Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[SleepyMaster]

Did a two training sessions today. Starting to add second training time to time. I feeling like I’m in the best table tennis shape of my life.

Constantly winning counter looping exercises against many technically solid guys including my coach. Constantly taking sets against him also, winning against much experienced players.

But anyway got a lot things to improve - consistency is the most important one. But I understand that this one is coming with years and years of training that should be done and there is no other way to achieve it other than working even more

 

[Der_Echte]

Last night @Der_Echte wanted me to try out his $25 (or was it $35?) blade to prove that I could make killer shots with a cheap blade. I did "crack" some pretty nasty forehands the moment i picked it up. i'm probably at a point where I can make a nasty forehand with just about any decent blade because I know how to generate the power from my feet, legs and hips to produce a high quality shot.

hahahahah haha, hahahaha haha,hehehehehe.

Yes, J-Slick got it right... when you get good enough, you can feel everything well and do well with a lot of stuff.

Der_Echte DID ask J-Slick to hit with it briefly and comment on the forum... and I DID interrupt him before league as he was knocking around with my Ukrainian friend John Rambo Daniil. I prolly pissed him off something fierce, but his let it slide.

My friend Daniil is very good at killing Klondike Ice Cream sandwiches... so much that when Sergey Tsos calls after TT on the ride home, I am driving Daniil to the crime zone to procure said Klondikes... he gotta break out hiz Glock Switch to ward of the criminals there... so on the ride home i always report status to sergey that Daniil accounted for 6 KIA (means Daniil ate 6 Klondikes) So, since Rambo is good at killing and Daniil is good at killing Klondikes... I branded the dude with the Rambo moniker and it iz gunna stick to him FOREVER.

His uniform jerseys come out of the letter shop early next week... maybe I post a pic or three of them.

J-Slick outta don hiz Donic Atlas uniform all lettered out with hiz name and USA... maybe he can get on Sergey Scoobie Doo Tsos team this year for the big CDNF Teams tourney and make moar pics and LULZ.

 

[Der_Echte]

Since I created Rambo... I have made myself a COL Trautman... so that is my new identity in SE Sac TT realm.

 

[Jslick89]

hahahahah haha, hahahaha haha,hehehehehe.

Yes, J-Slick got it right... when you get good enough, you can feel everything well and do well with a lot of stuff.

Der_Echte DID ask J-Slick to hit with it briefly and comment on the forum... and I DID interrupt him before league as he was knocking around with my Ukrainian friend John Rambo Daniil. I prolly pissed him off something fierce, but his let it slide.

My friend Daniil is very good at killing Klondike Ice Cream sandwiches... so much that when Sergey Tsos calls after TT on the ride home, I am driving Daniil to the crime zone to procure said Klondikes... he gotta break out hiz Glock Switch to ward of the criminals there... so on the ride home i always report status to sergey that Daniil accounted for 6 KIA (means Daniil ate 6 Klondikes) So, since Rambo is good at killing and Daniil is good at killing Klondikes... I branded the dude with the Rambo moniker and it iz gunna stick to him FOREVER.

His uniform jerseys come out of the letter shop early next week... maybe I post a pic or three of them.

J-Slick outta don hiz Donic Atlas uniform all lettered out with hiz name and USA... maybe he can get on Sergey Scoobie Doo Tsos team this year for the big CDNF Teams tourney and make moar pics and LULZ.

i wasnt mad! lol. just didnt want to get my groove thrown off. I actually do want to try some other set ups eventually but i already have so much fun with mine.

and yes keep feeding Daniil klondikes. That way he gains too much weight instead of TT ranking points lol.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

I had the game of my life so far yesterday. I was down 11-4 in Set 1 but won the match 4-1.

My opponent is a kiddo U15 type male. Two side inverted.

In Set 1, I played my usual speed and power gane but was outmatched by that kid. I lost Set-1 with a scoreline of 11-4.

I went up to my coach and with a pleading eyes asked for help. He said, " Gozo, you being a half a century old dude with a beer gut dad-bod type, if you play a speed and power game with a kid 1/3 your age, you'll only reap pain, grief, despair, lamentation, vexilation and weariness. Now, I want you to go back to the table, take a deep breath and play =====> Asian Ojisan style. Slow down the pace, play those slow & spinnier open-up loops with some sprinkle of super-duper backspin pushes to stop his attack and disrupt his rhythm. "

And that, folks, is how Uncle Gozo turn the tide around.

It felt like the Ma Long vs Ling Gaoyuan match but in real life yesterday.

 

[NextLevel]

I had the game of my life so far yesterday. I was down 11-4 in Set 1 but won the match 4-1.

