Smash inconsistencies

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Hello people!
Im playing a H3N on a hard (koto) but very flexy 5ply. I am overshooting the table constantly (on smashes that is).



I have played MX-S on a Force Pro. Needless to say, smashing was good, although I overshot on occasions when tired towards the end of training sessions.


Then I switched to H3N on the same Force Pro. The tackiness and thelinearity (H3N made me realize how much i value linearity) of the rubber balanced each other out – no big issues smashing (could sometimes catapult quicker of the rubber for my taste, felt weird attimes, but thats the issue with chinese).


Then I changed my wood to Xiom Fuga. Great blade. Love it. Amazingly controlled short game. The flex really helps my snappy backhand which has actually gotten more consistent as the flex increased. My forehands have greater spin and a mean kick off the bounce. My backhand also has become spinnier according to training partners.


But I overshoot my smashes. The only time I dont overshoot them is in the beginning of a training sessions when im still highly concentrated and only smash with 80%. I am losing so many points to siiiiiiimple smashes. At some point I get pissed and play awfully lol. I tried hooking my wrist, i tried really aiming down at the table. Nothing seems to work. My level of play stayed the same, but thats only because all the other parts improved.


Now Im seeking your advice, guys. What do you think? Should I go


1) the rubber route:
Taking a step back to a tensory direction. Less tacky, less hard, more lively. Linearity is a must. What comes to mind? Renanos Hold? No idea how good that one really is anymore with plastic balls. Karis? Really difficult choice here. Preferibly on the cheaper and lighter side.


2) the wood route:
Taking a step back to a stiffer setup, maybe even back to limba (both limba and koto work for me, but i value koto for short game actually, as weird as it may sound to some). A less flexy 5ply blade like Virtuoso+? Maybe even back to 7ply again?


3)a bit of both?




Any suggestions or thought provoking impulses are very welcome
Thanks in advance :eek:
 
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I used to have the same problem. I don't think it's related to your equipment. I did two things that really helped me improve my smash accuracy.

First thing is to wait an extra split second before you smash and accurately judge the spin on the ball. A lot of times, there is a little spin (back, top, or side) just enough to make you miss the smash if you are not careful and try to smash the ball early.

Second thing is to add topspin to your smash to increase consistency. I just add a little brushing motion to the smashing action. This also limits your power to about 70% to 80%, which increases your accuracy. When I smash with 100%, I often miss. As you mentioned, 80% power for smash is best.

Third thing (bonus) is to improve your footwork. I'm getting into the habit of moving to better position before smashing, instead of adjusting my arm and body motion to compensate for smashing in an awkward position. I've discovered that better footwork can increase the accuracy of many shots, not just for smashes.

All of the above points are just from my experience. I don't know how you normally play, so I'm not sure if my advice will be helpful to you.
 
My advise - when smashing try to take the ball early just when it reaches its highest point, care about the drive and angle and always end with bat pointing to where you intend to land. Closer to the table - shorter the drive. If you receive the ball later, you'll need much more spin and much more accurate swing, and then thats not exactly a smash.
Xiom Fuga is a very good blade which I often recomend. Its flex makes it good for everything from AR to OFF with a good feel of linearity, and when you get use of hardness + flex, you are ready to achieve good smash experience, epecially if you combine it with a decent spin.
 
says I would recommend all wood. Samsonov Alpha sgs is the...
says I would recommend all wood. Samsonov Alpha sgs is the...
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Missing smashes is NEVER about your equipment. There's no connection whatsoever. This is purely a technique issue.

Regularly overshooting smashes usually means a 'straight down' hit that isn't perfectly timed and angled.
Proper smash motion is very similar to a drive. Just at shoulder height. Usually.
 
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This user has no status.
Hello people!
Im playing a H3N on a hard (koto) but very flexy 5ply. I am overshooting the table constantly (on smashes that is).



I have played MX-S on a Force Pro. Needless to say, smashing was good, although I overshot on occasions when tired towards the end of training sessions.


Then I switched to H3N on the same Force Pro. The tackiness and thelinearity (H3N made me realize how much i value linearity) of the rubber balanced each other out – no big issues smashing (could sometimes catapult quicker of the rubber for my taste, felt weird attimes, but thats the issue with chinese).


Then I changed my wood to Xiom Fuga. Great blade. Love it. Amazingly controlled short game. The flex really helps my snappy backhand which has actually gotten more consistent as the flex increased. My forehands have greater spin and a mean kick off the bounce. My backhand also has become spinnier according to training partners.


But I overshoot my smashes. The only time I dont overshoot them is in the beginning of a training sessions when im still highly concentrated and only smash with 80%. I am losing so many points to siiiiiiimple smashes. At some point I get pissed and play awfully lol. I tried hooking my wrist, i tried really aiming down at the table. Nothing seems to work. My level of play stayed the same, but thats only because all the other parts improved.


Now Im seeking your advice, guys. What do you think? Should I go


1) the rubber route:
Taking a step back to a tensory direction. Less tacky, less hard, more lively. Linearity is a must. What comes to mind? Renanos Hold? No idea how good that one really is anymore with plastic balls. Karis? Really difficult choice here. Preferibly on the cheaper and lighter side.


2) the wood route:
Taking a step back to a stiffer setup, maybe even back to limba (both limba and koto work for me, but i value koto for short game actually, as weird as it may sound to some). A less flexy 5ply blade like Virtuoso+? Maybe even back to 7ply again?


3)a bit of both?




Any suggestions or thought provoking impulses are very welcome
Thanks in advance :eek:
assuming Your smashing technique did not change,

because same rubber on Fuga affected by incoming spin more compared to on Force Pro, same flat driving from Force Pro would spray the ball more.

My conjecture is, You have been shown "the dark side" by Your opponent. ;)

I am fully agree with, should learn to brush more while smashing. ;)



Sent from my I7D using Tapatalk
 
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If your smash consistency is a problem at the moment, I wouldn't recommend trying to hook the ball or anything like that. Work on your fundamental smash. It should share a lot of similarities with your forehand drive.

With H3N, you'll need to add some topspin. Positioning then becomes very important, so you'll need to have the footwork to get into position. You might also be too close to the table. If the opponent is lobbing when you're smashing, you probably need to back off a bit as well.

Best of luck! I also don't think it's an issue with equipment.
 
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Of course you can (almost) always do everything no matter the equipment. Following that simplistic logic everyone should play with the same gear. There's a reason why most people tend prefer e.g. less flexy blades for certain things ;) ;) It's that I have immense trouble adjusting my technique (-- and not like I gave up immediately upon encountering difficulties), which hasn't and didn't need to change for years. Smashing was always the one thing that came easiest to me, my forte, the one that I never had to think about -- I took pride in my timing to smash even difficult balls with very low error percentage.

I will try to heed your advice in terms of technique. Thanks for your input thus far, guys :)
 
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If anyone is interested, I had a customized OSP Virtuoso+ done for me.

I retained maybe 40% of the Xiom Fugas spin-crazy 5-ply feeling and
vastly improved my smashing to be about 85% as good that of my old 7-ply blade which was near perfect.

Due to the change my game has a bit less spin and the touch game suffered to some extent. However, my shots do have noticably more power in terms of velocity and my hard drives and smashes have become waaaaay more consistent.
I am now more than once beating players that I previously could not beat. Ranking climbed at least 50-75 points.

Basically, my problem is solved. I thank myself.
 
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