Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[Der_Echte]

Anytime there are such as and chicken and beer bets there will be tt.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[JeffM]

I played as a substitute for B grade yesterday again, but I didn't post last night as it was late already when I got home, and I had to go to hosp early today.

Overall impression: My RPB ytd was not as good, but my forehands were quite stable, so I played a bit more like a penholder lol.

First singles: Against a 9yo kid, who has improved so much since last year. His forehands were great! Backhand also not weak. But I found out that he seems to have trouble with me serving shorter, so I did that along with varying my serves long and short, direction as well. Won that match 3-1.

Second singles: Against a shakehander who isn't as aggressive in his strokes but had awesome tomahawk serves and block. I had trouble with his serves, not that I cannot return them back, but that I wasn't used to playing someone that serves them exclusively. He has some good variations to it, and I resorted to simply pushing them softly which is not my style of play. I think I should have been more aggressive with receiving his topspin serves. He also received my serves in a way I didn't expect him to do a lot, which is to put it to my forehand side kind of short but popped up. So I missed a few of those, and then after a while, when I won the points looping them back, he got used to blocking them back, then I wasn't in a good position to kill the 5th blocked ball. Lost that match 3-0.

Our team also has a member who had an acute illness which gave him a stiff neck ytd, so he didn't play well at all, so at that stage, we were in a difficult situation, and I had to win my remaining single and doubles for my team to have a chance.
I played the doubles and won it convincingly 3-0.

Doubles: I think I was again angry with my performance in the previous singles, so I just let it out and did some good serve receive and did some good serve deception that my opponent has trouble with. I was surprised that when my partner gave me the tip as to what to serve, it turned out alright.

Third singles: Against a shakehander who seemed like an overall good player, playing as the no1 seed on the opponent's team. My team thought my chance against him was low, given my two other teammates have lost against him. Anyway, I have nothing to lose, and I try not to focus on the team score, and give it my best try. My serves were a bit difficult for him to read, so that gave me an advantage at the beginning. I took a lead of 2-0. Then somehow I lost the next 2 games very close, all only by 2 points. I re-gathered myself, and took the advice from my friend who came to give me advice throughout the matches. I took down the 3rd set and won 3-2. I noticed that I was 'choing' in that match, and it seemed to help me focus and perform better.

At that stage, the team score was 5-5, but the other teammate who had the illness lost the last match, so our team lost 5-6. I am not affected by whether my team win or lose, as I am just a substitute for them. But in general, I am happy, that I am finally winning more matches than losing in the B grade. The last few times, I usually win only 1 singles. Overall, I am satisfied with the result of wining 3 out of my 4 matches. I have come to appreciate the significance of varying the serves, to attack when the time is right, and to bring a friend along so he can act as a coach to give me some insight to what I cannot see when playing.

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

JeffM,

That is awesome Si-hing!! CONGRATULATIONS!!

A friend loves the tomahawk serve and it sometimes gets me. Hopefully you have enough experience from the 3 games from your 2nd singles match.

It's easy for anyone to say focus on the here and now, the present, and do not dwell on the past ... but it's hard to do. Glad you were able to re-gather yourself in your 3rd singles - up 2-0, then it became a winner takes all 5th game. Do not think of winning or losing the game and/or match. Only think of the point ... one point at a time. And something I learned long ago... if you doubt yourself, you would have one more enemy. Although maybe warranted given your 3rd singles was vs their top seed and your team thought you would lose, you did what i would've done... do not think of winning or losing ... nothing to lose attitude ... you never know the outcome until you start the game... you may exploit a weakness better than your teammates, you may have a serve that your teammates don't execute as well as you, etc. Just play your best.

Congratulations again!

 

[JeffM]

Thank you for your encouragement, OSP

Even though I lost, I am happy that I had the opportunity to face the tomahawk serve in a match setting. After reviewing my video, I think I have gained some insight.

I agree with you! "if you doubt yourself, you would have one more enemy"
With table tennis, I think everything is possible. My predictions were always wrong, so there is no fixed rule as to who will win or who will lose. During unigames and last week, my RPB was landing quite consistently, and I was using it as my main means of points, yet yesterday, I was feeling too rushed/nervous that they simply don't land enough, so I had to use my forehand loop more often.
All we can do in a match situation, is to take it point by point, and give it our best shot. If you win, great. If you lose, take it as a learning opportunity.

