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Yes, and the activation needs to be quickened for quicker shots, such that when the ball comes back very quickly you don't have the time to relax everything fully before they're re-activated.Yesterday, I "discovered" something special and eye opening about forehand Looping.
Its essentially sequencing the body parts during the motion leading to a much more effortless transfer of energy overall better economy of motion.
My problem was that ~60% of the time I would loop "badly", in a linear motion that would be too much effort with non-optimal output of force.Yes, and the activation needs to be quickened for quicker shots, such that when the ball comes back very quickly you don't have the time to relax everything fully before they're re-activated.
The BH shot is the same, with the difference being that the ball is always quicker as you're usually hitting it in front of your body, so the opportunity to fully relax is less and you're almost always using a less "complete" activation sequence. However, doing it as much as you can is still essential to generate your own power (speed + spin, if for speed only you don't need it, same as on FH).
As such, I've found that it's essential to try to place the ball a bit to the side of your body if you get the opportunity to blast a shot, which goes for both FH and BH.
To me, I feels that you can not create your own power, which is why you are good for fast rallies. Play against a chopper. That is the best way to test whether your technique is fine or not. If you can not get into position, it is your pre-judgement and footwork, not the forehand technique.My problem was that ~60% of the time I would loop "badly", in a linear motion that would be too much effort with non-optimal output of force.
But in faster rallies, even in training drills, where I would have to move to my wide Forehand, re-loop after a 3rd Ball Opening loop or quickly counter loop, I would do it instinctively right.
In Loop-to-Loop exercises, or normal Loop-Block drills where I had time to think and semi-consciously do the technique, I would do it inefficiently.
So my issue was inconsistent technique.
Now that I know about this, I can work on this.
When I first got started with Chinese rubbers, I did this part correctly.
I did most other things wrong, but I had this down ironically 😅 .
With more time and practice, I got more consistent with all other parts of technique, but it led to this linearity and simultaneity of body parts.
Also not getting regular feedback from a trained and experienced coach didnt help.
Most of the feedback I got from others in my club was not helpful and came from people that couldnt do it any better themselves.
Now I am the one getting asked for training and advice .
A lot of people who could do it wouldn't be able to teach it either!My problem was that ~60% of the time I would loop "badly", in a linear motion that would be too much effort with non-optimal output of force.
But in faster rallies, even in training drills, where I would have to move to my wide Forehand, re-loop after a 3rd Ball Opening loop or quickly counter loop, I would do it instinctively right.
In Loop-to-Loop exercises, or normal Loop-Block drills where I had time to think and semi-consciously do the technique, I would do it inefficiently.
So my issue was inconsistent technique.
Now that I know about this, I can work on this.
When I first got started with Chinese rubbers, I did this part correctly.
I did most other things wrong, but I had this down ironically 😅 .
With more time and practice, I got more consistent with all other parts of technique, but it led to this linearity and simultaneity of body parts.
Also not getting regular feedback from a trained and experienced coach didnt help.
Most of the feedback I got from others in my club was not helpful and came from people that couldnt do it any better themselves.
Now I am the one getting asked for training and advice .
There's a European player who uses a technique very similar. Let me try and dig out the link. Its very hard to read and indeed very powerful. Come back after practice and see where I put the clip.FH chiquita concept looks like this (obviously will need to add footwork and body rotation later on)
Very similar to the "world fastest serve" movement. You can even disguise it with a FH push preparatory movement.
I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work, except that it is a completely new stroke to learn. If a shakehand player could do chiquita on both BH and FH, there is literally no "safe place" to serve to avoid getting attacked on the receive, except for super heavy pure short backspin serves
I stick to BTY Revoldia for now, it’s pretty fast blade. I would say 5% slower than FZD alc. It has some fiber in it, but not carbon. Definitely better for me than pure wood, and since I didn’t play as much as I used to - I find it suits me.When your play is in disarray, the only way is to EJ lol. I had built a Donic Carbospeed with H3 on both sides but I juat didn't like how it played. I tried to move the rubbers onto other paddles but they just didn't fit. So I stuck them on a Mazunov and they fit. And the bounce didn't seem too bad. So I decided to try all wood again. Of course a Mazunov is faster than your usual all wood blade but for me, the difference is really in close to the table blocking and countering., I have better feel for this with an all wood blade. I might have to accept that my attempts so far to transition to a modern speed based style have been a failure. That said, I think the key is still to focus on movement and health and let the chips fall where they may. The other possibility is to consider a softer fast blade like an SALC. But this is not what I have in mind at the moment
W968 is not very fast until you put a TON of power into it, I had no trouble with the short game when I switched between W968 and the Yasaka Sweden Extra. It took months to land loop drives well though. It's a very non-linear blade, best when you avoid mid-range power shots. It's soft touch shots or full power shots. Mid-power shots are very inconsistent as you're in the transition zone, it could tank into the net or overshoot with a little less or more power.i had tried to use the K3 as my main forehand rubber for the last few weeks it felt quite nice. The short game was exceptional. Far away from the table it was also very good. The few half-distance/far distance power loops i did with it were really nice and mostly direct points, but reviewing my training footage i found a few occurances of unexplainable "slips" of the ball into the net, when looping.