My opponent is a kiddo U15 type male. Two side inverted.

In Set 1, I played my usual speed and power gane but was outmatched by that kid. I lost Set-1 with a scoreline of 11-4.

I went up to my coach and with a pleading eyes asked for help. He said, " Gozo, you being a half a century old dude, if you play a speed and power game with a kid 1/3 your age, you'll only reap pain, grief, despair, lamentation, vexilation and weariness. Now, I want you to go back to the table, take a deep breath and play ... ... ... Asian Ojisan style. Slow down the pace, slow & spinny loop, super-duper backspin pushes to stop his attack "

And that, folks, is how Uncle Gozo turn the tide around.

It felt like the Ma Long vs Ling Gaoyuan match but in real life yesterday.

It is a lesson for everyone to learn at every level. You can't out speed the faster athlete, you need to use quality and variation. It is good that you wanted to win enough that you listened. That is how we all learn the hard way.

 

[dingyibvs]

i wasnt mad! lol. just didnt want to get my groove thrown off. I actually do want to try some other set ups eventually but i already have so much fun with mine.

and yes keep feeding Daniil klondikes. That way he gains too much weight instead of TT ranking points lol.

Hah, yea, after just switching to your setup I'm loving it too!

Interestingly I have an 85 gram TB ALC and it feels nothing like my 89 gram Viscaria Q series. The TBALC has a ton of vibrations and feels significantly less crisp, whereas my Viscaria feels like a legit carbon blade which you'd only feel a bit of pretty manageable flex with the hardest shots.

 

[Der_Echte]

i wasnt mad! lol. just didnt want to get my groove thrown off. I actually do want to try some other set ups eventually but i already have so much fun with mine.

and yes keep feeding Daniil klondikes. That way he gains too much weight instead of TT ranking points lol.

Yes were not mad, but maybe I made Daniil mad by telling the world about his wonderful name.

Watch out for the Klondikes, Daniil gets better after eating them and he actually lost weight.

 

[NextLevel]

So I am back coaching again, working with a junior girl and maybe depending on availability and my job search some adult learners. For me it ia fun to coach since many people who invest time into TT get stuck because they develop misconceptions working with coaches that never deliberately struggled with with improvement at the lower levels. So the value I bring to 1200‐1800 players, especially adult learners below 1800, is being able to empathize with their struggles and give them ideas and hope. People who have met Der Echte understand that vibe and flavor.

I had given the junior one lesson before Nationals but I didn't want to get into anything technical as it would be a waste of time before the tournament and might confuse her in actual matches. But this time we went though a variety of things and I proposed some of the technical and tactical changes I want to implement over time. The biggest one and likely the most challenging one will be serve mechanics. We will see how that progresses over time.

I then saw Deadpool and Wolverine (funny movie) and went to play at a part-time club in the evening. Played 3 consecutive matches against 1800‐2000 opposition and won all three in tight matches. Will review the video sometime tomorrow to get a feel for where my level is now. I think I am making a few roo many mistakes in the Open game, I need to train a more control counterspin shot on forehand to add to my bigger swings.

My buddy wants to meet up at 7am tomorrow to play matches. I will bring spotting him 5 to 7 points in the matches. We will see how it goes.

 

[netdriver]

i think i finally get what it means to use my core to hit forehand strokes

i am not going to lie when i say that ive always been confused by forehand tutorials telling you to "tighten your core/stomach" upon impact with the ball. i literally just sucked my stomach in and nothing really happened aside from making me feel weird.

until i realize that when you deliberately twist your core/trunk/whatever, your core will "tighten" on its own, and when i let my arm relax and combine the core rotation with power from my legs and hips, i get more of the "whip" action that everyone so sought after.

all this while ive only been using my legs to push off the ground and rotate my hips to execute my forehand strokes. while the quality of the strokes was acceptable, my legs get fatigued quickly and my footwork were always sluggish bc of overreliance on my legs.

when i found out how to use my core, i can feel that my footwork is less clumsy than before and i do not get tired quickly bc i do not need to push off my legs as hard as before to get a good forehand stroke in.

 

[SleepyMaster]

So I am back coaching again, working with a junior girl and maybe depending on availability and my job search some adult learners. For me it ia fun to coach since many people who invest time into TT get stuck because they develop misconceptions working with coaches that never deliberately struggled with with improvement at the lower levels. So the value I bring to 1200‐1800 players, especially adult learners below 1800, is being able to empathize with their struggles and give them ideas and hope. People who have met Der Echte understand that vibe and flavor.

