Croatian player loses his sh#t

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I totally feel for the guy his technique is superior to the defenders quality of chops but he hesitated so much because he lost some easy balls. once a defender gets to you and u start doubting about your stroke it feels like a slow death lol. so patience patience patience :p
 
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at some points he really plaed foolishly but thats normal if ur having a bad day and u feel that u deserved a point although u lost it because of a stupid mistake. you may win against a defender 3-0 4-0 but the feeling you have afterwards is like my god, he really pushed me to my limits.

I think most people dont like pimples because they dont enjoy this constant tactical/patience style of play needed to beat them
 
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I totally feel for the guy his technique is superior to the defenders quality of chops but he hesitated so much because he lost some easy balls. once a defender gets to you and u start doubting about your stroke it feels like a slow death lol. so patience patience patience :p

And that's where you're wrong. The defender was clearly superior to the other player in this match - precisely because the defender succeeded in making the attacker hezitate and lose his sh*t. That is the ultimate defender's objective.
 
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And that's where you're wrong. The defender was clearly superior to the other player in this match - precisely because the defender succeeded in making the attacker hezitate and lose his sh*t. That is the ultimate defender's objective.

its a matter of perspective. a calm guy with his technique would win rather easily.

the chops are way too high
 
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I suspect this particular chopper beats young loopers at this level quite often, he has been eating guys like that for lunch for a long time.


Yeah he really seems calm and composed, just get the ball to the table and let the other guy handle his psycho issues.
 
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Never confuse technique and consistency. He gets frustrated because he misses shots he thinks are easy.

Well guess what buddy, in basketball we have an expression "the ball don't lie". Don't think yourself to be better than you actually are. If you lose, then obviously you aren't there yet, so go hit up practice and comeback and try again.

I think this was one of the secrets to Waldner's success. He never had an inflated sense of self. If he missed, he missed. If he lost, he lost. And, if he won, he won. Why involve emotions into something that is so factually evident?

In my case, I used to get worked up like this guy. I took lessons and still lost to people who didn't know how to play... until I realized, getting good at table tennis takes much, much, much, much, much longer than I think. So why get frustrated, when everything I was/am doing will make me good eventually, not just now? If it were easy, every one would be good at it, and so would I!
 
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These videos are a good example of "Knowing you can do it, so you're lazy on execution" and missing easy shots.

You just know you can return mostly everything that comes your way, and the only reason you would lose is just pure statistical inconsistency, so you assume that the ball will go over the net even if you make a half assed return.


Unfortunately, we cannot control the ball with our mind, so 100% effort needs to be put especially into the easy put away shots. :rolleyes:
 
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Nah, this had nothing to do with easy putaway shots and everything to do with experience playing defenders.

Maybe it is just these clips but the defender never attacks. That is clue one. His style is to frustrate you.

Because of that, a smart attack must only attack hard the high percentage balls because setting up the attack is key when playing such players. There were balls that were attacked hard that the chopper had time do things to that the attacker could not read perfectly. Maybe the attacker has never studied the cognitive side of table tennis so he things high balls are easy. Anyone can miss a shot if they misread the spin or do not practice a lot. You just accept it and move on and think about why you misread it.

Moreover, the attacker was not that frustrated. I have seen much worse.

The chopper is also pretty good - not superfantastic, but definitely in the class of the attacker. He chopped quite a few balls low from well below the table.

When I play defenders, the first thing I need to establish is what the defender will attack amongst my popups and safe openings. That sets the tone for the match. I will only keep up topspin if the defender attacks backspin extremely well. Otherwise, I will push a lot and pick.when to open and when to kill. I prefer to open with topspin to get a high ball and then flat hit. I don't mind pushing and I will engage in pushing rallies unless the defender attacks backspin.

It is the people who want to be macho that struggle against defenders. They watch high level TT and think that looping vs defense is the way to play but they are just copying and don't get the logic of playing defenders. It is to only attack if pressured or if you can read the ball. Or use a safety spin. Kill.is only when you know you have set up the defender.
 
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Some Dude Who Knows how to play vs a Defender said:
It is the people who want to be macho that struggle against defenders... It is to only attack if you can read the ball.

Well said. Some defenders can defeat hotshot loopers, and if you look at the games the higher rated attacking players lost, you see sum trends... NL hit upon several.

I call it being "Brain Dead" which is failing to adapt, even if you have the tools to do so. When I watch such a match, I start mumbling and singing "I wanna be a Macho, Macho Man"

One of the keys to win vs defender NL hit upon, several. You use variety, then when you are sure of your chance, you go strong and still be ready. I like going heavy, but go strong if ball is high and I read it. Heavy is safer, and often it wins the point, often gives you a good chance to end it if it is bumped back.
 
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I think the chopper is outsmarting and outplaying his opponent very well. Despite what looks like inferior technique, he is the better player as he fairly comfortably takes home the win.

I don't agree that it's about superior technique, lazy execution or staying calm. That assumes that the attacker has the better technique and therefore should win in all cases.

IMHO, it's an illusion to think that "my technique looks far better so he is naturally not up to my playing standard". Your technique is just one part of winning a match. The other, more important one, is your head and how well you apply your skills and how well you contain your opponent. If you can't play that game, you will loosejust like this guy did.

Here's a video showing what most people on this forum would call inferior technique. Have a look at it for 2 minutes. That's all you need.
(Start from 7.50. They have warmed up a bit afetr the first set then)


I'm willing to bet that most who compare themselves to these players will say: "They look rubbish compared to me. Just look at their forehand techniques. They're awful: stiff and too jerky. And the guy in red can't even serve properly! I'll beat them both."

But you wouldn't. You wouldn't even come close.

Yes, they look awful technically, but they certainly know how to play the game of table tennis. At the time of that match, Pattantyus was in the 80's on the world ranking and Chtchetinine was in the 70's.

In short, none of us would have beaten them, despite most of us probably having more beautiful ("better") technique, because we can't think table tennis to the degree that they can. I certainly wish I had that ability :)
 
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