Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[TareqPhoto]

Is there a national championships tournament in UAE? Have you ever played in one? I've seen a few UAE locals play in Kuwait/Qatar open, have you played them in official matches? Just curious to know.

No, we don't have national championship tournament, but we do have a league, UAE TT league, and only members of the specific clubs are only eligible to play in it, so i can't play with them until i become a member in one of those clubs, but in my local town club i played against members there and i won over them all, they aren't strong to higher level clubs, but there is no ranking or rating system anyway, and honestly speaking and it is not rude, those members are playing like most members videos here, that is why i posted earlier before regarding about playing style of videos i saw here.

But to be honest, we have an academy in a club, i am a member there, and the members there are truly so skilled or higher level, and when i said that in one year someone can go from zero to hero because there are 2 members i knew since last year in Feb-March, i was beating them and many members beating them too, now those two members beating many players and even beating me easily, so if you don't believe in someone getting different level in 1 year how they managed to be like that then? they had training sessions, so that, and i also train with my almost same level friend since last year so that my style also changed, and i trained with him on those kind of serves i was complaining about, and this friend truly beaten some members in that academy too, not all of them, but we don't have some kind of ratings, only in that academy they have that ranking only if members playing in their every friday rumble tournaments, i don't join it because friday is my family day and i did few rumbles and didn't go far either.

 

[ttpshot]

No, we don't have national championship tournament, but we do have a league, UAE TT league, and only members of the specific clubs are only eligible to play in it, so i can't play with them until i become a member in one of those clubs, but in my local town club i played against members there and i won over them all, they aren't strong to higher level clubs, but there is no ranking or rating system anyway, and honestly speaking and it is not rude, those members are playing like most members videos here, that is why i posted earlier before regarding about playing style of videos i saw here.

But to be honest, we have an academy in a club, i am a member there, and the members there are truly so skilled or higher level, and when i said that in one year someone can go from zero to hero because there are 2 members i knew since last year in Feb-March, i was beating them and many members beating them too, now those two members beating many players and even beating me easily, so if you don't believe in someone getting different level in 1 year how they managed to be like that then? they had training sessions, so that, and i also train with my almost same level friend since last year so that my style also changed, and i trained with him on those kind of serves i was complaining about, and this friend truly beaten some members in that academy too, not all of them, but we don't have some kind of ratings, only in that academy they have that ranking only if members playing in their every friday rumble tournaments, i don't join it because friday is my family day and i did few rumbles and didn't go far either.

I do believe in you. What you said is totaly legitimate(a player getting beter by practicing for 1 year). Like everything, all things are relative. There's no doubt there are many good players over there and you are one of them. Good for you, keep working hard.

 

[JeffM]

First game - some nice loops! Uncharacteristically your RPB failed Not sure when you middle finger got hurt, didn't see you reacting to pain/discomfort or which point it could've occurred. Speedy and healthy recovery!




2nd game - some nice attacks!! Early on the return of your RPB!!

4:29-4:32 - nice 2nd ball return! Different "look" ... almost psyched your opponent out.
8:42-8:45 - 3rd game, nice RPB block or punch! You keep doing that, you don't need the traditional PH block/punch.



Ah, he was the umpire in your 2nd singles... perhaps he wanted to watch you play and get intel.

First game, many unforced errors... your middle finger must've hurt very bad.
6:35-6:41 / 9:26-9:33 - EXCELLENT!

Said it once, will say again, inspiring for me to watch your games! You show me what i need to work on, namely serve easy serve to nice, easy and smooth 3rd ball loop - throughout your matches, but here's one where I can hear NextLevel and Der go, "aaaaah!!!!" 9:20-9:25) to get to your level.

THANK YOU!

Thanks for your analysis and the encouragement OSP! It is always good to know someone has watched the videos as it literally took me 24 hr non stop to upload them, due to how slow internet is here.

Yeah the injury on my index finger is bad. It is still swollen and I have deep pain still. I made so many unforced error it was painful to watch the video.

I haven't played you so maybe your level is higher than mine

 

[Archosaurus]

I was just sick, and now I'm going to school on 2+1 hours of sleep after a horrible miscalculation on an urgent task that I had to stay overnight to complete.

Knowing my previous track record concerning low sleep and athletics, I should play some amazing table tennis today.

 

[suds79]

If you want a good laugh, get a load of the size of this LP sheet I got from ttnpp.

Guai Jiao Huang Special Large Pips.

ridiculous.

Not ITTF approved just as a heads up. The longest pips I've seen.

I'll keep you all posted with my impressions.

 

[Archosaurus]

Unsurprisingly, but quite disappointingly, I didn't play that well today. Maybe the sub 3 hours of sleep had something to do with it.

However I felt a lot of stuff that I could improve. I think I am really homing in on a reliable way to produce good topspin and I feel a ton of things in my footwork that I could improve. Mind you, feel, not know. I actually somewhat have an idea now of what better form feels like compared to my current form. Instead of just baseless idea crafting.

