My backhand is beyond horrible

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Hello! I hope any one of you might be able to help. My backhand has always given me a lot of problems. Playing my game on the backhand is super difficult, and that's a weakness most of the players at my gym and college exploit. he topspin is very weak, so I just want the ball to go away, and try to attack when the ball is on the forehand side. Chopping with the backhand is adequate, and i can count on it, but I want to be aggressive with my backhand.There was a two month period at the start of the year, where i tried backhand flicks, and topspin, but after a while, the game deteriorated again. I'm back to relying on my forehand, and chopping using the backhand.

Thank you.
 
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Abacadabra... hocus pocus... look, your backhand is fine now....

But wait, you have H3 Neo on your BH...

But wait, you expect us to be able to help you without seeing you play...

I started the H3 Neo on my backhand very recently. It has nothing to do with the backhand issues. It's actually made it slightly more bearable to play the backhand.
And about the video, sure, I'll try to post something here after a while, but i don't really make videos of me, playing.
 
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Video would be pretty great.

However, for what you've said, I'm just gonna ask this:

Are you pushing with the whole arm, or are you rotating your arm from the elbow?

If your backhand is lacking in power and spin, you're probably pushing into the ball as opposed to rotating into it, like a lever.

I think i understand what you're saying. But i play the game up from the elbow. I still can't seem to get it right. Again, agree about the video thing, but i'll try to make one.
 
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I started the H3 Neo on my backhand very recently. It has nothing to do with the backhand issues. It's actually made it slightly more bearable to play the backhand.
And about the video, sure, I'll try to post something here after a while, but i don't really make videos of me, playing.

Humor does not travel well over internet - NL's point is that it's impossible to diagnose your BH problem without actually seeing you play, thus request for video.
 
says Spin and more spin.
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Yeah. Based on the available information all that can be said is:

Do thousands of reps. Reps where you are looping or driving vs topspin. And even more important, reps where you are looping vs backspin.

Without seeing what you are doing well and what you are not, that is the only thing I can think of that would be useful. Do a lot of reps.


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Watch video on what the mechanics of the backhand stroke are supposed to look like. Now go in front of a mirror and imitate that backhand until it feels natural. This will take hundreds of reps and you will break a sweat. If you don't break a sweat you didn't do it enough.

Next try using it the way you practiced on the table with no opponent or ball. Break a sweat again but this time there's no mirror so you better have that muscle memory down.


Now try it against a ball with someone feeding your backhand. Try and keep it controlled but not to fast. Get practice on as many balls as possible, to do this your opponent has to be able to keep hitting it back so you have to relax and not try to put much into it.

Start by hitting it high over the net and gradually get it lower. Always make your stroke forward, going through the ball is a huge emphasis. Let the ball get to you move your Raquet forward, make contact and continue going forward.

This is all I can give you for advice with no video of your play


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Also, a personal tip from me, from when I was heavily fixing my backhand:

Start slow. Really slow. 30 - 40% power or less even. If you can't do it at that speed, you're not gonna be better at 70%. At least for me, it was compelling to just go faster on the backhand with more drive: it didn't result in good habits.
 
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I started the H3 Neo on my backhand very recently. It has nothing to do with the backhand issues. It's actually made it slightly more bearable to play the backhand.
And about the video, sure, I'll try to post something here after a while, but i don't really make videos of me, playing.
What before neo? [emoji4]

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IMO, this is spot on! Many aspects of Life, not just table tennis, but piano, riding a bike, iceskating, etc - we just rush through it and trying to emulate what we saw and trying to do but our skill level is not quite there yet.

Work it slow before working it fast.

Good luck in your training Syed Mansoor Qutab !

Also, a personal tip from me, from when I was heavily fixing my backhand:

Start slow. Really slow. 30 - 40% power or less even. If you can't do it at that speed, you're not gonna be better at 70%. At least for me, it was compelling to just go faster on the backhand with more drive: it didn't result in good habits.
 
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IMO, this is spot on! Many aspects of Life, not just table tennis, but piano, riding a bike, iceskating, etc - we just rush through it and trying to emulate what we saw and trying to do but our skill level is not quite there yet.

Work it slow before working it fast.

Good luck in your training Syed Mansoor Qutab!

This is true on so many levels. Yes, a beginner must start slow, but that is the point. I'm 21, and I've been playing since i was 12 or 13. I started in 4th grade. Again, my chopping is adequate. I'm not a complete retard with the backhand, but if you're playing a game since a decade, you must at least have a genuine control over offensive backhand play.
 
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Hmmm, you didn't mention that you have been playing for almost a decade. Not sure why you have not a decent BH by now. Perhaps you learned/trained it improperly?

You are only as strong as your weakest link.

My general suggestion is to work your BH more, to at least a decent/basic level. Watch some vids as suggested previously, work your stroke, use a mirror or video yourself and watch the playback.

Additional suggestions:

1) Definitely work the stroke slowly, no need to feel ashamed of doing it slow. As mentioned above, if you can't do it slowly, it will be hard to do it fast. My non-TT instructor teaches: "Slow down to the speed of what you don't know." Speed will come in time, but be sure stroke/form is correct before starting to speed it up to game/match-speed.

