Using analogies for learning strokes faster - Got any good ones?

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Hey guys!

As some of you may know, I’m working on a new book that focuses on optimizing athletic performance in table tennis through the latest sports science. One of the chapters is on motor learning and discusses ways to tweak your practice so that long-term learning occurs and performance improves.


One of the things I’ve discovered is the effectiveness of using analogies when learning.

In
one study performed on novice table tennis players, researchers compared explicit instruction versus instruction by analogy. The explicit learning group was given a set of instructions that detailed exactly how to hit a forehand topspin. The analogy group was simply told to imagine a right-angled triangle and to swing his or her racquet up along its hypotenuse while hitting the ball. The authors state that the effectiveness of the analogy hinges on its ability to “integrate the complex rule structure of the to-be-learned skill in a simple biomechanical metaphor that can be reproduced by the learner” and that “Most importantly, the essential rules needed to impart topspin do not need to be explicated; they remain disguised in the right-angled triangle analogy.”

At the end of the trial, they found that novice table tennis players who learned the forehand topspin stroke by analogy performed better, had a better implicit grasp of the stroke, and their skills held up better under pressure compared to the explicit learning group.

I thought maybe we could tap into the collective hive-mind here and come up with a list of good analogies to use for various strokes / aspects of play.

We have the right-angled triangle one from the study for helping novices learn topspin.

I also liked the box analogy Matt Hetherington used in his
backspin serve tutorial.

One cue I like to use with athletes who tend to bob up and down when moving laterally is “stay in the tunnel.” This does a great job in helping them implicitly understand the need to stay low.

What else can we add?

 
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Hit backhand counters/ drives as if your bat was attached to a car windscreen wiper on a medium-fast setting.
 
says Aging is a killer
"Let the tool do the work"

"Let the tool do the work" = "Trust the tool" = "Let the bat do the work" = "Brush the ball"

Watch an experienced carpenter hand-saw a length of lumber. He holds the saw lightly and with gentle strokes allow the saw to cut into the wood. Compare with the inexperienced DIYer who tries to muscle the saw into the wood. Same thing with hammer and nail. Or a chef slicing a tomato.

I use this to explain what coaches mean when they say, "brush the ball". They are saying, trust the bat to grip the ball when applying light contact.
 
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Frisbee for baxkhand. Forehand loop like saying aye aye captain. Arm motion against backspin like chilling and wave at hot girl at busstop. Lifting your drunk friend from the floor for using body against backspin. Pulling something heavy from behind to be able to use body in forehand looop topspin. Door hinge for spin bh and fh. Also like a lever. Throwing racket so far as possible sp you Do not push. Stand close to Wall and loop to be able to learn to loop upward against backspin. Baxkhand counter like pushing a door open with Palm. Make the ball roll on the rubber when making spin, Almost missing. Like making a wheel spin forward. Using a brush and not pressure the hairs But just brushing them. Not having the feet in the ground when looping is like having shoes on ice. Moving the feet and standing correct. When you play fotboll you can not pass the ball if you are to far away from it. Make triangle for forehand, like cheese. Making a hook whole looping forehand if thet hit to flat. Golfswing, diskus, boxer for forehand loop using the body. Being like a sumo when bending the knees so you the wind Do not make you go down. Not extending the arm and Reaching - try punching someone with straight arm. Turning a big wheel when you move to the left to play forehand so you Do not come to close to the table. Lika a boxer need to hold in the big swing tabletennisplayers need to Do the same. Should look the same. The ball is like a egg when doing returns. Looping like the shape of the ball. Waiting for the ball - it is like golf tha ball is still. Or like a baseball swing. Harder to hit it with to much backswing. Spin is like a rollercoaster goes upp and down. Want to stop with the body. Like when someone stop with the car and You are pushes forward or at the end of the eollercoaster. Need to stop like you Do when hitting your siblings with a towel. Like a whip. Also for serving. Snap with fingers for serving. Clapping hard and loud is thick hit. It is louder. No sound more spin. Sending the ball against a hard Wall is like holding harder and against soft barriär is like holding loosely. Hold racket and aem like dead fish or spaghetti. Svajig hand with racket. Making a V. Holding harder when hitting the ball is like when people squeeze hand att Shaking hands. Looping with forehand with the arm is like Dustin shit of the table. Just the imagination stop us. Do not have time to think about more stuff that i use. But atleast there are some.
 
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Do not think anything should be used only. These stuff is more for kids to understand the principle then coach need to look. I Do not use aye aye captain so much But think the mechanics is okay. For the arm i prefer to say Them to have it relaxed and extended Then snap it together.
 

Brs

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Brs

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Did they have a control group who were simply shown demonstrations of how to play without confusing mechanical instructions or analogies? Imo the analogies were more effective because they are marginally less irrelevant and distracting than detailed instructions. That still leaves analogy as a net negative compared to simply learning by example.
 
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I think saying the use of an analogy is a net negative is a bit of a false dichotomy. I agree that seeing something demonstrated first would be more effective than either *just* reading instructions or hearing an analogy, but in coaching, invariably there comes a time when you need to correct form through cuing.

At this point, the strategic use of analogies can be a useful strategy to package the desired instructions in a visual form that is easier for the brain to remember.
 
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For brushing top spin against heavy backspin, I try to tell people imagine they are using one hand to throw a heavy rock over a tall fence, that they are standing right next to. If you throw it forward, you'll hit the fence and it won't go over. It's heavy enough to where you can't just flip it over with your forearm and elbow. You've got to bend down and get some momentum built up and explode upward!
 
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