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How do I improve my backhand? (closed)
- Thread starter Jan_
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says
One pound of practice is worth more than thousand pounds...
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One pound of practice is worth more than thousand pounds...
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Ok, here is another perspective. In Liam's Masterclass on TTD Academy he specifically mentions that he has his blade angle more open.
. And that is the whole point, if we (I mean all of us) keep looking at different tutorials then we will never find a foundation to build our stroke mechanics.
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The precision in stroke execution for such a closed bat angle (hit window on bat becomes very very small) is beyond the capabilities of most people that look for BH improvements. If they could execute these type of strokes on consistant basis, they would not look for advice on a public forum
This is the reason why most coaches would advice to start with a more open bat angle and get consistant with this and optimize for spin/speed at a later point in time.
This is the reason why most coaches would advice to start with a more open bat angle and get consistant with this and optimize for spin/speed at a later point in time.
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Spin and more spin.
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Spin and more spin.
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@Jan_ POST VIDEO.
If anyone is still trying to give advice to Jan_ without seeing what he is doing, I have a question for you: I would like a new pair of TT shoes. What size should I get?
If you can't tell me my size shoe without seeing and perhaps measuring my feet, then you can't tell what Jan_ is doing and not doing with his BACKHAND without seeing footage of his backhand.
So you guys are wasting your time.
In any case, if you have someone, like a coach who can see what you need to work on, and YOU DO A HECK OF A LOT OF PRACTICE without ingraining bad habits, your technique will improve. So what is needed is:
1) Someone who actually can see what you are doing wrong and what you are not doing right (preferably a good coach and not a random person on the internet).
2) 100s of 1,000s of 10,000s of repetitions of GOOD FORM, while executing your BACKHAND.
All the theory in the world will not help you if you are not physically doing something that is actually in line with good technique.
Since there is a possibility that, if you haven't posted video yet, you may not want to have people on the forum see your form, then:
1) Find a GOOD COACH who can fix your BH and work with him.
2) Take lots of footage of yourself and YOU DO THE WORK of analyzing what you are doing and how it is different than what you thought you were doing.
When I was training for what I did when I performed in the Circus 30+ years ago, we would film ourselves a lot and analyze footage. One of the first things you realize is that what you think you did and what you actually did are nowhere near each other.
When you spend enough time analyzing footage and going back and working on technique, and using that feedback loop constantly, what you think you are doing and what you are doing get closer and closer to each other.
But how we internally image movement is very rarely close to how we are doing a movement pattern except in those people who really are gifted in the specific movement patterns and have worked quite a bit on refining their movement patterns.
It takes a lot of work. But it also takes seeing what you are doing so you can compare that to what you thought you were doing.
If anyone is still trying to give advice to Jan_ without seeing what he is doing, I have a question for you: I would like a new pair of TT shoes. What size should I get?
If you can't tell me my size shoe without seeing and perhaps measuring my feet, then you can't tell what Jan_ is doing and not doing with his BACKHAND without seeing footage of his backhand.
So you guys are wasting your time.
In any case, if you have someone, like a coach who can see what you need to work on, and YOU DO A HECK OF A LOT OF PRACTICE without ingraining bad habits, your technique will improve. So what is needed is:
1) Someone who actually can see what you are doing wrong and what you are not doing right (preferably a good coach and not a random person on the internet).
2) 100s of 1,000s of 10,000s of repetitions of GOOD FORM, while executing your BACKHAND.
All the theory in the world will not help you if you are not physically doing something that is actually in line with good technique.
Since there is a possibility that, if you haven't posted video yet, you may not want to have people on the forum see your form, then:
1) Find a GOOD COACH who can fix your BH and work with him.
2) Take lots of footage of yourself and YOU DO THE WORK of analyzing what you are doing and how it is different than what you thought you were doing.
When I was training for what I did when I performed in the Circus 30+ years ago, we would film ourselves a lot and analyze footage. One of the first things you realize is that what you think you did and what you actually did are nowhere near each other.
When you spend enough time analyzing footage and going back and working on technique, and using that feedback loop constantly, what you think you are doing and what you are doing get closer and closer to each other.
But how we internally image movement is very rarely close to how we are doing a movement pattern except in those people who really are gifted in the specific movement patterns and have worked quite a bit on refining their movement patterns.
It takes a lot of work. But it also takes seeing what you are doing so you can compare that to what you thought you were doing.
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Yes and in his demonstration the racket angle was still relatively closed. I understand your point about being exposed to too many different ways of doing something, but conversely hearing many viewpoints can help one find their own way. People can choose what to follow. Tutorials aren’t supposed to supersede everything else but I’m sure plenty find them helpful. Different strokes for different folks.Ok, here is another perspective. In Liam's Masterclass on TTD Academy he specifically mentions that he has his blade angle more open.
