Keeping in high form constantly esp. vs worse players

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Keeping in high form regularly esp. vs worse players

Hello.

Perhaps my biggest problem right now is consistently playing at a sufficiently high level relative to my own max.

It's not that I keep losing all the time because of my laziness, more so the opposite: I know I can win against the people I play and I take it too easy. Sometimes, a big upset even happens due to it, but the biggest issue is that I'm simply not satisfied with how it feels to play.

Instead of toning down my overall technique to conserve energy, I know I should just produce easier strokes, but all with good form.

Instead I do very strange, absolutely terrible form on most shots when I have this "lazy mode" on and my footwork is really lousy even if my normal "serious" footwork is leaps and bounds better. If my opponent plays any well, I won't get my shot on the table due to the terribly gimped shot.

The only time I start trying and revert to my normal good form is when I really need points, and I've even came back even from 2-8 like this, but I feel it's becoming a habit.

Symptoms:

Lack of small steps in footwork
Not taking off fast enough for wide balls even if I can catch amazingly wide and fast shots normally
Not going in/out fast enough
Not low enough
Very short stroke
Not rotating body
Not paying attention on receive
Serving and receiving without a set gameplan

The biggest problem is my gimped strokes. When I start swinging too short and not with good mechanics, I lose confidence in my technique and thus all of these increase.

This is not in competition, just friendly competitive practice games. I've noticed I do far better with a crowd in "exhibition mode" where it "matters" how I look, as stupid as that sounds. All I know is it's sometimes caused by tiredness, but mostly it's a mental issue.

Should I play every point like I'll die if I don't win it? Will that just make it worse? etc.
 
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NDH

says Spin to win!
Sorry Arch, I hadn't seen this before.

You have described every player at some point in their career (well, certainly a good 99% of players!).

A few things to remember.

1. You can only play as well as your opponent. If Roger Federer played against me in a Tennis match, he would not look especially good - He would win very easy, without having to do a huge amount, but you would not look at him and go "wow".

2. If you are used to playing conventional people - mid level ability, but your typical topspin on both wings - and all of a sudden find yourself against a lower ranked player, but with a weird technique.... It can take time to adjust.

3. As soon as you lose confidence with your stroke, life gets 10X worse! Especially against lower ranked people because you are expected to win! In this situation, play the percentage shots - Keep the ball on the table, and start getting some rhythm back.

4. Tell yourself that this is a very important mach before you even start - If anything, "over do" the preparation - Bend nice and low, make it look like you are about to receive serve from Ma Long himself! You'll find that you'll be better equipped to play the points how you want!

At the end of the day, it's hard to motivate yourself against inferior opposition - Especially in a practice match.

One of the things I will do, is try and play 90% of my shots on one side (forehand or backhand) - I find this helps my footwork and anticipation - Whilst keeping me focussed.
 
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No need to apologize, it seems this thread got absolutely buried when I posted it.

The first point is what pains me. Good opposition is not easily accessible for me, but I've had this kind of feeling that I'm severely limiting myself by playing against inferior people.

I usually play unconventional people, but I play best against what you describe: a pretty standard player with conventional technique. I don't SCORE better against them, usually the games are very close, but I PLAY better against them. The unconventional people who are not really, really good at something go by very easily with anywhere from 11-0 to 11-5 at worst, because there's a reason their style is unconventional. :rolleyes:

I've attempted to psyche myself up and over-estimate my opponent's ability to receive what I can give him, and that usually resulted in several 11-2 matches, with only the occasional hickup here and there or good play from them, but still a very one-sided slaughter. They didn't want to play very much with me after that, hahah. So I have to be nice.

The last point is good. I'll try pitting my weakness vs their strength and see how it goes, for example. Ideally I'd just find better players, but that'll come in time.
 
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What I do in training games:

1) Against opponents that are much weaker I don't play at maximum neither. I won't talk about these as no matter what you do and how bad you play you should still win against them.

2) Against opponents that are slightly weaker I always say before the training match that I'll try my best and expect the same from them, otherwise I won't play them anymore the next days. I started this attitude a few months ago when I noticed that a lot of weaker training partners did not even try to win against me since they knew they are weaker and have no real chance. Moreover, they thought I was just fooling around playing with 50% effort. I experienced that most people don't want to be treated like that. They prefer an honest 0-3 over a faked 2-3 result where the better player starts playing with 100% at the standing of 2-8 in the final set, winning it 11-9 and let the weaker player alone looking like a complete idiot. If you beat such opponent with 100% effort 3-0 like 11-1, 11-3, 11-4 then proceed with 1). If it is a closer match like 3x 11-6 and you have done your best I think it is ok since if you have a bad day you could even lose some sets and the skill difference is not too big.

Advantages:
- You play every match seriously
- You can improve every match
- You learn to play against weaker opponents that still aren't too easy wins
---> you will get better and better playing against slightly weaker opponents, a loss against such an opponent becomes more and more unlikely even in competition matches

- Your opponent knows what his level is compared to yours, he does not feel fooled
- Your opponent improves by playing competitively against better people

When I play someone better in my club I always tell him to try to sweep me 11-0 away every set. I want that honest competition, only then I can compare results against the same opponent from time to time and notice my progress.
 

NDH

says Spin to win!
I think you hit the nail on the head when you spoke about the level of opponents Arch.

No amount of mental/physical preparation, is going to help against significantly weaker opposition - Even when you say you'll hit 90% on your forehand, it'll still be a false representation of your skill level and improved ability.

The way that I see it, is you can do 1 of the 2 options.

1. Somehow (I don't know how.....), find some better opposition - Anywhere! There is nothing that can replicate playing someone who has great fundamentals and can improve your game.

