How to Play a Forehand Smash in Table Tennis

Last Updated on April 25, 2024 by Alex Horscroft

What Is a Forehand Smash?

The forehand smash is your most powerful offensive shot against high balls. It is a fast and long stroke that you hit with the intention of winning a rally.

Far superior to the backhand smash, the forehand smash has more control and is way more powerful as you accumulate significant energy in the build-up phase.

Why Should I Learn the Forehand Smash?

Everyone needs a reliable kill shot — even defenders. And none are easier to learn and more reliable than the forehand smash.

In fact, the forehand smash is so useful that you seldom see the backhand smash in action. This is because for most high balls you have enough time to get around to play your forehand smash, and it’s considerably stronger than the backhand equivalent.

Therefore, by not learning it, you place yourself at a significant disadvantage over most players

When Should I Play a Forehand Smash?

Should

You can perform forehand smashes against any high ball irrespective of its spin.

You can also forehand smash lower balls, but the lower the ball the harder it is to execute — your main obstacle to performing a smash is the ball’s height and backspin.

Although smashes are easiest to perform at around shoulder height, you can hit them a lot lower than this.

Shouldn’t

You shouldn’t smash balls that are too low or have too much backspin.

Ultimately you need to think about these properties in conjunction with one another. A ball really doesn’t have to be all that high to be ripe for smashing, but just a little bit of backspin can make it inadvisable.

However, you shouldn’t be too fearful of backspin. You can smash through high backspin balls with a decent degree of success provided you hit the ball hard enough and employ good technique.

If you’re not at the point where you can forehand loop quite yet, the forehand smash is the only way to attack these high balls with backspin.

How to Perform a Forehand Smash

Step 1: Build Up

• Feet shoulder width apart with knees bent. To keep you balanced.
• Dominant leg behind non-dominant leg. Otherwise, you will be too square with the ball
• Transfer weight onto backfoot. To build up your potential energy.
• Rotate your hips ~90°. To build up even more potential energy.
• Raises your racket high in the air. In preparation to contact the ball.

Step 2: Striking the ball

• Transfer your weight to your non-dominant foot. This begins the release of energy.
• Untwist your hips. This further enhances your kinetic energy. Rotating your hips is super important for a powerful forehand smash!
• Contact the ball from around shoulder level. This is a great height that offers a balance of power and accuracy. You can experiment and try different heights but shoulder level is a great place to start.
• Smash through the ball forwards and downwards. You are focusing on power here rather than spin.
• Keep your wrist straight. To ensure maximum power and accuracy.

Step 3: Finish and Recovery

• Follow through the ball. This ensures you don’t lose any power.
• Return to the ready position in preparation for the next ball. If you’ve executed the smash right hopefully you’ve won the point, but the ball just might come back!

Do I Need to Jump When I Smash?

Perhaps you’ve been watching professionals play, or maybe it’s your own intuition. Whatever the case may be, you’re right in assuming that jumps can be a part of the smashing movement.

That being said, most people choose not to jump, and here’s why.

It’s kinda tough.

While smashing adds a little bit of extra momentum, the trade-off doesn’t really seem worth it. This is because for most people it adds a decent likelihood that you will miss the stroke. And without the jump, you still have more than enough power to execute the forehand smash so there really is no need.

Even at the professional level, you see a mix of jumpers and non-jumpers. So for us non-professionals, it makes sense for most of us to keep our feet firmly planted on the ground.

Recommended Video to Help You Learn the Forehand Smash

I like this forehand smash breakdown by Table Tennis University. They break down the stroke step by step and in slow motion. The video is less than 3 minutes so it’s well worth the watch.

Common mistakes

1. Hitting the ball when it is above head height. While this is perfectly fine for certain balls it’s generally not the best idea. These high smashes are a lot harder to get in and don’t offer much in return. I’d only recommend it if you’re an advanced player.
2. Hitting the ball early off the bounce. This is a hard non-recommend for me. Off-the-bounce smashes are very difficult to perform and are not worth the risk. You’re in a strong position receiving high balls so don’t jeopardize it!
3. Finishing your stroke passed your opposite shoulder. While a good follow-through is important you don’t want to overextend. This leaves you vulnerable if your opponent makes a return.
4. Stopping as soon as you hit the ball. On the opposing side, don’t stop as soon as you hit the ball. Following through on your stroke ensures that you do not lose power.
5. Being too close to the ball. While you can get away with some of the other mistakes this is one you’ll really want to avoid. If you stand too close to the ball when it bounces you’ll end up leaning back and lose most of your power and even some accuracy.
6. Hitting the ball too hard. Of course, the name of the game with the forehand smash is to hit a winner, and for this, you need speed, and lots of it. But if you hit the ball as hard as possible your technique will likely break down. Instead, use as much power as possible while maintaining sound form.
7. Smashing only with your arm. This is another mistake that will result in a loss of power. You need your legs and hips activated to perform a textbook smash.
8. Forgetting about your racket angle. Many players focus too much on their arm motion and forget all about their racket angle. Remember to keep it fairly open, but whatever you do don’t open it too much or you’ll produce backspin.

Next Recommended Lessons

Following on from the forehand smash you should next learn the backhand smash. You probably won’t use it much, but it’s another arrow in your quiver.

And if you’re feeling confident, it may even be time to start looking at the forehand loop — the most popular attacking stroke in the game.