Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[Archosaurus]

Ignore all boring table tennis talks. Your new haircut tops them all.

I agree. It's pretty fucked up looking still which is a huge benefit to my game, because the opponent is too busy looking at it and not at the ball. I also miss the ball in a much more efficient way now.

Coaching can go to hell, get a haircut.

EDIT: Bit more EJ talk:

Took off this H3 non-Neo that's been boosted with 4 layers by now, and it hasn't changed hardness *at all* from when I measured it brand new. Like, not even a little bit. In both scales. The min and max is exactly the same, not just the average.

I'm not sure I believe in the whole "boosting damages the sponge and makes it permanently softer" thing.
I think it's just people using up the rubber and damaging it, just like they would if it was unboosted. Then they boost it less every time due to the above superstition and obviously it will perform worse every time due to that.

I'm willing to eat my words but I'm not surprised if nothing changes for another few months.

 

[dingyibvs]

I agree. It's pretty fucked up looking still which is a huge benefit to my game, because the opponent is too busy looking at it and not at the ball. I also miss the ball in a much more efficient way now.

Coaching can go to hell, get a haircut.

EDIT: Bit more EJ talk:

Took off this H3 non-Neo that's been boosted with 4 layers by now, and it hasn't changed hardness *at all* from when I measured it brand new. Like, not even a little bit. In both scales. The min and max is exactly the same, not just the average.

I'm not sure I believe in the whole "boosting damages the sponge and makes it permanently softer" thing.
I think it's just people using up the rubber and damaging it, just like they would if it was unboosted. Then they boost it less every time due to the above superstition and obviously it will perform worse every time due to that.

I'm willing to eat my words but I'm not surprised if nothing changes for another few months.

My H3 gets a bit softer after the first boost, then the hardness stays the same afterwards regardless of how many additional boosts. In fact, I think that's been the case for all my rubbers that I've boosted. It's also correlated by the fact that after the first boost, subsequent boosts no longer really dome or enlarge the rubber significantly.

I've reboosted H3 4-5 times before, and taking off the rubber the first time always yields a rubber much bigger than the blade. This necessitates trimming of the rubber after reboosting and gluing it back on. This is no longer required after the 2nd reboost as the rubber stays the same size.

I think I know why people think it gets progressively softer though. The rubber gets easier to activate with each successive boost but with less dwell, with the biggest difference being between the first and second boosts. Eventually though, it becomes really easy to activate and there's zero dwell, and even when activated the rubber doesn't produce much power. This is probably why people think it keeps getting softer, though measurements wise it makes no difference.

 

[dingyibvs]

Would you say in general I'm too far from the table when I start my backswing on those? Kinda feeling like that.

A little bit, but more importantly I think you need to move your center of gravity a bit more forward during the shot. Basically move the racket closer to the ball using more than just your arm. You can't always get the starting position right, so the key to just about every shot is to give yourself some mechanism to adjust to the ball.

Moving your center of gravity forward during the shot, and you sort of give yourself a bit of leeway in terms of where you start. If the ball is longer than expected then start swinging earlier, if shorter then start swinging a bit later after the body has moved more forward. Either way you catch the ball at the optimal position. If you don't do that then you're stuck with your starting position, which better be perfect.

 

[Archosaurus]

My H3 gets a bit softer after the first boost, then the hardness stays the same afterwards regardless of how many additional boosts. In fact, I think that's been the case for all my rubbers that I've boosted. It's also correlated by the fact that after the first boost, subsequent boosts no longer really dome or enlarge the rubber significantly.

I've reboosted H3 4-5 times before, and taking off the rubber the first time always yields a rubber much bigger than the blade. This necessitates trimming of the rubber after reboosting and gluing it back on. This is no longer required after the 2nd reboost as the rubber stays the same size.

I think I know why people think it gets progressively softer though. The rubber gets easier to activate with each successive boost but with less dwell, with the biggest difference being between the first and second boosts. Eventually though, it becomes really easy to activate and there's zero dwell, and even when activated the rubber doesn't produce much power. This is probably why people think it keeps getting softer, though measurements wise it makes no difference.

That was my experience with every rubber except this specific non-Neo blue sponge, so maybe something's funny with it. I measured it right out of the package and before boosting it and it hasn't changed at all except just after the oil had soaked in before gluing.

Usually it'll be 2deg per layer and then permanently maybe 1 or 2 after that. Maybe if the sponge was pre-tuned it behaves differently?

Gonna be interesting to see how this behaves after a lot of cycles, although honestly I'm not sensitive to rubber speed unless it's really obvious, so I might not really perceive anything.

A little bit, but more importantly I think you need to move your center of gravity a bit more forward during the shot. Basically move the racket closer to the ball using more than just your arm. You can't always get the starting position right, so the key to just about every shot is to give yourself some mechanism to adjust to the ball.

Moving your center of gravity forward during the shot, and you sort of give yourself a bit of leeway in terms of where you start. If the ball is longer than expected then start swinging earlier, if shorter then start swinging a bit later after the body has moved more forward. Either way you catch the ball at the optimal position. If you don't do that then you're stuck with your starting position, which better be perfect.

Yeah I was actually going to comment on that. I watched a bit more and on almost all my forehands I move a little bit to the right and sometimes even to the rear. There's no need to do that for these kind of put-away shots. That probably has a lot to do with the netting as well.

 

[Haito]

That was my experience with every rubber except this specific non-Neo blue sponge, so maybe something's funny with it. I measured it right out of the package and before boosting it and it hasn't changed at all except just after the oil had soaked in before gluing.

