video-review-backhand-topspin-punch
maurice101 asked 4 years ago
Here is my latest attempt of Harimotos down the line topspin punch. I do some backhand topspin’s at the end of the video. I am happy with how my body is supporting the arm movement. Any suggestions for improvements?
Much thanks
Tom Academy Coach answered 4 years ago
Hi Maurice, this shot is looking great! I would just say make sure your body and head is forward so you can get over the ball and control it, which mostly you seem to be doing here. I’d also say you can get your bat in a higher start position for the backhand punch, your bat tends to drop towards the table slightly at the start, lastly just keeping a short and compact follow through.
Overall these are all very small areas to work on and think about as the shot is looking good and being supported well by the body as you said, keep up the good work!
maurice101My stance is too upright and I am trying to change this so my head would be lower as your suggestion. I am trying to get topspin on the topspin punch so I am starting low to go up on the ball. I will try your suggestion though.
That’s great, I think it’s looking good. The punch shot doesn’t really have any spin on it, it’s used against a topspin shot to punch through the ball with power but using it at the right time is very effective. From what I’ve seen before your backhand topspin is strong too.
I actually think Harimoto has created a hybrid stroke. It is like a punch stroke as it goes through the ball with no wrist extension over the top to the right of the ball. The stroke starts below the ball with a closed racket face so it has topspin. He uses no hip rotation but rather a squat and forward bend to start the stroke so it differs from a Chinese backspin stroke that uses hip rotation. Since it has topspin I find that I can do it on a lower ball compared to a punch stroke.
The first strokes on the video is what I was trying to copy. If you use slow motion you can see it has good topspin.
Yes Harimoto is a great player to watch and learn from for sure! The ones at the start of the video are brilliant, very snappy and quick early timing. I wouldn’t really say its a punch shot, as you say it’s more of a hybrid fast topspin shot used close to the table . If you can master this shot it’s effective on the right balls for sure, as you say fast though the table but still plenty of spin. For this shot you definitely have to use the elbow well and get that early timing, snapping through over the top of the ball. Looks like from your video you’ve been picking it up well!
