Forehand and Backhand drive

Strokes

Janice Cartmell Asked 3 years ago

Hello,

I have been playing/practising for about 12 months. The first six months were spent with players who have never been coached so I have unfortunately picked up a style that is nowhere close to the correct forehand and backhand drive. I can still play some really good return shots and continue to watch and learn from the league players.

They have shown me so many times how to do this correctly but I’m still struggling to master it. Are there any suggestions how I can lose the bad habit and serve as the coach has taught me including your videos which I have watched a hundred times.

Many thanks for any advise you can give me.

Janice.

Alois Rosario Answered 3 years ago

Hi Janice,

Thank you for your question. It can be tough to change habits in table tennis, but the best way to begin would be to focus on the fundamentals. Make sure that your forehand and backhand strokes start from the same point and finish in the position we show you. From there, I would break the stroke down into its components: the preparation, the power, and the follow through. This may help you understand how the stroke should be performed and allow you to analyse any flaws you may have in your technique. To further support this process, I suggest videoing yourself and have a look at what it looks like. This can be a great tool for refining the technique, as well as helping you emulate the correct stroke.

Try first to implement these stroke in a training situation then progress it to a more challenging situation such as a practice match and finally see if you can utilise the correct technique in a real match situation.

One other mindset to think about is that rather than trying to change a technique think about it as learning a completely new stroke. With patience and practice, I'm sure you will improve your forehand and backhand drives. Good luck!

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Thoughts on this question (2)

Philip Samuel Posted 3 years ago

I would highly recommend watching Alois/Jeff's fh and bh videos, starting with the counterhit, working as per advice from Alois of videoing, then moving on to fh and bh topspin ( again comparing your videoing with how Jeff/Alois do it ) and so on. If you have a table and a robot at home that would make it easier and you will be able to improve faster. Otherwise, hopefully, there is a club nearby for you and you can work on these strokes gradually as indicated by Alois. I returned to the game three years ago, and I followed Alois's advice of dealing with my issues as leaning a completely new stroke.

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 3 years ago

Thanks Philip for the feedback. Great to hear.

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