To resurrect this thread i will post something. I never intended to put video footage in here, but since i did take the effort and cut/blur training footage for a different use case i might as well but it on here for people to have fun with.
i do actually have access to a set of coaches and a training partner if my term permits me booking trainings, but i don't train that often (perhaps once or twice a month at maximum). I do have the opportunity to play in a few clubs of varying quality/level. Unfortunately i do not have a video of a full match that i can share, since i am too lazy (or inexperienced with video cutting) to cut/blur out the random people and opponents that do appear on casual match nights and training session nor do i want to have private conversations i do have with a coach recorded and published. I can record matches for my own usage sometimes, but in the higher level clubs it seems like the people think i steal their soul if i take a video of them.
Originally for another use case i have created a snippet from a training session with my coach. I do record my "paid" training sessions one video per drill. Unfortunately i think i have added a backhand drill video twice to that compilation. Then i have another short video of me performing a few topspin loops from different scenarios (mainly to show that the technique employed in a match is still different from what you see in the drills). I have experienced that gameplay performance and technique lags behind the drill performance several month.
If you see anything that i can quickly improve with relatively low effort, feel free to chime in.
Currently my top list of things that i need to actively think about when playing is:
1) watch the ball until i hit it with the blade. Whenever i don't the success rate drops and i can basically tell that i never missed/whiffed a ball when i properly watched the ball trajectory until the end.
2) Returning to a more neutral stance in a push battle. I jump forward to receive short balls and while i half-reset my stance (jumping back again) latest on the second or third short push my reset position is with me jumping back out of the table but having my right leg slightly infront.
3) Staying low and on my tippy toes all the time. More often than not i get flat footed in between points and then being agile to move enough is hard. The low stance also changes the POV so that suddenly even balls that are pushed pretty low feel like one can loop them properly while hitting it on chest height (when the chest is on less elevated level).
So my "easy" question is: what should i focus on first because it is just a matter of month focussing on it and having it that well engrained that i do see good improvements, so i can go to the next step.
Shot selection is a big issue for me as well because perhaps watching to many Moregard/Niwa matches, if the ball comes at chest height centrally at me instead of making room to the right or left to play it with a forehand stroke or backhand i tend to intuitively do a kind of chop block motion returning the ball with some sidespin. The sidespin is not too strong because the chop motion is not fast enough, but against weak opponents they either whiff the ball because it bounces too much to the side (sometimes) or the will put the ball into the net because the lack of me adding topspin to the ball will not propell the ball strong enough from the block so it ends up in the net.
You might see things that i can improve technically which will not translate into game performance, since what i do in training and what i do in matches is quite different. I do not loop many balls with the backhand at all. Intuitively i would just counter or block with my backhand. I do not aggressively flip with the forehand simply because my anticipation of short balls is not good enough to be in a position to do so quick enough.
For the videos a bit of pretext:
My coach told me that my forehand topspin technique is OK'ish enough to now focuss way more on my legs and getting into proper position. He wants me to do more micro adjustments, use more twist of the body/waist and not hit the ball too early (that is when i will reach out to the ball instead of waiting for it to enter the ideal strike zone).
One other issue is that i usually will play my strokes while moving and my coach really wants me to move first and then execute the stroke. That is why the second drill he told me that he will deliberately wait for me to move into position before he plays the ball, so that i have finished my movement process before executing the stroke.
The regular backhand stroke drill shows that if i get too comfortable playing from one position i will be flat footed and not able to move quick enough if somebody played the ball somewhere where i dont anticipate it.
For the backhand Topspin drills the first one in the video is against more heavy backspin which he told me to slowly loop. That is very hard for me, but my coach wants me to slow/soft loop them, because it is more successfully like that. The second backhand topspin drill is with less underspin which i can loop with more power which comes easier to me.
The final drill is backhand, forehand, backhand, forehand (free), which means i play a backhand from the backhand corner to my coaches backhand, then i play a forehand to my coaches backhand, then a backhand from my backhand corner to his and the next forehand i play from "wide" forehand to anywhere i like (which is mostly the middle or wide forehand of my coach).
The video with "match situations" are me goofing around against a tall player that mainly only uses thin rubbers and counters alot and a double training match being partnered with my >70 year old neighbour against aforementions tall player and another tall player that plays with pips/pimples-out.
i do like doubles very much, because i usually have somebody more "stable" by my side to keep the ball rolling and give me more time to prepare for the next ball.
