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Building stronger leg/core muscles will do a lot for your playing level. If you can out some time into the gym or even without the gym, do some squats working with your physio therapist, over time, your forehand loop strength will improve. Whether that improves your overall playing level...

Some players use contraptions called "forehand fixing machines". What you are doing was recommended in a recent video I was watching on the forehand topspin - maybe Seth Pech - feel as if you have no more than a ball so that your arm is not too close, but the towel might create other issues...

How much lower body gym work do you do? In terms of physical exercise like squats, stretches etc.

Pretty much, the salute position is usually the result of the forearm snap, so you stop the upper arm and let the lower arm (or the "weight of the forearm") whip into the ball. For an extreme exercise, trace your shoulder joint as it moves throughout your forehand topspin. If it is in the...

That finishing position from Ma Long and Rich is a salute position. If you finish with a salute position, with the upper arm largely on the same side of your body, that is fine. Your practice video did not reflect a salute position.The main issue isn't so much where the arm finishes but how...

By the way, whatever one may think of different looping styles, note how low Dima's elbow is throughout his forehand topspin. There is room for different techniques depending on the player, but no one is going to recover quickly close to the table if your arm is above your head on the finishing...

I might get into trouble for saying it is not a very good one (way too much arm), but yes it is a flat/counter hit - it is one with the old celluloid ball when you could get away with stuff. If you want a video model, I prefer this one: https://youtu.be/PteXPY1V6Vw?t=23 Look at what Dima does...

NDH said it all, so read what he said carefully. You are a hardworking guy, I wish you could get good coaching in person.Get closer to the table, get a bit wider and try to not drop the paddle or straighten the arm - keep the elbow at the bottom of the stroke throughout the stroke. When you...

If playing matches to improve, work on expanding your game. If playing matches to win, do what it takes to win. If you need to push, push. There is a time for long term development. When you play to win, if you feel that your best chance of winning involves using strokes you have practiced...

1. The robot should not shoot lower, it should shoot higher. You want the ball to bounce. It is better to practice strokes in the beginning with slower high balls than to practice with skidding low balls. You want the ball to bounce then you hit it. 2. Don't try to copy the pros in abstract...

Yes - a basic drive, mostly flat. Very relaxed - use minimal power, just hit through the ball with the right form/feeling.

Yes, but you have to start all over, you have already built a pattern that has habits you don't want to reproduce. So you need to start with a new hit, and then when you have the hit you want, build the topspin on top of that. Or you can try to build a topspin without upper arm on your current...

You're working really hard and some things are really good but some things show that you are working too hard. The upper arm is finishing way too high on the forehand side, which shows me that you are not using contact point and racket angle/swing trajectory to compensate appropriately. But...

So I manage to watch the Liam Pitchford backhand masterclass and wow, I find out that like crappy old NextLevel, Liam Pitchford opens his racket, hits the left side of the ball and turns his wrist over the ball so that he has more contact area for a safe shot. I used to wonder whether I was...

Managed to get enough free time to play again. This is probably the 4th time I am playing table tennis this year. I am incredibly rusty, struggling to beat 1600 players. Hopefully, I will get better at something somehow... but I have to accept myself, even getting decent again could take a while.

So I have become even more fascinated with Nigerian table tennis, thanks to a very little known youtube channel. Obviously, some of the cultural nuances will be lost on some (even some are lost on me), but if you want to see relatively high level table tennis (usually 2000- 2650 USATT) depending...

I was an equipment pundit back in the day. My current conclusion is that if you put in the hours, you will learn as you play and you can test other people's stuff. It really doesn't matter as long as it doesn't matter to the player. Equipment makes a small difference in the relatively big...

At your level, no one talks about the obvious role of fitness because it doesn't reward as much as training specific technique, but the key is that the quality of your consistent technique can be easily improved by raising your core strength and leg strength as long as you don't get injured...

The main elements of quality shots: power (spin/speed), placement, deception. For winning points/rallying, I would add control(defense/counterattacking), consistency and timing to the first three. Most players focus on power (getting heavy speed or heavy spin or both) for shot quality, but...

In general, I encourage practicing looping with different contact points as a practice adaptation. As I tell people all the time, the stroke that puts the ball off the table against one ball puts it on the table against another ball. But I think adjusting your contact point would make your...