Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[OldschoolPenholder]

Weds and Thurs nights - 90 mins and 2.5 hrs respectively - no video ... mixed between SH and RPB

Weds - felt a little woozy, didn't pace myself with hydration. Didn't hit that well.

Thurs - hit on a table that comes with a net, made in germany, didn't remember to note the manufacturer... many members don't like it due to weird color and bounce ... but it comes with a decent to good net and no one using it, so beggars cannot be choosers ... took a while to find my strokes, mostly due to table

Didn't want to play a match, but my partner wanted to ... we both didn't like the table color and its bounce, but he wanted a match

8, -8, -long deuce, long deuce, -long deuce

LOL at me... maybe got in 50% of my RPB loops... with this new blade/rubber, can't quite get my spin serves down yet ... my rocket serves are 50/50, what helps it is the rubber ... ball literally blasts off like a rocket ... pushing game - ball bounces high ... still don't have the touch down yet from the rubber.

On FH, my elbow still flies up ... when i'm conscious of it, i don't make the shot ... tried squarer stance and getting the sooner off the bounce ... still need work on this.

Until next time CCers, may all the net and edge balls go your way!

 

[Archosaurus]

Archo,

You are very young ... since it has gone on for some time, I don't recall, did you see a doctor yet?

A Like for a speedy and healthy recovery.

It was recovering quite well to the point where it felt like it was 98% gone, and then I slightly hurt myself again and probably overused my back, and it came back. I think it would have fully healed in a few weeks had I not pushed it. At least now I learned.

It's doing the same pattern as last time, in the same order, so I'm inclined to just wait for it to heal and take it really easy. If everything goes per normal, this tingling feeling I have in some parts of my body will have gone away in a few days. I had it last time too: I believe it's due to slightly cut nutrient flow to some parts. Light exercise like biking and some rest helps.

At least this time I'm not feeling any numbness anywhere.

If it doesn't get at all better in a few days, I'll go see a doc.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Round 3 (last) with my friend visiting from HK.
We met early in the morning again before 9am but this time I woke up early. Its always exciting to play after watching so much TT on TV... Decent warmup and then he wants to play matches with me, because he says "there can only be one" (Highlander) LOL...

First set, i'm a bit rusty, and he wins it easily, I'm in trouble with his serves again, but then i calm down, play my normal game, very focused, not rushing, but trying to serve and receive well, attack easy balls and control in rallies, waiting for the chance ball. And despite having from time to time trouble on his serves still, I have the upper hand, though I play less well than in round 2. result 4-2 and 4-2 again in my favour .

Then I go for matches with some young Japanese guys hitting the ball next to us. I know one of them, but i play his friend first, for the first time. He looked really good, he's playing SH with short pimples on his BH. But strangely he looks like he's using it as a BS and its not troubling me at all. The guy seemed good, but I played really well, a very fine performance from me, in all parts of the game (serve/receive/attack/block/short game etc) The guy had a strong FH but i took the initiative first most of the time, and if he attacked first, I often managed to resist with my block and score points too. I won 3-0 8,6,9. I had a very big lead in the 3rd set (9-3? and 10-6) but he managed a come-back. Fortunately he missed a last topspin attack on the last ball, and if he got deuce, i really don't know what would have happened because I was starting to get really nervous... A very good win for me.

Lastly I played the Japanese guy that I know and never even took a set from him. He's a leftie PH attacker with very strong FH and very fast footwork. He makes me feel very slow on my footwork. Clearly to play him, i have to be much more dynamic than against the other players who are closer to my level. He's trying to attack everything and any ball which is not agressive enough is like a penalty shot for him. So its a lot of pressure and I didn't adapt quick enough my level, though it was much better in the 2nd and 3rd set. Compared to my previous matches against him, it was better, notably in receive game, and serve/3rd ball game. Still its a 3-nil defeat. I wasn't quick enough with my footwork in rallies to be able to attack correctly when we were involved in push vs push. I also think I was a bit too tense which prevented me to play with more flow but thats what happens when you're under too much pressure.

 

[nas3to]

There were nobody in the club the other day so i decided to work on my technique and timing on the robot. I also forgot my tripod so thats the only angle i got. I did like two hours training and then some stretching..

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Der_Echte]

I should be playing again soon... Man it feels like forever.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[NextLevel]

I played some matches this weekend at my club and on the road. Trying to figure out and work on a few things.

1. I finally learned a couple of interesting things from all the EmratThich videos I have been watching. One was that he said that high toss serve was supposed to have low energy and force the opponent to generate the power to attack. Since I usually serve high spin serves with heavy forward motion, I found this very interesting and started using more high toss serves again.

2. The second thing from EmratThich was that he said that a coach said that you can tell a high level player from whether he habitually plays on the balls of his feet. I have tried a few times to play on the balls of my feet, but I start missing shots and go back to my bad habits. I have decided to work on this to get faster while reacting to the ball and do plenty of hitting and playing against lower rated opponents on the balls of my feet.