Reviewing the video the movement was not very fast, but fast enough for it to send the ball over the net with most rubbers.
During that training session i had a match against a training mate which i lost. I had used the racket with the k3 the whole training before (so approximately 60 minutes and the weeks before as well), so i would assume that i was used to it. After the first loss of the training match i said i would want a rematch and grabbed my old "first" racked which had the Rakza Z. My opponent said "are you sure ? you are accustomed to the other blade now and did not even warm up with this!"- Long story short i instantly won with the Rakza Z blade. Basically everytime i was perhaps out of position the tackiness of the Rakza Z would allow me to still loop the ball, while it might have been plunging into the net with the K3 because i would not be able to get enough contact with the ball to activate the sponge.
Talking to that training mate he told me that he also tried many rubbers but now plays with slower rubbers, because otherwise his loops would be flying out of the table all the time. He plays an innerforce (harimoto) with Hexer Powergrip or something.
Following the thought of "slowing down the equipment to gain more consistency" i decided to use the next club training session (where we basically just do matches) to use a slower setup. From the W968 with Rakza Z(max) and PK50 Sieger, i would change to the Victas Dyna Five with Rakza Z (2.0) and G-1 (2.0) on BH. The result was really disappointing. Forehand on and at the table was nearly identical. No gain in control when doing pushes with the 5ply wood compared to the W968. Looping back hand with the G-1 was obviously way easier than with the PK50, but at the loss of the ability to really put heavy underspin in pushes. The only thing noticebly different was that i needed way more power to forehand loop from half distance and far away from the table. I had to put my whole body into it.
In the last training match of the evening i switched back to the w968 with the Rakza Z in max and there was basically no change in consistency. Everything felt like returning back home. Loops landed at the end of the table automatically and i did not loose any consistency really. Perhaps i am just used to the w968 that much now, that there is nothing to gain from a 5ply wood in the short game.
I will replace the K3 with the Nittaku Genextion tomorrow and hopefully get a few drills in with it. Let's not kid ourselves. In system training many rubbers work so i expect the Genextion to be working as well.
that does totally make sense and explains my experiences with the blade in combination with the K3 and the Rakza Z.W968 is not very fast until you put a TON of power into it, I had no trouble with the short game when I switched between W968 and the Yasaka Sweden Extra. It took months to land loop drives well though. It's a very non-linear blade, best when you avoid mid-range power shots. It's soft touch shots or full power shots. Mid-power shots are very inconsistent as you're in the transition zone, it could tank into the net or overshoot with a little less or more power.
For service receives you probably just have to brush loop most of the time as that doesn't involve the blade. The issue with the W968 is really with the BH, as it's hard to generate the power to use it properly on the BH side all the time.that does totally make sense and explains my experiences with the blade in combination with the K3 and the Rakza Z.
While the mid-power shots are not strong enough to activate the K3 sponge, hence perhaps dropping into the net (due to the lack of support of the w968), when i use the Rakza Z, the easier to activate sponge of the softer Rakza Z will bridge the speed gap on those half-a$$ed shots.
With the K3 it is only 2 gears for me. No catapult in the short game or power loop. With the Rakza Z it feels more fluid or at least i can play mid-power shots with sponge support.
I really hope that the Nittaku Genextion somehow has more gears than the K3 as well. I would not want to full power loop on service receive all the time.
yes, that is what i would do with the Rakza Z and it's tacky surface would help lift the ball with the slightest of contacts.For service receives you probably just have to brush loop most of the time as that doesn't involve the blade. The issue with the W968 is really with the BH, as it's hard to generate the power to use it properly on the BH side all the time.