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When is it OK to give up on my backhand?

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Simon_plays View Drop Down
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    Posted: 10/06/2018 at 10:44am
Age old question: What came first: The weaker backhand or the stronger forehand.

5 years into learning the game, my backhand is OKish in training and in warm-ups against players my level often much more consistent and steady than my opponents. However, I just can't seem to hit a proper backhand once the match nerves kick in. Annoying thing is that most players seem to realise this after a set and then just push everything to my backhand.

Today I started my practice session against a friend who's of a similar level by playing a match with OX long pips on my backhand without having played with them for more than 5 minutes previously and, to my great surprise/ horror/ delight: I won. (with double inverted I win about 60% of our matches). Now, he's relatively unpracticed against long pips but he has played and won against players in our division with LP so I was quite shocked to beat him with them.

This has made me think a couple of things:

-I am a natural pips beast and should make the switch immediately. 
-My backhand is so terrible that I might as well just donk the ball back with LP and hope the other player misses or if not smack whatever they get on the table with my forehand.
-At the lower intermediate level LP are incredibly effective. 

Now, is it time to make the switch and get some pips for my backhand? 


Edited by Simon_plays - 10/06/2018 at 11:37am
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Lightzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Lightzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/06/2018 at 10:58am
Do whatever's fun for you.
It's a hobby :)

For me personally, the fun is in becoming a beast in things I sucked in before, so I'd stay with inverted (perhaps get a good one, maybe your rubber is gone?) until I have a beast backhand.
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Tt Gold View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Tt Gold Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/06/2018 at 11:20am
The real question is how would you perform in a real match with pips. Other than that either go for it, work on your backhand, or, and that would be my favorite approach, just get as fast as you can and play all forehand:)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote APW46 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/06/2018 at 1:48pm
never give up on your backhand !
The Older I get, The better I was.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mhnh007 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/06/2018 at 1:55pm
To OP - what’s your ready stand and racket position? If it’s FH, then there is no way you can do well on the BH, make sure it’s neutral. If your opponent jams you on the back side, then by all mean use the BH ready position. If you’re ready on the BH and the ball comes to your BH side, then you should do as well as you would in practice. You should use pip, if it fits your game, not to cover your weakness.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JohnnyChop Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/06/2018 at 6:17pm
Come to the darkside!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote yogi_bear Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/06/2018 at 7:10pm
It is the journey in mastering the backhand that matters.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BRS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/06/2018 at 7:14pm
Consider short pips as well as long. With SP you can do the donk back thing, and you can also attack.

Anyway I gave up on my inverted bh after playing six years. The reason was very simple, frustration with my bh was sucking the fun out of training. It was a good change.

Besides, you can always change back. The worst that can happen is you learn more about how junk rubber plays.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Egghead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/06/2018 at 11:31pm
Don't understand what you mean " give up on my backhand"? It is all in your style :)






Edited by Egghead - 10/06/2018 at 11:31pm
Aurora ST: Rhyzm / Talent OX
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote balldance Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/07/2018 at 3:13am
If you enjoy it (long pips), why not? Just do whatever you feel natural, fun and help you win more.

Btw, long pips can do much more than "donk the ball back".
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote blahness Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/07/2018 at 4:10am
LP is a completely different game... If you wanna solve your issues I think you need lots of bh opening against underspin, and BH opening after your serve rather than just counterhitting practice...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Simon_plays Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/07/2018 at 6:54am
Originally posted by balldance balldance wrote:

If you enjoy it (long pips), why not? Just do whatever you feel natural, fun and help you win more.

Btw, long pips can do much more than "donk the ball back".

I'm sure they can, part of the fun would be finding out what those things are. In matches my BH often reverts to a side-swipe which wins a fair few points and could probably also be quite effective with LP or SP.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Simon_plays Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/07/2018 at 6:56am
Originally posted by blahness blahness wrote:

LP is a completely different game... If you wanna solve your issues I think you need lots of bh opening against underspin, and BH opening after your serve rather than just counterhitting practice...

That's what a big part of training was today and will be for the next couple of months. Going to try build up my confidence with a normal backhand and then maybe in the off-season try out some SP. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Simon_plays Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/07/2018 at 7:00am
Originally posted by mhnh007 mhnh007 wrote:

To OP - what’s your ready stand and racket position? If it’s FH, then there is no way you can do well on the BH, make sure it’s neutral. If your opponent jams you on the back side, then by all mean use the BH ready position. If you’re ready on the BH and the ball comes to your BH side, then you should do as well as you would in practice. You should use pip, if it fits your game, not to cover your weakness.

What if covering my weakness suits my game? Tongue

Interesting what you said about stance, once I've played my first FH in a rally I find it really tough to play anything other than a weak flat hit on my BH. Since I don't struggle with moving to a FH position I'll try a BH ready position to see how that works, cheers.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BRS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10/07/2018 at 12:01pm
It's a good point that inverted players talk about long pips like it's one thing, but there is way more ejing possibility with LP. 0X to 1.5 sponge for one thing. Then chopping blocking and the ones you can hit with. Those LP hits are the nastiest, imo.
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