Kindly asking for feedback and tips to improve my technique

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Hi community,

time to take a break from EJ. I recorded myself doing some loops and hope that the better players out there can help a hobby player like me out.

These days I feel really uncomfortable on my FH. My spin is low. I feel like I am hitting late or too close to my body, and I am always tensing my shoulder and forcing my arm. I tried alot to relax my shoulder but its just habit at this point. I am sure there are other problems too (looks like I am not properly rotating my body at all), but please let me know what to focus on to get more effortless and powerful FH, and BH

Any help is appreciated thank you!

Here is the link to the video:

Cheers!
 
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Just for context, are you using H3 neo and omega 7 pro in this video ? if so i wonder why your partner is able to block your shots with a relatively open racket angle.
Yes, that‘s right. I have never been good at producing high spin on normal / block balls. The arc is often a bit flat. On backspin openups, I know how to produce much better spin with a strong arc that dips near the end of the table.

I am sure there are fundamental flaws in my technique :D
 
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well you are not really going too hard on these balls and its normal that you cant generate as much spin as when you open up on a heavy backspin ball taking it when its falling. The Drill looks fine overall. Maybe more sidesteps when taking it with the FH (you took some balls very close to your body). You don´t use your hips and leg force - everything comes from the arm.
If I were you I would try to work more on connecting my upper body with my legs. So Instead of 1 FH 1 BH - Do Falkenberg Drills where you have to move after every single shot. This is actually also what I am working on right now.
If you want to test your spinning abilities do a Drill where your partner pushes long and you open up (he should be having a hard time blocking those balls back)
In the Drills shown on the video I would worry more about placing the balls where I want on his side (not just FH side) be more specific and see if you can make that ball land there + move after every shot even if it means just a little to the left/right.
 
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These days I feel really uncomfortable on my FH. My spin is low. I feel like I am hitting late or too close to my body, and I am always tensing my shoulder and forcing my arm. I tried alot to relax my shoulder but its just habit at this point. I am sure there are other problems too (looks like I am not properly rotating my body at all), but please let me know what to focus on to get more effortless and powerful FH, and BH

I think your technique is not bad. Would like to comment on the FH...

I agree with the things you describe and one way to approach it is via your non-playing hand. Currently you are not moving your non-playing hand, or very little. This reflects the fact that your are not rotating your body around the central axis enough, and as a result at a certain point your playing hand, when going forward, feels like a bit forced, because your body is not "open" enough and so there is no natural space where your playing hand would go to. There are other ways to describe it. I intentionally speak about the non-playing hand, because it can help you. You could try move it a bit more to the right during the back-swing phase, and much more importantly, moving it much more to the left during the forward-swing phase, so that the palm (of your non-playing hand) goes as far as close to your left shoulder, at the point of impact. If your palm is there, also your body will be "open", and playing hand will naturally follow in the swing. I think you can try experimenting with it. HTH...
 
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Yes, that‘s right. I have never been good at producing high spin on normal / block balls. The arc is often a bit flat. On backspin openups, I know how to produce much better spin with a strong arc that dips near the end of the table.

I am sure there are fundamental flaws in my technique :D
I wouldnt call these flaws. Quite the opposite actually.
You are moving quite decent, you are making use of your whole body for the shots, otherwise they wouldnt land at all with H3 and the low level of power you are using.

So what could improve:
As Zezima already mentioned your strokes are kinda weak and more like someone that uses a strong tensor and not a hard chinese rubber. The way you hit and your height remind me a little bit of vladimir samsonov 😅
The other thing to enhance the quality of your shots is the lack of "turning in" of your body. This is mostly done by rotating the body propperly, a motion that goes a bit short in your strokes.

I would just try to hit harder and more quicker and see of your body does the motion naturally correct. If this feels awkward or doesnt work at all you either need a coach to correct the details or post another video for us to help you.

Imo you have an awesome foundation to get better fast because your whole kinetic chain does its job which is the hardest part of learning the technique of looping and topspinning.
 
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There is nothing obviously wrong in the footage, most of what you would have to fix are things related to subtle ball quality which are a matter of trial and error in person with feedback from the blocker. You could use more effort with lower body support to generate more torque or use the fingers and wrist and lower arm to get more whip but that is all a balancing act.
 
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Folks, OP is just stroking and by that he is cooperating with his stroking partner. I mean it is pointless to go 110% and then spend 90% of the time picking up balls from the floor right?

His stroke is nice with consistency and has a beautiful rainbow arc. Good pace, good warm-up and good to get the hand feeling.

Good job OP!

p/s: Just a reminder, in case you forget Mister OP, in match remember to switch to Mr No More mIster Nice Guy mode ok?
 
