OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I think it can be tricky to decipher such minor details from the shots elite players play under massive pressure. Ideally, we'd need some training footage where they practice switching directions. It should be somewhere.

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It shouldn't be too difficult to compare how close to the body they hold their elbows when doing a cross-court shot vs. one down the line. Easy to take screen shots and compare. If there's no difference then there's no difference. If what Seemiller said is correct there would be a difference.

Iskandar

with reference to fading the shot - Barney Reed has a beautiful controlled fade, where he brushes across his body. Very difficult to do in practice, but a great shot to have...

https://youtu.be/Yl_ABEoms50?t=4m39s

Sorry, I've been away at a tournament and I missed the fade/direction change conversation. I'll take a shot at making a video about changing direction.

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Some relevant footage. Most BH shots with redirection are blocks and hits though. There is some kick blocking with changing directions towards the end.

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[quote="PRW"]with reference to fading the shot - Barney Reed has a beautiful controlled fade, where he brushes across his body. Very difficult to do in practice, but a great shot to have...

https://youtu.be/Yl_ABEoms50?t=4m39s



My takeaway of this is where the shoulders are positioned. I feel like there is some coming around the side of the ball too or maybe just brushing the side for a bit of side spin and angling. You can see some side spin after the ball hits. It isn't dramatic but it's sure there.

I can also tell the ball was fairly dead on return. Barney momentarily (easy to miss when watching at full speed) showed his back to the ceiling and then quickly came up to hit more forward. The follow through is across his body, where I think this is part of the swiping he is doing.

I'm not sure if elbow position does much tho.

https://youtu.be/32D_dM3vo54

This is :35 of highlights from a practice match at ZBTTC. It's only :35 bc I lost 3-0 to my training partner so most of the highlights were her.

But who cares? At :12 I hit a windmill over the table. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. LOL

In other news, my fh quality goes up a lot when I have both feet on the ground from the swing start through contact. And I am starting the forward swing/ending backswing about 1/10th second later than I should. That is why I miss the top of the bounce.

And my fh pendulum serve is messed up bc of a stance issue that changes my arm position from vertical to horizontal as I rise with the toss.

But on the bright side, I am sometimes doing etts06 in matchplay. Sometimes.

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Here is an updated picture of Ilia (aka fastmover). I couldn't find the original to send to a member, so I made a new one. I added a little color this time because it's a new decade. If you look closely, you can see the thumb should be on top of the backhand rubber.

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Brett, are you drawing an animation for the video on changing directions?

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I have written many videos. Just waiting to make them.

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The best way to use ttEDGE.com is to make very short videos of your shots (20-30 secs), upload to YouTube as "unlisted" and then send through the link so the "staff" can give feedback. Many people do this and lots don't. There is only so much one can learn from a video without experienced feedback.

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I'm have written a backhand topspin video that is a game changer...at least for washed-up me. I have been watching many of the best players use this technique in training halls / matches everywhere and I believe it's superior. It has helped my bad backhand a lot. I'm calling it "the shove" for now.

I'll have it done and posted by the end of the month.

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I have been thinking a lot about equipment and I've also been testing. I've said some of this stuff before and I think I'll go again with extra enthusiasm.

Almost everyone is using equipment that is too fast and expensive. For clarity, I'm not talking about saving money in this post. I'm talking about using the "right" equipment, which just so happens to be cheaper on average. If it really costs $500 for the "right" equipment, I'll pay it today.

Players will get Tenergy or German Tensor and test it by looping / topspinning against block. Tenergy will feel amazing because it truly is the fastest and most spinny rubber. It is superior technology in many ways, however, this has very little to do with actually playing table tennis.

The problem is, Ma Long doesn't use Tenergy on his forehand because it's too fast and soft. He uses standard Chinese rubber which is now packaged and promoted well. He does use Tenergy on his backhand though because he is good enough to deal with the speed and he doesn't get enough power to use something slower. In other words, if he had more power on his backhand, he wouldn't use Tenergy.

If you just use your arm to play table tennis, faster rubber is arguably better. Put another way, if you have no idea what you are doing, just waste your money on whatever. But if you are using your body correctly to play the shots, you should use a slower rubber. Let me explain how that works.

