The Perfect Forehand Doesn’t Exist—Former China National Team Player Explains Why

[NextLevel]

Comments welcome...

 

[NDH]

He's clearly never seen the forehand counter against @Dan to win the golden point..... 😂

 

[Haito]

Comments welcome...

He is absolutely right. Bio mechanically speaking every player has different height, different length of joints, probably slightly different mobility as well. Different spine, different posture. But as the guy in the video said, all of the key points are the some. You need to snap your forearm, to snap your forearm you need have the elbow at the ball height, otherwise the ball will go sky high. So despite the strokes looking differently, they have the same core concepts. Each player needs to compensate differently for their bodies.

To put it abstractly, if you strip the players from flesh and replace them with joints and bones represented as lines, the strokes will start to algorithmically similar.

 

[Archosaurus]

I thought this was obvious. As long as there are different kinds of humans, there will be different kinds of optimal biomechanics. Of course technical theory is an empirically observed reality so everything converges in some key points.

 

[backspacer]

He's clearly never seen the forehand counter against @Dan to win the golden point..... 😂

I hope that shot is on camera.

 

[Haito]

I hope that shot is on camera.

It is, @NDH popped it in the dusseldorf thread.

 

[Haito]

I hope that shot is on camera.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/%F0%9F%8C%8E-%F0%9F%87%A9%F0%9F%87%AA-ttd-forum-meet-up-in-d%C3%BCsseldorf-september-11th-12th-13th-%F0%9F%87%A9%F0%9F%87%AA-%F0%9F%8C%8E.38847/page-9#post-588244

Here u go.

 

[backspacer]

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/%F0%9F%8C%8E-%F0%9F%87%A9%F0%9F%87%AA-ttd-forum-meet-up-in-d%C3%BCsseldorf-september-11th-12th-13th-%F0%9F%87%A9%F0%9F%87%AA-%F0%9F%8C%8E.38847/page-9#post-588244

Here u go.

I forgot I had seen it. I may be getting old...

 

[lightspin]

My first coach insisted I use a whipping wristy style forehand. I improved rapidly and could hit the ball really hard. I then took lessons from someone in the top 100 and they insisted my motion be concave up and I should really hit through the ball when I was looping. This method might work if you speed glue daily and have the touch of someone who practices 8 hours a day. It didn't work for me and after 6 months trying very hard and losing tons of rating points, I switched back to my old method and got back to my old level.

In China, my coach insisted on no wrist at all and no whipping motion. All the power and motion had to be coordinated all at once. I could no longer hit the ball hard as before. I might have been a tad more consistent but against better players, this kind of loop was useless.

So what is the moral of the story? There are multiple theories on how to loop properly. Find something that works for you and stick with it.

 

[Archosaurus]

My first coach insisted I use a whipping wristy style forehand. I improved rapidly and could hit the ball really hard. I then took lessons from someone in the top 100 and they insisted my motion be concave up and I should really hit through the ball when I was looping. This method might work if you speed glue daily and have the touch of someone who practices 8 hours a day. It didn't work for me and after 6 months trying very hard and losing tons of rating points, I switched back to my old method and got back to my old level.

In China, my coach insisted on no wrist at all and no whipping motion. All the power and motion had to be coordinated all at once. I could no longer hit the ball hard as before. I might have been a tad more consistent but against better players, this kind of loop was useless.

So what is the moral of the story? There are multiple theories on how to loop properly. Find something that works for you and stick with it.

What equipment were you using? I've found the whippy wristy swing is just fine for rubbers like Rasanter, Hybrid MK, Tenergy or Dignics, but it's almost useless for H3, B2 etc because the speed isn't high enough and there's probably no spin benefit at all. Although my forearm and wrist whips slightly in those shots, so in the end it might not be so different.

I think the coaches who were trying to make you whip and probably brush less are correct in a strategic sense and you would probably need to do that if you're looking to be a top professional player, but depending on your level it might be quite silly indeed to be practicing a level 1000 thing when your loop is at level 50, if you get what I mean.

 

[lightspin]

What equipment were you using? I've found the whippy wristy swing is just fine for rubbers like Rasanter, Hybrid MK, Tenergy or Dignics, but it's almost useless for H3, B2 etc because the speed isn't high enough and there's probably no spin benefit at all. Although my forearm and wrist whips slightly in those shots, so in the end it might not be so different.

I think the coaches who were trying to make you whip and probably brush less are correct in a strategic sense and you would probably need to do that if you're looking to be a top professional player, but depending on your level it might be quite silly indeed to be practicing a level 1000 thing when your loop is at level 50, if you get what I mean.

I do get what you mean. At the time, I was hoping to "go pro" but failed spectacularly for a variety of reasons. I still think my first coach's advice was the best and suited for my body and playing style. The main lesson I learned is to just find something reasonable that works for you and stick with it. If you have some sort of issue that constantly shows up, then maybe ask a coach for some advice as to how to deal with that specific problem. Changing systems over and over is a recipe for disaster however.

 

[jonol]

More or less agree.

If you're getting power in your shots, you recover in time, you feel comfortable and you are consistent - does it really matter how you did it?

Unless there's a clear practical drawback because of someone's technique, it probably doesn't need to be drastically changed.