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I really appreciate your thoughts! The weird thing is that I find it tricky to actually remember what has gone on before, so I can't be 100% confident even in my own experience and memory of it lol.
In the 2 year old clip I was for sure consciously using my arm during the forward swing as I thought that would add extra power, but I also knew I should be doing something with my body/hips. So in the oldest clips there were two main problems.
One was that I was rotating my hips back and forward. The second was the conscious use of the arm. This is why it looks so tense. I've been told a lot since I started playing table tennis to "relax". The problem is that looking tense is a symptom of a problem and no amount of being told to relax fixes that (at least for me, maybe others are smarter than me and intuitively know what to do, then being told to relax might work). The problem was I didn't know what to do in what order and many players here often say to "use" the forearm etc. So in that clip and during that time I just thought that I needed to "use" the forearm which instead lead to overusing the whole arm.
In the month old clip - I'm letting the arm do what it wants and not to my conscious experience tensing the arm or the shoulder, but it's also possible I'm misremembering and that you're right that I'm slipping in some arm and shoulder. One of the problems from the two year old clip has been solved to some extent. but I'm still left with the second main problem. I'm consciously rotating my hips back and forward as far as possible (and I'm doing this more than the 2 year old clip) and I think this is why it looks like my shoulder is more elevated as my body and hips are rotated a bit more compared to the second video. I only noticed the shoulder thing when you pointed it out.
In the latest videos I've tried to stop rotating my hips consciously and instead been trying to do what should've been obvious - and really I should've known better, yet I haven't been doing it. Maybe I've done it before and then changed technique for some reason. In the latest FH vs block video I'm trying to push more with my left leg to let my hips rotate and then the rest of the body follows along, it feels a bit like I'm loading my left leg to jump. Maybe in the first vid I'm pushing a bit with my left leg, but my main focus there was to just rotate my hips back and forward. In the latest fh vs block I'm really focusing on pushing with my left leg, making the appropriate backswing and letting the rest happen.
I think to improve this more I need to practice every variation of leg push and backswing, when there's little time - small backswing and a little push and when there's more time big backswing and hard push from the leg and glute. But all of that is subconscious and I will just let my body intuit that during practice. I also think I can let my arm fly a little bit more and "relax", like Lula says I could let the wrist snap into the ball more perhaps. The leg push also needs to become more automatic, in the latest video especially there was no time to think about it, so hopefully I'm on the right track to getting it ingrained. There's always something to work on and I accept that it'll never be perfect, but the process is enjoyable regardless
Hi Richie, for the record I didn't comment on the 2 year old clip. The push with the left leg - yes - everything starts on the ground Der_Echte pointed this to me too, since then I check it regularly. It feels good when the hips rotate, but they rotate as consequence of the leg push, so focusing on that is better.
I'd like to return to what you said earlier about being told to "relax". So when someone told me to relax I think it is the best advice, and it is also nr. 1 priority for me. It is easy to relax when you are not moving, but how to move the arm fast and be relaxed? And that is what TTNuri, and probably many others, are saying. They explain, how it works, so that you can afford to be relaxed, so that being relaxed (having the arm relaxed) follows as consequence. Sorry that I am stubornly repeating it, I just think it is important. For the record, what Zeio said about primary and secondary acceleration, it is directly related, same thing in fact.
Yet another way to think about it is - the form of a tradeoff. Will arm do the work or will body do the work? I guess we agree it is preferable if body does the work. But we need to give it time, and engage the arm after that time, after delay. I'm sure you understand. I think it is worth to try to experiment with it a bit... You are giving me motivation, and I am giving you my thoughts
What NL wrote about BH, I think it is really good. Try this: put yourself in the position in which you are when Nicky hits the back-spin at you, and you are awaiting the ball. Now try to move your playing arm a bit down and let the bat point to the ground. The body instinctively turns a bit and you (LH) put more weight on the right foot, automatically. I think you can experiment with this too. Not in the backswing phase, but just about when you are going to shoot the BH top-spin. This will put the weight where it should be (you can then push it (the right leg), mirror to the FH way) and make the rotation possible.
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