A planned two-shot attacking sequence from the kitchen line: an initial rolling attack to the opponent's right shoulder area, followed by a prepared block/counter of the response. The combo uses early lateral movement and momentum to cover both the attack and the counter-punch.
Step 1 — Find the right ball: a wide but floated dink on your forehand side. Move early to load weight on your outside leg. Get paddle behind the contact point. Allow the ball to come slightly longer than normal, creating a pause that draws the opponent toward you, opening the middle. Step 2 — Push hard off the outside leg while dropping paddle under the ball. Stabilize wrist, use a gentle rolling motion (shoulder/elbow) to brush up. Aim point: the right shoulder of the player in front of you (the dead zone between backhand and forehand). Don't aim for the middle gap — aim for the body. Step 3 — Use your momentum toward the middle and your paddle's cross-body swing to present the backhand for the expected counter-punch. Good shoulder turn positions the backhand to block the most likely return angle.
Most players aim attacks at the opening in the middle of the court. Elites aim at the right shoulder of the player in front of them. The shoulder area forces a late transition from backhand to forehand — the opponent must open up the forehand face AND raise it high enough to hit down. This produces a late contact with an open face, giving you exactly what you want: a high backhand to put away.
Ben Johns on fourth ball attacks: you don't change your swing path to hit different directions. You change WHERE you contact the ball relative to your body. Contact further BACK relative to your body = ball goes down the line. Contact further FORWARD = ball goes crosscourt. Same swing, different result. "If I'm contacting near here, I can clearly see with my left side generally where you're at." This reduces shot direction from a complex swing-path problem to a simple positioning/footwork problem.
Navratil: despite Morgan Evans' rule that you should never attack crosscourt (more reaction time, partner gets hit by counter), crosscourt attacks are increasingly common at the pro level. Why? If hit WELL, the opponent is late and the counter comes back to YOU, not your partner. The full crosscourt speedup and the heavy crosscourt roll are both becoming standard pro weapons. The key: hit it well or don't hit it. A bad crosscourt attack is devastating; a good one is devastating to the opponent.
Navratil maps out WHERE the counter will go for EVERY attack spot based on contact point and timing. Attack right shoulder → late contact → comes back to you. Attack body → timing determines direction (late = crosscourt, early = middle). Through the middle → diagonal player funnels back toward you. Nobody hits outright winners anymore — you choose your attack spot based on where you WANT the counter to go, then you're already there.
Morgan Evans on the 2-shot combo: "Something hit too fast will not give you enough time to cover the likely placement of the counterattack." The first attack's PURPOSE isn't to win — it's to create a predictable counter that you're already positioned for. Hitting it too hard compresses YOUR time to get into position for shot 2. The optimal first attack is ACCURATE (right shoulder), not FAST. Speed serves the opponent by rushing the point past the setup phase.