How much power do you use, compared to the Pros?

Carl Horowitz said:

Makes it make sense why I can feel that doing abdominal work has a direct impact on my improvement.

I know I do a lot of things that waste energy and are not efficient in my matches. For me, making my contact and my strokes more efficient is what I need to improve and I notice when I do this, my speed, my ability to get to the ball, my footwork and the power translated to the ball all improve. It helps having someone who knows how to coach in your corner.

When you contact the ball (timing), quality of contact and what part of the ball you contact are part of making your stroke more efficient. Then there is biomechanics. When your movement is as direct as it can be, you will need to use less effort.

Efficiency: achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort; that is what you are looking for.

One more thing, Ma Long often looks like he is taking swings at 120% of his maximum power. He is so fast that he can often get away with this. But it used to get him in trouble.

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Der_Echte said:

Used to go all out all day all night. Not any moar.

Especially on serve receive, I have learned a good lesson that sometimes, a 30% power return is better than a rip attempt.

Countering close to the tabel when opponent is in BH corner: 30-40% is all that is needed. Opponent is providing me spin, which becomes my pace, which helps the ball go right by him on FH corner.

High ball or pop-up: 50-70% WHY??? if you take a huge backswing, it really messes up the timing, makes you miss a LOT, and then, if the ball ever comes back, you are like a statue of a pretzel with a rubber neck looking at the ball go by you! Best thing to do is to raise racket, roate shoulders a little as you move forward and hit through the ball! A lot more reliable and almost as fast a shot as a full rip attempt that will miss more than land.

Mid-distance counter-looping: depends... Sometimes, basic shot is 80% power most of time. If out of position, have to dial down the power to where I can still make good topspin and still land it, sometimes, a 20% power return low with topsin is a great ball to get the next ball to go 80%+ to finish the point. Some re-loops are near 100% - If I am in position and can see/read the ball well, why not make a stronger shot? You are at mid distance and have time to recover for next shot. What is consistant for me to know about how much power to use is how much power I can get away with to make a reliable topspin with as much power as i can and still keep it reliable. Sometimes, near 100% fits teh bill if position and timing are there, sometimes, a lot of pace is needed to finish the point. You do not get that pace by hitting 50%.

I make a lot of connecting shots that are less than 50%. These shots are difficult for opponent to attack and allow me to stay in the point and have a better chance at a stronger attack.

WAY TOO MANY players piss away make-able points by going 100% by making a gigantic backswing. This just blows any timing you had and almost assures you of a miss and/or terrible position after the shot.

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jedimasterplk said:

Brilliant post Der_Echte

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