Balls hitting the edge of the racket

[zeio]

Your contribution is invaluable. That's why we don't pay you.

US

China

 

[Manny Calavera]

Same problem when I wear foot weights. I am struggling to move, my footwork is poor and I get a lot hits at the edge of the blade. When I play without them the problem disappears. So I would say it is due to poor footwork.

 

[Zeen]

Open your racket angle at almost all times. ABS balls have no backspin or topspin unless someone hits it hard. So just hit it forward.

The chinese coach is right. Many players have ingrained a bad technique, what was good for celluloid now becomes a bad habit that needs countless hours of training to get rid of. But some will never adapt, because they have no critical thinking ability. They will simply play the same old technique and lose more and more points until they eventually quit.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Problem: over the years, I've hit lots of ball on the edge of my racket. This usually happens when the ball jumps out at me with topspin and I try to forehand loop it (but I've had it happen before even when it's not spinny. sometimes happens long backspin pushes to my backhand).

I'm just wondering if anybody has had an issue like this and had a effective conceptual/technical solution.

********
I've noticed that my backhand generally doesn't have this problem so I have thought of a few solutions that have somewhat mitigated the problem, but never fully solved it.

I've tried raising my arm higher (trade off is that it becomes harder to close my racket).
Standing further away helps too.

I want to know what you guys think

Most situation is either the bat angle is too close - so try to open it a bit more.
the other part is late on the shot.
But if you feel you are early enough for the shot, then it is bat angle.

 

[songdavid98]

Most situation is either the bat angle is too close - so try to open it a bit more.
the other part is late on the shot.
But if you feel you are early enough for the shot, then it is bat angle.

Then what would you do when there's a lot of topspin and you want to counterloop?

****************

Today, I played in NCTTA divisionals at Westchester TTC. I did notice that I had a lot fewer balls hitting the edge of my racket, probably because I was trying to stand further away (Or maybe it was because the balls and tables were better).

I also closed my racket less and loop-drove more, so that also may have contributed. So it is possible that everything combined may have helped.

EDIT: I also tried to look at the ball more. So again, I think all the advice together helped.

 

[ttmonster]

I have another point of view to share , take it with a pinch of salt since I am not at your level .... and this is all my personal opinion.. and I only have vague memories of your playing style from your videos you had shared earlier ... Tony and Lula are actual coaches so I myself would value their opinion over mine ....

You said you don't have this problem on the backhand, I think your backhand stroke is smaller because you are using Tenergy which lets you use a smaller stroke which is more adaptable depending on the "cues" you are getting and lets you take the ball way earlier than on the forehand side ... now keep in mind with the time line of a stroke though we may want to think otherwise , most of the times you are stroke is a reaction to the ball and the body movement till the time the ball is crossing approx.the half way mark on the table on the other side ... approx. 3/4 th of the table away ...

Now on the forehand side you are using chinese rubbers , your stroke is way larger ( I know you are penholder and you use H3 ) and most of the time you are swinging more down to up than say with an european rubber... even though you might be boosting you still need to create a lot of power to get the sponge to do its magic ... which means either you are trying to generate enough momentum forward by quickly snapping and wrapping around the ball at the last moment if you take the ball early or swing even more down to up to create your own power when you are taking the ball late ...

So my suggestion is to try european rubbers on the forehand side somethign like T05 H ( well its biased since I am drinking the Kool-aid myself ) ... ( you take your pick ) and see if you can manage with a a smaller stroke with a less powerful wrap around snap and get the power from the sponge ... meaning rebuild the forehand a little bit to have it smaller which will let you adjust your swing plane and also the need to snap it very very quickly at the last moment to generate enough power ... in my experience .. this adjustment might take a month or so and even though initially you are losing a lot on other areas of the game initially , you eventually end up gaining more options and more consistency in rallies and counters ...

.. but again this all depends on how you prefer to play and what are your weaknesses and strengths .. and it does not hurt giving it a shot for 2-3 months ..

.. so in summary .. shorten your stroke with your existing setup and see if you can get your body to do more work .. or see if you can use european rubbers .. shortening the stroke, taking the ball earlier during its arc ( preferably before the top ) and borrowing power from incoming ball + a more responsive sponge...

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Then what would you do when there's a lot of topspin and you want to counterloop?

opening the angle a bit will not cause an issue with topspin.

the reason why I say open the angle is I've seen a lot of players who are on time with the stroke, but keep hitting the edge is because of a too closed angle - in otherwords, the bat edge is on a head on collision with the ball.
ofcourse a higher bat position, or arc of ball could change this "collision path", but for a quick fix it to learn to open the angle a bit more.