However implementation will be difficult. I guess I will just do a ton of shadow drills for now and try to replicate the feeling consistently against a real ball.


One thing I have been doing is playing much worse players, and we're talking probably 500 USATT to 1000 max here, and trying to keep strict form in my footwork and strokes. The tempo is so slow and off pace that I feel goofy because I can nearly read a short novel by the time the ball comes to me, but it really has shown me how unrefined and uncoached my footwork + strokes are. However if I do it right, I can really notice it. I think the better my footwork becomes and the more control I have over my strokes, the better it will feel. Eventually it will become habit and normal, and it will not feel goofy at any pace.

@suds79

Sweet Clipper. I think I will try out a penhold blade one day, because I'm really interested in playing penhold somewhat seriously to see what it's like.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

If you want a good laugh, get a load of the size of this LP sheet I got from ttnpp.

Guai Jiao Huang Special Large Pips.

ridiculous.

Not ITTF approved just as a heads up. The longest pips I've seen.

I'll keep you all posted with my impressions.

View attachment 11317View attachment 11318View attachment 11319

LP rubbers need to be bigger. Some defensive blades are as large as:

159x165mm

A standard head size for an offensive blade is:

150x157mm


Sent from the Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

 

[suds79]

One thing I have been doing is playing much worse players, and we're talking probably 500 USATT to 1000 max here, and trying to keep strict form in my footwork and strokes. The tempo is so slow and off pace that I feel goofy because I can nearly read a short novel by the time the ball comes to me, but it really has shown me how unrefined and uncoached my footwork + strokes are. However if I do it right, I can really notice it. I think the better my footwork becomes and the more control I have over my strokes, the better it will feel. Eventually it will become habit and normal, and it will not feel goofy at any pace.

@suds79

Sweet Clipper. I think I will try out a penhold blade one day, because I'm really interested in playing penhold somewhat seriously to see what it's like.

Ugh tell me about it with playing newer players. I've been practicing hitting more with my long pips when I twiddle. It's going well so far but I feel I play better vs players who hit with speed & some spin so I can let the long pips go to work. When playing my friend, who is improving, here at work, he simply does not hit the ball very fast or with much spin and frankly hitting these balls back (vs playing a passive simple push) with long pips is hard. But it's good practice and I'm trying to change my outlook in that he's giving me plenty of no spin balls to practice against. That's something my main training partner and robot at home cannot do.

Yeah the clipper is my nicest blade. The feeling is just so good. While you can play inverted on this blade, I just love of feel of it with any type of pip. So I tend to prefer short pips on this as my attacking side vs inverted.

If i'm looking to play with some type of inverted, I prefer my PG7 just slightly.

But make no mistake, the Clipper is my best blade easy.

 

[pgpg]

LP rubbers need to be bigger. Some defensive blades are as large as:

159x165mm

A standard head size for an offensive blade is:

150x157mm


Sent from the Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

Yes, but that thing is HUGE. I got one for myself a couple of months back, but still have not tried it. I do suspect I played someone with similar pips once - it produces very weird balls.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Yes, but that thing is HUGE. I got one for myself a couple of months back, but still have not tried it. I do suspect I played someone with similar pips once - it produces very weird balls.

Okay. It is pretty big. Hahaha.


Sent from the Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Tonight I played one of the same LP guys I played last Thursday. We only got one match. These two guys were talking really loud right near the table and I was so distracted. The LP player played a lot better tonight as well. I pulled out the match. But it was 11-9 in the 5th. The second game I was down 7-1 and got it to deuce. But I lost that game.

I was so stressed while these guys were talking. But in the middle of the 5th game they stopped and one of them left.

I also got a match from a guy I have never gotten a match from. But I am actually confident he played to lose the last game of the match.

It was the second match we played. He won the first match 3-0 and there were too many netted shots by him.

I'll take it because, no matter what, I played well and actually played well in the match I lost 3-0 in also.

Der_Echte knows the guy from trips to NYC. RPB player.


Sent from the Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

 

[Der_Echte]

The M who is not PPH, right?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

The M who is not PPH, right?

I knew you'd know.

He has been playing really well lately and I could tell he was messing around in the second match. I got the first and 3rd game and was playing well. Even though he was not playing hard, I still was taking the points.

But in the 4th game I could tell when he was trying to take the point and when he was making sure I did not lose a point.

Still, it felt good. [emoji2]


Sent from the Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

 

[Der_Echte]

Is he Opinari or another on MyTT?

 

[NextLevel]

"Rocket" serve practice.

 

[Yecats Encerwal]

I Had my local league match on Wednesday night and it turned out to be an interesting one.