I had given the junior one lesson before Nationals but I didn't want to get into anything technical as it would be a waste of time before the tournament and might confuse her in actual matches. But this time we went though a variety of things and I proposed some of the technical and tactical changes I want to implement over time. The biggest one and likely the most challenging one will be serve mechanics. We will see how that progresses over time.

I then saw Deadpool and Wolverine (funny movie) and went to play at a part-time club in the evening. Played 3 consecutive matches against 1800‐2000 opposition and won all three in tight matches. Will review the video sometime tomorrow to get a feel for where my level is now. I think I am making a few roo many mistakes in the Open game, I need to train a more control counterspin shot on forehand to add to my bigger swings.

My buddy wants to meet up at 7am tomorrow to play matches. I will bring spotting him 5 to 7 points in the matches. We will see how it goes.

Oh nice to hear that your are stepping on some kind of coaching road. Good luck with that. That a really fun experience to be honest. I did coaching for more than a decade for six days a week and never was exhausted or burned out from it - because was doing what I really loved.
And when you seeing happiness in the eyes of your students, seeing them progress it’s really enjoyable and even bring some sort of satisfaction 🤓💪🏼

 

[NextLevel]

i think i finally get what it means to use my core to hit forehand strokes

i am not going to lie when i say that ive always been confused by forehand tutorials telling you to "tighten your core/stomach" upon impact with the ball. i literally just sucked my stomach in and nothing really happened aside from making me feel weird.

until i realize that when you deliberately twist your core/trunk/whatever, your core will "tighten" on its own, and when i let my arm relax and combine the core rotation with power from my legs and hips, i get more of the "whip" action that everyone so sought after.

all this while ive only been using my legs to push off the ground and rotate my hips to execute my forehand strokes. while the quality of the strokes was acceptable, my legs get fatigued quickly and my footwork were always sluggish bc of overreliance on my legs.

when i found out how to use my core, i can feel that my footwork is less clumsy than before and i do not get tired quickly bc i do not need to push off my legs as hard as before to get a good forehand stroke in.

I actually dp something different now. I brace my core the way lifters do, sucking in air to fill on my lower abdomen and stiffen my spine to make it resistant to movements. I also try to do the McGill big 3 and other things like suitcase carries to improve core stability. Back issues are one of the things that can hit you hard if you try to play athletically without any protection. It is a good idea to learn bow to protect the spine because just breathing in is not it and slipped disc's have consequences.

I remember a kid who was the most talented kid at one of the top clubs in the US. I asked how he was a couple of years ago and I was told he no longer played and that he ruined his back. This kid was 2400‐2500 back then at the age of 15 and could not be more than 20 today. Sad to have lost one of the US's most talented juniors to overtraining and insufficient physical care.

 

[NextLevel]

Oh nice to hear that your are stepping on some kind of coaching road. Good luck with that. That a really fun experience to be honest. I did coaching for more than a decade for six days a week and never was exhausted or burned out from it - because was doing what I really loved.
And when you seeing happiness in the eyes of your students, seeing them progress it’s really enjoyable and even bring some sort of satisfaction 🤓💪🏼

The problem with coaching is that it usually hurts the way you compete if get too used to feeding balls. But these are things I have already accepted and done before. I was lucky to work with two very good and comprehensive coaches and I think when you struggle and learn as an adult, it is easier for you to help most adults than people who got good as children. Or even children who are not very gifted but enjoy playing. Those children often get lost in traditional coaching that focuses on the best players.

 

[SleepyMaster]

The problem with coaching is that it usually hurts the way you compete if get too used to feeding balls. But these are things I have already accepted and done before. I was lucky to work with two very good and comprehensive coaches and I think when you struggle and learn as an adult, it is easier for you to help most adults than people who got good as children. Or even children who are not very gifted but enjoy playing. Those children often get lost in traditional coaching that focuses on the best players.

I think you can achieve both good playing level and quality feeding also. Of course if we talking bout 2400+ than maybe yes too much of a coaching can hurt gameplay.

My coach for example didn’t compete anymore when he did he was about 2200+, he focused on amateurs players now mostly but constant sparring with his 2000+ students helps him to hold pretty descent playing level. His already in the playing hall at 6 am.

And also before the war we had a lot of young players that are playing in German league and they did coaching amateurs for a living too.

