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"5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January 2017
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Author:  Debater [ 09 Jan 2017, 07:22 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
LordCope wrote:
January 7th: Epic fail. Shattered from previous night, then swept up in family events at the weekend.

January 8th: 5 mins practice on the table. Trying to toss the ball head height or higher, and then serve. When I managed the throw the ball straight enough to actually hit it on the way down, it seemed very effective, with a bit of extra kick. But 8/10 times the ball was all over the place. Very difficult. Also starting to feel the urgent need for a box of balls and something to keep them in, as reps are way low when I have to go and get the ball.

Any recommendations for a thing to keep the balls in, other than a basket on the table? Something that hooks onto the table? Something with legs that stands at reachable height?


Try putting a sheet of A4 on the floor. Take your service stance with your non playing hand with the ball in directly over the sheet of a4 paper. Throw the ball up so that it lands on the A4 paper. This gives you instant feedback on how much control you have over your throw up and can be practiced anywhere. If you can't control your throw up you'll end up chasing the ball with your bat and loosing control of the shot affecting your ability to create spin, speed, direction, depth etc. As you,re talking about 5 minute practice I'd concentrate on using that time to get your throw up right first. Throwing the ball up so it lands on your target on the floor sounds easy but it's much harder to do in reality.

Regarding a ball holder, when you came to our centre and I fed you multi ball we used home made ball holders made by one of our coaches. I'm sure one of the parts was a large tub of Cadbury roses or something similar. Can't remember what he used as the stand. Alternatively there is this http://www.teessport.com/table-tennis-c ... sket-p8718 from Teesports.
Author:  BRS [ 11 Jan 2017, 09:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
Played club matches the last two days so no isolated serving practice until today. Only did 20 or 30 minutes. I also need to get the toss in a very consistent location so the tip of the paddle meets the lower hemisphere of the ball. I got a few right, like ten. In the video I'm hitting them all in the center of the rubber and getting all side or side top. Baby steps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zoslX34isw&feature=youtu.be

Sorry embedding video failed, not sure why. I removed the 's' from https: within the youtube brackets, but no luck.
Author:  Debater [ 11 Jan 2017, 10:34 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
BRS wrote:
Sorry embedding video failed, not sure why. I removed the 's' from https: within the youtube brackets, but no luck.




This is the url off youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zoslX34isw

This is what I had to shorten it to to embed it within the youtube option when posting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zoslX34isw

Note amongst other things the removal of the "s" from https. Sometimes you have to remove any "&feature....." gubbins added by YouTube to the url.

Everytime I have the same problem embedding videos and everytime I have to find an old post I've done with a video embedded in it and check how I did it. Some things never stick with me.
Author:  NextLevel [ 11 Jan 2017, 14:50 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
BRS, you have extremely strong wrists. That's another way of saying you do a decent serve despite getting incredibly poor whip. Stop being so scared to miss serves in practice. Did you try any reverse frisbee tosses? You need to do a mini-backhand loop when doing the reverse serve.
Author:  LordCope [ 11 Jan 2017, 16:19 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
January 9th: 5 mins using debater's A4 trick. Very worthwhile exercise. I definitely improved in the five minutes, and think if i stick to this, it'll make a big difference to my consistency. Top tip.

January 10th: 5-10 mins experimenting with same service action with three different setups, to get a feel for where things are at: very spinny rubber, my usual SP, and Dr Evil. The very spinny rubber (on a slow blade) was a Hurricane 8. It felt fantastic for serving. I could feel the ball nicely, and my backspin and sidespin serves had a lot of spin. With the Dr Evil it was interesting - tomahawk serves seemed effective, and didn't seem much less spinny, backhand serves were much less spinny, and pendulum serves were very difficult to control - really struggled to brush the ball, and to get the length and height right. The conclusion I reached was that the Dr Evil demands the best technique, and is, interestingly, the best yardstick. Using the Hurricane gives, I think, a false sense of perspective. Serves may be loaded with spin and look impressive, but that's almost a side-effect. If I served with a better action, those serves would be insanely spinny with the hurricane.
Author:  LordCope [ 11 Jan 2017, 16:30 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
Nice video, BRS. That's a big improvement since I last saw your serves (a long time ago). I agree with NL - you seem to be generating some decent serves with plenty of spin, nice height over the net, but your action doesn't look as whippy as Brett suggests. I don't think my serves are close to as good as yours, but when I was serving with the spinny rubber yesterday, I was seeing a similar thing: a really quite decent serve despite suboptimal mechnics. I guess the light at the end of the tunnel is superb serves! :)
Author:  BRS [ 12 Jan 2017, 00:14 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
LordCope wrote:
Nice video, BRS. That's a big improvement since I last saw your serves (a long time ago). I agree with NL - you seem to be generating some decent serves with plenty of spin, nice height over the net, but your action doesn't look as whippy as Brett suggests.


Thanks! Nothing I do is as whippy as brett suggests, and never will be. My joints hurt and I carry loads of needless muscular tension. I don't think that will stop me from getting a usable serve. I'm focusing on things I can change, starting with the inconsistent toss.

NL, I miss hundreds of serves in practice. The video is one minute out of close to an hour yesterday. I often go one minute without making any serves, or without missing any, it's just variance.

