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However, equipment improvements have diminishing returns. At the end of the day, the bullets go pew pew. Intention, situational awareness, flow state control, and mentality under pressure are far more important. All the things that Cobra... er... Miyagi-do teach.

Once it becomes a tool instead of a crutch there's a sudden feeling of empowerment. "Now I get it!" In anime this can be the magic sword "Awakening" or the individual entering a "Final Form". This is "grok-entry", a suddenly coalescing crystallization of all previous efforts.

Once grok entry is achieved everything starts to make "sense". You start to see what was "right" and "wrong" in what your coach or that internet article was trying to say.

"Feet shoulder width apart" is about lowering your stroke plane to the most effective angle. The specific width doesn't matter because you knee bend also affects your stroke height. The stroke height is what's important!

"Wrist held tight but not too tight" is about the right wrist action to "snap" but without the racket flying out or so loose that energy transfer is weakened. The contradictory "Hold wrist tight!" advice was b/c the issue at the time was energy transfer, not topspin.

To get to "right" you have to go through a lot of "wrong". To build a skyscraper that touches the sky you ironically start by digging a very deep hole!

The forehand loop is the primary attack stroke in TT. Even after grokking, there is still a 10,000 hr ceiling. "grok-entry" doesn't suddenly make you GOOD at the thing. It just makes it make SENSE. You stop tripping over yourself or running in circles.https://twitter.com/a_yawning_cat/status/1350349271510392836?s=20 …

It's purely about linear improvement. Once you "grok" how to decorate a christmas tree you can decorate it over and over again in different ways producing different effects. Same for cooking. Grok salt/acid/heat.. and you can make tasty meals. It's not about "winning".