2. I appreciate this is easier said than done (given the financial implications.....), but you could buy a robot. Even an absolute basic one which can produce top spin and back spin will allow you to improve your shot making, without playing unconventional players (who tend to mess people's games up!).
 
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While I would be ready to go through the logistical hell of finding a good club to play at where there is people near or slightly above my level to play with who will play with me regularly, the travel costs alone would bleed me dry. Let's not even talk about a coach's fee.

The 2nd option would be good if not for the financial situation, but it's not the same thing. A robot might be able to give me a lot of spin really fast, but it can't mess me up like a good coach feeding multiball or a better player. The robot won't decide to do something unexpected, and it can't feign spin or placement with a movement either. I think you know what I mean.

I'm really just looking to maximize my own performance. Even if I don't need amazing footwork to win against these people, or barely any at all due to my positioning and reading, it's still no excuse not to take that one step like it's the best goddamn step you've taken.

Same thing with pushes, same thing with flicks, same thing with serves.

I used to serve really heavy backspin, the kind that would come back into the net, and I varied the spin to produce popups that I can attack. Back then, my attack was nowhere near the level of my serves, so I couldn't handle my own spin that came back, but now I can, and it's just too easy. I just serve long with no spin to get people to attack first.

I COULD go back to serving heavy with deception, receiving very bent as I used to, moving very actively and fast as I used to, but then no one would want to play with me.

It's not like I'm such a good coach that I can turn the people I'm playing with into decent players, either. That'd be great, though.
 
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Well, you know what you are doing wrong so you only have to force yourself to do better. It all comes down to mental strength. It is up to you.

However, I would not recommend to play your best table tennis against much weaker opponents, it is possible against only slightly weaker ones though. If you can only train with much weaker players then I don't see how you could improve in a way that satisfies you.
 
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Well, you know what you are doing wrong so you only have to force yourself to do better. It all comes down to mental strength. It is up to you.

However, I would not recommend to play your best table tennis against much weaker opponents, it is possible against only slightly weaker ones though. If you can only train with much weaker players then I don't see how you could improve in a way that satisfies you.

There are some people who I play with regularly who are not terribly far off. They're more conventional and can take me to 8-8 with a lot of fighting spirit, but I can still read them like a book and feel I always have the upper hand.

Once my fundamentals get more and more solid and I start spinning the ball even more and not being out of position and being able to play stronger shots, the gap will just increase. The weak players were near my level a few months ago.

It's a bit of a tricky situation.
 
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Well Archos... there are times when I play someone I can crush... but if I back off the aggression and they hit weird shots with unpredictable and always different impact then I lose too many points.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

I've noticed the same effect, but only because if I back off the aggression, I also stop caring about small details like, you know, footwork, anticipation, actually looking at the other player's contact etc.
 
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It is almost entirely a mental thing. Take it easy against lower players and then when it really counts...PANIC! haha and desperately try and focus. Unfortunately sometimes it's too late.

You need to be able to develop your mental game so that you treat every point with the same 'care'. This doesn't mean you should be expected to get pumped and scream from the barriers when you win points against someone much lower than you, it just means you should avoid complacency whether your opponent is an easy opponent or not.

I always find that developing set plays has been pivotal in me for overcoming weaknesses I had against lower players before. Strong service for lots of free points and predictable responses which will lead to the most efficient ways of winning points.

As for playing ugly shots, who cares, winning ugly is still winning ;)
 
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It is almost entirely a mental thing. Take it easy against lower players and then when it really counts...PANIC! haha and desperately try and focus. Unfortunately sometimes it's too late.

You need to be able to develop your mental game so that you treat every point with the same 'care'. This doesn't mean you should be expected to get pumped and scream from the barriers when you win points against someone much lower than you, it just means you should avoid complacency whether your opponent is an easy opponent or not.

I always find that developing set plays has been pivotal in me for overcoming weaknesses I had against lower players before. Strong service for lots of free points and predictable responses which will lead to the most efficient ways of winning points.

As for playing ugly shots, who cares, winning ugly is still winning ;)

Oohh, It's Matt. I've read through your blog. ;)

Thanks for the thoughts. They seem reasonable.

I don't care so much about winning and having success vs lower players, but more so what my performance is like. It's not that I have problems playing lower players: I just generally don't like my standard of play.

So I'll take your advice and try to treat the points with some more respect and care.
 
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Oohh, It's Matt. I've read through your blog. ;)

Thanks for the thoughts. They seem reasonable.

I don't care so much about winning and having success vs lower players, but more so what my performance is like. It's not that I have problems playing lower players: I just generally don't like my standard of play.

So I'll take your advice and try to treat the points with some more respect and care.

Well if you have any questions feel free to hit me up on email or on facebook :) Always happy to help where I can. Also sometimes if people want I can write posts to respond to specific questions etc.

It seems like you are able to analyse a lot of your problems so it's a matter of breaking each one down and focusing on how you plan to repair the problem through drills and match practice.

Even if you take for example something like not planning your points on serve and receive and just spend time in practice before you serve or receive and try and visualize a point and then see if you can actually make it play out that way. The closer you get to consistent success the better your tactical ability and execution will become in a real match.
 
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Even if you take for example something like not planning your points on serve and receive and just spend time in practice before you serve or receive and try and visualize a point and then see if you can actually make it play out that way. The closer you get to consistent success the better your tactical ability and execution will become in a real match.

This is a good one. When I use mental imagery to think of a play I want to perform, most often against weaker players it goes exactly like I want, and because I visualized myself playing it properly, I'll probably play it like that because it's more work to go against the plan, if you know what I mean.

I think I'll do this for every point.
 
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