Well-Known Member
At your level, no one talks about the obvious role of fitness because it doesn't reward as much as training specific technique, but the key is that the quality of your consistent technique can be easily improved by raising your core strength and leg strength as long as you don't get injured. Squats, lunges etc. are all fair game as long as one doesn't get injured. Practicing heavy spin serving to understand how to transmit spin into the arm better.A fun, yet productive session at the church last night
One of the highlights was a conversation der & i had about quality vs landing %. he led me to answer my own question after i noticed my consistency was increasing but ball quality decreased (i was not pressing him). After thinking, at this moment - I CHOSE CONSISTENCY
i believe as i stop admiring my last shot, get-busy keeping my feet moving, get low (good for possible next BH, practice paying attention to the other's racket (& body), my own body proximity to end table ... quality (speed, spin, location) will come
i heard der's warning loud & clear, that when i focus on consistency, the decreasing quality allows half of the plyrs at my level pound balls past me ... to which i am thinking A) these plyrs are at my level for a reason (they're equally un-consistent or less), let's play a game of attrition then (especially if i get good at a dead loop). B) It's not like i cannot increase the quality of my shots, it's jst that at this moment, i would like to (practicing) get more balls back on the other side, preparing myself mentally hitting 10, 15, 20 shots is normal business as I train for the Next Level (punt intended) 💪
LDM7
The goal is to be able to use consistent technique without using the upper arm excessively so you don't compromise the stability of the technique. Then getting more power behind that consistency by improving the strength of the core so you can throw harder is helpful - that's why most TT players don't have bulging biceps, they try to keep the arms slim and whippy, but then they get really thick lower bodies so that their base is strong and flexible enough to put good power behind stable technique.
The other thing is that if you put more of the consistency into rotation and developing options to play more shots with rotation and work on precise placement, you can play two shots instead of one, but if the two shots hit the spot, they can be far deadlier than if you played one powerful shot. Consistency needs to be combined early with placement or over time, you will just get used to hitting the ball where the opponent likes it, which can be pretty bad over time.