practicing with weight

I would like to know your opinion about training with a light weight of half a kilo around the arm to improve a bit the power of the shots.

I really wont to tell you the I appreciate your work.

ciao

Gianluca

Hi Gianluca,

I have asked Eric Rosario to answer this one for us.  He has had vast experience in designing and implementing weight training programs for athletes from many sports including Table Tennis.  Here is his insightful answer.  We will ask him to write more on the subject for one of our upcoming Newsletters.

"If you train with a weight around your arm gravity will act to  drag the arm down in a vertical plane but you are trying to increase power in a horizontal plane.  It would be better to use resistance of a pully or rubber band but this should not be done in the course of stroke play as it will disrupt stroke pattern."

I hope this answers your question.  Watch out for a more detailed answer.  If you are not currently a Subscriber to the PingSkills Newsletter then why not join now.  Just go to our Home page and sign up.  It is totally free.