OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Laj, your forehand flick is good. I saw it on this thread some time ago and it's a class shot.

Your backhand flick is a fine shot too. Just to be clear though, it's not a true Banana. You are in too late for it to be a modern-day banana, though I'm not sure if that's what you are going for? If it is, I can send you some stuff on WhatsApp and work with you on it.

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Well I am trying to get closer to the modern banana yes, but I also just want to attack serves more consistently than I currently do as I push way too many serves in predictable fashions. I watched the video and realized that I am clearly too late. The swing it self and the quality of the arm positioning did feel better in some ways. But i could see that I don't get into position and wait for the serve with my swing. I am still in motion of sorts when the ball arrives.

I am going to do a lot of work on serve return this month, imminent Coronavirus pandemic permitting, so any advice is welcome. Sometimes I think I am late to the ball because I don't read serves that sell, but I am also realizing that I have a propensity to take the ball too early when rallying and I want to work on that by moving a half step back from the table. But I think rightly or wrongly that without improving my serve return significantly, my level is not going to change that much and i am not in the mood to compete until i can do a few things that i couldn't do before.

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

Get in 5 seconds early and spring off the ball ETTS63 style. When you can do that in an extremely obvious way, reduce it to 4 seconds and so on. Copy this one https://photos.app.goo.gl/DZCbNieA8Tf42gtF6

Do you think the Coronavirus is going to be a big thing? I'm catching lots of planes and I'm not wearing a mask, so I should be right at the front of the cue?

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I have started posting ttEDGE 2020 content on ttEDGE.com

The intro explains the main purpose of the series which is really increasing interaction with members.

As I've previously mentioned, the content is mostly me condensing and updating knowledge about the basic shots. I have tried to highlight the most critical points of each stroke, without much additional instruction. If you watch this series, you'll leave with the same knowledge that I currently have.

The hall isn't the best looking stadium in the world, but ttEDGE has never really been about the looks

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Your backhand looks good but the follow through is quite different. Back on psge 200 million I think we discussed Chinese backhand to europe.

Insert joke about virus and backhand here.

It's clearly not about my backhand here. I'm just an old washed up coach...for now. It's not just about the Chinese as well. There are lots of Europeans, Japanese, Koreans etc who have learned to use the body more so they can play through the ball in a more direct way.

I've had a lot of time to watch high quality backhands from close range over the last 9 months or so. I'm like an international training hall stalker. I've seen the advantages of taking the ball early and playing more forward. 10 years ago, some Chinese players had very decent backhands but not as good as the backhands I see today. I'll try to explain in part 4, if I can.

I can't think of a good virus joke, except that I'm sure I'll have it soon enough. Next flight is on Tuesday, so, wish me luck.

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OK

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We're all in agreement with the body motion, but the finish position is much shorter, like the Chinese. Is this something I should change or does it just depend on how much time you have? Against block your time is limited in your video examples here.

Backhand topspin technique seems different compared to previous material ;

It looks like you are throwing it like a punch in a straight line from the shoulder with thicker straight contact instead of earlier emphasis on pivoting around elbow and thin brushing the top of the ball- is that correct?

Love the intro and material released so far btw, 2020 is going to be epic virus be damned!

The backhand being discussed was mostly inspired by Harimoto. It has become normal for people to see him ranked in the top few, but it's not normal for me.

Harimoto is a child. He is a kid who is significant in World Tour tournaments and children really shouldn't be winning these tournaments and beating Chinese etc. It has been going on for so long that people have accepted that a child is playing at this level. For me, Harimoto is an aberration that deserves a bunch of thought and observation.

I go to many World Tour tournaments. I can tell you for nothing that it is super difficult to win 2 rounds of the qualification/preliminary of these events and it's actually near impossible to win the entire tournament. There are very serious 2900 level Chinese losing early in the preliminary rounds of major tournaments. Yan An is an example in Doha, Qatar.

My point is that these World Tour events are no place for Children so it is amazing how good Harimoto is.

Okay, I'll get back to the backhand topic. Take a look at Timo Boll's backhand topspin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9v-LfwyukE . Is this shot "right" or "wrong"? It's a great backhand and it's what I have previously taught. This doesn't make me a bad/wrong coach, right? The problem with this backhand is, I can't really do it consistently as Timo can. I'm a washed-up coach and I struggle to make 3 of these in a row. I have a thousand ways to miss the ball.

Now take a look at the first 10 seconds of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQlG2qPbhj8 Even though I haven't played more than 500 backhand topspins in the last 12 months, I can easily make 30 in a row of this type. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qn8Dx0FIFs . There was no magic editing done here and you can see the entire take. I could make 100 in a row if I took a couple of shots at it and my arm didn't get tired.

To a certain extent, I think Harimoto is cheating on the complexities of backhand and also gaining an edge in the process. Take a look at this one point https://youtu.be/PQlG2qPbhj8?t=76 After the Banana flick, Harimoto makes what I'm calling a "shove" backhand topspin. It's incredibly effective and surprisingly easy to do. It gives your opponent no time to react and, at the very least, positions you to win the point.

This is the reason why I'm introducing the backhand technique. It will be part 4 of the ttEDGE 2020 series.

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This is a very accurate assessment.

The shot is still powered by the body movement.

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Is the finishing position really much shorter? Or am I just straightening my arm more forward and driving it with the body?

Is it something you should change? It depends on how much success you are having with your current backhand. This technique is very effective when played close to the table. I think it's something worth having, at least.

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Now a post for the EJs of this world.

I've been thinking a lot about how temperature impacts the speed of a rubber. In short, I believe that a rubber will be 20-30% faster if the temperature is 30 degrees (celsius) hotter. Okay, I just made up some arbitrary percentages, but you get my point. The difference is absolutely huge.

This means that a sheet of Tenergy is a completely different rubber in Texas compared to New York unless artificial heating is involved.

I gave a 2200 level player a sheet of Mercury 2 to try. He instantly hated it and quickly changed back to some ultra soft German rubber. The problem was the temperature in the hall was about 5 celsius. The rubber was hard and contracted so the German rubber felt way better.

A couple of months later, I gave him Big Dipper to try and he really likes it. I believe the difference is the weather has changed. It is now 25 degrees in the hall and the rubber has expanded and come to life.

What is the solution to all of this?

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The master of the shove backhand technique for me is Jeoung Youngsik. I know a variety of players use it but I was always impressed by how Jeoung could fire off backhands close to the table and put opponents under extreme pressure. That said, Harimoto is the bigger star.

As for the rubber temperature issue, I remember there was rubber warming equipment being sold for making rubbers play better at one time. Not sure what became of those contraptions.

That said, Big Dipper is a better rubber than Mercury 2. It is not even close.

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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

NL and I have solved this already. Every time someone posts one of our favorite blades for sale we buy it, no matter how many we already have. I am up to three acoustic carbons, and narrowly escaped buying a fourth only because it was a flare. So we can have a different set of rubbers for every Köppen zone. That's a really good excuse actually.

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