When you are eyeing the ball more, your body will also naturally adjust based on the arc of the ball.

you know, this is so different to really comment in text format, it would be so much easier if we were live

 

[vik]

I have the same problem a lot of edges from forehand. My couch advised me the same -start swing higher and open more racket.When I open more my racket and start swing above the table racket ,feels like it is more counter- very little spin.If you watch ma long ,maybe he has old fashioned topspin,but he starts low.Even LIN Gaoyuan new generation player starts swing under the table.I would say his racket is closed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erc67HZgCyc contrary to LI SUn[h=1][/h]

 

[langel]

We have a joke about a doctor and a patient: "Doctor, when I press here I feel pain, what should I do?", "Don't press".

There is a difference between "not proper technique for a particular ball" and "not properly executed technique".
You can't open the bat angle if the ball and/or the shot you want to execute needs closed angle.
You can't start the swing higher, if you have to take the ball lower.

"Open the angle" and "start the swing higher" are advices applicable to correct not proper for a particular ball/shot techniques. Fighting the edgehitting with them is more like the doctor's advice in the joke above. They may work, but they are limitations to the techniques used.
Edgehitting is a problem of timing and technique precision and depends on the capabilities of the neuromechanics system of the player. You help timing abd technique precision with proper training and you help neuromechanics with proper receptor engagement, in this case - the eyes.

 

[songdavid98]

I am pretty sure I found a definite solution today after rethinking one particularly basic concept. All in all, I've probably been doing something wrong from the very start, given how often I hit edge balls before a few hours ago.

****

I was thinking about some beginner concepts and generally given advice, and one that I thought about today was "hit the top of the ball".

Normally, I just equate that to simply changing my racket angle. Today, I decided to AIM my racket for the top of the ball (as in the center of my racket hitting the top of the ball). And it worked.

****

I realize this is an improvisation on my initial idea of pretending the ball is higher and aiming my racket there, but my current solution is better such that I don't have to think abstractly about how much higher I need to pretend, and now I see concretely how high I need to go.

***
I just played a decently high level match, and I hit ZERO edge balls, so I'm pretty happy I fixed my problem. Before, I'd say I hit the edge of my racket more often than I go to the net when I loop. Getting zero has pretty much never happened aside from playing against beginners.

 

[tutas_piotr]

1. lack of proper timing
2. lack of proper reading the spin
3. racket angle too closed on some shots.
4. make sure to play with the same or very similar balls. switching between celuloids and polyballs in the same match can often can significantly impact the behavior of the ball in the same type of shots.

 

[songdavid98]

If I have to take a guess, it is the ball, then the light, then the mis-reading of impact as the top three reasons David is hitting the ball with the edge of his bat.

The problem came back, but I fixed it again.

It was misreading of the impact. A lot of the time, the ball is coming faster, higher, and/or deeper than usual, and if i don't notice that, the racket edge ball is going to be happening.

Now, I focus a lot more on where the ball will be, and I can see these high/deep balls coming and make adjustments. Generally, I simply have to decide to strike the ball at a higher spot, or strike the ball at a spot a bit later in it's trajectory, or both. But it was mainly striking the ball at a higher spot. The second option is much better for fast serves though (looping later in its trajectory).

Simply deciding to strike the ball at a higher spot required a few changes. I wasn't really allowed to drop my hand anymore. I did that by thinking about forehand blocking, which is a stroke where you always keep your hand above the table. Doing so kept my arm bent, and also further in front of me, rather than unbent at the side of me. Then I had to learn to loop that way. My backhand had no issues because it already had these two things.

I can handle incoming loops much better today than 3 years ago, both with blocks and counterloops.

Thank you.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

The problem came back, but I fixed it again.

It was misreading of the impact. A lot of the time, the ball is coming faster, higher, and/or deeper than usual, and if i don't notice that, the racket edge ball is going to be happening.

Now, I focus a lot more on where the ball will be, and I can see these high/deep balls coming and make adjustments. Generally, I simply have to decide to strike the ball at a higher spot, or strike the ball at a spot a bit later in it's trajectory, or both. But it was mainly striking the ball at a higher spot. The second option is much better for fast serves though (looping later in its trajectory).

Simply deciding to strike the ball at a higher spot required a few changes. I wasn't really allowed to drop my hand anymore. I did that my thinking about forehand blocking, which is a stroke where you always keep your hand above the table. Doing so kept my arm bent, and also further in front of me, rather than unbent at the side of me. Then I had to learn to loop that way. My backhand had no issues because it already had these two things.

I can handle incoming loops much better today than 3 years ago, both with blocks and counterloops.

Thank you.

well done
your efforts during the past 3 years didn't go into vain.