When you see a ball you can put away, mentally (and possibly physically) your eyes go wide, you smile (perhaps inwardly), and you prepare to pulverize the ball with every bit of muscle-pounding power you can muster.

NO!!!

Never hit a ball with “full power.” That’s in quotes because I’m referring to the idea of using every muscle at full, spastic power. It’s called “muscling” the ball, which is a bad habit. If you do that, you get a jerky swing that you cannot really control, and you often lose the greater power of a smooth, power-generating swing. This is especially true when looping.

Instead, you want to smoothly use the appropriate muscles in natural sequence. If you do that, you not only keep control of the swing, but you actually get as much or morepower than if you spastically try to use every muscle at 100%. You generate power not by jerking a muscle at full speed, but by smoothly accelerating into the ball so that your racket reaches maximum velocity as it accelerates through the ball. For example, on a forehand loop or smash it starts with the weight shift from the legs, then the hips and waist, shoulders, arm, and wrist. And then you not only get a satisfying POW or WHOOSH . . . the ball actually hits the table consistently.