timing-the-forehand-backswing
Slicepong asked 6 years ago
Hi Dan and Tom. I’m still struggling with topspin. I think I’ve found part of my problem ; I had a tennis like circular backswing, so I’ve been working on a straight back linear swing, but I still haven’t seen much real world improvement. I believe it’s because I’m not instantly firing my arm back when I see it ‘s coming deep to my forehand. So, should you just use your body and arm to instantly fire the arm back? I find that hard to do, but is that the key? Thanks.
Tom Academy Coach answered 6 years ago
Hey Slicepong,
I feel what you’ve mentioned is very important and a problem for many players. Bringing the arm back in a linear movement and quickly enough to comfortably play a shot with enough time.
It’s definitely one of the keys and with nore practice you’ll see the impact of it, perhaps try to practice this movement using multi-ball where your recovery needs to be even quicker.
Another thing I find really helps in this area is keeping relatively short and compact strokes but with a relaxed arm and good acceleration, this allows you recover faster and keep the shots more linear and not circular as you mentioned 🙂
SlicepongThanks, Tom. It makes me feel better that it’s a common problem. Tennis is fast, but table tennis is supersonic, and I didn’t even realize my backswing was wrong. It’s tough to change ingrained habits. I’ll get to work. I appreciate your input.
Tom, if you don’t mind a follow-up question on the backswing. I’m so used to using the elbow as the fulcrum of the turn, do you think that’s a good way to do it , or do you focus on the straight arm or the bat? Thanks.
