Hello from Leeds UK

Hello table tennis players.

I've just registered and thought I would introduce myself, my name is Vince and I am 50 years old. I used to play TT at school and loved it at the time, I remember my old teacher Mr Graham was a very good pen hold player.

Now I've started playing with friends I used to go to school with and one of the guys keeps beating me.

So, in order to improve, I have visited the "Dewsbury and District" table tennis club in Heckmondwyke on a Friday evenings, the idea being that I will improve if playing against better players. I have indeed improved, but my record against my friend has gotten worse. Speaking to Garry at the club, he thinks that my improvement has made me attack more and go to "win the point" rather than what I was doing before which is simply trying to keep the ball on the table long enough for him to make a mistake.

I have also just purchased a table and a robot and have put them into my double garage for more practice.

This is just an introduction, I'll ask in the right forum for some tips with the "robot" and beating my mate.

Oh, and I was asked to play for the team the other week, so that's not a bad thing.

Kind Regards
Vince

Dan said:

Hey Vince!

Welcome to the site! Great stuff, I coach a lot of guys like you on a Friday night at the Bristol Table Tennis Academy and one thing I emphasize to is to keep the dam ball on the table . Like Garry said, keeping the ball on the table, working on consistency, spin and footwork will really develop your game quickly.

The robot will help your game advance to. Focus on contacting the ball at the top of the bounce and working on recovery. You can also do a lot of serve practice in your spare time to, this will increase your level of play.

Welcome to TTD!

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I will try and keep the ball on the table as the number 1 objective instead of trying to "kill him" which is what I really want to do… ;-) The other night I had him running ragged, it was great to watch him trying to get his breath back :lol:

One of my major problems I suppose is that I suffer slightly with my knees. They are starting to wear out because I'm a fat git. Bending at the knee and standing like a "goalie" waiting for a penalty to be taken can hurt at times, but not all the time. I am loosing weight so hopefully the knee problem will solve itself over time.

SpinQuark said:

Hi Vince,

I am one of those guys Dan refers to. One year older than you and have also had some running rivalry over the last couple of years with my TT league team mate. There are so many layers to this sport that it takes time to build some of them up. In three league seasons I have have moved my win rate from 17% to 62% and this season 86% and chasing promotion. What would I recommend:

1:1 Coaching with a good coach (Dan has been a great coach for me)
Video yourself playing (Unfortunately at our age what you think your body is doing is not always what it is actually doing)
Focus on improving key basic strokes and forget all those fancy flips, banana shots, side spin etc for a while
Plenty of constructive table time with plenty of different opponents (I do 2hrs 3 or 4 times a week) - I think there is a theory that for skill based sports it takes 10000 hrs to reach top levels.
Play serves and attacking shots into the opponents body/dead zone.
Try to have one or two key thoughts/points you are trying to improve in each practice session.

Anyways good to see you on the site. Have fun!

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I'm nervous about videoing myself, just because my mate would smell a rat, he's no dummy. Thanks for the tips, I need to develop my backhand for sure, It misses a lot of the time.

maze71 said:

I play in Leeds league, Ive played at Dewsbury TT Centre, it's is a very good place to train and receive coaching, they have some very good players.

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Don't I know it. We play top table on a Friday night, and I went a few weeks without moving from the bottom. I occasionally make it to the second table now, and the week before last actually made it to table 3

Tony's Table Tennis said:

Hey Vince,

Welcome back to the sport. TT is really addictive and most importantly it is a sport one can play for life (compared to others where after a certain age, you will become a spectator only).

Sounds like you are having great fun, good luck and i'm sure you are already on the right path to defeat your old foe

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Thanks for the welcome Tony. I'm really glad I've found it again. I hope to play for years, I was a golfer but table tennis is better and is better for you.

Oh, and I really believe it won't be long before I'm beating my old mate on a regular basis.

Regards
Vince