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Thought I'd get some feedback / ideas to train towards, by sharing 1 video a week if there's any interest.

This was my second match ever using Short pips [Rakza PO Max FH, inverted BH] against a non-beginner player, after a 1 year injury layoff. Simon was in the top 10 in NZ, and is currently around #30.

Currently injured again, so a bit of feedback / mental training / focus will do wonders in keeping my mood and level high.

 
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Nice looking forehands.

Do you have a coach? If so, I'd very much ignore the online forums from a learning POV, and really listen to someone who can see you in person.

The limited advice I'd give you from that video is to not use too much arm when trying to get more power.

I noticed you tried to hit a few balls harder, and your legs and body didn't do anything differently, but your arm was quicker and more powerful.

That might work OK in these drills, but it's not going to work in a match situation.

Power comes from the legs and core - That rotation and distribution of power from legs, to core, to arm is what gives you extra power.

Not just a faster arm swing.

But if you have a coach, you'll progress very nicely!


https://youtu.be/XzplGtNj1p0


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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A quick question on the BH: should there also be hip rotation and weight shift like in the FH or does the motion come purely from the elbow and forearm?
 
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A quick question on the BH: should there also be hip rotation and weight shift like in the FH or does the motion come purely from the elbow and forearm?

There is room for debate here. There are many different styles. Away from the table, the hip rotation might help more, but close to the table, you hardly see any hip rotation on Ma Long or Harimoto's strokes. Or even Dima because you just don't have time if you are close to the table and rallying fast. There is thrusting of the hips but not really twisting. but Wang Hao, who has one of the best backhands of all time, almost always shows twisting when teaching the backhand (I don't see him twisting close to the table, but he always shadows it). But I find that people who have visible twists close to the table are too slow to reload when pushed in fast rallies.

Long story short: there is room to test stuff here, but the motion has to be quick if close to the table.

 
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Thanks. I would guess open up too much on the hip turn could make it harder to recover than if you keep the hips straight and just move the arm?
 
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Thanks. I would guess open up too much on the hip turn could make it harder to recover than if you keep the hips straight and just move the arm?

You have to use some hip, you don't have to twist the hip. you can just thrust it slightly. but in any case most basic backhands tend to be reasonable. It's easier to fix something that someone presents than to go on forever about what they should be doing because there are many reasonable ways to play a backhand. I mean, look at Quadri, whose backhand is a strength against some players.

 
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Thought I'd get some feedback / ideas to train towards, by sharing 1 video a week if there's any interest.

This was my second match ever using Short pips [Rakza PO Max FH, inverted BH] against a non-beginner player, after a 1 year injury layoff. Simon was in the top 10 in NZ, and is currently around #30.

Currently injured again, so a bit of feedback / mental training / focus will do wonders in keeping my mood and level high.

What are your injuries related to?

 
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Thought I'd get some feedback / ideas to train towards, by sharing 1 video a week if there's any interest.This was my second match ever using Short pips [Rakza PO Max FH, inverted BH] against a non-beginner player, after a 1 year injury layoff. Simon was in the top 10 in NZ, and is currently around #30.Currently injured again, so a bit of feedback / mental training / focus will do wonders in keeping my mood and level high.
Are you in red? Is that right?

 
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What are your injuries related to?

Injuries: Ligament tear (Foot). 2020 Nov to 2021 Nov.
Last 3.5 months - Mild bursitis in RH shoulder. 0 play in last 9 weeks, physio/reb - no dice. Cortisone shot in 1.5 weeks.

Have other issues - huge amount of fatigue (partially due to magnesium deficiency which I've addressed over the last 6 mo's), partially due to as yet undiagnosed issues. HR is around 160-180 when playing and I feel so tired.

Nowadays everyone from the 8 year old girls to the 72 y/o men with heart conditions are faster than me and I'm finished after 20-30 minutes.

Drs currently investigating sleep apnea / heart issues / lung issues / my nose getting surgery in the next 6 months [concha bullosa/enlarged turbinates] i.e. breathing issues. Or just a combination of some of the above / lingering covid [these symptoms/ issues have been there for 10+ years though, just a bit worse now].
Are you in red? Is that right?
Yep, in red. Other player is very experienced, great hand-eye coordination / great at lobbing generally [ he needed to adjust to pips smashes, though - next time it took a lot of smashes to get thru!]
 
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Tried some self toss hitting, flat hitting and loop. Flat hitting was more like down smash though, I guess it was tossed a bit too high. I think for some reason I'm using the shoulder too much again although I think some of the lifting comes from tilting my shoulder axis and raising the upper body to my right

https://youtu.be/hJnnHvov16g
 
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Are you in red? Is that right?

I'm not sure if anyone here can comment on your style. Your fh pips smash swings look too long and loose to work reliably, but they clearly do work great. It sounds like health and fitness are your limitations right now.

If you want something to work on maybe the quick, over the table pips attacks? Like you do a lovely one at :21 in the video, and follow up with a smash. At :33 you push a third ball with the pips and he pushes it back. Most opponents with experience vs pips will not push back your pips push, so it would be better if you are comfortable opening on that receive.

Also using pips it isn't usually advantageous to get into heavy backspin rallies. So if you mostly served backspin when you played double inverted, you could practice serving more long, and also dead and topspin or side-top serves. Anything that will get you a long ball, preferably a bit high. Because your fh pips smash is really wicked. And your inverted backhand is no joke either.