Thanks again!

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

Hello TTD CCers!

Last night's AAR

Weather getting cooler. Got to the club at 5:30. Full but not jam-packed. Perhaps it's the weather.

I put on a Stiga Clipper short pips onto the backside of a Nexy Amazon Cpen to make it a little heavier. My FH is a MX-P. I am an oldschool penholder and play single-sided CPen. Last week, I tried a DHS H3. Was not used to the weight of 2 inverted rubbers.

Weight

The weight of the MX-P and short pips was sort of ok, maybe it's a mental thing, but it seemed lighter than the 2 inverted rubbers I had before. You would think it lighter. But when I got home, my hand/forearm seemed to have some discomfort. This morning is the same. Will monitor this closely as I fear I may have the onset of CTS (carpal tunnel syndrome) from 30 years of typing on computer keyboards, massaging, etc. IMO I didn't play enough TT/Penholder grup (with the 30 yrs break) to cause the CTS.

Play

When I started to 'officially' learn how to play TT ages ago, i started off with short pips CPen. I don't recall how long I played pips, maybe 1 yr before I switched to inverted rubber. Last night, the short pips was an eye-opening experience. 90% of my shots hit into the net I played the pips as a 1-sided CPen.

My friend 42andbackpains warned me about the short pips but having not hit with pips in over 30 yrs, I had to experience it to understand what he meant. He said the Stiga Clipper would be slow compared to the Spinlord Waran.

I did not try any RPB loop or block.

Tonight, I will try the Waran, which is supposed to be faster and bouncier than the Stiga Clipper short pips.

Twiddling

Never twiddle before, after a few minutes, found a way which works fast for me. Although the racket is vertical and gravity helped, I need to find a way to twiddle with the racket slightly horizontal. Or perhaps I need to have it vertical to twiddle fast than get it back into ready position.

@Archo, you wondered how a CPen can twiddle... i've found what worked for me is to take my middle finger from the back and have it twiddle the blade around and then take up position in the back again. Captured to video for 30 secs of my twiddling, however, failed to upload 2x. Not sure why.

------------------------------

1) Hit with "Mommy" for ~30 mins - I call her 'si-jeh' (Cantonese term stemming from martial arts, taken to mean 'martial elder sister', but used in popular culture as a term of respect) ... everyone at the club though calls her 'Mommy'.

She is also an oldschool penholder. Uses chinese rubber. As I hit with her, her balls seem to die out. Not much bounce. I'm starting to see the differences of Chinese rubbers vs non-chinese rubbers. She hits for exercise and for fun. So I just tried hitting with the pips, blocking with both the pips and the MX-P. Mostly I was blocking for her.

2) Played "K" next. He is my arch-nemesis LOL Have not beaten him in a match yet. Always close games. Posted a video of one of our matches before.

He basically has nospin serves, plays steady away from the table SH. Has a good FH loop and BH smash, but generally plays passively. When my attacks are 'on', they generally overwhelm him. I'm my own worst enemy though via my inconsistent play.

The club was not packed. Started off just hitting with him and we both would've been ok with just hitting and not play a set as he knows i lose to him. He has helped me before with my 'picks', looping, and general game. But someone called "Next" and we started a match.

Lost 3-1, 3rd game won at extended deuce. Had 2 killer loops... didn't remember to video the matches I punched him side-to-side and picked my spot to smash or loop. 50/50. Again, I'm my own worst enemy. "K" realizes when playing against me, to play steady and let me make the mistake. He is challenged by my ball control of moving him side-to-side as well as my smashes. Getting used to the weight of the short pips, i was able to smash pretty well... looping though, i was like 40/60.

The member who had next left when a table opened up. "K" and I played a 2nd match. Pretty much the same as the first match.

3) Hit with "J" next. Kind of mentally and physically wiped out, but it's fun to hit with J. He has wicked sidespin loops. I posted a video of my rockets serves and 3rd ball practice with J before. I blocked for him only and after 30 mins, called it quits.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Not sure why, but the club was relatively empty after 7pm! Chalking it up to the weather. ~2.5 hrs last night of play. Left at 8:30 after cooling off.

Looking forward to tonight and trying out the Spinlord Waran short pips on my BH side.

Thank you TTD CCers!

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

All we can do in a match situation, is to take it point by point, and give it our best shot. If you win, great. If you lose, take it as a learning opportunity.

