How to get more BACKHAND POWER (with Craig Bryant)

[@elias3026]

There are many ways to add more power to your backhand shots. What you see here is a rather old style (Zhang Jike era) i.e., you let the ball reach its peak or even start falling a bit and then you make contact with explosive power. This led to Zhang Jike's injury and retirement - after the plastic balls came out, he couldn't generate the same amount of spin and speed that he was used to and pushed too much. This style uses a long stroke, should use the waist and hips as well, hitting through the ball as advised. The new style, however, focuses more on a much shorter stroke, faster timing in contact (as soon as the ball bounces of the table), and faster recovery. You borrow the power of your opponent with faster timing, you decrease your chances of error by having a shorter stroke (easier to time it out), and everything happens in front of your body (more control). Here is an example of Harimoto doing it kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIHIqXqra9Kdbc0 It looks like a punch forward rather than like a wing that finishes naturally to the side. Keep an eye on his feet and how he moves his whole body into the ball (his father also does this motion at one point when he misses a couple). Little details matter. Also, this is mainly done against topspin balls. For backspin balls, you should wait a bit longer to make the contact (so the ball can reach its highest point). With this type of stroke, you do NOT wanna hit the back of the ball. Rather, you should aim at scratching the ball on top and forward. For additional power, tension up when contacting the ball by putting pressure on the blade with the thumb. Also, contact the ball closer to the top of the blade - this tends to be overlooked a lot; it doesn't matter how hard you hit if you contact the ball close to the handle. A better contact point will result in double the power at half effort. Here is an example of this process. Look at this girl being amazed by the speed and spin she can produce by doing the right technique: fb.watch/5cWNvzEzWr/ If you've never done this, try doing it for fun and implement it slowly in your game (don't use it for every shot because it increases the chances of error). The same goes for the forehand: fb.watch/5cXG6oFb5z/ I hope people will find this helpful. Stay safe.

[@BilalHam]

make sense

[@aguerosantiale]

Nice one, love the tip about not being afraid of contacting the ball thicker. Hope to see a video with Craig for forehand power as well!

[@nuridemir5613]

Good observation. a lot of coach say dont contact thick always thin contact to brushing action

[@craigyb22]

nuri demir If you want more power then yeah, don’t be afraid to hit the ball thicker. Just try to ensure you have an angle racket over the ball and the wrist is relaxed enough to flow through the shot 👍

[@nuridemir5613]

@@craigyb22 thanks a lot. very helpful answer

[@eloimumford5247]

Definitively a game winner , point i retain : hit in front of your body not sideway as i see/do often. Thanks for sharing.

[@bobortiz]

Thank you from Southern California.

[@qomarqomarudin7307]

thanks a lot coach Tom for great video as always does .. also thanks to coach Craig Bryant for sharing his expertise

[@Franky_1974]

Very good video! It should be mentioned that the best contact point for hard shots with the backhand is the upper third of the blade. So you can hit the ball like a whip while you snap your wrist. My backhand is now more feared than my forehand. The stroke pops loudly through the whole hall if I use the backhand correctly.

[@eloimumford5247]

ah ah don't be afraid to afraid them , most expect you wont succeed your backhand return ....False !

[@sameershah141]

You mean lower half right?

[@Franky_1974]

​@@sameershah141 No, I mean "the end of the racket" (opposite of the handle). There I got the most power, even like a whip.

[@aurelioribasestrella1690]

What about the footwork, bending of the knees etc?

[@flagella1337]

Would've been nicer to add how the power is built from legs and hip.

[@BustyGretchen]

I have this problem too, always having pretty good spin but always slow with no power. There is also a big difference if you're spinning a backspin ball or a normal shot, though. With backspin, I can't do power ... yet. :) Thanks for all the tips guys, I'll try and hit it thicker now and stay a bit more away from the table for a longer backswing.

[@nuridemir5613]

thanks a lot coach Tom for great video as always does

[@anandlele7433]

Thanks Tom & Craig for this tip.. . I will practice that.

[@The_Paddle_Smith]

When I first started work Table tennis, the emphasis was spin. As I encountered more higher level players I'm seeing a bit more emphasis on not brushing too much (like what is said in this video)

[@z0uLess]

I think everything starts from the feet, and being a player that is either forehand dominant or backhand dominant also dictates the default stance you play with in the game and how you automatically place your feet while positioning yourself. How much power you are able to generate by your body rotation depends on how far the opposite leg to your playing hand is forward or backward relative to the leg on the side of the playing hand.