3. I worked with Azeez a litttle after Westchester and I mostly asked about things like tricks that would improve my play (his backhand serve, how to flick and push etc.) Azeez pointed out that I don't adapt my stroke to dead pushes well. And I also realized that since I need more tricks to slow kids down and I play with heavy spin, I need to build this more into my game.

4. So right now I am working hard on being able to play a bit more like Koki Niwa. I played the kid in my club who is about 2300 on Friday and he killed me, destroying my heavy spin serves, looping everything, using banana and strawberry flip and making me look like an idiot. We used seamless ball. Today, I played him and made a few changes to my grip but the most important thing was that I stopped trying to play the ball with heavy spin all the time. Sometimes, I patted the ball dead, Sometimes I would serve high toss backspin, sometimes, straight backspin. Sometimes I would block with topspin, sometimes I would chop flat. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I beat him in 3(!) straight matches, 3-2, 3-0, 3-1. I am sure he will catch on eventually, especially if I manage to repeat the result. Also, he was trying to kill everything as this worked on Friday but he didn't realize it played into my hands as I wasn't trying to load the ball every time anymore or was loading it differently. I moved better on the balls of my feet but it was in my terrible club with no mat. We will see what happens over time.

PRobably a lucky day, but at least, it gives me inspiration for a new direction.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

@NL

2."The second thing from EmratThich was that he said that a coach said that you can tell a high level player from whether he habitually plays on the balls of his feet"
I heard about that only rather recently and I'm trying to make it a habit. but it will take some time I believe. Its rather easy to think about it though

3.4. I remember seeing you playing a tight match to a young guy attacking everything. Don't know if I wrote it, but yes, you seemed to not put enough variation in your game, and it felt you didn't try to test him in all areas. Changing the pace, the placement, the spin, the amount of spin etc...

Sometimes against young players I see them training, they look very good to me and I'm thinking i'm gonna get destroyed, but actually, doing all the above, and sometimes, their game falls apart, they can't make enough use of their strong weapons.

So maybe against this guy, you've just found out what you need to do to beat him consistently.
3.r

 

[ttmonster]

Hope your club problem gets resolved soon NL , really sorry to hear this . Or think about moving to California ...

 

[Der_Echte]

Tried Karis H on DreiZ's Tibhar Samsonov CB...

To briefly summarize...

All the players who craved MOAR SPEED outta Karis and play a fast/stiffish blade are gunna have wet dreams playing this rubber on FH. Karis H on the Samsonov CB is FAST with capital F. I think I was ripping shots as fast or faster than when I had MX-P on the OFF+ Qabod. That is 4 levels faster than M+ on a KJH, which is still fast.

 

[ajtatosmano2]

The second thing from EmratThich was that he said that a coach said that you can tell a high level player from whether he habitually plays on the balls of his feet.

I am happy, because it's something I've learned early. It's amongst the few things I haven't had to find out by myself (by expermenting, watching pro videos and reading forums): my father advised me to do so, and it's great.
And you would be surprised how much it can help if you play on a slippery court.

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

I don't recall how many posts/pages ago on this thread i mentioned i noticed many players seemingly flat-footed to me and how i learned to be on the balls of my feet for TT and other athletic endeavors. I chalked it up to something 42andbackpains said ... CNT team are almost gliding, they are seemingly not on the balls of their feet.

Of course, they are also professional athletes and I'm not. Older and slower, if i was flatfooted i would be even slower lol.

Watch tennis players, boxers or basketball players, etc. Most if not all will be on the balls of their feet.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Went to the club today. After hours spent watching the pros on TV, I really felt like playing as well.

I was with my buddy, he's at a lower level than me, but a good hitting partner. We worked on serve/random long receive push/ 3rd ball attack for a while. I felt I was starting to get better at it today, less mistakes, and more importantly at that speed and receive quality, i was able to recover to a neutral position AFTER the serve and ONLY THEN, adjust my footwork for the 3rd ball.

Then for some games, i beat my buddy 3-1 in a very clean and positive way. Then went on to play a young guy, modern defender with LP, that i had never beaten as an adult, [perhaps i did when he was a kid more than 10 years ago ... i can't remember well ], I'd say maybe around 2200-2300 level.

I didn't change my tactics, but I was a bit more rigorous, and kept it simple. Serve 80-90% long to his LP with varying spin (top/knuckle/back), strong 3rd ball attack, and focus on not being too close from the table and always be ready to play one more ball. My attack % was very high today, when in the zone, I hit even a few big FH drives like I never did. Some of the FH training of these last weeks is starting to pay off.

His LP didn't cause trouble to me at all. Actually when he used his LP after my long push and the ball coming back topspin, I managed more than once to have a good control and attack with good pace those balls with my BH, clearly some progress here on my side.

I played very seriously and was quite pumped up, 3-1 victory, its only training not a tournament, but its a very good win for me because he played at the same level than usual, and i didn't choke except at the very end but i had accumulated enough lead.

