Advice on my strokes?

[Shuki]

Can i get some advice on my strokes (other than use the left side of my body which i dont use enough)? still learning and wanting advice. Im aproximately 1700 usatt.

in the video it starts with

simple fh-fh,
fh loops off topspin
fh push
simple bh-bh (my biggest issue in my opinion)
bh push
bh loop off underspin
fh loop off underspin

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Fun to put a face with a name. Thanks for sharing this.

From looking at this you are off to a good start. The fundamentals are there. There are a few things that would help you.

One thing I would say is that, one of the most important things for you to work on at the table is your pushes. Being good at pushing, with no other changes could make you go at least one level higher. It is an important part of the game and, in a match, you have to be good at it to be able to get to the topspin strokes while in control of a rally.

Another thing that should help you is shadow strokes in front of a mirror where you can see what your stroke looks like while you are doing it. Then you can refine and improve your form. One of the things you actually need to work on, where shadow strokes will help is what is going on with your left hand when you start trying to take larger swings with your forehand. You left hand goes haywire. If you are using the left arm so that it sort of mirrors your stroke, almost like what a tennis player does, but, not exactly, then you will be using your body better on the forehand loop. But you will be surprised how, doing shadow strokes will help your strokes become looser and have better flow. Shadow footwork drills like shadow Falkenberg and shadow two or three point footwork would also be useful for you, where you start learning how to move your feet and keep your stroke coordinated. Then, when you are at the table, your body starts doing the right things.

The rest of it, as far as I am concerned is just a lot of practice and a lot of repetition. Keep up the good work.

 

[Shuki]

thanks for the advice, in games the opening loop of backspin is fairly easy for me, however i struggle more with the follow up shot. i struggle looping topspin much more than backspin, as you can see with how ridiculous i look when i fh loop topspin after the basic fh-fh. I've been taking lessons for only 6 months now so its nice to hear that i'm off to a good start.

 

[Hamasaki_Fanz]

I think your basic is a little bit wrong, because I think you loop just using the topsheet (the rubber) too much. I suggest you try chinese rubber if you really want to improve. You need to let the ball sink to the sponge, using the topsheet to grip the ball, and drive it forward. Driving it forward will create the spin. One indicator is that you miss the ball like in 0:58 1:06

Also I suggest you change your practice style. It's better to do one thing repetitively for long time, instead of something like in your vid.

 

[josephluck]

thanks for the advice, in games the opening loop of backspin is fairly easy for me, however i struggle more with the follow up shot. i struggle looping topspin much more than backspin, as you can see with how ridiculous i look when i fh loop topspin after the basic fh-fh. I've been taking lessons for only 6 months now so its nice to hear that i'm off to a good start.

One thing I noticed (I must confess I only saw the first 15 seconds or so because my internet is so poor) but your topspin stroke is quite vertical, which might explain why you struggle counter topspin/looping and find opening up against backspin easier. You should feel the ball sink into the rubber and be able to drive it forwards. This will also help keep your shots nice and low to the net and the forward momentum will help keep the counter topspin on the table.

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

 

[Hamasaki_Fanz]

One thing I noticed (I must confess I only saw the first 15 seconds or so because my internet is so poor) but your topspin stroke is quite vertical, which might explain why you struggle counter topspin/looping and find opening up against backspin easier. You should feel the ball sink into the rubber and be able to drive it forwards. This will also help keep your shots nice and low to the net and the forward momentum will help keep the counter topspin on the table.

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

exactly

 

[jonurkel]

I completely agree with Carl. I would say that you should work on your pushes. It seems that when you do them, especially in your forehand pushes, your wrist is really closed and tense (stressed), so I would recommend you to relax it and hit the ball in a more natural way.

Otherwise I would say that your technique is quite good for 6 months of training.

Keep working hard!

 

[SquareBall]

I think when doing fh counterloops going further away from the table could help. But I am similar level with you so could be wrong. Also my backhand seems like yours and I feel I can?t put a lot of power in it when someone blocks for me and I just loop with it. Do you notice the same thing?

 

[dangerhow]

Your forehand topspin is already good enough, but you seem not really confident with your backhand topspin. Pushing is still need more practice. Your hand looks so stiff when pushing the ball. Cheers mate !!

 

[NextLevel]

1. Your overall game is tense and needs to be far more relaxed. I get the impression that you are fighting with the ball by trying to exert strength in a tense manner on all your strokes rather than just doing the stroke and letting the ball do what it does. IT shows up largely in your extremely tight wrist and your use of the elbow, but in many other parts of your stroke as well.
2. Consider developing a real flat counterhit - your current counterhit has too much topspin because you aren't impacting the ball flat. Your topspin is functionally okay - I would prefer a straightening of the arm on the backswing for more elbow snap, but the overall technique is still way too tense. People don't believe me but it is possible to loop with just your elbow or even loop fully and have a conversation - you make it seem like looping is lifting 10 tonne rocks.
3. You need to have your elbow far more bent and your head closer to the ball when pushing - your arm is currently too straight and you don't have good control over the ball for that reason - if the ball is short, put your right foot under the table. You are reaching for the ball rather than getting close to it.
4. You are hopping up and down on your backhand - all strokes should be rotational (for the BH, usually left to right with a few exceptions) on bent knees.
5. Your backhand loop vs underspin has insufficent elbow lead and wrist relaxation on the backswing and therefore you are using your legs to push up and fight the ball and getting all your power from your arm. You will not loop backspin confidently with that technique and I am not sure you would loop a real push in a match.
6. Because you don't straighten your arm on the backswing, you feel the need to drop below the ball when looping backspin. This can be done occasionally but is largely unnecessary. If you are on bent knees, you can simply straighten your arm and take a full stroke against backspin balls (the full length arm will start below the ball on the backswing).
7. Counterlooping is largely practice using a short loop to play over the ball and not upwars. You will miss a lot at first but as you learn to close your paddle over the ball close to the table, you will be fine. If you develop a good relaxed loop, you will see that all loops are the same - it's really a matter of how you swing at the ball and where you contact the ball that creates the difference.

