Refining Your Table Tennis Strokes: Tips for Enhancing Technique
Strokes
D K Asked 4 weeks ago
Greetings Team,
I have videoed myself and noticed the flaws in my strokes. But I cannot find a way how to actualyl fix it.
1)Forehand topspin: also,our coach said that I keep my stroke too vertical,resulting in powerful,spinny,but low control stroke. He told me that I should go more to the forehead. Okay,that makes sense,but when I do it,I get a ball with enough speed,massive spin,but its trajectory follows the forehead too. When I look at Jeff's topspin on your Topspin against Block video or Advanced forehand topspin video,the angle between his stroke trajectory and the resulting ball's trajectory have approximately 40° angle. In my case,it is only around 10-15° angle. Yet,the ball has massive spin and is quite silent. I wonder what am I actually doing wrong.
2)Backhand topspin: similar problem. One thing is that my timing isnt worth of a penny given that I am a defender,but the ball also follows my stroke. I also struggle withh the fact that I tend to finish the swing behind my back,despite being able to shadow the stroke properly.
3)chops: I noticed that my strokes are too vertical and majorly,I think that my elbow stays too low during the strokes. But when I try to change the tilt,I start hitting my legs and body,or I do not have enough time to actually make thestroke,or I hit the balls too low. It seems like the "ball follows swing direction" also happens here.
Thanks
Dan
Alois Rosario Answered 4 weeks ago
Hi Dan,
Thanks for reaching out with such detailed observations about your playing style. The key here is to alter the angle of your racket rather than the angle of your stroke. The stroke gives the ball the topspin, the angle of your racket determines how high or low the ball will go.
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D K Posted 3 weeks ago
Hmm?
How exactly do you mean?
The angle of my bat is approximately aligned with the stroke angle - at least assuming from the fact that its spin is massive.
When I open the bat more,I will hit it with less brush.
When I close it more,I will actually hit it with the other side of the bat first.
OR am I losing something ?
Try experimenting with the angle of the racket. You will be surprised.
Hi Alois,
That is a good way of looking at your stroke. The motion of the stroke applies the spin and the bat angle determines the height of your shot. Makes perfect sense.