Adapting To New Ball

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Hey guys,

I'd very much appreciate tips to adapt to the plastic ball. It's our first season (kind of) playing with that ball ("kind of" because clubs can still choose the type of ball in our region - so sometimes I'd play matches with plastic and sometimes with celluloid.). And honestly, it's been the worst season I've ever played. Very often I'd lose to players that I'd usually beat without breaking a sweat - simply because I miss way too many strokes.

Just recently, I've played a few matches in a tournament with celluloid and somehow the feeling was great - I was wondering why. Well, I guess it's because of the ball.

So with the plastic ball, it seems like I just cannot generate enough spin. I have to use a lot of power but the resulted stroke itself isn't powerful at all - and often just lands in the net/goes too far because of lack of spin. I've always been a spin oriented player, so that's been a problem to me. The last seasons, I would often open up with a softer slower topspin which'd lead to a direct point but nowadays with the plastic ball - well, it just doesn't work.
I cannot kill higher backspin balls either - I'm not sure why, it seems like that requires much more power to do, I'd put that into the net way too often.

Sure, it's still all me, I gotta improve my strokes - it's all a matter of training - but it's been 1/2 year playing with the ball and I've almost always been frustrated coming home from TT. That shouldn't be the case, I always loved TT and I'd hope to keep that - so I really need tips from you guys. What are specific tips to adapt to the new ball?
 
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What I do is:

1. Try to take the ball earlier
2. Took a faster blade before the season

That is what I changed. I adapted pretty well I'd say but now I sometimes got problems when playing with celluloid. I'm not used to that spin anymore... :D The rule in Germany is the worst, they should just have picked a date and from then on only allow the new balls.
 
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I feel your pain. I dislike switching between different plastic balls each week, but if I had to use celluloid as well then I'd lose my mind.

Like Fabian, the first thing I had to do was make sure I stood closer to the table and remember to stay very low. I used to have a bad habit of standing up after bigger FH shots but the 40+ balls punish you if you don't remain low. From there it was mainly spending a lot of time at the table doing drills until the familiar patterns of play started to feel predictable.

But your comment about spin - unfortunately, this isn't likely to come back to you. 40+ balls are just less spinny than cell. I used to rely on a heavy FH brush loop opener off backspin and I'd take a lot of direct points from that, or at least set up an easy subsequent shot. Now, because this shot generates height over the net and carries less spin threat, it gets hit through most of the time. A strength becomes a weakness.

Over time, I tend to drive more, keeping the ball arc lower and speed higher. I still use the brush opener, but more sparingly and I use the shorter arc on that shot to concentrate on placement rather then spin. So my openers tend to have more of an angle using sidespin to force the opponent out wide. But it's still a riskier strategy with the 40+, and if you look at the way the pro game has changed in the last 2-3 years it's more about countering from closer-in than looping with a high arc.
 
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it's been 1/2 year playing with the ball and I've almost always been frustrated coming home from TT. That shouldn't be the case, I always loved TT and I'd hope to keep that - so I really need tips from you guys. What are specific tips to adapt to the new ball?

It's our first season (kind of) playing with that ball ("kind of" because clubs can still choose the type of ball in our region - so sometimes I'd play matches with plastic and sometimes with celluloid.).

Just recently, I've played a few matches in a tournament with celluloid and somehow the feeling was great - I was wondering why. Well, I guess it's because of the ball.

Best advice I can give you is to STOP playing with celluloid. Everywhere. If someone asks you to play and they want to play celluloid, you might as well say "Why don't we just play with a 38mm ball then?" (joking). But it's the same thing. It's a thing of the past. Seriously just tell them "sorry i only play with plastic now."

This back & forth is killing your consistency & feel. It reminds you of how the plastic ball is different. So play nothing but the plastic ball your club uses. Do not play someone if they insist on playing celluloid. Push & encourage your club to play with plastic. That's silly if there are still clubs playing celluloid & unacceptable IMO. The change happened in 2014 I'm pretty sure.

If you have a robot at home? Get rid of those celluloid. Only plastic. In no time flat, you will have forgotten what celluloid was like and you'll just regard the (i'm not even going to say new because it's not... 2014) plastic ball as normal and that's really what you want.

I think part of what you're dealing with is largely mental. You're thinking okay I need more spin I have to change and do this or swing forward more on that, etc. I know for a fact that our club players just hit normal and they've adjusted to the new ball without even thinking about it. It just feels normal to them. That's where we want you to be.
 