2) Pick a player with a good BH (alternatively, pick your favorite player, that is if s/he has a good BH)... watch their BH's... visualize yourself as that player... go through the motions of the BH as if you were that player.

3) Visualize yourself executing the BH perfectly over and over.

4) Don't get frustrated if you can't execute the BH to your sastisfaction yet, it will take time as you groove your stroke (greasing the groove) ... your Ego is your worst Enemy! Do not think after a decade, i should have a good BH. Think I can improve on my BH.

May sound like a lot of mumbo jumbo, but these tips have helped me in my TT as well as other training.

Truly HTH... good luck in your Training!
 
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This is true on so many levels. Yes, a beginner must start slow, but that is the point. I'm 21, and I've been playing since i was 12 or 13. I started in 4th grade. Again, my chopping is adequate. I'm not a complete retard with the backhand, but if you're playing a game since a decade, you must at least have a genuine control over offensive backhand play.


How long you have been playing is largely irrelevant to the main point. We don't know how good a player you are, but there are world champions who have gone back to the basics to develop their strokes when they knew it was their main weakness.

I for example spent a long time working on my forehand last year when I wanted to fix some of the issues with it. Here is a video of me looping (I was already a competent club player when I started doing this - watch how slowly I go). EVen going slowly, it is about 5 mins in I start getting the form closer to what I wanted it to look like.

 
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I used to have a Stiga. I don't know the exact rubber, but someone gave it to me, so i used it. I stopped after 5-6 months of it.

Well, another issue for you guys to think about asied from the fact that we need to see video is that he went from one TERRIBLE BH rubber another. [emoji2]

I don't even need to know what Stiga rubber. It was bad to start. And after using it for 5-6 months it was worse. Was it new or USED when it was given to you?

A thing you should know, if your BH is not so good, going out of your way to use the worst possible rubbers for your BH and ones that are linear opposite, WILL NOT HELP YOUR BH IMPROVE.


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Hmmm, you didn't mention that you have been playing for almost a decade. Not sure why you have not a decent BH by now. Perhaps you learned/trained it improperly?

You are only as strong as your weakest link.

My general suggestion is to work your BH more, to at least a decent/basic level. Watch some vids as suggested previously, work your stroke, use a mirror or video yourself and watch the playback.

Additional suggestions:

1) Definitely work the stroke slowly, no need to feel ashamed of doing it slow. As mentioned above, if you can't do it slowly, it will be hard to do it fast. My non-TT instructor teaches: "Slow down to the speed of what you don't know." Speed will come in time, but be sure stroke/form is correct before starting to speed it up to game/match-speed.

2) Pick a player with a good BH (alternatively, pick your favorite player, that is if s/he has a good BH)... watch their BH's... visualize yourself as that player... go through the motions of the BH as if you were that player.

3) Visualize yourself executing the BH perfectly over and over.

4) Don't get frustrated if you can't execute the BH to your sastisfaction yet, it will take time as you groove your stroke (greasing the groove) ... your Ego is your worst Enemy! Do not think after a decade, i should have a good BH. Think I can improve on my BH.

May sound like a lot of mumbo jumbo, but these tips have helped me in my TT as well as other training.

Truly HTH... good luck in your Training!
Doesn't sound mumbo jumbo to me. I think I'll try what you said. Tuesday is when I restart training again. That's when I will work on it. But yeah, a decade. If you see my forehand, the decade long practice shows itself. I have control and power over every shot. I struggle with the backhand a lot though.

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Well, another issue for you guys to think about asied from the fact that we need to see video is that he went from one TERRIBLE BH rubber another. [emoji2]

I don't even need to know what Stiga rubber. It was bad to start. And after using it for 5-6 months it was worse. Was it new or USED when it was given to you?

A thing you should know, if your BH is not so good, going out of your way to use the worst possible rubbers for your BH and ones that are linear opposite, WILL NOT HELP YOUR BH IMPROVE.


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It was a new rubber. And is H3 NEO that bad on the backhand?

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It was a new rubber. And is H3 NEO that bad on the backhand?

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H3 is one of the best rubber for looping and chopping, super spinny, quite fast, hard sponged that never bottom out, etc, but,

also one of the worst rubber for blocking and driving, too susceptible to opponent spin.

If you can consistently loop or chop as opposed to block, push, and drive, on bh, it will be a great weapon.

the exact opposite is Flextra, not susceptible to opponent spin, but pale in comparison in spin and speed to H3. It perfect for blocking and driving game.

(assuming no need for pips, off course)

I am slow handed, so using thinner sponged Flextra style rubber makes my bh chop more manageable. I use Pro XP in 1.5 mm for the same reason, good enough for looping, but quite safe for chopping. I can opt to H3, but my oppolent shall outspin me to submission in loop vs chop game. [emoji6]



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If your BH is really REALLY GOOD, H3 is fine. But if you do not have really big impact on BH it is really not good for BH.

It does sound like it is better than the Stiga rubber for your BH. But you need to have a powerful BIG stroke to get what H3 does best from it.

I would recommend you use a rubber that is good for developing your BH if you want to work on it:

Xiom Vega Pro or Vega Europe
Tibhar Aurus Soft
Tibhar Evolution FX-P
Butterfly Tenergy O5fx

Or you could decide that you just want to use pips for BH and change your style.


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