One of the banes of my coaching existence are players who lazily block in drills by just holding their racket out, relentlessly blocking back ball after ball with great efficiency in a way they would never do in a real match. And, of course, when they play matches, they revert to this and their blocking falls apart.

Instead, even when doing a simple blocking drill, return to ready position after every shot. For example, if you block a backhand, immediately go to a neutral position with your racket tip pointed at where you expect the opponent to hit the ball, ready to cover both forehand or backhand, even if you know, in this drill, that he’s going to your backhand. If you don’t, then you are practicing not being ready with your forehand block. And vice versa with forehand blocking. (This is also true for other drills and strokes. For example, when forehand counterlooping in a drill, you should also go to neutral position between shots.)

Coaches often do this for a very simple reason – they are no longer competitive players, and so they no longer need to return to ready position. And since it’s easier to not go back into ready position after each shot, they don’t do so. Sometimes players see this and mistakenly copy it.

By keeping that racket aimed at the opponent’s contact point between each block, ready to cover the whole table with forehand or backhand, you are ready to become a mean green blocking machine! (Wearing green is optional.)