is to your opponent. 

3. Patient

Blockers love to get into a groove and wait for a mistake. They’re not trying to hit winners like you or I, and they won’t get frustrated by whatever comes their way. As rallies extend longer than you feel they should, you’ll likely get frustrated but they will be perfectly content.

How to Beat Blockers in Table Tennis 

1. Bide Your Time & Hit Winners

While easier said than done, winners are one of the best ways to overcome blockers. They can return most of whatever you give them, but a well-placed powerful loop or smash is likely beyond their capabilities. 

So rather than looping or driving every ball you can with conviction, instead, play more methodically. Keep the rally alive, and then attack the right ball with everything you have!

2. Slow & Spinny Loops

The reason blockers love balls with speed is that they can use it against you. Take that away, and their blocks are easy to return. Of course, a slow loop doesn’t offer you much either — they’ll return it with ease, so switch your focus to spin instead. 

A slow spinny loop can be very difficult to return, especially for penholders, and the ball may pop up high which sets you up for a winner. On the flip side, this doesn’t work so well against short pips and long pips, so work out which rubbers your opponent is using.

3. Incorporate Sidespin Into Your Loops

One of the best strategies against blockers that never seems to get talked about is introducing some sidespin into your loops. 

This causes the ball to swerve either left or right as it bounces, and it can be very jarring for blockers. Taking the ball early works against them here. Conventional loopers strike the ball later, so it’s much easier to see the ball’s path.

4. Vary Your Topspin

Another awesome game plan is to mix up the topspin you produce. Blockers thrive on rhythm, so make it messy! By using a full topspin range of spin from slow & spinny openers to flat-hit smashes, you’ll give them the toughest time possible. 

5. Always Think About Placement

While blockers will be better on both flanks than most other styles, you should still consider placement for every ball you hit. Aiming wide is a good universal strategy. For shakehanders, you may also want to play fast balls into the crossover to catch them choosing between forehand and backhand. Don’t use this on traditional penholders, though, as they don’t have a crossover.

To learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of each grip, give my table tennis grip guide a look over. 

6. Push As Needed

The great thing about playing blockers is that you get to decide how a rally plays out. Many won’t attack, so you’re free to bide your time and wait for the right moment.

However, if you’re worried that they might throw a drive or smash your way, you can opt to push instead. This almost guarantees passive play on their part. And then when you’re ready, you can hit a strong loop opener. 

7. Force Them Away From the Table

Blockers like to stand close to the table and take the ball early — it gives you less time to react to their shot. By forcing them to take a step or two back you not only give yourself increased time to use more powerful shots, but you also open up better angles for you to exploit. 

8. Tempt Them to Attack 

Although I don’t recommend this as your main strategy, I’ve seen it bear fruit in the past. Many blockers are pretty pants when it comes to attacking, plain and simple. Yet like all other players, they can’t help but bite when a seemingly easy attacking opportunity presents itself.

By tempting them to attack, you take them out of their comfort zone. They may get goaded into an attacking exchange or simply make a mistake.  

The key to making this strategy work is:

1. Playing a blocker who has a poor attack
2. Giving them a good attacking opportunity, but not one where they can hit the ball past you

The Worst Strategy That Too Many Players Use…

Lots of players simply attack every ball they can with lots of pace. They don’t think about variation. They don’t think about placement. And ultimately, they end up paying the price for it.

To beat blockers, you need a sound plan, and every attack needs to be meaningful. If it’s predictable and controlled, you’re playing into a blocker’s hands.

The Blocker in Action

This is a match between an attacker and a mixed player. He has short pips on the backhand and long pips on the forehand. I’d largely classify him as a blocker, but he does use other shots too, such as pushes, chops, and drives. 

Given the combination of rubbers, this is quite a difficult player to face. Slow spinny loops are not the greatest strategy here. Instead, well-selected explosive loops are the best shot to use. If I were playing, I’d push to the long pips side as the spin reversal would give me either a topspin or no spin ball. This is the perfect time to execute a loop kill. 

Closing Thoughts

Although blockers can throw some of your best shots right back at you, there are many weaknesses that you can exploit. There’s a reason all of the top players in the world are attackers — it’s a superior style, provided you know what you are doing.

With the eight strategies I’ve outlined in this guide, you have many avenues for success. So fear blockers no more, take control, and don’t attack every ball you see. 

*Cover image provided by XIAOYU TANG under a CC BY_SA 2.0 license | unedited

Next Lessons

Some blockers may adopt a more offensive style at times, switching to drives when they receive a poor ball. That’s why it may be useful to learn how to beat counter-drivers. 

Blockers are also consistent by nature, so they tend to be very good at pushing too. For this, my guide on beating pushers should come in handy.