Technique is not everything if you want to improve

bes

Those guys are USATT 1100 in Bay Area at best...

Everyone has said this, and I even went out of my way to chastise someone who I know was trying to argue that his bad technique is compensated by his supposedly good game reading skills, but yogi_Bear is not reading what anyone is saying.

No one posting here in support of APW46, including myself, would teach anyone bad technique.  But I have students and/or people asking questions in their 50s and 60s and 70s, some learning for the first time, some with ambitious goals, and once they can hit the ball well and with good basic form, I am not going to push them to bend their knees all the time or look like Ma Long.  Doing so would injure some of them, though others can take it.  It is time to teach them how to set up points, how to make the opponent move, how to read spin, how to think about serving, the importance of blocking etc. Technique supports all those things, but the goal is never to strive for perfect or world class technique.  In the long run, as I am there to coach them in person, the technique is largely developed to be effective in the typical situations they will face.  

 Yes, exactly the point. That coach of yours is a gem. I never dismiss technique as an important part of any players game, and with out a doubt players displaying good sound technique show the best potential, for their own personal situation. However having a realistic potential and actually achieving it are two different things. Locally, we all live in areas with 'champions' of towns, districts etc, and there are two types, ones that have been trained to international level sometime in their history, and are now playing more recreationally, they never lose their class and carry it until they drop off through age, but there are many who just manage to find out how to rise above all around them. Dedication over the rest is the major factor because increased dedication on the table usually brings increased knowledge as well, but there is a danger, and I personally wasted about 10 years after my initial formative years, falling for it, so I do speak from experience, In was not until my early 30's that I got the right advice on where to look as to why 10 years of believing that drilling for a better technique enters into the realms of diminishing returns when considering results on the table. Today, my technique is from the 1970's, and not the best from that era either, but I am still in the top 1 percent ranking wise in my country

 ( hanging on just) at over 50 years old. So guys think about it, There are everywhere, old gits like me that are better than you, and I can guarantee 100% non of them are better because they set WLQ as their technique model.

I think this is a very interesting thread.  I strongly agree with the original poster - but don't necessarily disagree with many other opinions.  While I think that "adequate" technique is a requirement, the definition of adequate varies tremendously depending on level, tactics, physical ability (or limitation), and most definitely goals and aspirations.

My biggest and quickest jump came from working with a coach who stressed footwork, balance, and anticipation.  We drilled 100% on those items at first.  His mantra (for me, at that time) was "getting to the correct position, in time, and balanced will allow almost any stroke to work".  My level of play - based primarily on the players I could beat at the club - went up drastically after a couple months.  I still had (still do!) have huge holes in my game, but I was now able to capitalize on many, many more of my opponent's mistakes and generally put them under much more pressure.

My next biggest jump came from the same coach after he started working with me on my serves, serve returns, and third ball attacks.  But he didn't worry about this till after working on the above for a long time.  Sadly, he moved away before fixing all the other holes in my game!

I think that technique is important, but lovely technique does not trump tactics, anticipation, footwork, service skill, serve return skill, experience, or a number of other things.

All other things being relatively equal though, better technique can definitely become an advantage. More efficient strokes - which tend to lead to easier power, easier spin, more consistency, better finishing position, quicker recovery, and easier balance really matter when the other guy/gal has similar "other abilities".

bes