If your rubber is very fast, it's extremely difficult to play with control. If your rubber is very slow, it's a little difficult to play with power, but not impossible. If you use your body correctly, you can play with enough power to succeed. If your rubber is slow, you can learn to play with power whilst having excellent control.

If that's all too confusing, here are the equations:
Slow rubber = excellent control with enough power (providing you learn how to play correctly)
Fast rubber = low control and excessive power (providing you learn how to play correctly)

Chinese don't use Tenergy on the forehand because they don't like the above Fast rubber equation. Sometimes they put slower rubber on the backhand too, which I believe is a borderline decision. There isn't a perfect solution for the backhand for the ultra-elite, but that's not you or me!

The problem with low control is there is no easy fix. You'll always have trouble serving, returning and blocking. You'll also have trouble playing against backspin, which isn't as significant. This is true at all levels. It's subtle at the elite level, but the Chinese and some Koreans get it. At lower levels, this is completely obvious if you understand this topic.

What's my point? If you are reading this post, I believe that slower rubber is your best option by a very long way. Let's throw in using a slower blade before I forget. A slower blade should just go without saying.

The good/bad news is, I'm telling you to buy cheaper equipment. If you are a serious EJ with a modest bank balance, you should be very happy about this post because it's your license to go crazy and buy every $5-15 blade and Chinese rubber on aliexpress or OOAK.

If you find it more fun to play with fast equipment then you should ignore this post.

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Before too many more emails roll in, I'll write some more about equipment.

First of all, I'll tell you what my current set up is, just to create a baseline and to induce a few laughs. I don't actually play much TT as I'm a professional coach (I really am).

My racket is:
- Huieson K3 blade (approx USD$ 7)
- Yinhe Big Dipper - forehand (approx USD$14)
- Yinhe Mercury 2 - Backhand (approx USD$5)

That's a grand total of $26. I could use Mercury 2 on my forehand as well (taking the price down to $17), but it's Big Dipper for now. Big Dipper is factory tuned/boosted and the packaging is amazing. It also has the blue sponge, which makes me feel like a Chinese pro. I have only just got it and I feel like a king. Should I use it on my backhand too? I tried and it may be a little bit too springy compared to the cheaper stuff.

I have a Boll Spirit blade and lots of Tenergy but, for the reasons mentioned above, that's not what I use.

So here is the question. Should YOU actually listen to me and "downgrade", based on my posts?

Here's what will happen to 90% of people who take my advice. They'll try slower rubber for a few days and promptly go back to what they are currently using. I know this for a fact because I've seen it a lot. The reason is, it's more fun to loop against block with faster rubber in the same way that it's more fun to drive a fast car.

Think back to the matches that you've lost. Why did you lose them? Was it because you didn't have enough power on your backhand or forehand? Or was it because you couldn't return serve well or hit enough balls on the table?

I have literally never had a conversation with a player who reported "I lost the match because I lacked power on my backhand". I have heard a few thousand players say "I lost the match because I couldn't return the serve". Or "I couldn't control his/her loops".

Next time you lose a close match when you were nervous, evaluate why you lost the match. Tell me if your racket was just too slow, or was it something else.

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Every advice I have taken from ttedge has been pure gold so I want to copy your equipment advice to the letter and I have 2 more questions please:

1. I see that Huieson K3 is a 7 ply carbon blade so probably too fast for me; what classic blades do you recommend to your students?
Would Korbel or Primorac be acceptable or should we go even slower to allround territory like Stiga Allround Classic or Grubba, Appelgren Allplay etc?

2. What hardness levels should we aim for in chinese rubbers you recommend - I can see 3 hardness levels for example in Mercury2:
New Hardness Scale SOFT MEDIUM HARD
Old Hardness Scale 33-35 36-38 39-41

What would be best choice for low level aspiring amateurs like me, I am just a bit worried that going with too hard chinese rubber will make it hard to create arc, especially on backhand and put anything on the table, but perhaps that is the point in order to force body use more?

Thank you for your help!