[@zimbonkanarky5861]

Nice backhand power tutorial...👍

[@rationalttanalysis]

Dima’s backhand!!!!

[@matejweiss896]

Nice lesson and I will try. Can you pls tell me which blade and fh/bh rubber is coach using?

[@richardj6593]

Tom, we long pip ox players need some special help. There are almost no videos out there showing how to do a quick off the bounce backhand chop block against loop that bounces twice on the opponents side. Can you help us out?

[@Bork0r]

Man… i really need a backhand like craig…

[@Blessed921]

Great video Tom, thanks for the demo Craig. My BIG question is regarding your grip and something I have always struggled with, does the grip vary at all during your rallies from forehand to backhand or is it totally the exact same for every shot?

[@craigyb22]

emerald200358 Yes, there is a small change and I think that’s likely to be the same for many players. I hold the bat with a ‘backhand grip’ when playing my backhand. That means if I were to play the forehand with the backhand grip I’d be playing a hook type of shot. So then I straighten the grip out slightly for the forehand.

[@ncdataniyancdataniya9176]

n

[@nubnub4263]

Hi Tom, do you have any tips when playing against strong players? Im a Grade 6 and Im gonna be battling a grade 9 for my school’s sports fest. Maybe defending tips?

[@TomLodziak]

Here's an article I wrote a while ago about how to beat stronger players: www.tabletenniscoach.me.uk/tactics-beat-much-stronger-player/

[@zeid_bggeming6464]

Good! I'm can't back spin! Please video for back spin!!

[@sammoustafa3262]

great video, what kind of paddle does Craig use or recommend

[@tankoksengtan5767]

Good

[@user-lq6mq6uu4h]

Yes!

[@farhanmursal6931]

Which rubber is the best for backhand with Tibhar Stratus Carbon blade?

[@zlatyklas]

He must use very fast combo. What blade and what rubbers in what thickeness does craig use?

[@manikkubaduhemadasa4140]

I would like to see slow motion of the bat movement

[@RobertoCostas]

Set the video speed to 0,25x.

[@kimjansson2338]

Tom plz hold your racket without all your fingers on the rubber- your game will improve🙏

[@jimkuan8493]

Hi Coach Tom or Coach Craig, I noticed that Coach Craig curves the wrist into a "hook" and hit/brush a bit on the right side of the ball. I can understand that you need to curve/drop the wrist a bit but what is the benefits of curving it so extensively so you would hit the right side of the ball? Thanks!

[@jimkuan8493]

My own guess is that by hitting the right back side of the ball, instead of hitting just the back side of the ball, you allow for much more power coming through, yet it won't be directly at the back of the ball, so it won't travel too far out of the table. But I am not sure that is the reason.

[@TomLodziak]

Craig drops the wrist to allow it to snap through on contact to generate more speed and power. If you go too much to the right of the ball, you will start to lose some speed and power. You will generate more sidespin (which can be effective), but will lose power.

[@jimkuan8493]

@@TomLodziakThank you. Craig did not just drop the wrist. His wrist also curves inward straight toward his body to create a "hook" form. Watching in slow motion, I think he curves the wrist inward (in addition dropping the wrist), is to allow the wrist to unwind forward, so by the time the pad hits the ball, it is hitting the back of the ball with a lot of forward power. So he did not hit the right side of the ball as I initially thought. Of course he could skip the wrist unwind forward motion, to hit the ball down the line. In that case, he did hit the right side of the ball.

[@gerokatseros]

well ... next time try not to use black rubber with black uniform all together so that we can see the angle of the racket in those slow motions ;) ... nice video!

[@Ricky-jt5ns]

Luv it

[@debiasearmy3471]

Hi there, what about the pressure on the paddle ´s handle When hitting the ball?? Many thanks :)

[@TomLodziak]

Craig applies a little bit of pressure during contact with the ball. So he is loose at start of the swing, a little bit of pressure on the bat during contact and then loose again on the follow through.

[@backspacer92]

How do you prevent wrist injuries? I do feel it in my wrist when I use my backhand a lot.

