Style, Strategy, and Tactics

Late Power is a strategy which uses controlling shots to remain in a rally until the opponent makes a slightly poorer quality shot which can be attacked strongly with the intention of ending the point with that attack.  It is not just waiting for a pop up ball to kill, but rather trying to counter attack when the quality of the opponent's return is low enough to insure a high probability (not certainty) of success.

It works best for close and mid distance players.  It is particulary good for players with one attacking wing and one controlling wing.  It requires good judgement to recognize attackable balls and the mental flexibility to switch from a controlling/defensive mindset to an attacking one.  It does require patience, but not nearly as much as a pure Attrition strategy.  Far distance players can use the strategy if they 

are very good at moving forward on weaker balls to a distance where they have finishing power.  They can also use it if the opponent's power is low enough that the "far distance" is still close enough that they can generate finishing power.  From far distance this strategy is actual more often a Timing Disruption strategy since hitting an outright winner is not likely.

Judgement as to when to attack and placement of the control shots in order to limit the strength of the attacks are the critical elements in this strategy.  If you are going to use it you need to do practice drills that are designed to improve your play in these areas.  Getting random weaker balls that you must attack is good practice Covering part of table with a towel to force you to hit to wide Bh is another one.  The player with one control wing and one attacking wing can use a very simple judgement scheme in which they attack any shot which comes to the attacking wing, but continue controlling on any shot to the elbow or control wing.  This does mean potentially passing up on some attacking opportunities but limits over aggression type errors.

For close distance players the controlling shots can be blocks, counters, or drives.  Generally close table looping is too risky to play as a controlling shot.  The mini-loop style Bh block is however very effective in this strategy from close distance.  Close distance blocking players can improve their chances by using a reversing rubber on the control wing since it slows play and helps limit strength of attack (underspin usually being attacked less strongly).  Mid distance players can use loops and chops in addition to blocks, counters, and drives.  Using chops is a little risky if your opponent has strong loops against underspin that get to you too quickly and too high when you are at mid distance.

The only complimentary strategy is Early Power.  Just as in the case of defensive players an opponent expecting slower returns or expecting the Late Power player to retreat to mid distance can be surprised by a 3rd, 4th, or 5th ball kill tactc.  In fact some players play an Early/Late Power strategy where they are always first looking to 3rd or 4th ball kill if a return comes to a particular spot from which they can attack strongly. But if the return is not to their "sweet spot" they just go into their Late Power tactics.

Synergistic strategies are generally not that useful for the mid distance Late Power player.  However, for the close distance blocker using Late Power there are several good options.  Timing Disruption by occassionally changing the speed of the block works well.  Spin Variation by using a chop block or side-spin block can often produce an attackable return.  There are some all around players who can mix Late Power and Spin Variation from mid distance by switching from driving/blocking to chopping.

Playing against this style can be very frustrating.  They are very good against Attrition strategies because they are patient, but are good at finishing a point when given the chance.  If you can combine Attrition with disguised Spin Variation (not easy) you can take advantage of their desire to attack by getting them to attack "easy" balls that are really not that easily attackable.  A Timing Disruption strategy usually fails because they are always prepared to attack the slower ball.  Early Power, especially 3rd ball kill tactics  can be very effective since it ends the point before they can get set up in a positition to control you effectively.  Often when playing a Late Power opponent you end up having to play a Late Power strategy yourself.  You have to return his controlling shots with control shots which keep him from attacking and wait for a slight mistake in one of his control shots which gives you a good opportunity to attack strongly.  Pattern strategy can also be good against a close distance Late Power player by making it more difficult for them to execute their controlling shots.  However, you must be sure that the pattern being played does not include a return into their automatic attack zone.  Pattern strategy against mid distance Late Power players is less effective because of the greater time they have to react and move. But something like Elbow/Bh/Elbow could be effective if they are not too good at moving into position to attack the shots to their elbow.

As a Late Power player you can pretty much play your strategy against any of the other strategies.  Against Attrittion and Spin Variation strategies you just have to be better at selecting the right ball to attack than they are at getting back your attacks.  Against Pattern and Time Pressure strategies you have to be able to repeatedly execute your control shots even in the face of guickly returned shots and the need for good Fh/Elbow/Bh transitions.  Playing mid distance Late Power reduces Pattern and Timing Pressure problems.  If you are playing close distance, using very compact controlling strokes will also limit the effectiveness of Pattern and Timing Pressure against your Late Power strategy.

Against Timing Disruption you need to effectively attack any slower balls.  But since this is you normal strategy anyway, it should not be that difficult.  Against Early Power strategies you have to make very good controlling shots with your serve, return, and 3rd ball.  Serves that are not easily flipped (such as heavy under/dead), short push returns, 3rd ball blocks of flip, and 3rd ball openings with precise placement ( to elbow or wide Bh) are critically necessary against an Early Power strategy in order to through the first 4 balls and into your Late Power strategy.  Against players using reversing rubber, it is often necessary to use a dead push as your controlling shot since they can attack strongly against normal pushes.

In summary, Late Power is a very versatile strategy which relies on patience and good judgement in selecting which returns to attack strongly and placement skills to execute control shots which limit the strength of your opponent's attacks.  

If by lack of speed you mean lack of quickness to react such that close to table play is difficult then you are in a difficult situation.  That plus being tall means mid to far is the right distance.  However your lack of power makes mid distance play more difficult and older players usually do not have the stamina for the long distance defense  that would fit in with your lack of power.  

So you have a couple of strategies to follow

1. Attrition - Which is more difficult at mid distance.  This sounds like what you are currently doing.

2. Late power - You need to concentrate on playing as close to the table while still mid distance and need to work hard on getting more power on at least one wing

3. Timing disruption - If you really can not develop finishing power at least get good at surprise increases in speed.  Maybe you even intentionally take some speed off your normal shots to make the difference in speed greater between top and normal speed.

4. Spin variation - You already have some built in variation from the different rubber and technique on the two wings.  Working on a higher spin Bh could enhance that difference.  Adding a Fh chop or chop block would be another way to increase the spin variation.

Timing disruption seems the easiest to learn.  Late power and spin variation seem like the strongest options but require learning some new technique.  

Please note this is not about reaching a certain level of play (I am sure Tassie would kick my butt).  It is about trying to find the simplest and quickest things to improve from your current level.

Mark