Usually it'll be 2deg per layer and then permanently maybe 1 or 2 after that. Maybe if the sponge was pre-tuned it behaves differently?

Gonna be interesting to see how this behaves after a lot of cycles, although honestly I'm not sensitive to rubber speed unless it's really obvious, so I might not really perceive anything.


Yeah I was actually going to comment on that. I watched a bit more and on almost all my forehands I move a little bit to the right and sometimes even to the rear. There's no need to do that for these kind of put-away shots. That probably has a lot to do with the netting as well.

If you have the higher end hurricanes, in my experience, they take much more booster. If your Hurricane has the stiff sponge with line in the back that you can feel under your finger, you need to use stronger booster OR put a lot more of it. When I tried Hurricane I put 3 thin layers of Seamon. It curled a bit but not much softening. Once I got frustrated and done what the person from China in the video has done and just poured the Seamon on the sponge and spread it. Only then it got softer and alive.

 

[blahness]

I feel like my BH loop is very close now. Last two adjustments were 1) keep the racket angle consistent through the final strike, i.e. don't flip the racket. And 2) this is something old but now a focus: move the elbow forward before fixing it during the final strike. #1 really helped with consistency, and #2 really helped with timing.

I'm now starting to work on some BH receives. I still find that to be troublesome especially against reverse spins. They curve away from my BH side so I always feel like the timing is super off. I often end up reaching and doing a very wrist only, weak shot.

On the FH side I ran into an unexpected issue which has led to a wrist injury. Recent efforts to improve power transfer to my arm has worked a bit too well. I neglected to tighten my wrist for the final step and instead just had all that power transfer to a loose wrist, resulting in over rotation of the wrist at the end of every shot. The exact same thing happened during BH training a while ago actually and it's basically the same part of the wrist that's injured (pinky side). Ironically I can now practice BH with full power just fine, but I need to take it easy on the FH side.

Yeah i dont like using BH loop receive against reverse spin either because of the same reasons... way easier to take it with the FH loop if it drifts long (even pivoting if necessary), the margin of error is much higher + you are not fighting the sidespin but rather riding it. Also can be a much stronger shot than the BH opening.

But, with the BH opening you can also do a fake one where you actually just bump the ball forward (with the appropriate angle) on the left side of the ball, and if you sell it well (ie use the loop body movement and supinate forearm after contact like a loop) it kinda looks like a "loop" but in fact is completely fake (and probably even has residual sideunderspin on it) and watch the opponent dump it to the net it repeatedly. Then if they get used to it then just do the real opening loop. I find the BH fake loop to be way more effective against reverse spin serves than other types of serves. So it might be an option too. If the opponent doesnt loop it, it would be a very loose attackable ball.

 

[Der_Echte]

All of you H3 boosting people reallly need to find Sergey the Tsos Unit, undisputed hands down knowledge person in USA, but you gotta get him to join the forum.

#sign-up Sergey

 

[Archosaurus]

If you have the higher end hurricanes, in my experience, they take much more booster. If your Hurricane has the stiff sponge with line in the back that you can feel under your finger, you need to use stronger booster OR put a lot more of it. When I tried Hurricane I put 3 thin layers of Seamon. It curled a bit but not much softening. Once I got frustrated and done what the person from China in the video has done and just poured the Seamon on the sponge and spread it. Only then it got softer and alive.

Mine is the non-Neo one, so no lines and very "dry" feeling, a bit like G-1. Stiff and hard.

It doesn't really react to one layer much at all, but curls a lot after 2. Has been my experience with all H3 and B2, although B2 is a bit stiffer.

Consistently I get about 1.5-2.0deg softening per layer.

 

[Haito]

Mine is the non-Neo one, so no lines and very "dry" feeling, a bit like G-1. Stiff and hard.

It doesn't really react to one layer much at all, but curls a lot after 2. Has been my experience with all H3 and B2, although B2 is a bit stiffer.

Consistently I get about 1.5-2.0deg softening per layer.

I never played neo. The provincial stuff I got had the lines in the back.

PS: What is interesting, the NEW loki Orange sponge has the same thing on the Loki R9.

 

[J-fed]

played a round-robin tournament today. As I was on a bad streak of results this time, i was playing in a lower league level, and finally my RR tournament rating found its bottom level as today i won my group with 4W1L. I played much better than in recent tournaments, and no win was easy except the 1st match where I should have some margin but still i had a scare in G1 as it took me some time to get into the match.
I lost the last match which i knew would be difficult because it was a LP chopper. I think I was playing overall well but i was thinking a bit too much about the outcome, and missed too many chance balls (3) in G2 and G5 was a lottery starting at 6-6; missed another chance ball at 7 all; then he had a lucky edge ball , then he attempted his only counterspin of the match and it was a perfect shot and game over... gg

I won 2000 yens; so with the entry fee of 1500 yens, i netted 500 yens; about 3 usd, i guess im a professional player now.

Basically.

 

[Archosaurus]

I never played neo. The provincial stuff I got had the lines in the back.View attachment 43420

PS: What is interesting, the NEW loki Orange sponge has the same thing on the Loki R9.

Mine's really dark and no lines. 2.15mm. DHS has a ton of OEMs making sponges, so there's no single one.
EDIT: This sponge is also a NIGHTMARE to peel glue off of. It just doesn't want to unstick. It never comes off cleanly like with other sponges.


Wasn't a training session on today, but I thought there was, and I showed up to some mid-division players having private training, so I took over when one of them left. Did some serve/receive and multiball.

Worked on adopting a more high quality pendulum serve body motion and on attacking serves more consistently. Weirdly the multiball was the best session and I killed the hell out of the ball. My legs are done, though.