If they listened, I guess that would be a start, perhaps something might get absorbed and be of benefit.
I think I am going to talk on both sides of this subject. Because I think this is a really valuable subject. So, thanks in advance for bringing the subject up.
I will start with one of my stories. I remember one time hearing someone quote Carl Jung on a subject. The subject was the start of Alcoholics Anonymous. The person who started AA had taken some therapy sessions a few different times with Carl Jung about his addiction to alcohol. And Jung said something to him that caused him to start AA and to come up with the AA program.
In being asked about what he said and what the AA guy said Jung said, Jung's response was something like this, "In all my years in this field, I've been misunderstood and misquoted so many times that I'm not sure how to respond or even if I should say anything!"
I don't teach TT but I do teach something physical. And I can't tell you how many times I have been misunderstood and misquoted by someone who thought he or she got what I explained but didn't and what they got out of what I explained to them was something from out of the machinations of their own mind.
I think a lot of the times, with something that someone can't yet do, they can't quite understand what they are not understanding. Hopefully I sound a little like Yogi Bera. [emoji2]
With TT, there are so many subtle skills involved that I have this sense that stuff that a 2500 or 2800 player just sees and understands and thinks is plain to see, can be a total mystery to someone my level. And there are things that I can now see fairly easily that I had no idea or understanding about just a few years ago.
I do think DTop is making an interesting point or two about the 1500 level expert. And I know there is plenty of that in me. [emoji2]
As a movement analyst who helps other people with biomechanics, there are certain things I can see. But I have to admit, TT is much more complicated than functional movements of everyday life. And I may not have understood what made Mike Landers assess that I need to track the ball better and how often I am taking the ball without being in quite the right spacing. But I know that the drill he had me do, did a little somethin' somethin'. And if I did it consistently 30-60 min a day 4-6 days a week for 3 months, I may actually understand even better why he saw that. But I actually think I get it even if I may not see it in someone else for a while.
I also really do get why higher level players may not want to play with lower level players all the time: even aside from the fact that life is kind of short and our time is limited.
I actually think that anyone who says that they are always okay with only playing with lower level players is not fully being honest with themself. And the better you get, the the fewer adequate training partners there are. So making sure your training time, your time for yourself is really worth honoring and valuing.
Anyway, the flip side of this and I am sure most of us have been in this boat at some point, is that, there are times when we think we know what is going on and then, if we improve a certain amount, we realize the TT puzzle is much bigger than we had previously realized. Or, that problem solving that works at one level stops working when a player gets a few levels higher.
On the big positive side for low level guys who start talking like they think they know what they are talking about, most likely they really love the sport. On the down side, TT does really seem to attract it's fair share of weirdos who you really don't want to be anywhere near. But it also attracts enough guys that are just fun to be around.
Without question, I am looking forward to the next get together with NextLevel, Der_Echte, 42&Backpains, OSPH, Ilia, PPH, SmashFan and anyone else who I am forgetting or who is able to join in the antics.
And while I have seen soooo many well meaning idiots who try to help people learn something they don't really know how to do themself, and there is a way in which that is really annoying, there is also something nice about someone wanting to help someone else. Even if they lack the social skillz to do it effectively and the actual knowledge to do it at all.
One time, when I was just starting, at NYTTF (Robert Chen's old club), this guy was boring the heck out of me telling me all these things I was doing wrong and I what I should do instead. Every time I hit 3 or 4 balls he stopped and had another 10 min lecture about 20 new things I should and shouldn't do.
At some point Robert cut in and said, "you should listen to Steve. His technique is good. He just can't play matches!" It was sort of a statement.
I, personally, am much more happy playing than talking about playing these days. And I have so much improving ahead of me. But it is nice to have forums like this to feel a part of.
And it is interesting how people who can't play like to tell other people higher level what they are doing wrong. That is called delusional.
Who was it who was saying his opening loop was better than BoggieHunter's because his percentage was higher. But when you looked at the video BoggieHunter was looping pushes that had heavy spin and the other guy was flat hitting dead balls and most of them were higher than the net.
Wasn't he that engineer/physicist who Butterfly got to work for peanuts?
Sent from the Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy
