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Harimoto Sibling's Backhand Instructionals

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mickd View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (4) Thanks(4)   Quote mickd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Harimoto Sibling's Backhand Instructionals
    Posted: 05/17/2023 at 8:21am
Saw this pop up on my feed and thought maybe others would enjoy it too. They talk a little about each other's backhands, talk about what they think about when performing their own backhands, and most importantly demonstrates it!

Sadly, it's in Japanese. But I'll give you guys a rough translation.

Miwa on Tomokazu's backhand:
It's really fast... and full of power... plus has lots of spin. I think it's really amazing.

Tomokazu on Miwa's backhand:
She doesn't miss much... that's my main impression. Without missing much, when she gets the chance, she has the power, too. It's a well balanced backhand.

MIWA LAUGHS WHILE SAYING THANKS

Tomokazu on his backhand:
Simply put, the backhand is moving your wrist. For me especially, moving it forward. With that you'll get a stable, fast shot. Swinging your wrist forward. Just that. I don't really think about the fingers, just overall rotating the wrist forward. It's really just matching the hand to the incoming ball, then swinging the wrist forward.

Since the beginning I've felt my backhand was good, but there was a time when I felt like nothing would go in. At that time, I was using too much shoulders and stiffening up too much. From there, I worked on just using the wrist, and it got better. So now, I only really think about using the wrist. Even if it comes to the middle or the wide backhand, I match my hand up to the incoming ball and use my wrist. I'm not really thinking about using my body. The complete opposite to my forehand, which uses the whole body. Doesn't matter if it's a short push, banana flick, loop or drive, I think about using my wrist.

Tomokazu's Tips
  • Bend the wrist back to prepare
  • Hit the ball with a brushing contact as you unwind your wrist into the stroke
  • Finish with the wrist fully returned

Miwa on her backhand:
For me, I'm thinking staying in balance to keep the ball on the table. I'm trying to add spin, having my racket face the direction I want to hit the ball.

I'm not really thinking about hitting the ball deep, but if I spin the ball well, it'll jump forward. So just spinning the ball will naturally make it go deep.

The fingers and wrist, plus adding spin is what I think about. Doesn't matter where I'm aiming to hit the ball, getting the right timing, and hitting the ball while relaxed is important.


You guys can see them demonstrate their backhands at various angles through the video. Feel free to skip forward to those bits :)




Edited by mickd - 05/19/2023 at 6:25am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote mickd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/18/2023 at 8:21am
Looks like it's going to be a series! This one they talk about going down the line. Also, in the intro there was a short clip of them doing a backhand loop against underspin too, so that might come later in the series too!

Not sure if there's any interest in full translations, so I'll just translate the summary tip box they added for both of them.

Tomokazu's Tips
  • Swing your racket firmly forward
  • Aim to create a low mountain-like trajectory (直線に近い山なりに軌道をイメージ, I'm not sure if my translation is off, sorry)
  • Pull your left leg back making your body face straight
Miwa's Tips
  • Hit the ball without pulling your left shoulder back too much
  • Have where you want to hit the ball firmly in mind then swing
  • Before hitting the ball, get higher on the lower stance you created for the shot (get lower in preparation and return to regular position as you hit through 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: 05/18/2023 at 8:30am
mickd,

Thanks for all this, I think google captions with autotranslate reasonably handles some of the things they say that get subtitled, but the issue is that when they put text on the screen with no audio voice, there is no translation.  More than anything else, your summary of tips and things they don't actually say out loud but highlight in Japanese text is the most valuable.

NL
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote blahness Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/18/2023 at 9:14am
Originally posted by mickd mickd wrote:

Looks like it's going to be a series! This one they talk about going down the line. Also, in the intro there was a short clip of them doing a backhand loop against underspin too, so that might come later in the series too!

Not sure if there's any interest in full translations, so I'll just translate the summary tip box they added for both of them.

Tomokazu's Tips
  • Swing your racket firmly forward
  • Aim to create a low mountain-like trajectory (直線に近い山なりに軌道をイメージ, I'm not sure if my translation is off, sorry)
  • Pull your left leg back making your body face straight
Miwa's Tips
  • Hit the ball without pulling your left shoulder back too much
  • Have where you want to hit the ball firmly in mind then swing
  • Before hitting the ball, get higher on the lower stance you created for the shot (get lower in preparation and return to regular position as you hit through the ball)


Wow that pulling the left leg back sounds unique af, I never thought about that as a method to go down the line. Ma Long steps in with his right leg to do his BH down the line.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mickd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/18/2023 at 9:52am
Originally posted by NextLevel NextLevel wrote:

mickd,

Thanks for all this, I think google captions with autotranslate reasonably handles some of the things they say that get subtitled, but the issue is that when they put text on the screen with no audio voice, there is no translation.  More than anything else, your summary of tips and things they don't actually say out loud but highlight in Japanese text is the most valuable.

NL

No worries NL! I've had a lot going on recently, but have slowly been able to trickle more table tennis back in, which of course hopefully means I can be more active again with stuff like this :) I tried their auto translate, and for some parts it's great. Some parts Google just decided to skip a section or two haha. But overall, it's still pretty good in many parts! Going forward, if they do release more of the series, I'll at least translate the onscreen boxes.

Originally posted by blahness blahness wrote:

Wow that pulling the left leg back sounds unique af, I never thought about that as a method to go down the line. Ma Long steps in with his right leg to do his BH down the line.

