Focusing on the weight transfer, and using a stable pivot point trying not to buckle/collapse the knees has really brought back that feeling that in the end, equipment matters a lot less than some of us EJs make it out to be. And the main useful thing in Amateur space is being able to control the ball when you're NOT in proper position.
Funny also how there are different philosophies, essentially just based on whatever the player feels comfortable with. Talked a bit with
@NextLevel about this, and he feels comfortable being able to put quality and speed on the ball, taking over the attack, powering through the opponent (without necessarily applying all that much physical power). This comes at the cost of pretty much not playing balls short except for some serves, but it works great for his game.
Personally, I have always been about control-first. I have also played those setups that make it feel incredibly easy to attack the ball and I get it. It just feels too scary to let go of the safety net of having a stable, controlled, easy placement option. Takes a leap of faith, really, as well as practicing exactly that, of course.
The local club environment honestly isn't all that rewarding to players that want to learn to attack basically any ball. People will straight up say to not take the risk. But then, when you chug on and start hitting like faster BH openers more reliably, people do get impressed
Where did I want to go with this? I guess mostly saying that the experience of being around completely different players, with different ideas, and re-evaluating some basics has seemed to have opened the door for more (controlled) offensive playing, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need to build on that in order to make more progress. Being able to access these things honestly makes me feel that there's more headroom in me than I figured, and it makes me positive about what I can achieve in the current season.
