3rd ball attack feedback

[Novarac23]

Hey y’all,

I was doing 3rd ball attack the other day and here’s a snippet of me doing that:

Some of those I think are decent and some of them are 💩. I feel like for me to execute a solid 3rd ball attack everything has to be perfect: my position after the serve, my core has to be tight and I need to be low and light on my feet.

What I’m finding really difficult is figuring out the right distance away from the table after I serve, I think I generally “hug” the table too much and then don’t rest quickly enough for the next shot. I think I need to step away a tad bit from the table after the serve. For the context I’m super tall for a table tennis player (6’5”).

Another thing that I’m finding difficult is being relaxed in my upper body while also being tight in my core and lower body “tension”. I have been practicing a lot being tight in my core and being ready to move and it has helped me a ton move faster but as a side effect my upper body is kinda stiff. What do y’all think? Any recommendations on resolving these issues? Or any other feedback?

 

[IB66]

Great to see you being brave enough to post footage of yourself!!
There is another thread ‘video safe thread’ or something similar, where an ‘approved’ group of members give good advice, maybe re post on that thread. Then you’ll know that the replies will be from good players.

You do look a little stiff though!!

If you want to get better at holding your core you could try Pilates or Yoga, they both hold the core all time but the main difference is either breathing in with the movement or out with the movement!! Can’t remember which!!
Holding your core may be giving you that stiff feeling in your upper body. You could try activating your core at impact rather than holding it. That’s why Dima grunts when playing his shots.
A grunt is a natural way of activating your core, it’s a natural response, like making a grunting noise (subconsciously) when you lift a heavy weight. You don’t think of grunting, it just happens!! it’s a subconscious protection mechanism.

If I’m correct, there is a term ‘being in pai’ this is - relaxed before impact, tight at impact, relaxed after impact. Mainly for the arms, shoulders and hands. An excercise I’ve seen is really relaxing you hands, arms and shoulders, letting them hang loosely and then getting them to swing by using your legs, hips, wrist and chest. Obviously when playing a stroke, there has to be muscle activation, to hold the bat etc but this should be light not tense, sort of like you are doing the minimum to hold your arms in the ready position etc.

The power is produced from the ground up, and this means the ‘power’ has to travel from your feet, up the legs, through your hips, waist/core/back/ shoulcers etc then down your arms and wrists/hand. As the power is transferred, more power is added on its way by the muscles involved in the stroke mechanics. There is a flow and then a ‘breaking’ effect. The breaking effect isn’t the tightening at impact as such, it’s a movement that helps to optimise the power that has been produced. FH drive / topspin - ok you have done all the good stuff of transferring the weight (RH player) from right to left , turned hips chest etc this should happen before impact, and there is the ‘peddling’ of the feet - that is the breaking motion, you could try pushing back with the left leg at impact which pushes the left hip back, not so you step back but so the power is properly transferred through your body at impact. Some players are airborne at impact, they have transferred the weight loaded the feet and the ’little jump’ transfers the power up through their body into the arms. A lot of this happens ‘naturally’ to a certain extent.

 

[Novarac23]

Great to see you being brave enough to post footage of yourself!!
There is another thread ‘video safe thread’ or something similar, where an ‘approved’ group of members give good advice, maybe re post on that thread. Then you’ll know that the replies will be from good players.

You do look a little stiff though!!

If you want to get better at holding your core you could try Pilates or Yoga, they both hold the core all time but the main difference is either breathing in with the movement or out with the movement!! Can’t remember which!!
Holding your core may be giving you that stiff feeling in your upper body. You could try activating your core at impact rather than holding it. That’s why Dima grunts when playing his shots.
A grunt is a natural way of activating your core, it’s a natural response, like making a grunting noise (subconsciously) when you lift a heavy weight. You don’t think of grunting, it just happens!! it’s a subconscious protection mechanism.

If I’m correct, there is a term ‘being in pai’ this is - relaxed before impact, tight at impact, relaxed after impact. Mainly for the arms, shoulders and hands. An excercise I’ve seen is really relaxing you hands, arms and shoulders, letting them hang loosely and then getting them to swing by using your legs, hips, wrist and chest. Obviously when playing a stroke, there has to be muscle activation, to hold the bat etc but this should be light not tense, sort of like you are doing the minimum to hold your arms in the ready position etc.