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Spin and more spin.
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Spin and more spin.
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BTW: in my opinion @Lula's post and @NextLevel's post have everything you need.
Post footage or make footage for yourself and start getting down to the hard repetitive work of working on your BH.
Robot, Shadow strokes in front of a mirror so you can see what you are doing, self hitting practice, can all help you refine your technique and your quality of contact.
Here is self hitting with a FH:
That is much easier to do with BH because you can do it from anywhere on the table since it is so much easier to take the BH over the table. This is simply an exercise to refine your contact though. It is not anything else.
A few details to note:
1) For FH I am standing all the way on the BH side so the table is to my side.
2) I am not bouncing the ball high and I am taking the ball after the second bounce, this is important because it means you don't have to rush and it actually makes the contact somewhat similar to a ball that you would take in a rally.
3) The ball is not bouncing straight up and down. The ball is bouncing slowly towards the back of the table. This is also to make it more like a ball that is coming from the other side. It is not like it. But it is much more like it than if the ball was going straight up and down.
This exercise is excellent for learning how to get the ball to be grabbed by the topsheet and sink into the sponge and for you to be able to refine how deep or thin you want to make your contact. When you can control how much the ball penetrates into the sponge and compresses the sponge while it is being grabbed by and stretching (distorting) the topsheet, you and up being able to make lots of different kinds of shots rather than being stuck with one kind of contact.
Different shots require different touch. How you touch the ball in TT is huge. For me, this was much easier to sort out with my FH. It took much more work to be able to control the depth of contact the way I wanted for different shots. Everyone is different. But knowing how to work on this stuff is worthwhile. There are other ways to develop more control over your touch of the ball. This is just one.
Here is another video about how to control how you touch and contact the ball:
Every one of these exercises requires quite a bit of control of your blade face.
See if you can try and comprehend what is going on with that backspin catcher exercise. What does Freitas have to do to make it so there are hundreds of really breif contacts of the ball with the topsheet while the ball does not go flying off in the direction of the backspin. Try it. See what happens.
Also, try the ball against the edge of the table thing. Feel free to try it with a wall until you have the control.
Tell us what happens when you try each and see if those exercises help you figure out some of what you are not doing or not able to do with how you contact the ball with your BH.
Post footage or make footage for yourself and start getting down to the hard repetitive work of working on your BH.
Robot, Shadow strokes in front of a mirror so you can see what you are doing, self hitting practice, can all help you refine your technique and your quality of contact.
Here is self hitting with a FH:
That is much easier to do with BH because you can do it from anywhere on the table since it is so much easier to take the BH over the table. This is simply an exercise to refine your contact though. It is not anything else.
A few details to note:
1) For FH I am standing all the way on the BH side so the table is to my side.
2) I am not bouncing the ball high and I am taking the ball after the second bounce, this is important because it means you don't have to rush and it actually makes the contact somewhat similar to a ball that you would take in a rally.
3) The ball is not bouncing straight up and down. The ball is bouncing slowly towards the back of the table. This is also to make it more like a ball that is coming from the other side. It is not like it. But it is much more like it than if the ball was going straight up and down.
This exercise is excellent for learning how to get the ball to be grabbed by the topsheet and sink into the sponge and for you to be able to refine how deep or thin you want to make your contact. When you can control how much the ball penetrates into the sponge and compresses the sponge while it is being grabbed by and stretching (distorting) the topsheet, you and up being able to make lots of different kinds of shots rather than being stuck with one kind of contact.
Different shots require different touch. How you touch the ball in TT is huge. For me, this was much easier to sort out with my FH. It took much more work to be able to control the depth of contact the way I wanted for different shots. Everyone is different. But knowing how to work on this stuff is worthwhile. There are other ways to develop more control over your touch of the ball. This is just one.
Here is another video about how to control how you touch and contact the ball:
Every one of these exercises requires quite a bit of control of your blade face.
See if you can try and comprehend what is going on with that backspin catcher exercise. What does Freitas have to do to make it so there are hundreds of really breif contacts of the ball with the topsheet while the ball does not go flying off in the direction of the backspin. Try it. See what happens.
Also, try the ball against the edge of the table thing. Feel free to try it with a wall until you have the control.
Tell us what happens when you try each and see if those exercises help you figure out some of what you are not doing or not able to do with how you contact the ball with your BH.
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My coach is in his 20's, we're trying our best. I just wanted some basic advice to see how I could advance because I don't know how wrong or right I learned. What I've deducted is that I only used wrist and no forearm, and with the advice here I've started to get some more feeling, and it's gonna keep getting better and better with time.It's a good thing that your coach is not member here
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