fh saluting action help!

Hi Vinh,
     I can tell you exactly why your hand cuts across your neck. You have one of the things I am always trying to correct in people that learned to play on thier own.
     You are folding your wrist back and hitting in front of you. You will get some sidespin mixed in with top on the forhand. At contact, you are coming accross and over the ball.  Hit some in the net on purpose and then watch the ball. It should be charging the net. I'll bet yours will be spinning sideways.
     You should be turning your shoulders and taking the ball next to you, not out in front. The bat should be going over the ball in the direction you want the ball to go. It is a hard habit to break, folding the wrist. You have to wait for the ball to be next to you.
     Your backhand looks like you are going accross the ball also.
     Get someone with a good loop to watch where you hit the ball. A good loop comes back down because of the topspin. Hitting accross the ball does not help bring it down. You will also have problems with direction. If you hit a little late or early, it will not go where you want. If you go straight over the ball and hit a little late or early, it might go a little high or low but it will go in the right direction.
     You can start the swing from lots of places. Short backswings are best. To loop a hard chop you will start lower and open the bat some. Counter loops and counter drives dont need a big backswing.
     Let me know if you know what I mean by hitting in front of you. Hard to explain on here.
    

Hi hookshot, thanks for this explanation!  This folding the wrist, you are talking about folding the wrist as if the wrist is a hinge, the hand + paddle is the door, and the door is swinging open or closed?  sorry for the awkward analogy - I don't know how to specify it any other way.

     That is what I mean, wrist folded back. I see this all the time. If you watch the video carefull, you will see it. You will also see he is taking the ball in front of him and the bat is going across at contact.
     It is probably the hardest habit I have tried to break basement players of.  Seemillers book has sequence pics that I use for coaching and he talks about taking the ball within your body. Basically means contact should be made 90 degrees to the table, next to your body. Of coarse you have to turn your shoulders as part of a correct stroke.
     I taped a splint on one guys wrist so he could not fold his wrist back. LOL. He could not hit the table the first 4 shots. All went off the left side. Then he saw what I meant by waiting for the ball to get next to him.
      I have seen some players that do OK with folding the wrist but the shots are not spinny like a loop should be.
     If you watch the video carefull, you will also see he is hitting across the ball on backhand also. He does better on backhand because of more control with shorter swing.
     I am a patient coach but have given up on some players with this habit. Some players cant seem to be able to see something and then make thier body do the same.
     I have stood behind them, left hand on thier left shoulder, right hand on thier right wrist and then taken them through the loop stroke in slow motion. Left hand is used to turn the shoulders.  During the stroke, I call out Where contact should be.
     Then I serve multiball, easy, long, high serves for them to loop. This meathod works well with NEW players. It helps with most basement players.
     When they see the ball they just hit into the net keep charging the net, they can bet they did it right. Hit in front of yourself and it will spin sideways on the table.

Hi chronos,
     I have thought about getting a taser many times, just for extra incentive.
     Last week I did something I never did before, I told a guy to take up tennis and quit wasting his and my time. It was for exactly the same problem, folding the wrist. I tried for 4 months to break his habit. No go.
     I have one other guy that has a different problem that I am ready to give up on, he brush loops EVERYTHING! Six months and he still cant hit a drive. If the ball is 3 feet high, he tries to brush loop it. Frustrating!
     Every now and then you get someone where everything clicks and almost overnight, they can Play!!! Makes it all worthwhile.