The other arm...

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I was watching this brief video clip of Quadri Aruna and he explains that he uses his left (non-playing) arm to add to the counter-topspin. (And bends far back)

It got me wondering about how the rest of you use your non playing arm. It seems like the female pros tend to raise their non-playing arms when looping/counter-looping also.

https://youtu.be/bHIByQvCx74



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What language is he speaking in, Igbo? Sounds like some badass alien boss!
 
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How many languages are there in Nigeria? is that the first language?

Would be interesting to hear how he reasons about getting more power using the left arm. I do not understand how his left arm would help him to get more power. Maybe easier to push the body forward and generate more power? no idea.

Also find it almost funny that he says he is almost in control. I have never seen such a good player, that still seems to be so much out of balance. Aruna would be a beast if he had the footwork and balance of the chinese, and just smack the shit out of the ball with his forehand at every ball.
 
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How many languages are there in Nigeria? is that the first language?

Would be interesting to hear how he reasons about getting more power using the left arm. I do not understand how his left arm would help him to get more power. Maybe easier to push the body forward and generate more power? no idea.

Also find it almost funny that he says he is almost in control. I have never seen such a good player, that still seems to be so much out of balance. Aruna would be a beast if he had the footwork and balance of the chinese, and just smack the shit out of the ball with his forehand at every ball.

He said “always in control” not “almost” hehe.

Aruna makes it sound like his extra follow through motion is the reason he gets so much power. The bigger (and unorthodox) follow through motion is also what seems to place him off balance. But if he stopped doing it, wouldn’t he have less power?


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Liu Shiwen also uses her left arm on FH (and a bit on BH), but with less exagerated movement than Aruna.
(there are probably many more players that does it, but she is the one that comes to mind first).
I find a bit easier to rotate my body with help of free arm, you get more momentum, thus more power.
 
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You can do an easy experiment to understand how the left arm helps generate power. Try doing this: stand up and assume a T pose rising both hands on your sides and from that position

  • first simultaneously swing both arms forwards while they're fully extended;
  • then swing your dominant arm forwards and the other one backwards, also simultaneously;
you should note a considerable lack of power on the second swing, because your trunk wants to conserve your body's angular momentum and rotates opposite your arms. If both your arms swing forwards they more or less cancel each other (except for the bat weight). It's kinda the same thing as how cats turn midair to always land on their feet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtWbpyjJqrU

My advice as to what you should do with the free arm is you can experiment but generally, if you're good with your balance which you likely are since you're playing table tennis, just let the cerebellum do the work, no need to consciously interrupt.
 
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I need to clarify one thing here and that's concerning a big full-power FH loop. This time you want to rotate the trunk so you pull the free hand as close to the body as possible like Mr. Long and Mr. Jike demonstrate here:
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The more centered the mass is, the easier it is to rotate. It's like a merry-go-round. This does not contradict what Aruna says or what my previous post says.
 
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Okay. Very interesting to read. So you guys think that players actually with purpose move their non playing hand? I mean where to have it on certain shots.
 
Position and movement of the other arm when hitting helps in two aspects - keeping the ballance of the body, and giving additional impuls to the punch. This additional impuls is isually by lifting the free elbow back thus helping the swing rotation.
The bases is very well visible in karate hits.
But what Aruna is doing is to help the mass to move up and front, i.e. he helps the jump. Its not standard, but for some it may be usefull too.
 
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I’ve been fascinated with Ma Longs BH, where he synchronizes both arms as if he points to the ball with his left as he contacts it with his right.

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When playing I lose track of my left arm, it’s not on my mind. Good or bad, I don’t know, but with so many things to coordinate and competing for full concentration there are limits.

On a good day I’m happy to have my feet active “on their own”, but even on such days I’ll have to remind myself to keep breathing and relax during FH slugouts, when things tense up. TT is hard.
 
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Okay so now we have a video of Ma Long explaining that he swings both arms on backhand for extra momentum. (I love this “inside my mind series”). (Also congrats to yoass for pointing this out earlier)

Thoughts? Do you guys swing the other arm during backhand?

https://youtu.be/OKighE5ZZ9I



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