Topic: How to catch ball when the ball is flying around the table?

[ytht1983]

I am having problem catching ball when the ball is flying around very fast on the table, especially with my 5 man rod and 3 man rod during offense. Shall I just shuffle the rod very fast and hopefully it will hit the ball?

Any suggestion will be much appreciated.

[crazy8]

Advice given to me by Johnny Horton. Spend a lot of time tossing the ball from man to man. All rods, all men. Do it quickly and for a long time. Often.
I like a very soft grip and try to hold in the position where the ball will stick. Also, pass from the two to the offensive three. Also, practice catching the rebounds when you front shot hits the wall.

[jerrydiday]

Passing the ball from your five bar to your three bar and back will help with catching rebounds and stray balls.  Put your opponents five bar up so it is not in the way, then pass the ball back and forth between the five bar and the three bar.

It also helps to practice pinning the ball.  On the three bar try back pinning then switching to a front pin.  Keep moving from front pin to back pin, back and forth.  Try to catch the ball in a pin position then change to the opposite pin.  A lot of times you can catch a rebound in the pin position.

When the ball is flying around I usually just try to keep the ball in front of me.  As long as I can keep the ball forward,  I still have a chance to catch the ball.