Both those skills could be less physically demanding to practice while you are getting your health back to par.

 
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Tried some self toss hitting, flat hitting and loop. Flat hitting was more like down smash though, I guess it was tossed a bit too high. I think for some reason I'm using the shoulder too much again although I think some of the lifting comes from tilting my shoulder axis and raising the upper body to my right

https://youtu.be/hJnnHvov16g
I would not use self hitting to practice flat hit. Sorry. I may not have made that clear. Being honest, you are not flat hitting even though you are trying and you are taking the ball very high. I also would not let the ball bounce 1/10th as high on self hitting. Also, grab as many balls in your hand as you can so you don't have to stop to reach for the next ball. Put the rest of the ball in some kind of container. It could be anything. At this club that used to be in NYC's Chinatown, there was an old lady who used an old paper Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket for her bucket of balls.

Put the container on the table between your body and the net on that right side of the table. When you are self hitting, don't put your hand in between your arm and your side. Just keep the elbow stable. Part of the idea with self hitting is that, if you do this version of it, you should be able to get a good rhythm going.

All that being said, this is better than the robot and the stroke is better too.

Also, you do that lateral flexion thing to get lower. Ideally, it would be your legs bending that got you lower instead. But....IF THE BALL IS THAT HIGH, you may not want to get lower anyway. If this was a flat hit, with the ball that high, the racket would need to start as high as or higher than the ball!
 
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I would not use self hitting to practice flat hit. Sorry. I may not have made that clear. Being honest, you are not flat hitting even though you are trying and you are taking the ball very high. I also would not let the ball bounce 1/10th as high on self hitting. Also, grab as many balls in your hand as you can so you don't have to stop to reach for the next ball. Put the rest of the ball in some kind of container. It could be anything. At this club that used to be in NYC's Chinatown, there was an old lady who used an old paper Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket for her bucket of balls.

Put the container on the table between your body and the net on that right side of the table. When you are self hitting, don't put your hand in between your arm and your side. Just keep the elbow stable. Part of the idea with self hitting is that, if you do this version of it, you should be able to get a good rhythm going.

All that being said, this is better than the robot and the stroke is better too.

Also, you do that lateral flexion thing to get lower. Ideally, it would be your legs bending that got you lower instead. But....IF THE BALL IS THAT HIGH, you may not want to get lower anyway. If this was a flat hit, with the ball that high, the racket would need to start as high as or higher than the ball!

I have a bucket but it was used as phone tripod:)


Regarding upper body essentially keep upper body vertical (side to side direction - of course there should be some forward lean) and just use knee and hip flexion to get down?


it seems some pros have some side bend like Dima sometimes but others are more upright

Screenshot%202022%2012%2008%2014%2052%2029%20947%20jpeg.jpeg

 
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I have a bucket but it was used as phone tripod:)


Regarding upper body essentially keep upper body vertical (side to side direction - of course there should be some forward lean) and just use knee and hip flexion to get down?


it seems some pros have some side bend like Dima sometimes but others are more upright

Screenshot%202022%2012%2008%2014%2052%2029%20947%20jpeg.jpeg

This is what is so hard explaining biomechanical things to you is. Note: HIS THIGH IS PARALLEL TO THE GROUND, and his racket is almost to the FLOOR!!!! Is he hitting a high deadball like that? NO NO NO NO NO NO! I have explained this to you before. I showed ZJK doing some side lean as well. ZJK's leg was also really really bent. He was looping heavy backspin. I would bet any amount of money so is Dima. That followthrough will end up fairly high as well. BUT THAT IS NOT THE BASE STROKE. And you are bending to the side on balls that you should not need to get low for. And you ARE NOT BENDING YOUR LEGS.

Again. Look at his thigh. It is almost parallel to the ground. Why is he SOOOOOOOO LOW? He is looping heavy backspin.

 
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Compare this: That is from a loop with mild topspin.

You are comparing what you are doing to work on base technique with what PROS do vs HEAVY HEAVY BACKSPIN. And you should not. Unless you can bend your knees so that your thigh is parallel to the ground, you should not. You are missing the full context of what he is doing and why.

 
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Look at the angle of your leg. And ask yourself why you are trying to get your racket low (without bending your knees) when you are taking a ball where your racket should be as high as the ball or higher, NOT LOWER. Those are dead balls in your videos.

 
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The important thing to understand for you is: in the base technique of the pros you are comparing your stroke to:
1) They already have rotation in their stroke.
2) They are not overusing their upper arm in their base stroke.
3) They set up for the ball that is coming to them, so, when the ball is light to medium topspin, they are not so low, when the ball is heavier topspin, they loop over the ball, and when they are further from the table they are taking bigger swings.
4) Because they already have rotation in their strokes and know how to use their legs, when they are going to spin heavy backspin and get really low, they will add some extra lateral flexion, but it will not replace the rotational aspect of the stroke, it will be added to it.

And you do not already have the rotational aspect of the stroke in your base technique and are starting by replacing rotation with lateral flexion. And, for some reason, regardless of what kind of spin is on the incoming ball, you are dropping your racket as though you are getting ready to loop heavy backspin. It is worth sorting this stuff out and understanding when you want to keep your racket higher and when you need to get low, bend your knees much more and add that lateral motion to the rotation.
 
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