Salute! / *ging lai*

 

[NextLevel]

Yes, I know it is all we can do, but we can always ask for more .

 

[NextLevel]

Yesterday, went 1-4 in the league as the D/E player in Group1. Beat the F player but lost to everyone else. It was mildly frustrating but I took it as evidence that everyone else had done their homework but I hadn't completed mine. The bottom line is that I need to play the 2000+ players in my club more often and more consistently while practicing moving faster but staying in balance.

 

[JeffM]

This is the 3rd singles. Any comments are welcomed.

 

[NextLevel]

Was trying to find the last video you posted to see if my eyes were deceiving me or there was a difference in level of opposition but your game seems to have gone up at least a level or a level and a half. I would like to pretend you listened to my advice but it is never that easy. Maybe I just didn't watch or remember the last video properly, but the timing and technique on the forehand is much better and much more spin oriented. The backhand still needs some work, but it is not bad. The serves definitely need work even if your opponent wasn't attacking them. There just doesn't seem to be enough short, fast and well timed whip on the serve. The whole approach just seemed more refined and more like what I would expect from a coached player and I wouldn't have said that about the last video I saw except for a very short portion.

The other thing you have to fix in addition to your serves is your read of serves and spin. Maybe you should watch this match in slow motion and look at the angle of contact of your opponent and then look at how the spin took on your racket. You kept mistaking slow topspin/sidespin for backspin and sometimes, it was your light touch that saved you and not the correct read of the serve spin. If you look closely at the contact and the racket angle at contact as well as how the ball comes off, you will usually get the spin correct and only maybe miss the amount of spin or whether the serve is no-spin. I would encourage you to watch the video in slow motion and see that if you look at the angle and how the racket moved before and after contact, you can tell the spin on the ball. That will encourage you to focus more closely when the opponent is serving so that you don't miss the contact or assume that slow balls are all backspin. Or maybe you are reading the serves properly but the ball is so slow that you are taking your racket downwards rather than taking it backwards. In either case, figure out what the fix is.

I enjoyed watching the match. You should have won faster but life doesn't always work that way .

 

[JeffM]

Was trying to find the last video you posted to see if my eyes were deceiving me or there was a difference in level of opposition but your game seems to have gone up at least a level or a level and a half. I would like to pretend you listened to my advice but it is never that easy. Maybe I just didn't watch or remember the last video properly, but the timing and technique on the forehand is much better and much more spin oriented. The backhand still needs some work, but it is not bad. The serves definitely need work even if your opponent wasn't attacking them. There just doesn't seem to be enough short, fast and well timed whip on the serve. The whole approach just seemed more refined and more like what I would expect from a coached player and I wouldn't have said that about the last video I saw except for a very short portion.

The other thing you have to fix in addition to your serves is your read of serves and spin. Maybe you should watch this match in slow motion and look at the angle of contact of your opponent and then look at how the spin took on your racket. You kept mistaking slow topspin/sidespin for backspin and sometimes, it was your light touch that saved you and not the correct read of the serve spin. If you look closely at the contact and the racket angle at contact as well as how the ball comes off, you will usually get the spin correct and only maybe miss the amount of spin or whether the serve is no-spin. I would encourage you to watch the video in slow motion and see that if you look at the angle and how the racket moved before and after contact, you can tell the spin on the ball. That will encourage you to focus more closely when the opponent is serving so that you don't miss the contact or assume that slow balls are all backspin. Or maybe you are reading the serves properly but the ball is so slow that you are taking your racket downwards rather than taking it backwards. In either case, figure out what the fix is.

I enjoyed watching the match. You should have won faster but life doesn't always work that way .

Thanks NL for the encouragement. I'm happy that you enjoyed the video, so I am not just posting the video for myself haha (took me 9 hours to upload it... internet in Perth)... I am happy that you may have seen some improvement in my forehand and my approach. Yeah, I find reading the serves is still tricky for me. I had re-watched the video twice, and it seems to make more sense now.

