UPDATED 20min of FH drives and BH topspins

This is the last 20 minutes of a 3.5 hour of drilling session. I'm trying to work on stamina, but this proved to be truly grueling. It yielded some good footage and a blown lower back.

Not only was I was crippled the next day, but 2 weeks later my back was still shot for the Maine Games tournament.

Was it worth it?
You bet :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E90Bzh6fQa8

Here are the abbreviated cuts if you want the minute or so of good stuff without as many glaring errors.

FH highlights at
1:26
2:27
3:27
5:27
8:00


BH highlights at
13:05
13:51
16:53 -> mid distance BH

Highlight of Mixed FH/BH drill at 20:31


Nearing 40, old habits are hard to break, and this is the second major reworking of my strokes in the last 3 years.

I was pretty pleased with how I've been able to lower/widen my stance to tighten up my FH mechanics (the stroke plane, the recovery) and how I'm learning to relax my wrist on my BH. I still spend too much time admiring my shots, but I think that too is much reduced.

I think my footwork is better on my FH side, and I don't line myself up with my backhand shots enough.

Comments are welcome. Especially from those who saw what I was doing in April.

This was my gameplan after the comments I got in April:

icontek wrote: 1) Widening my stance 2) Moving to the ball BEFORE the stroke 3) dropping my right foot back for FH 4) Balancing my backswing from ready position to followthrough 5) Keeping my stroke plane more consistent and elbow down a bit 6) Spend less time admiring my shots and more time getting into position

Looks like you are progressively improving but I have a suggestion to really speed up your progress.

Edited by bluebucket - 06/15/2011 at 11:02am

Nice stuff mate keep up the good and hard work.

I remember seeing one of your older videos from last year and it looks like you've improved your strokes quite a bit since then. So congratulations on that

Edited by BMonkey - 06/15/2011 at 4:18pm

i'm glad your shoulder isn't hurting =). i don't like it when fellow members/friends get injured via TT. i am currently doing conditioning training with the supplement of protein shakes. i just finished doing about a half basket full of constant bh loops/loop drives. boy was my shoulder on fire.

too bad i can't even out both arms.... 

bro, if you move and rotate your shoulders more you would avoid crossing your racket arm on your body

your feet aren't set when doing the backhand shots. you're facing down the line rather than facing the opponent's backhand corner. that's why you have to swing so far away from your body

yea, i saw that. your bh topspin from mid-long was pretty crazy. i wish i could get my shots in like that like urs.

step 1: well placed attack that forces a block
step 2: take one step back
step 3: follow up with another strong attack
step 4: if the guy is crazy enough to block close to the table
step 5: unleash backhand

ZJKandMLfan wrote: I think players that can land 8-10 topspins on the table will beat players that can only land 2-3 (even though they hit really hard)