I cannot even come close to ballpark quantifying how many adults I have pointed this out to, how many I showed how to command the strike zone, and how many still continue to go down that path... which shows what I perceive to be taking the easiest way. (it is much easier to just impact everything way in front and tense up/slow it all down, since it produces more consistent impact at first)
... I guess it shows the RTC factor (Resistance to Change)
>>> I also guess, (or one could say emphatically state) that it is a reflection of Der_Echte's failure to convince and connect with said players and an overall failure to effectively coach.
It is hard to quantify how hard it is to override habitual patterns, neural pathways, muscle memory....on this.
Also, to understand how much harder it is to track and intercept a ball than it is to line up in the path of the ball and push forward if you are struggling to make contact in the first place.
Once that is the habit, correcting is very hard. And the person doing this, most likely is feeling that they are making an actual stroke even though they are not.
With simple movement patterns, like movements for daily living, usually, all that is needed to correct a sub-optimal movement pattern is to replace it with a more efficient (better) moment pattern, and the less functional movement pattern is replaced.
Because there are so many moving parts in a TT stroke, most importantly reading the spin, the arc, the curve, the bounce/kick, the overall trajectory of the ball, to functionally replace a habitual pattern of movement like the one we are describing, and replace it with a more functional stroke is a very complex matter; and it would take months and months of repeating the mechanically more efficient stoke to the point where the ability to track and intercept the ball is good enough for the person to feel confident they do not need to line the racket up with the ball in order to simply make contact with the ball.
The reason is, in a proper stroke, the only point where the trajectory of the racket and the ball actually INTERCEPT, is at the arc of the stroke and the flight of the ball where the point of contact is made. An inch or two before the racket will make contact with the ball, the racket is not at all in line with the ball. For a right handed FH stroke, the racket would be to the left of the arc of the ball. And the ball, would either be below or above the height of the racket's arc depending on what part of the arc of the bounce you make contact.
--ie, a) if you make contact while the ball is on the rise or at the top of the bounce, moments before contact, the ball would be below the arc of the swing of the racket, (and to the right of where the racket is).
--ie, b) if you contact the ball as the ball is past its peak, then, movements before contact, the ball will be higher than the path of the racket.
So, this is why, developing the skills to track and intercept the ball are so valued in any racket sport. And this is also why the mechanically more effective and efficient use of energy in stroke does not automatically replace the less effective stroke. The stroke that, mechanically applies more speed and spin to the ball (more power to the ball) is more effective in that sense. But in the sense of being efficient at insuring contact, the mechanically cumbersome stroke is more effective at insuring contact.
If anyone is not sure what the heck Der_Echte and I are talking about:
That video shows the difference between pushing forward and an actual stroke.
I recently made a video for MOG about how his FH stroke is often half way in between the push forward and the real stroke without quite being either.
These are truly hard habits to change though. Especially if you think your FH is good, or don't realize how much more spin and power you could add with a mechanically sound stroke.