It is long time ago since my last entry in this blog. Lot of work and reflections on many different topics – not just table tennis – consumed most of this time since then. My main concern – related to this blog – was about finding the right words to provide others with the input that can help them improve their game as I managed to do in these last 2 years. No workarounds for this, only the time and the effort you invest to analyze different aspects of the game can help you to identify technical mistakes on your own and find the right solutions that can bring you to the next level. So, I did.
I have managed to gather this little piece of knowledge on how I improved my game in 3 powerful tips. 3 tips that, I think, can be helpful to you as well. So let’s get into it:
- Tip 1: Grabbing a racket the right way is a definitive technical enabler.
My trainer always told me that grabbing a racket following erroneous technical principles limits your evolution as player. After long time and a stage at the Grenzau’s headquarters I can only confirm how right he is. I remember how Grenzau’s chief trainer showed me how he managed to grab a racket and how important, in his view, was to stick your index finger when you do it. The fact is that, even if from a logical perspective this advice really made sense to me, I was unable to properly apply this tip until I came back to the basics. Sticking your index finger is a nice tip but not enough, you need to have a model that you follow to grab your racket and mine is the following (based on a Chinese’s approach):
- Start by sticking as much as you can your index finger to the racket.
- Place your thumb finger as high as you can on the neck of your blade but opened (accent’s shape).
- Place your 3 remaining fingers at a certain distance of your 2 other fingers (thumb and index) in order to help your wrist to bend down and make your racket to get aligned as much as possible to your arm.
If you apply this you will get to a result similar to the one in the photos below:
This model has allowed me staying aggressive in all my strokes whether in the short game as in the long rallies. In addition it helped me to get better anticipation with less physical implication of my back.
- Tip 2: Impact the ball at the right time.
The application of this principle got immediate benefits when I realized how important this (seemingly) trivial thing is. Unfortunately this aspect is many times overlooked by players.
You cannot impact the ball whenever you want, especially when you plan to loop over the ball. The key point is not impacting the ball before it starts getting down, never before if you want to produce a shot plenty of control and power (effect). How much you can let the ball sink is an essential nuance and you have to consider 2 different scenarios in this regard:
- When you play close to the table: The right time is just after the peak of the ball’s trajectory (phase B-C in the diagram below).
- When you play far away from the table: Then you have to wait for the ball to go low in order to generate the appropriate curve (phase C-D).
How long you let the ball sink will depend on how far you are from the table and the amount of effect and pitch of the ball: as those factors increase you have to shift to the right from phase B to D in the ball’s trajectory.
- Tip 3: Tempo is everything if you want to reach the maximum power with the minimum effort.
Again an aspect frequently overlooked by amateur players but trained and refined by professional players on a daily basis.
Especially on the forehand side, the basics of the game say that power is got by transferring the weight from your right to the left foot (right-hander). To support this weight transfer our hip helps by turning a little bit and unleashing its elastic energy at the ball’s contact point. This contact point has also to be the appropriate one according to the type of stroke we perform so that our arm’s (and forearm’s) speed is also at its top at this moment. All these elements need to be coordinated at the ball’s impact to perform the best possible shot.
So, to optimize the energy transfer to the ball, the right tempo is everything. It is the main reason behind this continuous automation of strokes aimed at trying to reach an always unachievable perfection. Also, this applies to whatever type of stroke you perform either when you try to brush the ball or perform a flat stroke. In my opinion, Chinese players make a difference in this aspect nowadays (among other ones) thanks to their precise tempo just as J.O.Waldner did at his era.
Hope you will find this stuff interesting. Any comments, reflections and fixes are more than welcome. At the end what really matters is getting the best possible result and other’s people (players and trainers) feedback is essential 😉
Wise Table Tennis 