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- Table Tennis: The Relationship Between Relaxation, Aggression, and Power
Table Tennis: The Relationship Between Relaxation, Aggression, and Power
So my #1 issue in Table Tennis right now is getting angry, which results in a tightness that precludes the possibility for power.
We see this in many sports where there is a primary swinging motion: If you are tense, you can’t get a full range of motion and can’t generate speed.
The other issue with being tense (for me anyway) is that I tend to miss a lot when in that state. I feel like I’m all locked up and trying too hard–and I miss a lot of shots. Not like the shot not going in–but actually missing the ball altogether.
So, clearly, one ingredient is complete relaxation. This is not just obvious when attempting heavy topspin shots, but also especially when serving. My serves while tense get eaten up; it’s evidently very easy to tell when I’ve not put much spin on the ball (due to being tense).
But there’s another part of my game that’s suffering as well, and that is a quick type of aggression. When I get in a flow with being both loose and aggressive, I just dominate people. But what’s more likely to happen is for one of those two things to be off.
My interest here comes with how to combine the two. How do you get oriented toward aggression and power, but stay loose? That’s the key for me right now–finding a way to maintain both at the same time. And, most importantly, finding a way to get back to that frame of mind when I stray from it. ::