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Hey guys,

I'd very much appreciate tips to adapt to the plastic ball. It's our first season (kind of) playing with that ball ("kind of" because clubs can still choose the type of ball in our region - so sometimes I'd play matches with plastic and sometimes with celluloid.). And honestly, it's been the worst season I've ever played. Very often I'd lose to players that I'd usually beat without breaking a sweat - simply because I miss way too many strokes.

Just recently, I've played a few matches in a tournament with celluloid and somehow the feeling was great - I was wondering why. Well, I guess it's because of the ball.

So with the plastic ball, it seems like I just cannot generate enough spin. I have to use a lot of power but the resulted stroke itself isn't powerful at all - and often just lands in the net/goes too far because of lack of spin. I've always been a spin oriented player, so that's been a problem to me. The last seasons, I would often open up with a softer slower topspin which'd lead to a direct point but nowadays with the plastic ball - well, it just doesn't work.
I cannot kill higher backspin balls either - I'm not sure why, it seems like that requires much more power to do, I'd put that into the net way too often.

Sure, it's still all me, I gotta improve my strokes - it's all a matter of training - but it's been 1/2 year playing with the ball and I've almost always been frustrated coming home from TT. That shouldn't be the case, I always loved TT and I'd hope to keep that - so I really need tips from you guys. What are specific tips to adapt to the new ball?

Maybe an equipment change is in order? Like a more flexy or softer blade.
What blade and rubbers are you using now?
 
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Best advice I can give you is to STOP playing with celluloid. Everywhere. If someone asks you to play and they want to play celluloid, you might as well say "Why don't we just play with a 38mm ball then?" (joking). But it's the same thing. It's a thing of the past. Seriously just tell them "sorry i only play with plastic now."

This back & forth is killing your consistency & feel. It reminds you of how the plastic ball is different. So play nothing but the plastic ball your club uses. Do not play someone if they insist on playing celluloid. Push & encourage your club to play with plastic. That's silly if there are still clubs playing celluloid & unacceptable IMO. The change happened in 2014 I'm pretty sure.

If you have a robot at home? Get rid of those celluloid. Only plastic. In no time flat, you will have forgotten what celluloid was like and you'll just regard the (i'm not even going to say new because it's not... 2014) plastic ball as normal and that's really what you want.

I think part of what you're dealing with is largely mental. You're thinking okay I need more spin I have to change and do this or swing forward more on that, etc. I know for a fact that our club players just hit normal and they've adjusted to the new ball without even thinking about it. It just feels normal to them. That's where we want you to be.

Well, that's easier said than done.

In practice matches one can decide which ball is used, but not in league matches.
in Germany both type of balls are still allowed until summer 2019 for the lower leagues and non-official tournaments. Also many clubs have/had a huge stock of cellballs.
In the league the home team has to sponsor the balls for the match and hence gets to choose what type of ball will be used.

The best advice and only solution iMO until summer 2019 is to be able to adapt as fast as possible between the different type of balls.
So practicing with a bucket half c-ball and half p-ball would make the most sense.
 
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in Germany both type of balls are still allowed until summer 2019 for the lower leagues and non-official tournaments. Also many clubs have/had a huge stock of cellballs.
In the league the home team has to sponsor the balls for the match and hence gets to choose what type of ball will be used.

I'm just going to come out and say it then. That's dumb for any & all German clubs that do this.

Players are just screwed constantly tweaking their play & feel between two different ball materials that play a fair amount different. To the OP if this is your situation? I'm sorry. You're screwed it seems until 2019 when these German clubs join what everybody else did in 2015. ;)
 
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I don't know. Even pros of either gender like DO and Ishikawa have trouble adapting from celluloid to ABS. And constantly switching between the two? May as well play tennis instead.
 
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Yep. That is a self-inflicted wound.

True. Though it's nothing us players get to decide. DTTB decision.
[Edit: and club managers' who decide which ball is bought and used]

I guess they had to pull that option 'cause many clubs (and probably tt-stores as well) had huge piles of cellballs still on stock.
Slowly they seem to be running out of them though and many licenses for balls won't be renewed after summer 2018 so clubs are forced to buy p-balls.
Two to three years ago one of the representatives from regional tt-assosciations like HeTTV said that the cellballs will never expire and will be around forever. Hah... Bla bla.
The one who said so isn't in position anymore.
 
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I'm just going to come out and say it then. That's dumb for any & all German clubs that do this.

