Technique

Euhan Chin Asked 15 years ago

I tend to hit the ball to close to my body and not in front of me resulting in weak inconsistent shots. I have an irrational fear that if my body is too far away from the ball, i will miss it even though my arm is outstretched. I also have a bad habit of not looking at the ball at contact but at the opponent.

Is there any drills or reminders that i can enforce during practice time to:-

1. keep looking at the ball

2. not hit the forehand to close to my body

3. hit the ball in front of me?

Also, should my playing elbow be consistently in front of my body or to the side of it?

Thanks. 

Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Euhan,

The tendency to keep the ball too close to you comes from lack of confidence and wanting to keep control.  During training is when you need to focus on this.  Just experiment with your elbow in different positions.  See if you can relax from the shoulder and hit the ball with a relaxed arm.  Initially the ball will probably go long.  At this stage it is important to not go back and try to take control again by getting thr ball closer to you.  Let yourself adjust naturally. 

You should always do some drills where your focus is on watching or tracking the ball well.  During the forehand and backhand on table warm up is a good time to do this.

The same goes with hitting the ball in front of you.  Focus on this during training. Hit the ball in various positions until you find one that os comfortable for you.

Your playing elbow should be relaxed to the side of you to start with.  Take a look at where we have our elbows in our lessons.

Good luck with all of that. Remember keep training hard.  If you get a copy of Training Secrets Revealed DVD this will help you.