I really can't understand how you generate spin without any backswing :O But it seems to work.
Isn't that a very cramped feeling to loop like this?
well first my blade+rubbers are quite fast. what is important is the impact, the stroke is shortened but quite fast, and as NL says i try to help from my body, I try to use my legs and always give a small forward impulse without losing my balance. Maybe its difficult to see given the angle of the video.
Maybe its the Japanese school, but all my coaches have told me to work on shortening strokes when near the table. Thats even more true on the BH side.
Going back even 50cm more from the table, then you would take more backswing, or on a slower shot when going for a kill then a bigger stroke.
If you have enough arm speed, I think its good to take more backswing. Try to do a drill, if you can't play the next shot because you are late, check if its because of your footwork or because your arm is late. If its your arm, probably your stroke is too big.
as NL said its important to have all the arm relaxed, the wrist as well, just slightly firm the grip at impact. If your muscles get tense you lose arm speed and control, and you get tired more quickly.
Agree with you NL , but I felt that the drill was a tad too fast for comfort ...
well yes I was struggling at times, but i had a few good series. The good speed i believe is where you can make long series without making any miss. Obviously, between long series, there are times i make quite a few mistakes. I think its a problem of stamina and focus. So its good, because it helps to work on it.
In the middle of the drill, the coach says to go for slower loops sometimes, as at one point I'm losing consistency. I try to get better control and finish a bit better.
Basically the coach is just blocking so its going fast because i'm going fast, i should be able in this drill to slow down, play slower topspins to recover when i'm tired or a bit out of position. The coach always says what matters most is to make no miss.
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That being said, i don't think its got a big impact for that particular drill, but my upper body is way too high, which is really bad. when its that high, you can't control counter-topspin shots. Usually i try to go even lower on my legs to compensate, but its not very good. In drills i can do it, but in matchs more often that not, i would be forced to block.
The upper body being high is also even worse for executing BH. Thats why i'm making so many mistakes on BH side after coming from FH in the second drill.
I forgot to film it but in BH to BH drill I'm able to stay lower because there is no randomness, and i have similar consistency than FH as well (or even slightly better)... but i'm alas not able to keep this posture with randomness (and thus in matches). I really really have to work on it because that's so important.
The second drill is a simple one, like in a match you don't know which way the ball is going. there is some pace but not much spin on the balls, so they are rather simple. its really about following the ball, a little bit of footwork and being able to alternate FH and BH. But that little difference with randomness makes a whole difference in results because of some fundamental flaw in my technique that i need to correct to get to the next level.
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Also i think my motion is not smooth enough. I may lose too much energy. After 7 minutes you can see I'm done for. Although i was in better form than usual.