Then i played a young guy in his 20s attacking style. It was only the 2nd time I played him and if my memory is correct, i lost 2-3 in a rather balanced match. But this time, he demolished me -3 -4 -6. I was outplayed in every sector serve/receive/rallies and he was moving very fast. He made me feel very much both the age difference and the technical difference, I remembered last time he was not very consistent so I didn't try to go all-out attacking from the start, but this time he was VERY consistent and I was playing really too slow to have any chance. Only in the 3rd set, i had a good start being more agressive but the pressure was high and as soon as he had a small lead, it snowballed into a large lead.

Then i played the usual guy PH with LP blocking style, 2-3 levels above me, I've never beaten him yet. I gave him a very good game in the first two sets, i had a lead in both , but lost the first -9 and the second -10 after leading 10-6... WTF... then I choked in the third alas for another 0-3 defeat.

Overall, i played rather good today, i have to be quicker to adapt to the level of my opponent and also be able at least on my serve game to be able to do combos consistently. If my opponent gives me pressure on his serve game, I have to be able to stay in the match when i am serving. Else it's impossible to win against the good players.

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

Congrats on the good play today Sir!

... and always be ready to play one more ball.

Excellent! Something I learned as a kid, but I always don't remember during match play ... instead of going 70% or so and being steady, I go for the winner at 90-100%. I don't relax and rush my shots and more often than not, I lose the point.

Thank you for the reminder!

~osph

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

Welcome to the Daily Chit Chat thread as well as TTD!

I have never trained with a robot before. I will try it one day. Thank you Sir for sharing vids of your training!

There were nobody in the club the other day so i decided to work on my technique and timing on the robot. I also forgot my tripod so thats the only angle i got. I did like two hours training and then some stretching..

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[NextLevel]

Hope your club problem gets resolved soon NL , really sorry to hear this . Or think about moving to California ...

Closed for two days will reopen on Thursday with new floor. Still no bathroom but baby steps...

https://video.nest.com/embedded/live/0PC1sy?autoplay=1"

 

[ttmonster]

that is wonderful news NL !

Closed for two days will reopen on Thursday with new floor. Still no bathroom but baby steps...

https://video.nest.com/embedded/live/0PC1sy?autoplay=1"

 

[ajtatosmano2]

There were nobody in the club the other day so i decided to work on my technique and timing on the robot. I also forgot my tripod so thats the only angle i got. I did like two hours training and then some stretching..

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Nice technique! In which league do you play?

 

[Boogar]

Hey guys and welcome nas3to!

Had a really great day today, in fact the last couple of training sessions have been.
Did some work on my forehand topspin inspired from Fan Zhendongs forehand, starting with an almost straight arm.

I also tried out the backhand loop with a more backhand oriented grip, with the thumb up the rubber. Still need to get the right angle to put in force and how to use the wirst right. Well its just something i am playing around in training.

I also had my best wins so far, in fact three of them in a row. First I beat an uprising player in our club 3:0 (he beat me 3:0 first, then i returned the favor) He should be around 200-2100 in USttr, the next day i beat a player i never had a chance against 3:1 he should be rated around 1900 now. He used to play in the second Bundesliga, but that's a long time ago.
The today i beat a woman from germany with a ttr of 1500 which translates roughly to 1900 USttr.

I am having a blast right now playing tt i try to use my body more in my strokes using a broader and lower stance.

Ah and I almost forgot about this badboy here:


It says: Best Player of the Team, meaning overall and relatively I have the best record winning against higher rated player and not losing against player rated the same or lower than me.

 

[ttmonster]

@Boogar : Neck pain alert !

Hey guys and welcome nas3to!

Had a really great day today, in fact the last couple of training sessions have been.
Did some work on my forehand topspin inspired from Fan Zhendongs forehand, starting with an almost straight arm.

I also tried out the backhand loop with a more backhand oriented grip, with the thumb up the rubber. Still need to get the right angle to put in force and how to use the wirst right. Well its just something i am playing around in training.

I also had my best wins so far, in fact three of them in a row. First I beat an uprising player in our club 3:0 (he beat me 3:0 first, then i returned the favor) He should be around 200-2100 in USttr, the next day i beat a player i never had a chance against 3:1 he should be rated around 1900 now. He used to play in the second Bundesliga, but that's a long time ago.
The today i beat a woman from germany with a ttr of 1500 which translates roughly to 1900 USttr.

I am having a blast right now playing tt i try to use my body more in my strokes using a broader and lower stance.

Ah and I almost forgot about this badboy here:
View attachment 13405

It says: Best Player of the Team, meaning overall and relatively I have the best record winning against higher rated player and not losing against player rated the same or lower than me.

 

[Der_Echte]

Closed for two days will reopen on Thursday with new floor. Still no bathroom but baby steps...

https://video.nest.com/embedded/live/0PC1sy?autoplay=1"

NL, there are always trees and bushes... and always an empty Gatorade bottle. You chances of landing all your load inside the bottle is 10x better with the widemouth Gatorade bottles.