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Use of the elbow for stability during BH topspins?

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SmackDAT View Drop Down
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    Posted: 05/17/2016 at 4:59pm
Recently I have been using more elbow with my wrist during backhand topspin drills. Not sure how to explain it that well without a video, but I have been using my elbow as a pivot rather than the wrist, effectively creating slightly less spin (and speed due to less overall acceleration), but a lot more stability. 

Before in drills I could only loop so many before I missed, due to the unstable nature of "flicking" the wrist, whereas with the elbow it is easier to get a constant amount of movement. It is therefore a lot more useful when topspinning long serves, as I can topspin relatively harder without having to worry about missing.

What my previous stroke was like was more along the lines of Ovtcharov (although nowhere near as good, haha) in terms of the heavy reliance on the wrist, but is now more along the lines of Ma Long (again, not even close to the level of) with more use of elbow and less of wrist, although still using a fair bit.

Maybe these videos can explain my thoughts:

Ovtcharov wristy bh spin:


Ma long elbow and wrist bh spin:




I'm not saying that people with heavy wrist backhands are less consistent, I mean look at Ovtcharov! But for my ability, I think that greatly use of the elbow gives me way more stability and solidness than before, and I will continue experimenting with this stroke - it definitely feels natural, actually.

Post your thoughts down below Wink




Edited by SmackDAT - 05/17/2016 at 5:00pm
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NextLevel View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NextLevel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/17/2016 at 5:49pm
You just never understood the backhand loop, that's all.  All good backhands come from the elbow and the circular rotation of the upper arm  It's a common misconception that the wrist is key, but in TT, the wrist movement is simply the result of what the elbow does.  Wrist movement is a good indiciation of whippy technique, but the wrist is just the end of it - it's like cracking a whip using the tip of the whip - you can't do that - you need to crack the whip with the handle - think of the elbow as the handle.
I like putting heavy topspin on the ball...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NextLevel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/17/2016 at 5:54pm
In that video, Ma Long is not looping. though it is a topspin oriented technique for hitting.
I like putting heavy topspin on the ball...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote obesechopper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/17/2016 at 6:39pm
Originally posted by NextLevel NextLevel wrote:

In that video, Ma Long is not looping. though it is a topspin oriented technique for hitting.

That's what I was going to note. Take a look at Ma's actual backhand flick technique -- very wristy, indeed!






Edited by obesechopper - 05/17/2016 at 6:41pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SmackDAT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/17/2016 at 7:25pm
Originally posted by NextLevel NextLevel wrote:

In that video, Ma Long is not looping. though it is a topspin oriented technique for hitting.
Fair enough, but you get my point. And yes, I can see what you're saying, it might just be due to my imperfect technique. Maybe that's why my consistency shot up when using the elbow and wrist (i.e. textbook technique)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mjamja Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/17/2016 at 7:42pm
There is a very good 4 part series on hitting the Bh by Jim Clegg on YouTube.  Basically 3 stages with using the wrist being in the last stage.  4th part is on body posture and applies to all the 3 stages of the Bh. 

Mark
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