Hi Richie,
Something opponents particularly take advantage of is that I back away from the table too much and I'm too easy to read. They also see that I struggle to play BH after I've looped into my opponents BH. As can be seen in the drill where I loop vs push into my opponents BH I often play a compromised BH when blocked to my BH. Maybe I need to move faster back faster to the BH after having played the FH or it's some technical issue.. or both.
I want to say first I do myself a lot of those drills with my coaches.
in relation to your own self-assessment here are my comments to your snippet videos:
- in those drills too, I think you're a bit far from the table. so you need to move more and quicker but you have difficulties to do that
- you do have more power than i do in your shots, but i think you're not doing this drill for the right purpose. the purpose of this 2-2 drill is to improve FH to BH switch and footwork. but way too often you hit the 2nd FH out and you're not even going to the BH more than 50% of the time. its a bit of a waste of time.
so i believe in this drill you should learn to slow down the 2nd FH and play this one a bit slower with more spin, to give you a little extra time to go to the BH.
the most difficult part of this drill is precisely doing the first BH after the 2nd FH. its easier for everybody to play the 1st FH after the 2nd BH.
So i think you should change the way to do this drill. This is not a drill where you want to improve your FH power or technique. This is about footwork, being able to move from the 2 side of the tables and switching stance and grip. Focus more on your footwork and sensations rather than trying to execute the perfect shot for each shot.
- if after practicing with slowing down a bit the 2nd FH you don't get good consistency and quality on the next BH, then i may have to suggest to get closer to the table a little bit. Yes its not your current style, but maybe your current style implies more fitness, more training, something maybe you had younger, but as we all get older, i think its better to play closer to the table.
- regarding the drill where after the FH loop the guy blocks to your BH. i think the problem is you play without intention of playing the 5th ball. If there is no uncertainty in the drill, its easier, focus on switching quickly to the BH grip and stance after the loop, and on the TIMING of the BH. focus on playing a controlled shot with spin and not a fast BH, but with a precise timing, which I believe should be just after the top of the bounce as often as possible. Never let it drop too much.
if there is uncertainty, well you can be in the mindset of giving priority to a FH or BH next and if the ball goes where expected you play a strong shot, and if not, then a more neutral shot, but even if the ball goes to the BH try to get that ball with a faster timing. Your opening loop is good quality and giving you an advantage but on the next shot you're immediately playing a weak one because you look surprised and / or you're not in the mindset of taking that ball early.
- generally speaking i think you don't seem to be doing enough of these little adjustment steps. So if the ball is not exactly where you want it to be, and because you're always going for a powerful shot, there's a bigger risk of mistake. One reason is that your comrade blocking for you is very good and precise in his blocking, to put it at the same place. The other is that you play always the same FH.
As for me, i have also much less control than you and when i do this exercise, there is a lot of variation between my shots: i'll have difficulty to aim at the same spot. As a result, the ball comes back more randomly as well. On the other hand, because of the ball placement coming back more randomly i am forced to make more of these small adjustments and to bounce more between each shot.
I think you're lacking a bit of that, and by voluntarily putting yourself more variations with your FH you'll get more randomness from your blocker and that will force you to adjust more and bounce more. That will be also more relatable to matchplay.
Cheers