OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Have you ever video'd yourself playing in a competitive match and if:

Yes:

1. How long did it take you to get used to knowing you were being filmed
2. What did you learn from watching yourself play that you didn't know before
3. Would you recommend video as a training tool
4. Did you ask someone else to analysis it for you (such as a coach)

and if:

No:

1. What's stopping you from videoing yourself in a competitive match

Yes. I have filmed myself playing in league matches. I found out a few things about myself and about my opponents. I will elaborate below.

1. How long did it take you to get used to knowing you were being filmed
Not long at all. I set it all up so I was pretty unfazed by the situation. I think I was more aware of the camera not getting my game in shot, being moved by someone walking past or falling over. That feeling went away as soon as I realised I needed to try and win the first set... or at least play some TT

2. What did you learn from watching yourself play that you didn't know before
I learnt that i was taking the ball slightly too late on my forehand, in distance probably ~5cm behind where optimal contact should be. This was caused by a backswing that was too long and also that I sometimes "threw" my arm back instead of taking a backswing which attributed to the backswing having a loss of control, therefore becoming too long. I also noted that sometimes I was not rotating through the ball so the stroke lost control here as well. I also identified where I was winning the majority of my points agains certain opponents and also what those opponents favoured and disliked in the game. A handy tool or local leagues.

3. Would you recommend video as a training tool
Yes. It can be invaluable for getting assistance if you don't have a coach locally, for example posting here and having others look at your form. Also it allows you to see what you are doing instead of 'feeling' what you are doing. I wanted to see what I was doing as it "felt" right but I was aware that it was not due to the actions/reactions of the ball after looping it. It was going long and popping up a bit, as soon as I filmed the games from a few angles I could see the issue and get feedback.

4. Did you ask someone else to analysis it for you (such as a coach)
I did take it to the local coach for feedback. Although I think that even with just seeing it personally, I could have made the adjustments myself, all be it in at a less efficient manner.

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CORNILLEAU Hugo Calderano FOCO OFF+
FH: ANDRO Hexer Powergrip 2.1
BH: ANDRO Hexer Powergrip 2.1

I've only videoed one competitive match but have videoed heaps of practice matches. For me is been the biggest contributor my improvement. My first video though was of me doing some multiball a couple of years ago at the start of my improvement journey. I was hoping to pick something up to improve on. When I saw the video I went, wow, where do I start. Without the video I would still be about the same level. For me its invaluable but others may learn in different ways.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

No time at all. I had been recording my teammates for a couple of weeks while I was out injured. I was nervous about being recorded beforehand, but just ignored the camera when I started. No adjustment needed.



•I thought I was a backhand-dominant player. I actually use forehand a lot. This meant it was even more important to correct my FH technique (although of course it was important before!).
•My push returns on video are obviously way too high! Not so obvious when I'm behind the ball and playing.
•Trying to become more of a FH looper and less of a hitter. I could see my backswing was rushed and my follow-through was across the body, leading to many failed shots. Consciously tried to correct this in play and in training. It's not great now, but it's miles better.
•Wasted a lot of points trying to flick incoming serves unsuccessfully instead of pushing them and staying in the rally. It's made me discriminate more in my service return. Still plenty of room for improvement.
•Generally more conscious of throwing away points – it's far more instructive to see it unfold on video, than to experience it and maybe try to suppress or minimise the bad memories later!



Yes!



No, but I'll get something to Brett Clarke in the next few weeks!

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"Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone's problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor." –Doctor Impossible

Thank you for your considered responses. Very interesting.

The main thing I found was that

1. I'm very rigid and tense in my stance and tension is an enemy of being able to play strokes properly
2. I fall over to the left when I hit an aggressive forehand leaving me off balance and out of position. More importantly I was able to see it's often because I let the ball get too close to my body so I have to lean out of the way to make room for my arms forward motion and all my weight transfers to my left side too soon. It's more of a pivot motion instead of a fall and rise turning motion with my hips, waist and shoulders. All that means I end up loosing control of my bat angle. Not good.
3. Too often I move into the ball thinking it's short but it's not, it's actually long if I bothered to wait for it and I could play the ball at the top of the bounce aggressively behind the end of the table. Basically I have more time than I think to play the shot. And when I do move in, invariably I'm still moving forward with my foot often in the air when I make contact with the ball so I'm never properly set to play the ball. Worse I'm lazy and tend to take one lunge only forward with my leg rather than taking small steps -one leg to get close to the table and a second step with my other leg to under the table which would allow me to get closer to the ball and be in a better balanced position to play the shot.

Some times it's hard to recognise bat angle, how you are leaning, whether feet are on or off the floor from watching video alone. I'm starting to use app called hudl (it was called something else when I first gave it a try)

http://www.hudl.com/en_gb/products/technique

The free version has all the facilities I need, the only down side being I can't control where it saves video to, it seems to have a default folder structure which forces it to use the memory on the device you use and not a separate memory card. Eventually I want to download footage of various players so I can compare side by side footage of me with footage of "how the shot" should be played. I'll never be able to match the "pros" way of playing a shot but it'll help identify things I can improve on.

I use a free editor for Windows called LightWorks. You can do anything with it, but I simply edit waste time and watch frame-by-frame at 30 fps. If you haven't ever watched some frame-by-frame I highly recommend it. You see everything - how many tenths of a second after top of the bounce you hit the ball, how many frames before you react to the opponents shot, reaction when receiving, where the ball is when you come out of serve and get to ready position - everything.

Before this I used a junky old MAC for video and the built-in iMovie app has a very easy editing interface too.

As far as how helpful, I have definitely learned a lot from video, the list of errors revealed is very long. The list of errors fixed is a lot shorter. NL likes to say adult learners always make the same errors, as their play improves they just make those errors better. I didn't believe it at first, but I'm starting to fear it's true.

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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