Of course, I am aware of that. It is the same in most technical sports, getting the body to work together as a unit and correct timing is usually the hard part.
Adding sidespin subtracts power from velocity and topspin, and the sidespin component of a shot doesn't help at all to lift a heavy push; wrong axis of force for lifting. You make it harder for yourself when you add sidespin. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes not. If the only forehand you can hit is a hook, I think it's a good investment of practice time to figure out how to unhook it.
I wanted to pick this back up.
I know I actually covered this when I was talking about spin avoidance before this post was made. But I want to revisit the subject.
If there is heavy backspin on the ball, and you tried to hit straight topspin with no sidespin, you would be going against the spin directly and it would make looping that backspin much harder.
If you contact the outside of the ball you would be contacting closer to the axis of rotation and the spin would have much less of an effect on you so you could actually loop forward much more easily and get much more power on the ball.
The exception to this would be if there was the kind of side-backspin that would be heaviest when you contact the outside of the ball. [Reverse pendulum side/backspin from a righty to a righty.]
And, if you received this sidespin and wanted to utilize spin avoidance, you would want to contact the inside of the ball for a fade loop.
So, from that standpoint, I think the statement quoted may be a little off.
Mechanics also determine that, if you contact the ball a little in front of you, a little before the ball comes in line with your body, you can apply more force into the ball and you can utilize the force of your moving forward more effectively.
If you waited till the ball was in line with (as far back as) your body, you would have much less leverage to power into the ball. You can do it. But you won’t be able to apply as much force into your stroke.
When you swing with a FH and your racket is about 8-12 inches closer to the table (or net) than your body, your arm will be at approximately a 35-45° angle to the table which will mean you HAVE TO contact the outside of the ball to use that leverage.
So contacting the outside of the ball, a little bit on the outside of the ball, is where you can apply the most force into the ball from your stroke.
And that technically means that where you will get the most power behind your stroke is where you would contact the ball for some natural sidespin on your loop.
The same actually applies in baseball even though, in baseball, you would not be spinning the ball. In baseball, if you hit the ball a little out in front of you and contact the outside of the ball, you will “pull” the ball (for a righty, pulling the ball would mean hitting towards left field. That would be equivalent to a crosscourt shot in TT or tennis.) Pulling the ball gives you much more power than hitting straight away or to the “opposite field” (an equivalent angle to hitting from the BH corner with the FH to the opponent’s BH corner).
So, the same physics apply to baseball even though they are not spinning the ball or avoiding spin.
The reason has to do with the circular nature of the stroke which has to do with human anatomy and the fact that the major joints at play are circular too.
However, if what you are talking about is when someone makes a slow, spinny sidespin loop that has more sidespin than forward momentum, that has to do with more of the energy of the stroke going into spin than speed. And that wouldn’t be that different than a slow spinny loop that has a high arc.
So it isn’t something that only has to do with sidespin.
Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy
Of course, I am aware of that. It is the same in most technical sports, getting the body to work together as a unit and correct timing is usually the hard part.
So trying hard and racket moving fast are not entirely connected if the technique has all the joints working for you efficiently.
Also watch his hips, his legs, his feet.
Note, when he uses his body, his feet turn to accommodate the hip rotation. You actually need this to keep your knees safe.
Would like to add one comment to this:
This part should be be highlighted to more and more people.
I think they took that video off YouTube, Carl. I looked In my email history but that link no longer works.
You may be right about the feet. One possibility is to stay more on the balls of my feet when performing the strokes and keeping the weight more forward. I sometimes focus on this when practicing the shuffle step, but there are many things to focus on