So coaching may hurt playing level if we talking bout those 0,5% pro and semi pro players. For lower level players it maybe can be even beneficial - spending more time on the table, getting amazing ball feeling, building very strong and stable blocking etc…

 

[SleepyMaster]

Guys some of my multiball practice from today training.
I move a little and I loop a little hehe 🙃

 

[TheProfessor]

So I went to a club in Paris (Paris 13 TT or something like that). It was interesting because I got lucky that one of my old co-workers wanted to meet up so we agreed to meet (she and her husband wanted to meet my wife and family). Thankfully, she got to the location first, figured out the address on the website wasn't where people actually played, and figured out the French details showing two locations ans referring me to the appropriate one for more seasoned players.

I had put my name on reservations from 5 to 9 but family obligations meant I got there at 7. Paid 10 Euros for 2 hours of table time, changed in the changing room. The host asked where I was from and I said Texas but that I wasn't a serious player but I played a lot. He asked me whether I followed MLTT and said of course, listing Enzo, Brossier, Lorenz, and Provost (and I am sure there are othera). Of course, no one can forget DeSantilan the chopper.

Went in and waited for a table to open up and one did. Got on a table, a lady told me she was a beginner so I hit with her. She was more consistent than I thought a beginner would be and that was fine for my training, I just needed exercise. The thing with matches is that while they are cool, it is hard to get consistent table time. And I noticed pretty quickly that not playing for days had affected my physical shape lol. Hopefully will find form when I am away from so much food.

I did get to play one match (my co-worker had hyped me up as the good player from the US so she wanted to see me play one). During the warm up, I felt that it would be relatively easy. And then proceeded to lose the first game at deuce lol. Sometimes you have to remember that if you don't deploy your weapons, you become an average player. My weapons are spin and serve variation and if I don't want to use them, I become easy to play against whether I like it not lol. But after that I won ghr next 3 games comfortably.

Took pictures with my coworker and her husband and my wife and kids. Got an Uber home and that was the evening.

So I played TT in Paris. Until next time! Hopefully under more TT friendly and focused circumstances...

sounds like your version of the olympics, hey you got to play TT in Paris in 2024

 

[TheProfessor]

hey Gozo,

the earlier days, of which borders 38mm and 40mm, is way faster than today's 40+ era.
speed glue era too,
service was the key too, especially with hidden serve.

some may call the era more boring, due to bad service return, and your point is over.

ITTF has successful push out the rallies to last longer with all the changes.

so having said that, the game has changed to be more allround, than service focus.

This does make perfect sense but someone like was it Maharu Yoshimura, I think his name is. Has a very strong serve and drives other pros crazy but seems to be "average" in other aspects in terms of the world level.

 

[dingyibvs]

Guys some of my multiball practice from today training.
I move a little and I loop a little hehe 🙃

What settings are you using? Looks like 80 balls/min, though don't know the speed/spin settings. Personally I don't like multiple position topspin training on the Amicus robot very much, there's just way too much sidespin on the balls to the corners. For some reason the backspin serves have less topspin, so I use that quite often.

 

[SleepyMaster]

What settings are you using? Looks like 80 balls/min, though don't know the speed/spin settings. Personally I don't like multiple position topspin training on the Amicus robot very much, there's just way too much sidespin on the balls to the corners. For some reason the backspin serves have less topspin, so I use that quite often.

I’m using different setting and different exercises. It depends. I usually starting with backhand/forehand just to feel the ball. Then going up in speed from 50 balls/min up to 90. Next exercise is multiple positions topspin’s/forehand from three spots for moving my legs and for reaction. If I do underspin/ counterspin loops spin is set to 6 mostly. After that I’m working on random placement no spin balls.

I didn’t try to focus on a exercise that I like I try to adapt to placement and spin variation more do develop a better speed and feeling.

The only thing that I dislike that is robot sometime feeding random trajectory balls - but again it’s maybe even better for reaction and quick decision making.

 

[dingyibvs]

I’m using different setting and different exercises. It depends. I usually starting with backhand/forehand just to feel the ball. Then going up in speed from 50 balls/min up to 90. Next exercise is multiple positions topspin’s/forehand from three spots for moving my legs and for reaction. If I do underspin/ counterspin loops spin is set to 6 mostly. After that I’m working on random placement no spin balls.

I didn’t try to focus on a exercise that I like I try to adapt to placement and spin variation more do develop a better speed and feeling.

The only thing that I dislike that is robot sometime feeding random trajectory balls - but again it’s maybe even better for reaction and quick decision making.

That's odd, spin at 6 sounds like a bit too much. I occasionally use +6 spin for counter loop practice, but it only works OK when the speed is kept low at around 15 as any faster and the speed/spin combo is unrealistic during games. For backspin I only use -3 spin most of the time. I rarely use -4 as that's more for the spin level when you're playing a chopper.