I can't do even a mini bh loop from the side-on serving position. It's a ridiculously awkward position and the chiropractor will be getting rich if I keep practicing. And I'm not even facing slightly back like Brett does, that's plain impossible.
Author:  NextLevel [ 13 Jan 2017, 23:55 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
BRS wrote:
LordCope wrote:
Nice video, BRS. That's a big improvement since I last saw your serves (a long time ago). I agree with NL - you seem to be generating some decent serves with plenty of spin, nice height over the net, but your action doesn't look as whippy as Brett suggests.


Thanks! Nothing I do is as whippy as brett suggests, and never will be. My joints hurt and I carry loads of needless muscular tension. I don't think that will stop me from getting a usable serve. I'm focusing on things I can change, starting with the inconsistent toss.

NL, I miss hundreds of serves in practice. The video is one minute out of close to an hour yesterday. I often go one minute without making any serves, or without missing any, it's just variance.

I can't do even a mini bh loop from the side-on serving position. It's a ridiculously awkward position and the chiropractor will be getting rich if I keep practicing. And I'm not even facing slightly back like Brett does, that's plain impossible.


This has to be one of my favorite posts of all time. Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry) would be proud.
Author:  NextLevel [ 13 Jan 2017, 23:58 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
BRS wrote:
I use this. http://ttnpp.com/store/training-kits/179-kinson-ball-basket-with-clamp-109.html


So do I.
Author:  so_devo [ 14 Jan 2017, 02:21 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
I'm not doing the challenge, but am finding this thread interesting and thought provoking.

I have a decent forehand pendulum serve but probably don't use it as much as I should. This is mostly because I am very comfortable with my BH serving and the return from it will naturally tend towards my forehand for 3rd ball, which I want. With pendulum you have to get 'on your bike' a little more to get into position for that 3rd ball.

I watched NL's 'magic pattern' youtube and was somewhat sceptical about the value of the initial movement, i.e. wrist and bat head fully forward. I assume the idea is to then get fullest backswing and therefore maximum bat head speed on the forward stroke proper prior to the snap. So, I gave it a go in match warm up yesterday....... and I'm pretty sure it improved the spin I was generating. I shall persevere and report back.
Author:  LordCope [ 14 Jan 2017, 08:32 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
January 11th - no table tennis at all. Spent all day with clients.

January 12th - Another failure to practice. Did play a match, but doesn't count.

January 13th - Left the house at 0715. Got in again 5 mins ago. No TT! Too tired to practice. Oh dear!

Still - I'm learning and enjoying other people's comments too.
Author:  BRS [ 14 Jan 2017, 11:37 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
LordCope wrote:
January 11th - no table tennis at all. Spent all day with clients.

January 12th - Another failure to practice. Did play a match, but doesn't count.

January 13th - Left the house at 0715. Got in again 5 mins ago. No TT! Too tired to practice. Oh dear!

Still - I'm learning and enjoying other people's comments too.


Maybe every day for a month was too ambitious for starters. A solid week might be more reachable.
Author:  NextLevel [ 14 Jan 2017, 13:23 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
so_devo wrote:
I'm not doing the challenge, but am finding this thread interesting and thought provoking.

I have a decent forehand pendulum serve but probably don't use it as much as I should. This is mostly because I am very comfortable with my BH serving and the return from it will naturally tend towards my forehand for 3rd ball, which I want. With pendulum you have to get 'on your bike' a little more to get into position for that 3rd ball.

I watched NL's 'magic pattern' youtube and was somewhat sceptical about the value of the initial movement, i.e. wrist and bat head fully forward. I assume the idea is to then get fullest backswing and therefore maximum bat head speed on the forward stroke proper prior to the snap. So, I gave it a go in match warm up yesterday....... and I'm pretty sure it improved the spin I was generating. I shall persevere and report back.


That's true, but it's really more about cracking a whip being the best mechanic for most strokes and the motion that I am making is how you would optimally crack a whip over a short distance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDeVY83yRC4

If I served to you now vs how I served to you when we last played, you would see a huge difference. I used to serve with quality spin on my backspin and pendulum, but could sometimes miss the plot when I didn't get the right pattern as I only used to get it by accident because I was trying to make the first pattern really fast. Now, I pretty much try to do the second pattern almost every time, with the first only by accident, and then there are times that what I have on the ball is just ridiculous.
Author:  LordCope [ 16 Jan 2017, 04:53 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
14th January: Another long work day with no TT
15th January: 15 mins practice over the table - short serves, mostly backhand.

BRS: A whole month is super-challenging, but it's helping me think about commitment and organisation. I could've done better with more planning, and I've till not got myself organised to record any of my practice. Making that explicit is useful, and kinda motivating.
Author:  BRS [ 18 Jan 2017, 08:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: "5 Minutes Daily" Service Practice Challenge - January
Sunday was my first no-TT day this month. So I won't get a star either.

Yesterday was local club day playing with Nittaku premium 3*s, the new tournament ball here. Today about 40 minites of serve practice with the new balls. Brett's feedback on my reverse was to start with the tip of the paddle to my body and whip back and forward, instead of sideways. Not sure I can get my shoulder and wrist to do that, but not giving up just yet.
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