All in all, you are a good player. Your current technique requires a lot of effort to support it and you will not get better easily with it. Take some time to step back and develop relaxed technique so that you don't feel like you need to put in Herculean effort to play. The truly Herculean side of table tennis is forehand footwork. Just about everything else is mostly relaxed play with proper core rotation.

 

[P1ngP0ng3r]

Thanks for sharing this vid!

I agree with the advice already given about your pushes. Some additional input: when you push with FH, don't just slide your arm out to the ball. Positition of your body is key in tabletennis. Furthermore, while you play BH pushes, your trainer of partner isn't pushing back. He just lifts the ball without any effect (so it seems to me). This surely effects your training.

FH topspin: you hit more then you spin. Let the ball sink into the rubber. Your topspin is better when you spin on backspin ball, but your strokes end too high above your head. Because of this, it's possible you are too late to play the next ball (if your opponent would play a fast block)

BH-BH: your stroke looks way to carefull and you are lifting the ball more then you play forward and downwards to the table.


Tip: try to play against stronger players as often as possible. This will improve your game rapidly.

Last remark: not sure if MX-P rubbers are the best choice for you at this point. (no offense)

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

NextLevel's analysis is detailed and very good. It is worth having a look at what he says. The reason I suggested shadow strokes with a mirror where you can see what your strokes look like is, you will start making the corrections, relax and your strokes will start to flow better. You will be able to see those details and make the stroke more relaxed and fluid.

If you did a few thousand shadow strokes in front of a mirror between now and next week, I guarantee that you will feel a jump in your contact, your stroke accuracy and your overall level. Do it for both forehand and backhand (a few thousand on each side). A lot of the kinks in your technique will sort themselves out over time. But the shadow strokes are a way you can make that happen faster and fix habits from tension sooner. The shadow strokes are also a way of practicing while you are not at a table. You will see and adjust your strokes if you are doing them in front of a mirror. It sounds funny, but it will help.

All that has been said is actually pretty good information, but you should know, if you are only playing for about 6 months you are doing great. How often do you get coaching? And is that your main coach feeding you the balls in the video?

 

[guitch]

1. Your overall game is tense and needs to be far more relaxed. I get the impression that you are fighting with the ball by trying to exert strength in a tense manner on all your strokes rather than just doing the stroke and letting the ball do what it does. IT shows up largely in your extremely tight wrist and your use of the elbow, but in many other parts of your stroke as well.

and for the rest of the message,I FULLY AGREE!!!!!!

 

[P1ngP0ng3r]

......, but you should know, if you are only playing for about 6 months you are doing great.

Totally agree with UpSideDownCarl. For just 6 months of lessons you play nicely indeed. It all comes down to practice, practice, practice and practice. And then some more practice

 

[Shuki]

thank you NL, lots of good advice here. tough things to break but ill work on them

 

[Shuki]

also i wouldnt criticize the person feeding me, he's a SOLID 2200. Thats seemiller jr

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

also i wouldnt criticize the person feeding me, he's a SOLID 2200. Thats seemiller jr

I think he is pretty good. He is running you through some good exercises and I am betting he has a part in how you got as good as you have in just 6 months. That is why I asked if he was your main coach.

 

[NextLevel]

thank you NL, lots of good advice here. tough things to break but ill work on them

For 6 months, you do play well. The flip side of that is that you are young and athletic, but if you exert yourself in the wrong way, you will get better because of your athleticism, but the effort will burn you out during match play if you don't take a step back every once in a while to figure out how to just do the stroke with the right timing and in a relaxed fashion. You will find that with the right parts working in harmony, you can get a much more effective ball with 70% of the effort you are putting in right now. You could learn this by travelling to camps and working with advanced coaches who sincerely want to help you, but it is something you can learn by yourself if you pay some attention to it.

In your practice, I get the impression (probably wrongly) that there is too much of a focus on putting the ball on the table. As Carl is telling you, first of all, shadow the right stroke in a relaxed manner with all the body parts working together, and then use that stroke at the table. The focus should be on doing the stroke correctly and letting the ball do what it does. Don't try to put the ball on the table in the beginning. Over time, you will hit the quality of ball you want to hit and then your body will naturally adjust to repeatedly produce that ball. If you focus on putting the ball on the table, you will put the ball on the table, but often with a worse stroke than you could produce if you let your body do things in a relaxed manner as you practiced in your shadows. The body can recalibrate a good, relaxed stroke easily.

If you have to take one single thing away, think of your arm as a whip. Whips are loose and snappy. They are not tight and rigid. That will help you create more spin and power than you currently do as your lock things too tightly and that slows down your strokes. Initially, you will miss with the whip, but if you stick with it, the whip will give you far more than your current approach.

 

[atomant]

Just some improvement to the FH aside from those already mentioned.

1. Crunch the right waist during backswing. This will enable you to harness more power from the torso rotation.

2. The current pivot point seems to be vertically down from the head. Change it to the left shoulder.

3. Swing the left arm together with the right instead of keeping by the side.

 

[Shuki]

yea he's not my main coach but him and danny sr. were running a clinic that i went to. and in the clinic at the end they took a video of each of us doing these various strokes and sent it to us in an email.