manu,
You point about how much explaination (and tango chimes in on this too) is needed and how much repetitive practice is needed is a question both coaches and players must ask.
Adult learners will learn totally differently than young kids.
There is always the question of how much knowledge of the stroke and technique are needed to perform it right. Some coaches front load that, then go into reps, then try to correct some as player does the reps. Some coaches give just a brief showing of technique and go straight into the reps with the mindset of knowing the player must feel it for herself and knowing the player will not get it right. The goal with that approach is that over time, the player will discover little by little and "get there".
The adult player I work with plays above the average club player level, but for decades, never struck the ball for creating spin, just to pound it. Despite my wishes that I give the best explaination, that I provide the most effective demonstration of the shot, that I can say a whole bunch of different things to get the message in that space between a person's ears... despite all that, the reality is... that the player isn't really gunna get there today, nor tomarrow, nor next week. It takes time.
Coaches and players have to figure out a balance of how to get there.
I am more inclined to take more time early on explaining, demonstrating, and reinforcing before I go into heavy reps. I personally believe that adults must have a baseline understanding of the shot execution and biomechanics BEFORE any heavy reps will have a benefit. I also believe strongly in how footwork, movement to ball, achieving position on time, on balance, ready with a plan on a sunconscious level and how that ties into making the shot and the next one is real important.
We can say too much of this multiball practice turns us into a robot, but IF and I say IF a player has a grip on the foundational concepts and has enough fundamentals developed, a player CAN benefit HUGELY from this kind of repetitive training.
WHY? I feel and believe that in TT, one must be able to be aware and function on a subconscious level. I believe there is not enough time to see, thing, decide, and take action - that takes too long. I believe that being able to perfom those things effectively on a subconscious level makes a player much more decisive and quick to act. This type of practice builds good footwork and biomechanics, as well as getting to the position on time on balance ready with a plan for the shot and the possible next ones. It is very valuable.
I can tell you personally, if you look at the other multiball vid I posted in the Korean Tourney Pic where KNT AJH is feeding multiball to an elite schoolgirl and young boy, you can see when you get more advanced, how much the Korean coaches stress footwork over ball striking, but still get on you for the misses. This repetitive traing has SOME immediate benefit, but my personal encounter with this kind of training (I entered Korea one level above ave club level as a rec player with zero footwork) and did this stuff for 4 years with coaches showing very little in terms of stroke, some up front 95% single or multiball reps... I can say that the majority of the benefit was achieved YEARS LATER.
When I was in Korea, I was mostly 190 lbs 40+ yr old dude in outstanding physical condition, I could run up that hill, be the first one up there and all the way up cuss my Soldiers out for being young and slower than me. I could get to this ball and this ball to my FH after a few years of training like in the vid in the Korean Pics thread... however, a decade later, last year, in spring 2020, I was 245 lbs and moved around the court WAY BETTER than I ever did in Korea and get to balls and make plays on them that would have surely been lost points 10 yrs ago... and I have been retired and done ZERO physical training in the morning in the last 7 yrs. I mean zero. If you had to get up at 5 AM every day to do morning exercie under the supervison and cruel command of total sociopath narrcisistic jokers with teh goal of ruining you, you would want to take ahuge pause in exercise too.
When I went to Korean schools to see how the hired pro coaches operate, I was SHOCKED. I was expecting the pro coach to have all this high speed presentation/demonstration of how to do this shot and that and the training was 180 degrees different. It was SIMPLE drills, like serve, FH, BH, Falkenberg done OVER and OVER and OVER with practice matches done in an existing multipurpose room with questionable lighting without expensive equipment. Korean pro coaches have proven ways and I saw a few of those... and it wasn't what I was expecting for that kind of training.