Game plans against different styles

Setup

1. Pairs on a table. One player (the style player) draws a style card: close-to-table blocker, defensive chopper, mid-distance looper, or fast hitter.
2. The styles are common patterns of play, not rules; the style player keeps to the card for the whole match as far as their game allows.
3. The other player (the planner) gets a minute before each game to write one plan in a single line: what to serve, where to play, what to avoid.

How it runs

1. Play a best-of-five match to the normal rules: games to 11, win by 2, two serves each, alternating every point from 10-all.
2. Between games the planner has a minute to check the plan against the score and change one thing, as in a real match.
3. Afterwards, both players talk through what worked. The style player says which tactics were hardest to deal with.
4. Swap roles and draw a new card. Over a block of sessions, each player meets every style.

Coaching points

• Blocker: vary the pace and spin, play to the wide angles and the elbow, and be ready for the ball coming back fast.
• Chopper: patient spin, attack the middle, and use short drops to pull them in before the strong attack.
• Looper: serve short and low to deny an easy opening, and take the first attacking chance yourself.
• Hitter: give heavy spin and low balls that are hard to hit flat, and move them from side to side.
• Base the plan on what the score and the rallies show, not on what you hoped would work.

Common mistakes

• Writing a plan and then ignoring it at the first lost point.
• Changing everything at once, so it is unclear what made the difference.
• Playing one's own favourite game regardless of the opponent.
• The style player drifting back to their natural game.