Essentially the reverse of the speed drive. The racket is much more parallel to the direction of the stroke ("closed") and the racket thus grazes the ball, resulting in a large amount of topspin. A good loop drive will arc quite a bit, and once striking the opponent's side of the table will jump forward, much like a kick serve in tennis. Returning a loop drive may not be as difficult to return as a speed drive; however, because of its topspin, it is more likely to rebound off the opponent's racket at a very high angle, setting up an easy smash (described below) on the follow up. As the loop drive requires a lot of topspin, players generally use their entire body to generate the movement required. Variations in spin and speed add to the effectiveness of this shot.
Chinese players categorize loop-drives in 3 variations based on trajectories:
1. The "Loop"
The "Loop" produces a more pronounced loopy arc, with a higher trajectory and extreme topspin, but is typically slower.
2. The "Loop Kill" ("Rush" in China)
The "Loop Kill" produces a flatter arc, with higher speed that resembles a speed drive but with stronger topspin, typically used for replacing speed drive or smash in "put-away" situations.
3. The "Hook"
Similar to a regular Loop, but carries a tilted topspin (or is referred as the "top-side" spin), it bounces sideways and downward upon hitting the table. Similar to but stronger than the defensive "side-drive".
source: wikipedia.org
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