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On FH, there is insufficient bend at the hips especially being a tall player. Stick your butt out more and keep the body leaned forward. The FH preparation position is basically a lunge

BH actually looks better but there's not enough hip rotation power.

Arm stroke looks good on both wings, it is more about body usage.
 
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Thank you all for your awesome feedback. I agree with what you all said, but its hard to implement everything at the same time. For now, I will focus on bending my hips more and then fully rotating my upper body. Its obvious that I kind of stop the motion, and my upper body does not properly rotate.

The tip regarding the non-playing hand is very valuable @latej . Should I make an active motion with the non-playing hand, do I pull it back the moment I initiate the forward motion with my legs / hips?
 
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you seem quite tall
you are standing too close to the table.

my suggestion, step back another step, and hit harder.
step earlier

would be interesting to see a video of the above 2 in play, if you have time for that

i don't see any issues with your non playing arm.
I do have an issue with the quality of block, the ball is popping up too much, so hoping with more power, your returning balls will be stronger too, for you to continue the drill.

overall, you play a lot better than many members here for sure!
 
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you seem quite tall
you are standing too close to the table.

my suggestion, step back another step, and hit harder.
step earlier

would be interesting to see a video of the above 2 in play, if you have time for that
Hi Tony,

thanks for your advice. I will try to implement it next time.

With the "above 2 in play", do you mean incorporating stepping ealier and hitting harder, or do you mean my practise partner and me in match play?

Cheers
 
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Hi Tony,

thanks for your advice. I will try to implement it next time.

With the "above 2 in play", do you mean incorporating stepping ealier and hitting harder, or do you mean my practise partner and me in match play?

Cheers
i made some edits - so please check.

2:
1) step back a bit more and using more power in your shots (with more space and time, you can add more power)
2) Step earlier would be to step into the ball earlier, either side step or just landing your leg that needs to generate the weight transfer. force that step if you can.

weight
BH shot, weight on left foot first
FH shot, weight on right foot first
etc
 
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i made some edits - so please check.

2:
1) step back a bit more and using more power in your shots (with more space and time, you can add more power)
2) Step earlier would be to step into the ball earlier, either side step or just landing your leg that needs to generate the weight transfer. force that step if you can.

weight
BH shot, weight on left foot first
FH shot, weight on right foot first
etc
Regarding stepping earlier, does this refer to moving faster after finishing a shot to get into the ready position for the next shot? Or to initiate the motion with my right foot earlier once in ready position, so that I can hit the ball earlier?

Thank you Tony :)
 
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Regarding stepping earlier, does this refer to moving faster after finishing a shot to get into the ready position for the next shot? Or to initiate the motion with my right foot earlier once in ready position, so that I can hit the ball earlier?

Thank you Tony :)

to initiate the motion with my right foot earlier once in ready position, so that I can hit the ball earlier?

Not to hit the ball earlier, but to push more weight in and be ready for the shot earlier (to have a more solid backswing, that can execute a more powerful shot).

here is a zone 2 video

you can see how earlier the player is, she is basically waiting for the ball.

Your last drill of mixing bh and fh, you are quite cramp due to slow movement.
that can of crampness will cause difficult for you to execute power shots.
 
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Not to hit the ball earlier, but to push more weight in and be ready for the shot earlier (to have a more solid backswing, that can execute a more powerful shot).

here is a zone 2 video

you can see how earlier the player is, she is basically waiting for the ball.

Your last drill of mixing bh and fh, you are quite cramp due to slow movement.
that can of crampness will cause difficult for you to execute power shots.
Thank you @Tony's Table Tennis , the video gave me a good idea on what to do. I will try to give it a go tomorrow, lets see if I get a chance to record aswell.

On a sidenote: For someone with my technique, using H3N Blue Sponge (39) on forehand, would you recommend to keep using it while practising to just 'hit harder', or would you recommend to use a JAP/EURO rubber? I dont really intend to change because I love playing with Hurricane. I am just curious what more advanced players/coaches think

Cheers
 
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Thank you @Tony's Table Tennis , the video gave me a good idea on what to do. I will try to give it a go tomorrow, lets see if I get a chance to record aswell.

On a sidenote: For someone with my technique, using H3N Blue Sponge (39) on forehand, would you recommend to keep using it while practising to just 'hit harder', or would you recommend to use a JAP/EURO rubber? I dont really intend to change because I love playing with Hurricane. I am just curious what more advanced players/coaches think

Cheers
regarding H3, I think first hit harder.
your video temp was just warming up in a way.
I think play at least 70% of your power and see how it goes.
 
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