Players are just screwed constantly tweaking their play & feel between two different ball materials that play a fair amount different. To the OP if this is your situation? I'm sorry. You're screwed it seems until 2019 when these German clubs join what everybody else did in 2015. ;)

Yup, I guess I'm screwed, that's exactly my situation. I guess each time switching balls really screws with my consistency - like today I was training with plastic but tomorrow I'll have a league match with celluloid... Already predicting that I won't be able to lift backspin balls because they just suddenly seem to have so much spin.
So yeah, I know in the opening post I said I'm mainly having problems with plastic, but indeed I remember always being horrible when the next sessions we suddenly have to use different balls. Nothing I can do about that, I guess. Great idea of the DTTB. :rolleyes:

Maybe an equipment change is in order? Like a more flexy or softer blade.
What blade and rubbers are you using now?

Not sure - some people have suggested faster equipment to me. I'm using 2x Rakza X Yasaka and some Nittaku Clout wood.


Thanks for all the tips, guys! I'll try to incorporate those into my practice sessions.
 
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I don't know. Even pros of either gender like DO and Ishikawa have trouble adapting from celluloid to ABS. And constantly switching between the two? May as well play tennis instead.

I can't imagine having to switch back and forth from celluloid to any 40+. It will make it so you can't play with either one. There is just no good way to do it.

I have no advice to offer the OP except my condolences.

It's been four years since 2014! German clubs that persist with this need to accept where we are at now and move on, and the German federation should not have extended the date so far. If they don't accept current reality, they are creating the problem. I know, nearly all of us liked celluloid balls better, but being stuborn or cheap does no one any good.

Back in 2014 I had a huge stash of celluloid balls. Hundreds of them in buckets, mostly Nittaku and Butterfly, and not too worn. Early that year I gave them to a private school because I knew I had to switch.
 
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Indeed. In smaller clubs in the East (my only experience) some people haven't even tried the plastic ones. Training and matches invariably with celluloid, people asking if I liked "the new balls", which felt like being in a different dimension as the debate has got so old elsewhere.
Of course the cost issue is a valid one when most clubs are non-profit associations, using town premises and running on sometimes near-zero budgets ([subsidised] tables every fifteen years, plastic cups and orange juice for match day and voilà, pretty much). In this regard it's enlightening to read on another thread how most clubs are run in East Asia, the main differences here being the cost of playing and existence of paid coaches (both close to zero in France, away from the bigger clubs). Plenty of small clubs, however, even in small towns and villages.
I looked up your place and it's already on the bigger side (nice region!), which all at once is a different story.
On a personal note (I live in CZ and can't train regularly at the moment), it made me realise I didn't miss the celluloid so much, which I thought I did.
 
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By the way @thomas, I was referring to Franche-Comté and the Northern bits of it in particular. Never been famed for its being light years ahead of everyone else, although of course that's something of a draw to it.

Hahaha. It's pretty though, and great cheese!

I was actually surprised to see the plastic balls so widely used in my area when I moved back from the US. The A team in my club plays at the national level so I think this has something to do with it. I'm still expecting some surprises along the way, but hopefully not in league matches.
 
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Have not read the replies here. If you are an amateur player try out a few plastic balls and stick with one that is good enough for you. At the beginning it feels different pretty much. After 20 training sessions you have adjusted automatically to a degree where you play just as you were used to. Sure, a few balls here and there don't behave like they should due to bad quality but that is the exception. No need to actively change strokes or techniques, this will happen automatically if needed. No need to change equipment immediately, get used to the plastic ball first. It is still table tennis. Keep on training and that's it.
 
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I can't imagine having to switch back and forth from celluloid to any 40+. It will make it so you can't play with either one. There is just no good way to do it.

I have no advice to offer the OP except my condolences.

It's been four years since 2014! German clubs that persist with this need to accept where we are at now and move on, and the German federation should not have extended the date so far. If they don't accept current reality, they are creating the problem. I know, nearly all of us liked celluloid balls better, but being stuborn or cheap does no one any good.

Back in 2014 I had a huge stash of celluloid balls. Hundreds of them in buckets, mostly Nittaku and Butterfly, and not too worn. Early that year I gave them to a private school because I knew I had to switch.

Well it is what it is. Lamenting won't change a bit so might as well we just try to make the best of it.

The other option is to only play in official tournaments and higher leagues, 'cause they had to use the p-balls from day one or rather... 2014. But that's not very realistic for an amateur player.
 
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