chinese forehand counter-loop

tom foster Asked 15 years ago

i read an article about the the chinese forehand counter-loop and one part says be more quick not more powerful

how do i do this and what does it mean

heres the link http://www.tabletennis.gr/close-to-table-counter-loop-guide.html

thanks:)

Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Jimmy,

This is interesting. We might defer to our Physicists again...

I think it means use your wrist not your whole arm because you don't have much time and the speed is already on the ball so you don't ned to generate power.

Recommended Video

Forehand Counterhit

The forehand counterhit or forehand drive is the foundation for more attacking strokes such as the forehand topspin or forehand loop. There are 3 critical factors:

Your feet position
Your start position
Your finish position

If you concentrate on these 3 factors then your stroke will become extremely consistent. Once you can reliably hit 100 balls in a row then you are ready for more attacking strokes. If you can hit 1,000 balls on in a row then you know you've truly mastered the stroke.

Watch Now

Thoughts on this question (1)

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 2011-08-10 08:56:56

Well I'll be the resident pingskills physicist until we can find someone with better qualifications...

First of all, while "speed" definitely has a clear scientific meaning, I think "powerful" is a more subjective term. If you define powerful to mean applying more force, and we all know from studying Newton in highschool that F=ma, then 'powerful' means applying more acceleration which eventually is the same thing as having high speed.

My own take on the advice of speed over power is that it just wants to emphasise the racquet is not a dumbell. It is quite light. What you are trying to do, therefore, is not a big hammer throw swing but something snappy. The highest level coach here in Canberra once told me that there should be little difference in terms of how you stroke a medium pace shot or a more aggressive one. The second should look almost the same, just a bit snappier and more intense. I think that sort of is covering the same idea.

At the end of the day, what determines the speed and spin on the ball is the speed of your racquet when you made contact with it. Not whether you took a cricket-style run up and threw yourself at the ball and sprawled out on the floor afterwards.