This is a kill shot for easy balls. The one thing to note about top Chinese players is that their training enables them to adapt their swing size and technique to the quality of the ball. Xu Xin often loops like this especially when playing choppers. There is a bending of the arm in this stroke depending on execution but it is not always visible or necessary. Racket head speed is best executed by whip mechanics and when you think about it whips don't have elbows.
That works both ways, though. I agree with the whip action - but our arms aren't straight pieces of string. So, maybe we should be making use of our elbows, or at least factoring them into the equation.
First of all, though, I have lots of respect for Brett - so my assumption is that I'm wrong - but still I'd like to know why I'm wrong!
Did he say in the video that this is a 'kill shot'? It seemed to me like he was referencing this shot as the optimal FH loop? And if this shot is a kill shot .. then why should one use this against a week return and a 'bent-arm (at contact) FH loop' against a 'good return'?
Of course, one has to adapt in a game - and if you're footwork doesn't get you far away enough from the ball - you'll be forced to have a bent arm at contact - but I'm still not sure whether having a straight arm at contact is optimal - or whether it's useful for beginner/intermediate players.
I actually tried a straight arm contact FH loop and practiced it for a year or so. And I've got to say it set me back a lot. It just wasn't working for me and I wasted a lot of development time over it. Now, I'm more a Boll/Mitzutani but I try to have a full arm backswing.There's less speed but it makes up for it in spin and control.
I agree with the dude above that there are different ways to get a whip action - and that's the most important factor. At the end of the day, that's what everyone's approach to technique should be I think - there's more than one way to skin a cat - to put it very gruesomely ...
