Critique Me

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A video of me playing. Just hitting, no games. I'm the penhold player in black and red. Terrible angle thou...

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4VUlSa1owbWVwRHc

The guy I'm playing with was kind enough to pull out all his Nittaku 3-star premium 40+ from his car. Apparently he has thousands of them for some kind of project.

We were on the forth or fifth tub and my shoulder, back, legs, basically my whole body was starting to hurt.

First time seeing myself hit, I think I could benefit from bending over more and as always, along with almost all other people, footwork.

Also is it just me or does my fh stroke look weird? Is it too stiff perhaps? Or is it the follow through? I can't really tell. I like how my RPB looks thou, even though it is pretty inaccurate XD.

Any advice would be appreciated, also maybe some drill ideas. Especially if I am practicing with lower level/about my level players. Never had any official coaching as well.
 
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You ask what you ask and are gunna get a lot of action here, both wanted and unwanted.

Let's start off by saying well done asking and making vids, 90%+ of he population are too chicken shyt to even do that.

It would help you to look at one of Kim Jung Hoon's FH basics vids I gisted or one of the many other vids the TTD crowd posts. You are significantly missing fundamentals that are costing you efficiency in stroke and consistency.

You tend to hit in front, do not use all your body, do not move into position and still try to cream the ball. It isn't a good combo. Your follow through is herky-jerky - finishing all over the place. Balance finishing with the power you are trying isn't leaving you in good shape to recover.

One thing I can say from KJH's way is to turn shoulders during prep and move them some before impact. Let ball come to you some more. This way, there isn't a lot of shoulder rotation left to complete and it is a little shoulder turn and lower arm snap left. That isn't near as much weight to slow down and reset compared to having to twist all your body weight right at impact, stop it and recoil. Just one nugget to consider.

As much counter-intuitive as it sounds, I would say back off the 80% of power and go for 60% or less until you get fundamentals down.
 
says Spin and more spin.
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First thing I want to say is that I agree with Der_Echte: you need to be credited for going ahead and posting video of yourself. Good job. As you filter out the useful information from the less useful stuff, you will benefit from the process of seeing yourself hit. Seeing yourself for yourself is the first step.

Your followthrough does go across your body a little more than you would want it to. It also finishes a little lower than you wanted. If you finish with your racket a little over your eyes and not past the center of your face, you will get much more spin.

Part of what is going on with your FH stroke is that it looks like you are hitting too flat.

You would benefit from doing shadow strokes in front of a mirror so you can correct your stroke as you see it. It is interesting how much that can help.

It is true you are a little tense as well.

But you are doing many things well.

And your RPB looks really nice even if you need to groove the stroke to make it more consistent.

Good work.
 
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I agree with you Carl and Der. But first, I would make sure I have some grip from the floor. You need to get some wet towels or paper and frequently wet your soles or figure something out ... with the amount of skidding going on , I for one would have big trouble to do any kind of weight transfer on the forehand ... this will accentuate the "hands only " technique ..
 
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Some of the tenseness could come from playing in front of a camera when you are not used to it. Videoing yourself is a great way to get better.

Two things I notice. I am not going to suggest how to move your arm.

1. You are sliding around a lot. Maybe your shoes get dusty? In any case you looked out of balance too often. Work on staying in balance. The previous comment is spot on. Ideal technique is impossible without balance and good connection to the floor.

2. Don't practice bad habits. On the fourth or fifth ball you would blast away trying to hit really hard and you missed almost every time. Concentrate on developing consistency. It means taking a little pace off the ball. But if you don't keep it on the table in drills you won't in points either. Especially your RPB you are trying to hit it too hard.
 
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Thanks for posting the video.

Some useful comments above from Der_Echte, UpSideDownCarl and Baal.

I'll probably re-iterate some of what they have said. Focus on these three things:

1. Try to topspin the ball rather than flat hit it.

In the video it looks like your forehand is quite flat. You should try and brush the ball more to get a more consistent topspin shot. To do this, start with bat a little lower, finish a little higher, close your bat angle more, wait for ball a little longer and brush towards top of the ball. And as Der_Echte says, don't worry too much about how hard you hit the ball at the moment. Try to get the technique right to begin with. Aim for high consistency at a slower pace and then you can go faster.

2. Slow down your timing

You rush your forehand shots a bit too much for my liking. This means you often rotate forwards too much (almost shoulder first), which makes it hard for you to contact the ball well and recover for the next shot. Focus on turning your shoulders/waist/upper body back, wait for the ball a little longer and then twist forwards to the ball. This will allow you to use your body when playing your forehand, as well as your arm. You should feel you can generate more speed and spin but with less effort. Your recovery for the next shot will also be better.

3. Get on the front of your feet

Your feet look very planted (stuck on your heals). Try to get your weight on the front of your feet with your heals a tiny bit of the floor. This will make it easier for you to move.
 
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Try to get your wight on the front of your feet with your heals a tiny bit of the floor.
and then stomp on that sucker with your Valerian steel heeled shoes :p ... sorry could not stop myself after seeing that Game of Thrones reference from Tom ... on a serious note wonderful advice ...
 
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says 2023 Certified Organ Donor
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Unless it is ice hockey, usually a "Slippery" floor is mostly a bad, dusty floor and players wearing shoes that are far too worn.