 

[ttmonster]

So here is the thing , depending on the level of oppositions serve return somethings longer/half long serves give you easier balls to attack, however as long as you are doing it on purpose for tactical reasons , its fine. But you should aim at practicing short serves and then when you are playing practice games you should implement them and then take it to match play.
Also, I don't know, I might be wrong and NL / others can comment further on this if they find this correct, I somehow find you take too much time to get into ready position after serving ... may be its just the slowness of the video .. so don't pay any attention to this unless somebody seconds this

 

[NextLevel]

So here is the thing , depending on the level of oppositions serve return somethings longer/half long serves give you easier balls to attack, however as long as you are doing it on purpose for tactical reasons , its fine. But you should aim at practicing short serves and then when you are playing practice games you should implement them and then take it to match play.
Also, I don't know, I might be wrong and NL / others can comment further on this if they find this correct, I somehow find you take too much time to get into ready position after serving ... may be its just the slowness of the video .. so don't pay any attention to this unless somebody seconds this

I think his recovers fine- the racket position is a bit different from his serve return position, but he is facing the table. You can put the video in slow motion and see that when the ball bounces on the other side, he is ready to play the next shot. It can always be faster, and if he serves better, he will have to recover faster of course.

 

[Boogar]

This is the 3rd singles. Any comments are welcomed.

Well played Jeff!

I would love to play you so much I think we are around the same stage in the process of learning tt.

Btw I just watched your piano videos. Really wow did you learn to play the piano by yourself as well?

 

[JeffM]

Well played Jeff!

I would love to play you so much I think we are around the same stage in the process of learning tt.

Btw I just watched your piano videos. Really wow did you learn to play the piano by yourself as well?

Thanks Boogar! Would love to play with you too

Thanks I used to have a piano teacher, and used to do exams too. But every since I started my 2nd degree, I don't have much time for it, and now I use my little time for tt. Do you play an instrument too?

 

[Boogar]

Thanks Boogar! Would love to play with you too

Thanks I used to have a piano teacher, and used to do exams too. But every since I started my 2nd degree, I don't have much time for it, and now I use my little time for tt. Do you play an instrument too?

Jea I used to play the drumset. But nowadays i don't have any space to build it up. Hence haven't played in a while

On an other branch: How does the rating system in Australia work? Could you explain it to me? I take interest in stuff like that.

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

JeffM,

Awesomeness! OK, after having watched that video, when we play, you gotta spot me 7 points! LOL at me!

 

[JeffM]

Jea I used to play the drumset. But nowadays i don't have any space to build it up. Hence haven't played in a while

On an other branch: How does the rating system in Australia work? Could you explain it to me? I take interest in stuff like that.

Nice, drums are always good for music.
Sorry I don't really know the rating system well myself, maybe others can explain it.

 

[JeffM]

JeffM,

Awesomeness! OK, after having watched that video, when we play, you gotta spot me 7 points! LOL at me!

LOL OSP!
I can spot you 7 points, but you spot me 7 points back?

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

Last night's AAR

Tried the Spinlord Waran last night as the backside of my Cpen. It seemed a bit bouncier and/or faster than the Stiga Clipper short pips i tried 2 nights ago but it will take me a bit of time if i wanted to only play one-sided CPen with short pips. Totally different than i remembered from 30 yrs ago when i played "pimps"

The weight of even a short pips rubber on the back is too heavy for me. Not accustomed to it. Last night confirmed my suspicions... I may have the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome or some related grip/hand issues Hand hurt. Today is a bit better, but still periodic discomfort.

I will order a long pips ox and try that just to give the blade a little more weight and also protect the backside.

I had some good shots last night ... the weight of the blade felt great for smashing and looping, minimized vibration, however, my hand hurts and i felt the blade without a 2nd rubber was smashing and looping well also.

Played "K" and lost to him yet again... 3-1, 2 games at deuce. No video sadly. Some great ball control on my part, moving him side-to-side... punching was good... smashing was awesome. Still inconsistent though, won half those points...

Played "B" next. He's a 1900 shakehand ... awesome FH loops... sometimes a BH loop. Only played him 1 or 2x in past, he killed me. Mostly i couldn't read his serves. Lost 3 straight. But some of my quality on shots were good.

Called it a night after that with hand hurting. Club was relatively empty. Perhaps it's the cooler weather or perhaps it's the Jewish holidays. Not sure.

EDIT: sad that i have to give up on the short pips idea of me perhaps playing like Liu Guo Liang. Not that I'm not up for the challenge of learning to play with pips, but got back into TT too late. My hand/grip can't take the weight of an inverted plus short pips. i have a medium pips rubber also, not even going to try it. Don't think the ox LP will add that much more weight to blade so i will put it on for that as well as protect the back and conform to the TT rules of altenating colors of Red/Black.