Match Analysis Review
Nikola Novakovic asked 1 month ago
Hey,
Here’s a full match I played yesterday against a ch penhold guy that’s ~1800 USATT. Very tricky serves (as you’ll see by my bad returns).
Things I did well:
* My helper hand was in the right spot (aka in front of me) ~70% of the time. This was the main thing I wanted to do in this match even if everything else was super bad so I’m happy with it. I feel like the only way to get better at matchplay sometimes is just to tell yourself to focus on that one thing and be ok with not worrying about other stuff 🙂
* Some decent loops and some decent footwork.
* Also wanted to make sure I’m not leaning forward too much. Coach in portugal mentioned this and he’s right sometimes I’m just way too forward and this time it did not look that bad. Was also mindful of this and kept telling myself (alongside the helper hand so that helped)
Things I could do better:
* My FH loops still have me move my right foot sometimes as I’m looping. This does not happen really that much in practice anymore but I think this has to be a “focus” during a match just like my helper hand was during this one.
* After serve recieve and sometimes during a rally my right foot would be in front of my left which is not great (I know Jorgic and high level folks do this but I’ve been told multiple times at my level I need to ideally nothave this)
* Get better at returning weird side top serves. Honestly folks well above my level struggle with his serves and I just need to get better and more confident.
* Too stiff on the FH sometimes
* Paddle angle is too closed on some of the FH loopsÂ
Would love to hear your thoughts!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEIKipZoQpcE
Nikola Novakovic answered 3 weeks ago
Here’s the highlights from the recent tournament as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UQmBuqYUXY (this one is shorter to watch if time is running low haha)
Tom Academy Coach answered 3 weeks ago
Hey Nikola, apologies, I’d replied to this a few days back bu looks like something went wrong and it didn’t post properly. So I had a look at the video you sent in and I think your analysis was pretty much spot on really. The main things I noticed were the returns, as you said he had very tricky serves but still an area that will really help you to work on and improve that. I think a lot of it is confidence in picking a return quickly which is difficult under pressure, but doing some work on flicks and keeping the pushes shorter and lower against different serves will help.Â
I think this video will be helpful for you: https://tabletennisdailyacademy.com/videos/our-ultimate-3-serve-return-tips/
I definitely agree that sometimes in games it’s good to just focus on one main area at a time and not over worry about other things like you mentioned. This way you can really try to get that one element right and then move on to then ext area you want to improve. With your forehand I think the main thing is to just try to stay loose and relaxed, really think about the elbow and forearm giving you the acceleration and whip effect. That will help it feel less stiff and I also think it will help avoid the bat angle being too close which was the other thing you mentioned.Â
I feel the right foot stepping forward problem won’t take too long to fix it’s more a case of just keep reminding yourself and it will become a habit after a while. Similar to the leaning forward just keep checking your position, however most people have the opposite problem of leaning back too much or being too upright so I think leaning forward to much is nowhere near as bad as those issues!Â
I hope that all makes sense, any questions just let me know. Cheers, Tom 🙂 Â
Nikola NovakovicHey Tom! No worries! Sorry for a follow up but did you have to look at the highlights video I posted in the comment above ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UQmBuqYUXY)? I had some good shots, but I think on my FH loop against underspin I stand up a bit too much for. Curious to hear your thoughts on that vid 🙂
Tom Academy Coach answered 3 weeks ago
Hey, no problem at all. Just had a look now actually. I think 90% of your fh loop against backspin looks really good, it’s just that last 10% where you end the shot and end up a bit upright. I think this is because of the weight transfer and getting the feeling that you stay low, twist and transfer your energy forward more. You are actually getting good contact and spin on the ball already and using the legs well. So now I think if you can focus on keeping your chest low and forward as you finish the shot this will really help. Sometimes you did this well but as you say a few times you end up standing up and this makes the shot harder to control and it;s more difficult to recover.Â
So just focus on the last part of the shot and think this won’t take too much time to improve and the quality of your shot will go up a fair bit I think! Any questions let me know 🙂
Honestly this thread alone is worth the subscription for me! 🙂 That’s what I thought was happening, it makes sense!
Not sure if you remember but I met you at Vegas Smash for a brief moment, that was awesome haha! Anyways thanks again!