My first match was against a chopper who I have only ever lost to one time and so I won this match 3-0, although one of the sets was 18-16

My second match was against a player who over the last few years I have only lost to a few times, I beat him 8 times out of 10 I would say. On Wednesday night I was playing a bit too passively and managed to find myself losing the first two sets narrowly. The third set started okay but, following a string of good play from my opponent I managed to find myself 10-6 down and 2-0 down (best of 5 match). This was not a good position for me to be in, I was lacking confidence and was facing 4 match points. I decided at that moment to just play extra safe, touch everything short and force my opponent to make mistakes. Luckily, he did and I won the set 12-10 before going on to win the match 3-2. I am not usually good at comebacks, but this time I kept my cool and played sensibly. Winning that set gave me the confidence to go on and win the next two.

NEVER GIVE UP!

My third and final match was against a player who I had never beaten until about a year ago. He is a "fisher" in that he likes to play far back from the table and play low trajectory balls over the net until you make a mistake or get inpatient. I ended up going 2-1 down in this match through making too many silly mistakes. I once again decided to play a bit safer and levelled it to 2-2. The final set I knew he would up his consistency, so I went for an "all or nothing" approach, favouring my Backhand, and managed to win 11-6. I don't know what happened, it just seemed to work.

Overall it was a good evening and I was happy that I kept my cool under pressure. Im currently second in the league averages and so losing any of these matches would have knocked me down in the table!

 

[TareqPhoto]

Actually if i play in an environment where it is so noisy or distracting then i can't win or can't play good, this noisy place is always distracting me everywhere not just in games/sports.

Which clipper blade that you all talk about? i saw there are several models of Clipper, so which one is your favorite?

I am planning to buy a robot, and somehow i think i know which one i will get if i can get it, but then, what is the main things i can learn from robot? or the question should be, what should i train for with a robot? or what could the robot do for me?

From a meetup group, there is one man who is planning to come to my country, and asked if he can join the meetup group that i am with, and he stated himself as "Offensive player, Danish rating 1825 approx., 65 years old and - a little - slower than in my youth.. Danish champion +45 veterans single in year 2000, beating among others newly Danish World Champion +70", what is the chances that he is still good or can beat us? will this be a good test for us to play with him? and how is that Danish rating equivalent to US rating?

 

[Boogar]

Actually if i play in an environment where it is so noisy or distracting then i can't win or can't play good, this noisy place is always distracting me everywhere not just in games/sports.

Which clipper blade that you all talk about? i saw there are several models of Clipper, so which one is your favorite?

I am planning to buy a robot, and somehow i think i know which one i will get if i can get it, but then, what is the main things i can learn from robot? or the question should be, what should i train for with a robot? or what could the robot do for me?

From a meetup group, there is one man who is planning to come to my country, and asked if he can join the meetup group that i am with, and he stated himself as "Offensive player, Danish rating 1825 approx., 65 years old and - a little - slower than in my youth.. Danish champion +45 veterans single in year 2000, beating among others newly Danish World Champion +70", what is the chances that he is still good or can beat us? will this be a good test for us to play with him? and how is that Danish rating equivalent to US rating?

If he was a Danish champion he will wipe the floor with us, even at 65 years of age. And i mean like really bad.

 

[Boogar]

I Had my local league match on Wednesday night and it turned out to be an interesting one.

My first match was against a chopper who I have only ever lost to one time and so I won this match 3-0, although one of the sets was 18-16

My second match was against a player who over the last few years I have only lost to a few times, I beat him 8 times out of 10 I would say. On Wednesday night I was playing a bit too passively and managed to find myself losing the first two sets narrowly. The third set started okay but, following a string of good play from my opponent I managed to find myself 10-6 down and 2-0 down (best of 5 match). This was not a good position for me to be in, I was lacking confidence and was facing 4 match points. I decided at that moment to just play extra safe, touch everything short and force my opponent to make mistakes. Luckily, he did and I won the set 12-10 before going on to win the match 3-2. I am not usually good at comebacks, but this time I kept my cool and played sensibly. Winning that set gave me the confidence to go on and win the next two.

NEVER GIVE UP!

My third and final match was against a player who I had never beaten until about a year ago. He is a "fisher" in that he likes to play far back from the table and play low trajectory balls over the net until you make a mistake or get inpatient. I ended up going 2-1 down in this match through making too many silly mistakes. I once again decided to play a bit safer and levelled it to 2-2. The final set I knew he would up his consistency, so I went for an "all or nothing" approach, favouring my Backhand, and managed to win 11-6. I don't know what happened, it just seemed to work.

Overall it was a good evening and I was happy that I kept my cool under pressure. Im currently second in the league averages and so losing any of these matches would have knocked me down in the table!

Any chance that we can see recored matches of yours?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

If he was a Danish champion he will wipe the floor with us, even at 65 years of age. And i mean like really bad.

I think it says over 45 champion. I could be wrong. And I am not sure what the Danish rating is, but maybe it is like the German TTR rating system.

Tareq, what do you have to lose in seeing what he plays like?