[@TomLodziak]

It's important to keep the wrist loose when you play backhand, but don't try to force the wrist too much. Injuries tend to occur when a player grips too tightly and also forces the wrist back. Then you can get strains and aches. You can also do wrist strengthening exercises away from the table.

[@skuzzle]

Hey Tom as always very good and helpful video there but I have a kind of unrelated question apart from the video and like to hear your thoughts on it. As a beginner table tennis player I got a bat consisting of a Tibhar Allround Premium blade and Palio CJ8000 Spin rubbers and I get along with it quite good. The thing I can't wrap my head around is the importance of the blade. Before buying it I did some research and many bloggers and table tennis sites stated that the blade make up to 20% of the overall performance (One even stated 80%). I also tried some different blades in my club like Timo Boll's and others and didn't notice any difference. Of course I am at a beginner level and I surely don't have the feeling like a veteran player has but I don't get in which way the blade can have an impact on performance like speed and spin in a 20% range. For me it is kind of comparable to a car tire, doesn't really matter what kind of rims you drive, the thing which ensires safety and grip is the tire. That's why I think those top premium blades which cost 100 Euro and more might make a difference in feel and performance for pro players, but hardly give an intermediate or advanced player any benefit especially when playing thick sponges. What do you think about the performance impact of a blade? And thanks in advance :)

[@TomLodziak]

Good question. I tend to agree with you. As a beginner, all you need is a basic all-round blade, like you already have. The rubbers you use will make far more difference to your game than the blade you use. And then the blade/rubber combination is insignificant compared to the importance of technique, ball control, tactics, serve + receive. When I coach beginners, I just start them off on a basic bat and keep them on it until their technique has significantly improved. I'm sure many others would strongly disagree with me. But for me, the blade is of much lower importance compared to everything else in table tennis.

[@skuzzle]

@@TomLodziak As always much obliged, you help me out a lot with your advice :) Totally agree with you! Imho it is kinda common sense that the blade plays an inferior role until maybe up to a very advanced/pro level. At leaat that's what I experienced in a lot of sports I did when it comes to different kinds of equipment. Good to hear an opinion from an experienced player like you. Again many thanks for that and helping me get along in table tennis even more :)

[@BilalHam]

i am beginner and i have been agreeing@@TomLodziak with good techniques, Styrofoam blades will be sufficient to play with

[@tubol206]

Tom what is the difference between drive and smash

[@TomLodziak]

It's a similar type of shot. Both have a flat sort of contact on the ball. But a smash is the shot you play when the ball is much higher.

[@DavidCubie1]

My backhand is very strong in power but its not as accurate as foreharnd. To do a backhand spin, i need slow and high ball.

[@Megaboyd]

What set up are you using Craig?

[@craigyb22]

TheMegaboyd Joola TPE Fight and Rhyzm Tech on both sides

[@Megaboyd]

Craig Bryant awesome. Glad to see more Joola out there!

[@iwarantiwa1346]

Bagus terimakasih 👍

[@BilalHam]

eh ada orang kita

[@veldoooora8667]

Name the raquette tennis table

[@eliasdaoud8877]

We want to see a match: Tom VS Craig

[@TomLodziak]

Next time we do filming, we can do this. But I predict the score will be something like 11-2, 11-1, 11-3 all to Craig! And the points I win will because Craig messes up!

[@Imtotallydiggingthis]

@@TomLodziak How about if you give Craig a banana instead of a racket? ;)

[@wb6012]

Are you hyped because new Dignics 09c rubber???

[@martijnroos2259]

I notice Craig is standing quite straight. Not so much bending his knees & rotating his core. Wouldn’t that be part of the technique by the book?

[@TomLodziak]

It depends. For this particular shot, the ball comes to Craig with topspin and sits up. So therefore there is no really benefit of being really low. Craig raises his body so he can power over the top of the ball. If I were to give Craig a low backspin ball, then he would take a lower stance to deal with it.

[@martijnroos2259]

Thanks for elaborating appreciate it

[@richardspin9472]

W

[@kdgr]

🏓👍

[@zitabayr1309]

😘

[@321Tdog]

KONO POWA

[@zakariyyamhds3772]

👋👋

[@ap3x235]

I’m sponsored by Bribar lol

[@djfunkychicken]

great tips as always.. Craig's looking fitter.. pitty bout the face! bahahaha