Anyone that plays any racquet sport has a 'friend' that I like to call George.... no not this George of the magnificent 'Best' variety but my Table Tennis George. George is the basic model that you should try and build your style around, every single persons George is different, individual and unique to you.
George isn't an acronym, there isn't anything that clever about it, for me its just a name that I give to the optimum position with which each and every individual player strikes the ball.
The point of this is to make sure that as your game evolves your own George becomes closer and closer to be one point of contact, people that struggle to play the game at any level from a beginner to a league player are the players that have their own George but with either poor perception, poor footwork, poor strokes and poor shot selection are not playing to their George, they are out of position, stretching or off balance.
Things to think about as you play the game and as you get better are that great perception and footwork will get you to the position to start to make the timing of George your number one aim, this will tighten up your whole game and make you more compact as a player, quicker and more balanced around the table.
This applies to all shots that you play in Table Tennis from pushes, drives, blocks, loops and chops and its up to you to find your ultimate George and work really hard with perception and footwork to make it work for you…. and not against you.
When the ball move out of your George, you are struggling to return the ball, this is because of your perception, your footwork, your shot selection or… maybe it was just a great shot from your opponent.
Think in your mind when you strike the ball in a backhand push, where the ball is as you strike it, hopefully in front of you and a certain distance, remember we are all unique, away centrally, is this the same place as you hit it when you play a forehand drive or a backhand loop that has to be the aim for a great consistent game. Players who have a great forehand loop but have no consistency have a problem with their George, this can either be, ultimately their perception or footwork.