four-basic-strokes

Hi Oldpath

Thanks for submitting in your videos, these are great!

I have watched all the videos and you some really good basic fundamentals when contacting the ball. Your not playing hard on the ball which is good, you have a nice contact developing your technique.

I will list below each of the shot and how you can improve them:

1) Forehand Drive

In general your forehand drive is good, you are in the correct position with your feet. I think you could make a lot more use with rotating your body and waist to this will allow you to keep the arm more relaxed and generate more rhythm and easier timing.

Your finger is quite high up on the bat, this means you can swipe the ball on contact. Try bringing your index finger closer to the bottom of the rubber which will give you a better forehand grip. This will allow you to have a cleaner contact on the ball.

At the moment notice how your elbow is quite close to the body and going backwards and forwards. At the moment this is where your shot is coming from. We need it so there is more hinge movement from the elbow and forearm whilst givng yourself more space from the elbow to the body. Imagine you have an orange under your armpit this is the amount of space you need. Now when you rotate with your body and torso this will flow into the ball nicely.

Also, have a think about your weight transfer. As you are right handed you need to start your weight from the right leg and land into the left.

Throughout each shot you need to be more on the balls of your feet, this will help your movement greatly. Watch this video here for an example of how we mean: https://tabletennisdailyacademy.com/videos/importance-staying-balls-feet/

2) The Forehand Push

Your forehand push has good fundamental technique. Notice how when you push your right leg is under the table the whole time. This means at the moment all your weight is on the right foot. You want to practice this shot by stepping the right left in and out. This allows you to train effectively because in a match you will want to recover to play the topspin stroke.

Similar to the forehand drive, you want to be on the balls of your feet, you can see you sometimes have your weight on the heels. Keep nice and low during this stroke. Also have your index finger lower will help with this stroke.

3) The Backhand Drive

Your backhand is good, it has very good basic technique. Again I think being on the balls of your feet will really help, this will allow you to move freely when the ball changes position like in match play.

Also you have a bit of tension during the stroke, try to keep nice and relaxed during this shot.

4) Backhand Push

Similar to the forehand push, all your weight is on the right leg. You need to step in and out during this stroke even if its a small step to recover.

As you contact the ball we want to try and get you to brush more underneath the ball with the wrist. At the moment your hitting the ball over rather than brushing the bat under the ball. This will help you get more backspin and quality on the ball.

I hope this tips help, any further questions, don’t hesitate to comment on here and we’ll get back to you.

I notice on the backhand drive all pros bend forward from the waist and then bend back to support the arm motion. Would this be good for oldpath to add to this stroke?