Proper TT shoes in new enough condition without 145% factor of wear can still perform well enough on that floor.

What gives grip is having multiple small points of contact that are flexy enough. That gives a lot of good grip.

When shoes get too many hours on them, they get wore down to where there is no longer many individual points of contact. This, with dust and a poor floor will be a super slide effect.

Even if the shoe looks like it has a lot of tread remaining, look closely where the shoe is actually contacting the ground, it will show telltale signes of wear.

If you play 2hrs a day, some players cannot get 6 months out of there shoes, some can exceed this.

In TT, just about EVERYONE is all ga-ga goo-goo over the latest tensor, Tenergy, or latest top-secret under the table pro/national version of whatever... and are usually not very shy and spend HUNDREDS if not over a THOUSAND dollars/Euros a year on rubbers alone.

YET, 90% PLUS of players are too damn cheepskate to buy footwear that would help them play their best and avoid making meter wide crates on the floor when they slip and fall down.

C'MON U JOKERS, you know who you are.

If the shoe fits, wear it. :D (An American colloquialism)
 
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Uh huh .. I belong to cheapstake club ... I play long pips so it can last longer. I use wood blade so it is much cheaper than ridiculously expensive and trendy ZLC/ALC Butterfly blades. Wear old T shirt/short from my daughters' high schools/college dance teams ha ha ... and volleyball shoes which I change every 24 months or more. Hate Tenergy price so I use Yasaka Soft which I feel good beating other Tenergy players ha ha ...
 
says 2023 Certified Organ Donor
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Uh huh .. I belong to cheapstake club ... I play long pips so it can last longer. I use wood blade so it is much cheaper than ridiculously expensive and trendy ZLC/ALC Butterfly blades. Wear old T shirt/short from my daughters' high schools/college dance teams ha ha ... and volleyball shoes which I change every 24 months or more. Hate Tenergy price so I use Yasaka Soft which I feel good beating other Tenergy players ha ha ...

Hey, anyone can toss me in with the scrooge crowd too. A while ago, if you looked up Scrooge in the Webster's dictionary, you would see a pic of me right above the definition.

Anyone ever see what makes up the bat known as Der_Echte Special?

Anyone every make a body count of how many threads I posted in on how to make a serviceable bat with a Walmart procured hardbat and used XP 2008 rubbers?

Anyone ever figure out the real reason I started to review blades and rubbers and later got half my TT gear funded?

On the same side of the coin, my feet are important and a while ago, I learned the importance of taking care of them.

Also, Korea taught me that you wear TT appropriate (usually kinda expensive) pro-looking (or at least presentable) jerseys at the club.

I could never understand why America has to roll like they are the ghetto. I lived real poor most my life and lived in just about every famous slum that exists. I was born in South Central LA. I am truly straight outta Compton, but haven't been there in decades.

Every time I come back to America I get culture shock. Heck, I get it even more culture shock every time I make the mistake of going into Walmart to buy something.
 
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Thanks for all the feedback. Here are a couple more videos (each about 5 minutes in length).

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4eFN2X2dVWUJDSDA (for some reason this one cuts off around 3:20 mark)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4WkZOX2JIQUFuajA
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4WERUZUJwTWxNNFU
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4QkQ5Wi16RkNDaVk
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4ZVJFazBxMUtteUk

it certainly looked a bit better to me but I found myself getting tired much quicker. Especially in the shoulder. I think I might have been shrugging my shoulder when I hit but when reviewing myself it didn't look that way. And if its not my form, then are there any exercises to strengthen my shoulder. But it feels like it is joint pain and not muscle pain which is concerning. I could just have a bad shoulder or an shoulder injury that never healed from my swimming days.

Also I found my thighs getting extremely tight after a while so leg day is a must if I want to improve my stamina.

Thanks once again for the feedback and hopefully the pain is coming from improper form and not injury, cause I can fix my form but I'll need physical therapy for an injury in the shoulder.
 
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Will try to watch , might be a good idea to upload to youtube , it will make the access easier and you might get more people to give you feedback.
Thanks for all the feedback. Here are a couple more videos (each about 5 minutes in length).

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4eFN2X2dVWUJDSDA (for some reason this one cuts off around 3:20 mark)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4WkZOX2JIQUFuajA
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4WERUZUJwTWxNNFU
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4QkQ5Wi16RkNDaVk
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4V7Gd0of1m4ZVJFazBxMUtteUk

it certainly looked a bit better to me but I found myself getting tired much quicker. Especially in the shoulder. I think I might have been shrugging my shoulder when I hit but when reviewing myself it didn't look that way. And if its not my form, then are there any exercises to strengthen my shoulder. But it feels like it is joint pain and not muscle pain which is concerning. I could just have a bad shoulder or an shoulder injury that never healed from my swimming days.

Also I found my thighs getting extremely tight after a while so leg day is a must if I want to improve my stamina.

Thanks once again for the feedback and hopefully the pain is coming from improper form and not injury, cause I can fix my form but I'll need physical therapy for an injury in the shoulder.
 
most likely your grip is incorrect, thats why you cant get good impact when hitting the ball.
Please refer to these videos for a proper grip:


also get down low when do topspin, drop your shoulder, also drop your weight to right leg and transfer it to the left when you hit
 
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