OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Not too shabby. I'll settle with "a loop with the quality of a drive" early on in the video. It then gets better later on. The right touch is there. Notice the ball lands mostly in the middle of the table with some that don't even make it past the net. That's the sign of the grazing contact. The main issue I see is in the upper body motion. Right now, the source of power comes more or less from the upper arm. The trunk and legs are next on the to-do list.

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BTY Viscaria - 91g
+ Neo H3 2.15 Blk - 44.5g(55.3g uncut bare)
+ Hexer HD 2.1 Red - 49.3g(68.5g 〃 〃)
= 184.8g

Thanks, zeio. I have serious arthritis issues so rather than quit table tennis entirely as some would probably recommend, I've decided to leave my lower body out of the equation as much as possible and see how far I can get without explicitly using it.


The latest advice I have received is that I am making a basic technical error with how high I am finishing my loop stroke and that it should be *much* more consistently at eye height. So I will try to work on that and the quicker recovery together with the height being my focus.

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

I blogged about forehand problems this morning, including links to video.
http://www.tabletenniscoaching.com/node/2048
-Larry Hodges

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http://www.TableTennisCoaching.com

Thanks, Larry. Good that the cursing spies have not driven you away completely.

I appreciate all the high-level input I am receiving. So far:

1. Recover faster.
2. Finish more consistently at eye height with 90 degree elbow and arm bend
3. Rotate in circle and avoid reaching out of circle position on shot.

Based on watching the pingskills video, I noticed that there was something that Jeff Plumb was doing which I sometimes do but not consistently to open my stance (just adjust the direction of my right foot even if I don't move it) - will try to add that in as well.

I will go to the club and hit a few balls tonight and see what I can implement.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

You have rheumatoid athritis, IIRC. Does it affect your ankles as well? If not, then perhaps you can make greater use of them and relieve your knees of that duty.

I don't see much of a problem of arm finish position as it's only natural for your body to compensate for the loss/lack of power with a greater arm speed and therefore a bigger follow-through. Recovery can come after that. The key is to not rush your stroke.

_________________
BTY Viscaria - 91g
+ Neo H3 2.15 Blk - 44.5g(55.3g uncut bare)
+ Hexer HD 2.1 Red - 49.3g(68.5g 〃 〃)
= 184.8g

Maybe I'm missing something, i don't understand Larry when he speaks about the imaginary rod going through his head.


What does he mean by this? From where to where are we supposed to picture the rod?

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

Try this video:



See how he's leaning forward slightly? The imaginary rod is vertical thru the top of the head and in front of his body perpendicular to the floor.

To the OP-
I am not as good a player as you, however your first video suggests to me that your stance is BH oriented. Your right foot is normally even with your left or closer to the table. Just by moving your left foot closer to the table (or your right foot back) I think you will find improvement on your FH.

for what its worth:)

Guilty as charged. I actually do a better job during warm ups than during matches (hard to believe, huh) and I accept that my footwork is a limitation. I had been trying to implement a shift of the right foot by pointing it outwards but how to make it a habit is the problem. Do note though that as a two winged looper, unless you seriously favor your forehand, you will always be relatively squarer to the table when close to it than a forehand player unless you really want to hit a massive forehand.



The arthritisi affects everything, the smaller joints even more - it's a matter of see no evil, hear no evil until nature comes calling. I've always had relatively weak knees so those I protect even more.

About the finish, well, let's see. I think the height of the finish might be achieveable with the same arm speed and the ball might just be more consistent and spinny even if not as powerful. My coach has actually been of two minds about my low stroke finish, but at this point, I'm trying to make my forehand stop leaking points off inconsistency and feel confident using it when someone has trouble with what it can do.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Have you tried taking the omega-3 fatty acid? It doesn't cure but is effective in treating the symptoms.

For the loop stroke, I would consider focusing on the forearm snap. That's the first thing I was taught to loop. With just a bit of instantaneous and concentrated explosive contraction of the trunk, it can get you some heavy, consistent spin. Shots won't have much forward momentum as there is minimal involvement of the upper arm and, best of all, legs.

_________________
BTY Viscaria - 91g
+ Neo H3 2.15 Blk - 44.5g(55.3g uncut bare)
+ Hexer HD 2.1 Red - 49.3g(68.5g 〃 〃)
= 184.8g

Very high doses and lots of curcumin as well. It's more complicated than what I am saying - I know I have an autoimmune but with all the doctors, I doubt they have the accurate diagnoses.

Well, I'm rebuilding the forehand so it is going to take time, especially because I am doing so while competing. I might take the month of March off completely to work on it.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Next level, you are a damn good player. Always brave to put video of yourself up on the forum, so kudos. I have nothing to offer technique-wise as I am far below you in TT prowess, however I wanted to wish you luck.

I did want to speak to your medical condition. I am not a fan of omega 3 supplements as they tend to use oil that is pre-oxidized due to the pasturization process. Not good, and highly inflammatory. The research also shows that the benefits are not really there. However, I do agree with using diet as a method of trying to mitigate symptoms, namely real-food and exclusionary diets. You may have already done this, but it's worthwile eliminating one known allergen from your diet for 30 days to see how you react. If there is improvement after 30days, re-introduce it to your diet to see if your symptoms return. This way you can identify a potential dietary cause, or flat out eliminate diet as a variable.
Do only one allergen at a time: Gluten, Lactose, FODMAPS, etc, etc.

My father, who has RA, has discovered that FODMAPS was causing an exacerbation of his symptoms, and is now practically pain free. The damage isn't reversible, but it isn't progressing any more.

Good luck with your forehand!

_________________
Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

I can sort of relate to the frustration. My dad has been plagued by bone spurs in the elbow for decades. The doctor said to "cure" it a surgery would be necessary but the catch is that the strength wouldn't be the same again and the final verdict was to wait it out until the day came that the range of motion would be so limited to the point of disabled. He tried everything accessible to manage the pain that only provided temporary relief. That was until he tried green lipped mussel powder, which is another source rich of omega-3 fatty acids. It was like a wonder pill. The day after the first dose the pain was completely gone, and roughly a year later there was sign of restoration of movement. I guess he is one of the lucky few.

_________________
BTY Viscaria - 91g
+ Neo H3 2.15 Blk - 44.5g(55.3g uncut bare)
+ Hexer HD 2.1 Red - 49.3g(68.5g 〃 〃)
= 184.8g

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. I have tried diet without much success but other than tendon and joint trouble, my symptoms in terms of pain were never that severe. But I will investigate the FODMAPS avenue. I generally avoid lactose and gluten already.



Will look into this as well - thanks.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Did a lot of looping with the focus on finishing my stroke closer to my head/eye level. Haven't looked through all the video yet. This isn't my best video, but I am sure it is typical.




I might do a backspin session later (probably multiball) but if I do this again, I will try to recover faster - I left that out but I can see how that would help once I fixed the stroke to finish higher so it is more spin than drive.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus