Table Tennis Wheel

[SpinQuark]

Wondering what people think about using a wheel to develop correct shot technique?

I am trying to improve my ability to brush the ball to get good topspin and to stop bringing the arm across the body and the elbow up when following through with the forehand. Would a lot of practice with a wheel help ? Has anyone used a wheel as a major part of their own shot development? It doesn't seem to be a very popular tool compared with say robots. Is this justified ?

 

[TableTennisDaily]

Never seen this before! It's an awesome device that can help promote brushing the ball I am sure! I would be interested to know if others have used for their training?

p.s. her footwork is outstanding!

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I have never seen the wheel before. Looks interesting.

One thing I notice in the video, the elbow rises considerably more with the real ball than with the wheel. And the wheel does not move, whereas you are trying to get the ball to go where you want it to and you are thinking you have to move it, not just spin it in place. The stroke looks pretty decent with both the wheel and the ball though. However, with the ball, it looks like you are thinking you need more power than you do. The snap from the elbow will be enough but sometimes our head says we have to put more on the ball than we need to. So, with the ball, your elbow moves several inches farther than with the wheel.

Also, your follow through ends up further across with the ball, which is really the same statement as that the elbow moves more. Will the wheel ultimately help you get the elbow to stay stable when you want that? Will the wheel help you brush the ball on all your strokes even when the ball comes faster and you are a little rushed? It certainly could help. A lot of that is muscle memory, so having the wheel stroke right next to the real stroke could help you feel and cut down the real stroke and brush the ball more on the real stroke. Shadow practice with a mirror can also help. One of the guys who is helping me keeps saying: "feet and body fast, arm slow!" Although the point of the elbow snap is the acceleration and speed, I think he means controlled. Just by using the elbow joint the acceleration and speed will be there. With a backhand you can get a ton of pace and spin with a very small stroke, 3-4 inches of racket movement. With the forehand, the stroke can be small and just from the elbow and you can still get a ton of spin and speed to. This technique gives you more time to be ready to brush the next stroke as well.

But I think that is a pretty decent stroke.

 

[Steven]

I've tried a similar but bigger wheel a long time ago. I thought it would ruin rubbers so to me it seems weird to use it for serious training like this.

 

[Matt Hetherington]

It's an interesting concept, I haven't seen it before either. In my own opinion I prefer to feel the natural variation of balls being fed or returned by a person as opposed to robots or other fixed position methods. Every ball is different and that's something important to learn in table tennis and how you adjust accordingly even with minute detail to each ball in terms of bat angle, swing and body position.

For basics though it could be a very useful tool to promote the brush action of the ball to young or developing players, so I think it serves a legitimate purpose thanks for introducing and showing a demo

 

[Dan]

I think it could be a very good tool for beginners or kids. Kids would find this fun and would promote a brushing movement with the forehand. I wouldnt mind trying this out, do they sell them?

Sent from my S2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

It's an interesting concept, I haven't seen it before either. In my own opinion I prefer to feel the natural variation of balls being fed or returned by a person as opposed to robots or other fixed position methods. Every ball is different and that's something important to learn in table tennis and how you adjust accordingly even with minute detail to each ball in terms of bat angle, swing and body position.

For basics though it could be a very useful tool to promote the brush action of the ball to young or developing players, so I think it serves a legitimate purpose thanks for introducing and showing a demo

I pretty much agree with everything here. Especially the part about how each ball is a little different and you have to adjust. Also that it might be good for developing players.

I know, when I taught myself to brush and therefore, to loop, a couple of years ago, I did this technique where I bounced the ball low on the table and simply brushed the ball. As I got the feeling of the brush contact I was able to add it into hitting a ball that was coming to me from another player. I might not have learned how to loop without doing that. But, it did not change that I had to also learn how to do it with a ball coming towards me from an opponent.

When the pace gets faster, my tendency is still to drive instead of looping.

 

[SpinQuark]

Interesting comments everyone.

Can only seem to find one for sale and it doesn't look as good as the one in the video.
http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?5182-What-s-your-plans-this-summer
Expensive for what it is, and certainly would need an old bat to use with that.

In case of doubt the video is not me.

I have also seen people suggest learning to brush a ball rolling off the end of the table, but that seems a recipe for a damaged bat and possibly a damaged wrist.

There seem to be more moving parts to coordinate on a forehand topspin - shoulder turn, arm swing, elbow bend, possible wrist movement, body tilt, and weight transfer. Getting all these right to effectively brush the ball at the top of the bounce is certainly non trivial. I am always surprised at the 45% angle you are supposed to use, as this always seems too steep to me and I think I tend to go more like 30%.

 

[SpinQuark]

Wow 2 years since I started this thread. Just spotted another wheel video. More amusing than anything else...

 

[Dan]

Wow 2 years since I started this thread. Just spotted another wheel video. More amusing than anything else...

I really want one of these!

 

[Dan]

Dan,

Look on Tees Sport's website under "coaching" and you should find the TSP spin wheel.

Yeah I've actually seen that @JHB I am thinking about getting it. I think it will be very useful for players starting out.

 

[JHB]

Yes I just realised how old this thread is - oops !!

 

[TT4Life]

Lolz, y not install real table tennis ball with a thin rod in the middle ? as real as it gets Also you can you claim it to the edge of the table and adjust the height.

 

[raazzz]

This was something new to me, but I had a coach that taught me a similar thing. He putted an empty bottle with a ball on top on the edge on the table, my task was to hit the ball without the bottle falling.