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  • My name is Tahl Leibovitz and I'm here at SPiN, New York. I am a professional table

  • tennis player who has been competing internationally since 1995. I am here today to speak to you

  • about the intermediate and beginner aspects of the Olympic sport of table tennis. Okay

  • I'm gonna demonstrate the forehand smash. What's really really important in not only

  • the forehand smash but everything in table tennis is to be able to pass through the ball,

  • especially on the forehand. You need to get the racket to pass through the ball quickly.

  • Okay and the way we do this, it depends on the ball that we get. Now, if somebody's giving

  • us a normal ball we're gonna start here, we're gonna get our shoulder back a little bit,

  • and we're just gonna try to smash through the ball, just like this. Now, if somebody

  • gives us an under spin ball we're gonna smash, but our racket face is gonna be open a little

  • so we can hit the bottom of the ball. And if somebody gives us a top-spin ball we're

  • gonna smash on top of the ball. But the main key with the forehand smash is to be able

  • to get the racket to pass through the ball. You start with your right leg behind you,

  • you have your shoulder back a little bit, and you transfer your weight from left to

  • right. Transfer. The forehand stroke is a very important stroke in table tennis, and

  • we use the forehand smash to, usually, win the point. So we, we try to smash through

  • the ball, the ball travels very fast. And the forehand smash was very effective in the

  • 1970's and the 1980's. It's still very effective today, but the forehand smash is mainly used

  • in order to finish the point, to try to win the point.

My name is Tahl Leibovitz and I'm here at SPiN, New York. I am a professional table

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