Hey blahness. Been missing reading your improvement/update posts! I noticed HT use that a lot in his matches to great effect. I always felt it looked a bit unique, too. Glad to see it's conscious on his part here. During his demonstration, you can clearly see it happen. Matches often have the camera angle from another view, so you can see his body do the twist but not what the legs are doing. Maybe if we give it a try, it might work for us too haha.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote blahness Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/18/2023 at 7:37pm
Originally posted by mickd mickd wrote:

Originally posted by NextLevel NextLevel wrote:

mickd,

Thanks for all this, I think google captions with autotranslate reasonably handles some of the things they say that get subtitled, but the issue is that when they put text on the screen with no audio voice, there is no translation.  More than anything else, your summary of tips and things they don't actually say out loud but highlight in Japanese text is the most valuable.

NL

No worries NL! I've had a lot going on recently, but have slowly been able to trickle more table tennis back in, which of course hopefully means I can be more active again with stuff like this :) I tried their auto translate, and for some parts it's great. Some parts Google just decided to skip a section or two haha. But overall, it's still pretty good in many parts! Going forward, if they do release more of the series, I'll at least translate the onscreen boxes.

Originally posted by blahness blahness wrote:

Wow that pulling the left leg back sounds unique af, I never thought about that as a method to go down the line. Ma Long steps in with his right leg to do his BH down the line.

Hey blahness. Been missing reading your improvement/update posts! I noticed HT use that a lot in his matches to great effect. I always felt it looked a bit unique, too. Glad to see it's conscious on his part here. During his demonstration, you can clearly see it happen. Matches often have the camera angle from another view, so you can see his body do the twist but not what the legs are doing. Maybe if we give it a try, it might work for us too haha.

Haha taking a slight break from TT as I've been holidaying a bit. 

I did not notice that part at all about the left leg pulling back! It will be cool if you can translate the other parts. Imo the BH down the line is a real killer shot at all levels and would be really useful!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mickd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/19/2023 at 6:00am
The one many of us may have been waiting for! The backhand drive against underspin! I hope this isn't the last. Would be nice if they also have banana flicks and other stuff, since this is supposed to be a backhand series.

Tomokazu's Tips:
  • Lower your body with small adjustments to prepare the shot
  • Aim for right before the top of the bounce
  • Be in balance and spin the ball using your wrist

Miwa's Tips:
  • Lower your stance to prepare
  • Hit the ball one beat of time after the bounce
  • "Grab the timing" that allows you to hit the ball in balance


It's interesting to see Miwa do a little hop backward to help her get in position and lower her stance as the ball approaches. That micro adjustment might help force us to move and get into a better position, too.

They both also talked about not hitting the ball too early, but I doubt that's a problem many of us mere mortals will have haha. Their "not too early" timing is way earlier than I'd hope for haha.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mickd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05/20/2023 at 7:57am
Next one looks like it's about countering a loop drive with the backhand. Similar to the last one, the tips aren't so special, but the demonstrations at multiple angles are still nice to see. Here's the translations :)

Tomokazu's Tips:
  • Get into position, making sure not to stand too far back
  • Aim to hit the ball early, borrowing the opponent's power to help
  • Use a compact swing
Miwa's Tips:
  • Get into position and decide whether you'll be able to do a counter shot or not (she mentioned blocking when the position isn't favourable for a counter)
  • Aim to suppress the opponent's power while adding some spin
  • Use a compact swing

As you can see, their tips are both kind of similar. They both talked a lot about not going all out when countering the ball. You can use a lot less power and still have the ball be a rocket by borrowing the power from the opponent's ball.




Anyone else hoping for a banana flick one next??
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote zeio Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06/07/2023 at 1:33am
Viscaria FL - 91g
+ Neo H3 2.15 Blk - 44.5g(55.3g uncut bare)
+ Hexer HD 2.1 Red - 49.3g(68.5g 〃 〃)
= 184.8g
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mickd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07/02/2023 at 2:50am
Thanks zeio!

I wish they had a few more in the series, but it was still nice regardless. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote blahness Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/12/2023 at 6:55pm
I was testing out the Harimoto way of going down the line and I gotta say it is genius. The left leg actually straightens to allow a counter-clockwise hip rotation which allows the body to actually face left. The main benefit is because this happens below the table, it would be extremely difficult for the opponent to detect this down the line switch. Also, the BH technique on the hand can remain similar which is definitely safer and more comfortable compared to trying to fade it. As long as I make contact on the right side of the ball it's going be a fade topspin. 
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BH: D05

Back to normal shape bats :(
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mykonos96 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08/14/2023 at 12:13am
Originally posted by mickd mickd wrote:

Next one looks like it's about countering a loop drive with the backhand. Similar to the last one, the tips aren't so special, but the demonstrations at multiple angles are still nice to see. Here's the translations :)

Tomokazu's Tips:
  • Get into position, making sure not to stand too far back
  • Aim to hit the ball early, borrowing the opponent's power to help
  • Use a compact swing
Miwa's Tips:
  • Get into position and decide whether you'll be able to do a counter shot or not (she mentioned blocking when the position isn't favourable for a counter)
  • Aim to suppress the opponent's power while adding some spin
  • Use a compact swing

As you can see, their tips are both kind of similar. They both talked a lot about not going all out when countering the ball. You can use a lot less power and still have the ball be a rocket by borrowing the power from the opponent's ball.




Anyone else hoping for a banana flick one next??
Tomokazu tips is what I ve been reading on books many years ago, Typical chinese aproach : Compact strokes and Off the bounce hitting

Actually Miwa looks more advanced on her BH kinda Wang Nan BH looping.
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