OOAK Table Tennis Forum

But that is what everybody does. Look at a recent new fh loop posted on a different forum, hasn't he just adapted to the robot timing?

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Yoko Ono

Yeah I think everyone does this too. Humans are very good at 'cheating' in little ways. Gotta make that robot seem more human like to get value out of it after the basic stroke is developed.

He takes the ball early as someone who plays close to the table. It depends on what you mean by everybody - I used to hate being rushed by the robot and even when I did, my focus was as much on possible on finding a whip feeling with the shot. Probably why I suck when drilling with people who just bash the ball spontaneously. IMO, you are supposed to lose the point if I take it early close to the table with power so I am not sure why people consider this a practice shot.

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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

Okay, let's keep having fun! Disclaimer: I don't do this very often. Sometimes I am just afraid of overusing the shoulder from practicing only forehand most of the time.

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Tactics Enthusiast

That backhand looks really good! On the fh you may be abbreviating the swing to avoid overpowering your blocker, or because of the short table down the line.

Look at the angle of your blade on the backhands, it's much more horizontal than on the fh, so it brushes over the top of the ball more. I believe that's how NL was saying your forehand could also be, before we got wrapped up in weird terminology.

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Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

Yoko Ono

Thanks, BRS. Yes, the focus was on keeping the ball on the table. I believe that the difference in angles is due to that on BH I take the ball on the rise (this close-to-the-table BH is probably my best shot), while on FH I take the ball a bit after the top of the bounce.

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Tactics Enthusiast

You can play over the ball when taking it late. It is really abiut racket head speed and contact point.

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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 have already explained that even you look at the TTEdge app, you will see three loopers looping cross court and down the line. None of the three players has a finishing position like fastmover's. In fact, yesterday, big d sent me the loop of a seemiller player with a grip like Fastmover. While his finishing position did not fold over the ball, his racket still faced the left wall. And yes, it should still face the left wall when playing quality loops down the line. Finishing your strokes properly when practising them and when using them in practice matches is a big deal for learning how they should work, it is more valuable to put the ball long with a proper follow through than to put the ball on thr table with a technique that will fall apart under pressure.

_________________
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 think what NL and I, and also wilkinru, and probably brett although brett's posts can be gnomic at times, maybe to subconsciously balance NL's loghorreic tendency, are all saying, is that your close to the table bh is your best shot because the swing goes across the top of the ball, not because you are close to the table or the ball is still rising or whatever. Experiment with that kind of swing trajectory on your fh, wherever you take the ball. In the video you just posted the difference is really plain to see.

_________________
Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

Yoko Ono

I will experiment with different finishing positions and see what happens. But so far I have enough unresolved issues with my forehand to deal with so I am not sure what should be the top priority.

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Tactics Enthusiast

The finishing position is the biggest error with the forehand topspin holding amateurs back. I would prioritize it.

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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

Not ideal form (should really get lower), but for exemplification - playing over the ball while taking the ball late:

https://youtu.be/qkNNJmrSNgI?t=2272

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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 think a quick traditional warm up is okay, as long as it's followed by decision making exercises and building from there. DTTS series is going to be about all of this.

Many moons ago, when I trained with Jeff Plumb, we would do a slow random anywhere warm up. The results could never really be measured, but it made some sense to us. I have never done it with anyone else.

When I train the Aus men's team, the players never really know where the ball is going (except in the warm up), even though the exercises are somewhat set. Knowing exactly where the ball will be has issues, unless you know exactly what you are doing.

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You were able to do it as your racket head speed was very high. Watch how fast the backswing was and how there was absolutely no pause between backswing and stroke resulting in maximum energy.

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I don't think there's many unresolved issues with your forehand. I actually think it's a pretty good stroke already and it's better than 90% of the learning adults I see in clubs in my area. Sure, it can be improved slightly if you really care, but don't think of your shot as a disaster. Get your grip right and try finishing in the position I posted. Let's see where it goes.

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