I did see a little bit of improvement when doing those “drills” which is good. However as someone who has and is continuing to go through this process, I would agree that you need to do the footwork drills without a shuttle first and get proficient at that. Perhaps start with the front forehand side of the front court.
Nothing to do about the net, LOL. And I think that's one of my bad habits coming out. I know I should hit at the highest point possible, but need to make a conscious effort to do so again. Link to any in specific? I don't think so? My understanding is that the forehand and backhand grip is pretty similar, besides the finger positioning. So when I'm getting ready for a backhand shot, I move my index finger more in line with my thumb and try to use the thumb for power. Is this right, or only half right? I'll review some videos again and see if I'm using the wrong grip. I might record some swing shots today and of my grip as well to see if we can find out what's going on. Also thank you so much for everything guys. Already I feel like I'm heading on the right path.
I did. Your last post was just saying to do exercises without hitting shuttle. I don't see any videos mate.
2/12 Update: I'm trying to keep this updates to at least once a week because I think a week is the shortest time unit where it's relevant. Been practicing just everything in general. Footwork, strokes, switching grips, maintaining the proper grips. Been playing a lot more and watching a lot more doubles. Because of this, I've adopted an attack stance on the front of the line, like the pros. Unlike the pros, I can't return a flick serve, which I've talked about in other threads and you can see in the doubles video below. I think I need to work on my backwards movement more then the stick smash it self. Other noted improvements from my friend is better footwork, more consistent serves, using clears to pressure more, etc. Of course again, this can all be improved more but when my friend reviewed this and gave me his opinion he saw general improvements across the board. As for the singles game, I knew for a fact he wasn't giving it his all. We only ended up playing 2 games, at a tie (I won the second). The most glaring issue I can recall is getting rekt by deception, as well as again, moving to the back. That video can be watched here - What do you guys see? Is my review of my self spot on? Anything else you guys see that I would need to work on?
I also saw improvement as well which is great to see. If there is one thing that you could work on that would provide you the largest carry over to your games , I would say It’s your split step. The split step is very important to improve your footwork because it’s your starting step for all footwork. You will find that if you split step more often then you will get to the shuttle earlier, if you get to the shuttle earlier your shots will be better(see YouTube video below) From personal experience you’ll need to make a conscious effort to split step after after shot by your opponents. The more often you practice it during warmups and also during games the easier it will ingrain into your brain as muscle memory. So split step in ALL your warmup and practice shots. You will notice an immediate improvement in Your games when you improve your split step. also from personal experience I think you could work in one more thing( I find working on more than 2 things at once doesn’t work mentally) The one other things is your overall defensive shots in a general way. Your lifts and clears do not go deep enough into the opponents court. You need to realize that your lifts are going to the opponents mid court a lot and the more often you lift like that , the more likely that you are creating a poor habit. Fix that habit now and get your defensive shots to the back of the court ☺️
Yeah split steps - got it. The mini jump that loads your legs before moving into a corner right? And yeah I've been told before about my lifts and defense not being high enough or being drops - the middle is a no go lol.
Make sure to watch that video I posted so that you can have a better understanding of what the split step is and how to implement
Watched it multiple times before I made this thread, and continue to watch as people keep reposting it - I know what the problem is so the thing to work on is fixing said problem
Also you should record when you practice or train so that the forum can comment and help you with that. Someone the feedback regarding your training videos will be more beneficial than the feedback you get from watching you play games
I record myself almost everyday/every time I play - I could for sure post everyday but want to be considerate of other peoples time haha. At your request, I can post some training footage of later today
i'm not good at spotting from a distance if somebody has the right grip.. I see you think you have the right grip, but do any of the experts(or humble non-experts) here agree with you? Also in the video you posted there, you can't see the racket when you do an overhead from the back of the court.. so (and this is perhaps a question for the experts/ humble non-experts here), i'm not sure how possible it is to even see how your grip is there? Perhaps if you can mount the camera on a tripod you can get feet lines and racket head on film? I think videos and analysis can potentially be an opportunity for many to learn, not just you.. so when you enquire for advice on the forum, and there is discussion, you are giving not just taking,
Got it. I think that most experienced people can see that my movements have gotten better, due to proper grip. You can't move a certain way unless you're doing right grip. And okay, will upload some footage from earlier haha
At 0:46 is that you standing with your foot right on the service line and you are surprised that with no coaching, you can't return a flick serve? Do you know that people even after some years of coaching, often can't get a flick serve from there? Watch people playing in clubs.. there are clubs that reject beginner level players, so all players are intermediate level upwards, and 90%+ of the players there can't get a flick serve if they stood there. To get a flick serve from there, you have to have not just the correct footwork and great speed, but you have to have lightning reactions too. It's crazy to stand there at your level. Stand further back like half a step back or even a step back from there, until you master getting them from there, then think about moving to as far fowards as you are.
Your racket movement has gotten better , before you were swinging at it sideways wildly.. and in a later video you swung more through, but actually you chose to do that, you could have swung wildly with the right grip, or swung through quite nicely but with the wrong grip. You are doing it better now but that doesn't mean you are doing it right. This sport is a lot harder and a lot more complex than you think! Who told you that you can't move a certain way unless you're doing the right grip and what does that even mean? Do you mean you can't move your feet a certain way unless you have a particular grip? A person can have the wrong grip and the right footwork, or the right footwork and the wrong grip.. Granted the swing when using the correct grip and doing the swing properly, is not possible with the wrong grip, but your swing is not going to be very good.. not necessarily the most important thing for you to work on but still it's not going to be very good. People have coaching 1-1 for years developing things like their swing and all manner of other aspects of their game. you have had no coaching at all, so expect that you are more wrong than you can imagine.. (and even experts do tons of things wrong, and i'm very much below expert level!)
I meant like I think the people earlier were seeing that from the swing itself that my grip was wrong - does that make sense? Ah okay - was being stubborn then. I'll move back. Thanks for this
