random TT diary of sorts

Such things are always relative to the level of your opponent IMHO, I think there is no universal answer to footwork that doesn't depend rely on the balance between ability to recover (for the next shot) on one hand and shot quality (which might make the ball hard to return properly) on the other.  Balance is almost always lost at maximum power and power is almost always lost when you maintain balance.  It's why clean technique rarely ever shows up in matches where you make compromises to get the best shot you need to win points against the opposition while being able to defend against returned balls.  If someone is serving you wide, you have the the choice between putting the ball back safely or going for high risk shots that put you out of position.  

Continued training the FH pivot, and I was really trying hard to reach the fast block to the wide FH after the FH pivot, and after many tries, for the first time I managed to do it! It is so exhilarating haha to finally do it. And after that I managed to do a few more, but this really gassed me out - was really out of air by that time (the hot conditions didn't help). The immediate spring-like push back after the pivot is crucial to be able to reach that wide FH, otherwise at this speed there's no chance at all. 

I'm gonna see if I can one day reach the wide FH after the pivot and still come back to FH loop the block on the BH haha. 

Played a match against a teenage girl who seemed very well trained and was quite fast to boot. Still beat her 3:0 this time which was a bit surprising, but I think I won due to more advanced techniques she probably hasn't seen before - very deceptive hook/pendulum serves, the chiquita, strawberry receive, BH loop/counter down the line and my very spinny FH opening loop which gave her way too much trouble. I missed a few of her no spin serves - she disguised them very well - it looked almost like heavy underspin (including the trajectory yikes)

I saw a very interesting video by Yin Hang saying that the fade movement is probably the best way to FH loop fast long FH pendulum serves to the FH and also to BH loop fast long BH pendulum serves to the BH - I'm going to try that but it all makes sense - usually with these serves it's a bit awkward to add spin/quality confidently to the loop at the moment because of the way the sidespin curves the ball. So for e.g. the fast long FH pendulum serve curves to the left as it moves - hence it would be easier to "catch" the ball if the blade face was also moving to the left like in a FH fade movement. Vice versa for the BH pendulum serve. 

Edit: Did some practice and found out this is not exactly necessary - the loop can be the usual loop, just that i should be pulling the blade face to the left when approaching the ball against FH sidespin pendulum - and blade face moving to the right when approaching the ball against BH sidespin pendulum - makes it a lot more consistent. 

Training recovery footwork for more footwork patterns. 

1) after serve

2) after stepping in to receive a short serve

3) after the FH loop - including after the pivot, and after the crossover step

One pattern that was incredibly hard to decipher is the fast spinny serve to the BH/wide BH followed by the fast counter/smash to the deep FH. My conclusion of the matter is that I needed to loop these down the line or the elbow area, otherwise I'll just suffer. Well actually I did reach quite a few of them but my legs were just too out from gym training to do it over and over again. 

So basically instead of vacuum sealing, I'm simply sealing it in a food storage bag, and then throwing in oxygen absorbers and silica gel (absorb water). Hopefully these will be able to prevent oxidation hardening of the rubbers...

On #2 I learned the hard way. I started training my BH and wasn't using enough of elbow rotation, kept my elbow too close to my body, and tried to compensate by swinging my wrist excessively, finishing each shot with a very extended and radially deviated wrist. I developed a very painful extensor carpi ulnaris tendinitis. 

I was dismayed by the injury, thinking it would hamper my BH development, but it turned out to be a boon. You see, I could still do BH shots without pain so long as I didn't extend my wrist too much. I naturally compensates by using my shoulder (rotating elbow) and biceps (supination), and body more. My BH quality and consistency have improved dramatically as a consequence, and whenever I fall back to my old habits I get a very painful reminder.

My tendinitis is getting a lot better, a little too fast for my liking actually  Thankfully it should take 4-6 weeks to completely heal, and I'm trying to focus on BH training so the new motion becomes cemented in my muscle memory.