Australia vs Hong Kong HD BOZ BH

I wish my FH could improve to the same level as my BH.  BH just gets so much practise... most people just keep going there.

He hasn't gone anywhere, just not available to play as much as we used to.  We actually just played about 3 hours ago.

Thanks for that zrrbite, I agree my footwork exists in a strange way.  A lot of people say I am a great fisher and have very fast court speed. 

I noticed you have this habit of guessing where the ball will go without the proper ready position. I suggest while you're chasing or just getting into place, your racket should be in front of you so you can change from forehand or backhand in a second or so. Together with zrrbite's suggestion, I think you 'll change from fisher to counterlooper.

lol for a second i thought he was the kid on the right.. and in my head i said to myself "that's not at all how i pictured him!!!" but that was before i saw the guy on the left and said "oh wait.. thats a lot more like it"

You need to show the larger video where I can see your footwork before we can give you an accurate response.

im still confused on which one you are.

From an outsiders viewpoint, I think the grip is more of a curse than an advantage. (sorry) With your index finger high on the rubber your forehand should improve, but it will immobilize your wrist during BH. All that switching up, and "guessing" will hinder you in the long run I think. You are a much better player than I am so these are just observations from the peanut gallery. What does your coach say?

I have never had a coach, the guy Im playing is the closest thing to a coach Ive ever had, and all he ever did was just play me every week, and help me when I would ask a question about something...

icontek- "My advice would be to grab a Primorac with unglued Sriver FX 2.1 on both sides and just practice FH *stroking* EVERY ball."

I think this is pretty solid advice, he may not have to go THAT slow, I mean that is basically what I am playing with... (Refoma 2.2 on Appelgren Allplay Senso V2  -or- Primorac OFF- TSP REAL 2.0) and while it is fast, it is controlled. What I agree on 100% is stroking the ball instead of blocking. I have to say I think a coach would help immensely -- with footwork and also with FH technique. The footwork will get you there first and then the technique will give you confidence under fire to counter attack on the forehand instead of blocking.

I want to add that after going to slower equipment, my game has improved a lot. I have heard this from other players as well. Comparing racing to TT...TT is cool because with just a little bit of money you can buy the equivalent of a super car. Problem is, that most of us don't know how to drive a supercar. Even if we THINK we know how, maybe all we can do is power slide or straight line acceleration, but we won't become schumacher ust because we have a $500k car. My point it, that with maybe just a fast car, like the EVO Lancer, we could do just fine on the track.

Getting back to TT, when I tried the slower setup, I was initially kind of pissed. I couldn't do what I could before on the FH. No amazing holes in opponents foreheads... but... I started landing more loops. I stopped that annoying FH block or knee jerk push and started attacking, flipping, and looping balls I was afraid of before.

Guess what happened...?
My opponents sarted being more careful of my FH and that messed them up. Before that was the attack zone for them, or at the very least part of the setup for the kil on 3rd or 5th ball. Now that I am countering, their rythm is not able to gel and I am getting more matches and closer games.

Post another vid soon.
See if you can get a coach and listen to them a bit. I listen about 90% to my coach. The other 10% .... oh well, no one is perfect.

I have decided to upload the second half of the recording playing Tim, because I actually set camera zoomed more out after the break and we changed ends.  So you will be able to see more of me and my face ;) (know you are all just dying to see how handsome my face is...

I dunno guys I have mixed feelings about the "your setup is too fast" feedback. There's a couple of really good 2200+ players at my club that think my setup is too fast (ALC+T05 on the FH), but I don't find that its too fast... I'm not having problems keeping it on the table. My footwork is the big killer. I can brush loop, counter drive, touch shots, and control loop off backspin very easily with T05, so its not like I'm out of control. I'm just not in the right position all the time.

I think at a certain level, you can tell if somethings too fast for you, and you should just go with what is comfortable.

I didn't really see it in your vids, but I think if you are having problems pushing and blocking too much, or too much of the "fly swatter" shot (a combo of a counter drive and a block) when you should be looping or counter attacking, I would say its just a bad habit, not the equipment. You need to get some multi ball training. Find a really good player who can return all of your shots but move you around the table and do some drills moving from different points on the table going in between fh and bh... Or if your partner isn't good enough to return your shots consistently, get a bucket of balls and have them stand to the side just putting balls into play one after another... I think theres some videos of Timo training like this. But you have a robot right?

I've had a problem with being tentative with my fh and doing too much blocking and fly-swatting and multi ball has been the best solution to this.

Second video is great.  Remember any comments are meant to be constructive.
It seems like your backhand is your primary weapon. For example, at around :55 partner pops up a FH kill shot and you took it backhand. I think we all do this occasionally and it certainly doesn't define your play. But multiball and just moving will help. Seems like your FH is a little cramped from that clip...but still pretty good and consistent. Maybe just do FH and footwork drills like you said and I think you are going to be playing at an even higher level.


If your equipment is good, then it is good. Only you know that.  I am just saying that using slower equipment FORCED me to use better technique...becasue the faster stuff would compensate for my lack of technique. Then when I would get up against a better player I would be jammed up in the crossover and I would be forced to block and push.