OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi guys. I'm sure you guys are training hard for the teams event. I know this post isn't really about technique, but perhaps it is.

I've gone pretty hard in training since the camp in late May. In early July I started wearing the tennis elbow brace. I wore it off and off, having good and bad weeks but eventually in mid/late September I was unable to pick up anything of reasonable weight (more than a few pounds) by grabbing down and picking up.
A couple weeks ago I finally shut it down as I could not transition to a backhand without pain and my backhands were more and more becoming all body and no arm (interestingly this is probably a good thing long term). I never really felt pain while doing the stroke, I just felt pain in the transition.
Today I'm able to lift my test weight (5 poundish) with no pain but I still "feel" it, so not quite healed yet but I'm hoping for a shorter recovery time. I'm sure heavier weights would be unwise at this moment.

So I'm pretty sure this is an over use injury. Is there some flaw in my technique? My #1 theory is that in an attempt to not do shallow forehands I try and snap the forearm up. I also think my backhand serve can contribute to this as I'm trying to bend the wrist and engage the muscle but the volume of forehands is much higher. Here is a picture of my arm, the larger box is where the muscle feels strained on usage and the red area is where I can press and feel pain (tho getting much better). NL said muscles matter too and I think this is where perhaps I can improve to avoid this injury in the future.

Just to answer this question: my elbow joint does not hurt. Lifting things like a "shovel" and not a "crane" results in no discomfort.

How do you find one?

This is a great question.

How do you find one?

Hi guys. I'm sure you guys are training hard for the teams event. I know this post isn't really about technique, but perhaps it is.

I've gone pretty hard in training since the camp in late May. In early July I started wearing the tennis elbow brace. I wore it off and off, having good and bad weeks but eventually in mid/late September I was unable to pick up anything of reasonable weight (more than a few pounds) by grabbing down and picking up.
A couple weeks ago I finally shut it down as I could not transition to a backhand without pain and my backhands were more and more becoming all body and no arm (interestingly this is probably a good thing long term). I never really felt pain while doing the stroke, I just felt pain in the transition.
Today I'm able to lift my test weight (5 poundish) with no pain but I still "feel" it, so not quite healed yet but I'm hoping for a shorter recovery time. I'm sure heavier weights would be unwise at this moment.

So I'm pretty sure this is an over use injury. Is there some flaw in my technique? My #1 theory is that in an attempt to not do shallow forehands I try and snap the forearm up. I also think my backhand serve can contribute to this as I'm trying to bend the wrist and engage the muscle but the volume of forehands is much higher. Here is a picture of my arm, the larger box is where the muscle feels strained on usage and the red area is where I can press and feel pain (tho getting much better). NL said muscles matter too and I think this is where perhaps I can improve to avoid this injury in the future.

Just to answer this question: my elbow joint does not hurt. Lifting things like a "shovel" and not a "crane" results in no discomfort.

I was just lucky. I went to my general physician and she referred me to PT. The therapist I worked with turned out to be an amazing dude who knew a lot about sports. He even knew what table tennis forehand looked like. But I lived in a small utopian town, experience in the rest of the country may obviously vary.

I have been reluctant to post video here because of my inability to fix my editing skills. That said, here is some video from a club tournament yesterday.

https://youtu.be/mDDtAK3pO8c

My opponent recorded and edited this one. It's a league match from Wednesday night at the excellent Washington DC TTC.

https://youtu.be/ckyLDzIHQVQ

I tried to watch this like a coach or teammate and not as negative as I am when it's me. Here's what I came up with:

Nice match. Hell of a point at 4:27. Good mix of serves, kept him off balance. Receive was good too. Try to cut down on loose points and always play with purpose. And try playing 3rd balls to the body with your backhand. You are pivoting far too late.