The power is produced from the ground up, and this means the ‘power’ has to travel from your feet, up the legs, through your hips, waist/core/back/ shoulcers etc then down your arms and wrists/hand. As the power is transferred, more power is added on its way by the muscles involved in the stroke mechanics. There is a flow and then a ‘breaking’ effect. The breaking effect isn’t the tightening at impact as such, it’s a movement that helps to optimise the power that has been produced. FH drive / topspin - ok you have done all the good stuff of transferring the weight (RH player) from right to left , turned hips chest etc this should happen before impact, and there is the ‘peddling’ of the feet - that is the breaking motion, you could try pushing back with the left leg at impact which pushes the left hip back, not so you step back but so the power is properly transferred through your body at impact. Some players are airborne at impact, they have transferred the weight loaded the feet and the ’little jump’ transfers the power up through their body into the arms. A lot of this happens ‘naturally’ to a certain extent.

All great advice thank you! I do think my core is decently strong but I know Pilates and Yoga hit different muscles and teach different things so I migh try that. In the interim though I do think maybe just trying tightening the core at impact would help.

I'll move this to video safe thread

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

serve downspin; comes back also downspin. Open up; opponent blocks; ball will come back with lots of topspin and will kick-up. Must step back more or else ball will kick up to one's face and jam you.

Step back more and prepare to fh bomba.

If opponent can counter-loop your open up; also step back more to counter loop the counter loop.

Thereafter:

Let the beautiful game begin.

 

[Lazer]

Your opening loops are a little weak (as are mine) so you nee to step back a little further and be better setup for the hard balls coming back. I have a similar weakness I always want to move forward...

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Zezima]

You dont accelerate into the ball at all. Try hitting the ball more when brushing upwards still.

For the first open up loop you stay close to the table don't go back. After the open up double jump back a bit for the next ball and shorten the backswing.

I would first practise this vs blocks or multiball. Just have someone throw balls at you without backspin.
Focus on not pushing(yours is like a topspin push - maybe there is a better term for it) these balls to the other side thats very ineffective and slow.

I am working on this myself so I see where you are coming from. I am also very tall.

 

[Doralikesmath]

You need to hit the ball at soon at it starts dropping. Currently you let the ball drop too low, that's why you have to waste a lot of power lifting it up. Don't step too far away from the table right after the serve, unless you anticipate the opponent would loop/flick your serves. Work on your timing first, then the body will naturally relax as you wouldn't have to feel like you must hit super hard for a high quality 3rd ball anymore.

 

[Lula]

I find the exercise too difficult. Would be easier if you know where the block is going. Also think just hitting in the air, like you are throwing the racket as far away as possible with backhand and forehand. Can not get energy into the ball if you arent relaxed. Then do the same with multiball on a dead slow ball. Think of throwing a frisbee in backhand and maybe golf swing/baseboll swing to get the momentum.
Regarding the distance it is always better to be further away, much faster moving forward than backwards.

 

[Novarac23]

All great advice, thank you all ❤️

 

[Novarac23]

Wait maybeI should just get a super viscaria with two zyres? I think it will fix all of my problems jk jk

Although I do miss my 7ply all wood blade (right now acoustic 5 ply)

 

[blahness]

It seems you're outputting a lot of energy from the body (which is correct) but something got lost in the transmission.

I think it looks like your grip is way too tight during the backswing... it should be a lot looser, and figure out how to activate the wrist and fingers at the point of contact. Then relax after contact.

One really good exercise is literally deactivating your body and isolating the arm movement. Just sit down on the floor or a chair and then try to make maximum topspin with just the lower arm and wrist/fingers and land it on the other side of the table with plenty of topspin.

Once you mastered that, combine it with your current lower body action, and you might find that your shot quality multiplied a few times.

 

[Novarac23]

It seems you're outputting a lot of energy from the body (which is correct) but something got lost in the transmission.

I think it looks like your grip is way too tight during the backswing... it should be a lot looser, and figure out how to activate the wrist and fingers at the point of contact. Then relax after contact.

One really good exercise is literally deactivating your body and isolating the arm movement. Just sit down on the floor or a chair and then try to make maximum topspin with just the lower arm and wrist/fingers and land it on the other side of the table with plenty of topspin.

Once you mastered that, combine it with your current lower body action, and you might find that your shot quality multiplied a few times.

Yeah I think this is one if th me major things. I was doing same third ball drill yesterday and I was really focusing on being low and having engaged lower body while staying relaxed in the upper body (mainly arms and shoulders). Then I “produce tension” when I start swinging. Then relax again and get ready for the next shot.

TBH “relax again” part was the most difficult to consistently and something I have to get into my muscle memory.

Once I nail this and my power transmition is correct (love the term) I think power output and % of me making my next shot are going to go up