Valeria (5)

Valeria
by Type of handle 19 years ago

Not pen-hold, shakehand!!
by Valeria 19 years ago

Re: Valeria
by bes 19 years ago

Re: Valeria
by Valeria 19 years ago

Re: Valeria
by bes 19 years ago

Re: Valeria
by Valeria 19 years ago

The following message (subject: Re: Valeria) was posted by bes, on 7/6/2005 2:21:03 PM:

Once you get a proper grip - if possible, have one of the better players (if any are available) demonstrate and verify - you need to just get comfortable with it.

Suggestions:
Carry your blade around at home and hold it (properly and gently) while watching TV or whatever.

You can also make your friends/roomate/family crazy by bouncing balls on it. This is a good hand-eye coordination practice and will also help you learn blade and blade angle control. First work on bouncing a ball on the forehand side. Work on getting the ball to bounce the same height each time. Do low bounces, then medium, then high. Keep it up until you can do it easily and under control - even while walking around. Repeat on the other side. Once you can bounce the ball off either side many, many times, vary the sides, i.e. flip the blade while bouncing so that you bounce on forehand, backhand, forehand, etc...

When bouncing gets boring, add spin, i.e. cut from right to left under the ball(with a bit of an upwards stroke), then vary the blade angle (you'll have to tilt it left) as necessary to have the ball bounce straight up. Now do it with a left to right stroke. Now work on adding more spin! These simple drills will help you learn how to add and counter spin as well as get comfortable with your grip. Getting good at this will make learning spinny serves easier.

Another good technique is shadow stroking. Start by doing slow motion forehand and backhand drive strokes. I HIGHLY recommend having a good player or coach help you do this properly - at least initially. By doing the strokes slowly, you can concentrate on your technique and grip. Once you feel good about your technique, you can speed up the strokes, but don't be in a hurry to do so. Do the pokey "tai-chi" speed strokes a lot.

When you get to the table and have a practice partner, work on your strokes at a nice slow speed, i.e. don't look for power at all - work on hitting the ball with smooth proper strokes and hitting the ball in the middle of the blade. Think 1/2 speed or less! Concentrate on not choking the blade! Also concentrate on small foot movements and proper weight shift - don't just stand still and lean! After a while, your grip and strokes will become ingrained. Once they are ingrained, you are ready for full speed drills, matches, and learning new shots...

Everyone learns at their own pace. I worked (pretty hard)on my backhand drive for weeks and didn't notice much change... All the sudden, everything seemed to fall into place and it worked.

Good Luck!
bes
p.s. Carl Hardin has an instructional DVD that has some really good tips. Check it out at: http://www.newgy.com/Products/hardindvd.asp

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