Richfs wrote:
I recently played a tournament and lost 2-3 in the quarter finals. It was a close and really good game and I thought I generally played well. I've been trying to make my backhand less arm dependent but as the match shows I'm clearly not bowing down low enough. In my mind I'm bowing more than I really am and feel that I have no time to bow deeper - and if I do it it feels like I'll be too late. Maybe because I need to start the movement much earlier? I'm also confused about the arm structure of the BH. I also don't know how to push off with my legs for the BH. On the BH blocks I hit out I also think I'm bowing but I'm clearly not.
It feels to me like my racket is rarely pointing towards my stomach on my BH compared to before when I'd whip my wrist back more. I know it should happen with the momentum from the body usage, but what should I aim for?
I also think I can get a bit lower for my FH open ups and could probably get more points there. But there I have the same issue as opening with the BH - I believe that I'm bending lower than I really am and don't feel like I have time to get lower than I am.
Maybe I'm at times too close to the table?
I was a bit nervous at the start of the match and I did get frustrated missing some shots, but I managed to regain my focus better than usual. I'm trying to improve the negative body language, it's a strong habit.
My FH feels more stable than ever, but I'm also using the same shot/backswing for every ball and don't have a very adaptable swing.. like for semi high balls.
Appreciate any thoughts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpzwDOE5luwHey Rich,
Thanks for posting the match. Thanks to everyone for their comments.
I'm going to start by answering the question that most players really want to know - how could I have won the match?
Let's assume for now that you have no interest in improving your tt mechanics and you just want "the tactics". In other words, if you were to play this match again right now, how could you win. Or if I was sitting on your bench, what would I say between games. The answer is, you should often topspin the first ball to your opponent's middle and forehand side. This alone would probably have been enough to win the match against this opponent. Watch this point
https://youtu.be/jpzwDOE5luw?t=1099 That first forehand topspin should be down the middle or into the forehand. Your opponent hopes you topspin to his backhand every time so he can make his favourite backhand block. As it stands today, your forehand naturally goes to the backhand most of time.
The above is the simple type of advice that I give to professional players in matches. Just serve more to this position and start attacking more to that position. Or do this return more and attack more to this position. It's rarely more complex than this. I have almost never given technical advice in a match.
It's a funny thing when someone posts a match and asks for broad advice. It's a little bit like posting a video of one's entire life and asking how they should have lived. I find it incredibly complex to watch a match and summarize everything I'm seeing to give effective advice. Sure, I could have said just topspin more to the forehand and left it there.
People send me matches and I just watch the points and get worried about how I'm going to respond to the 10+ years of training that I'm seeing. Surely just saying the you swing back too early on your forehand or you don't twist your legs/hips doesn't really change the story, or does it?
I see all of the stuff that Maurice posted. The kinetic chain principles he is getting at aren't well understood in tt and they are something I'm deeply interest in. In most sports these principals are a fair bit clearer and more broadly understood. When doing a free throw in basketball, you should bend your knees and then straighten them. As the knees are straightening, the hand comes back down over the eyes somewhere (against the force of your upward leg push) and you then you flick the ball out towards the ring. On a tennis serve, you lean your body back and then snap your body forward. As you snap your body forward, your racket goes backwards, and then forward to strike the ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Hcgjz1uow . As Federer turns his right hip forward, the racket goes backwards against the hip turn, before snapping forward at uncontrollably fast speeds
https://youtu.be/EFY460oquXw?t=67 All of this stuff is a lot less clear in tt, so it's not commonly discussed. Because it's so much tighter in tt, the differences this stuff makes can't possibly be as significant as a correct tennis serve.
Let's get back to Rich. He's a good tt player who can improve on absolutely everything he is does, imo. I believe I see ways he can improve every single shot he plays. If you are reading this post, Rich would almost certainly beat you at a game of table tennis. We can all improve.
Thanks for the feedback and the nice comments! I know I put you in a tricky position when I asked about tactics against this guy. My tactic against him was to pin him on the BH because I knew he could just block there and the other guys told me to keep going to his BH, but maybe that was a mistake. If my technique were perfect I wouldn't even be asking for tactics
. Isn't it imperfect technique that make tactics from either side possible? At the top level since there's so few technical imperfections it's no surprise it'd be hard to use anything other than generic tactics that would apply similarly to most of those players
So for the technical stuff that I should aim to improve in training, from what I understand is:
- Delay the backswing more on the FH and possibly more on the BH too.
- Bend from the hip more on the BH and more on the FH against backspin - the goal on the BH is to just do it a little bit in a match situation so I can find the feeling. My misconception made it almost impossible in match situations and in training I'd just sometimes do it right by accident.
- Stomp more on the serve. When I fold my torso should that also be a bending of the hip? I feel like my serve is a bit of a mess and I don't know what I'm doing, I've tried to change my ball toss a lot and how I swing at the ball, but I don't really know what to aim for.
I was watching the first match I posted on here a few years ago and it's funny to see how many misconceptions I had then and that I kept having even when I knew better - and still, to some extent, have today. Thanks Brett for solving many of my misconceptions.