Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[Archo]

Oh a 45 degree angle isn't what I'd consider closed at all so yeah good that it's working for you. I also don't think 40/41 H3 is at all appropriate for where your game is at right now but everyone has their own opinions on equipment. I know for sure none of the coaches I know would start a beginner on that hard of Hurricane.

Yeah maybe not, but it feels more closed than it is. I think the followthrough has a lot to do with it. The contact is going a lot more forward.

The expert opinions from people I've played and who have watched me play is that because I'm able to use the sponge and blade to a good level it's fine and it's a good rubber, but there are also disadvantages to it that can show up at a more elite level where pace is a premium and you can get rushed out of position. They just warned me about it because I might run into it if I start playing closer to State level, they didn't say it's even relevant for me right now.

Some of these are ex semi-pro players who switched from H3 to D09c because they can't consistently use it in the higher divisions with how little they train right now (1-2 sessions a week). They usually ask me how much I train and they think my volume is enough to be able to use it with my physicality and because my game level isn't yet at a point where top speed is a premium.

I did get recommended a tensor on the backhand, and I just have objectively worse results with them because they're too touchy for me in some scenarios, which is inherently just a skill issue on my part, but it is what it is for now.

 

[kindof99]

Tried the Joola Trinity blade as a gift from @NextLevel with Arthur Asia and Rxton 1. It is a stiff, hard feel, direct and powerful blade. The handle is among the most comfortable for backhand/forehand transition. It can almost land the ball anywhere you throw the ball at. The speed is pretty good even with the two cheap Loki rubbers. Wondering why @NextLevel did not stick with it. Do other Joola blades like the new Joola Hugo blade have similar handle dimension?

 

[backspacer]

Played my first division (B, 1251-1550 TTR) at the district championships yesterday. Most pathetic district championships to date with very little participants across the board I must say. Not sure what's happening and why the numbers keep going down. I did go to the WTT Champions in Frankfurt in the previous two years and did either not play or play the less desired division. That could be a factor, but also the tournament license that was introduced two years ago that is required for admissions. It's only 10€ per year, but I have seen plenty of comments about tournaments dying due to the introduction.

Anyway, there were only four players in the B division, two kids and two adults. Kids have their own divisions and I'm not a fan of them being allowed to participate in the adult ones. At the state championships they have changed it so the kids are forced to play the A division (out of three divisions). My first match was against a kid I played in last year's championships. I beat him again and had the most outrageous luck with an absurd amount of net balls. One of our youth coaches was watching and counted five alone in the last game lol
I played the other kid next. Never played him before. Ended up losing 1-3. He got me good in the rallies, either to my wide forehand or to my elbow jamming me. I was dreading the thought of playing him again after the group.
Next was a leftie I have played many times before, having only won once. He is a good blocker, pretty much always knows where the ball is going and even when you push him away from the table he is a tough wall to crack and can counter loop well on his forehand, but I was on fire in that match. Kept surprising him with the first ball's placement to hit winners and out rallied him most times. It was a fun match. I needed that after thinking about quitting on Friday.

The kid I lost to lost to him so the leftie and me were at 2-1 and the kids at 1-2 after the group matches. I assumed number one and two would play a proper final afterwards, but the winner of the group actually was crowned champion so I lucked out lol

After the singles matches we played doubles, the leftie and me versus the kids. I had to adjust because I basically never play with lefties and usually serve with my backhand in doubles forcing me to serve with my forehand instead causing a few service errors. I was on attack duty and my partner returned everything. We shit the bed in one game, but the kids were honestly not focused enough and we took the victory home in the end.

So after thinking about quitting I somehow became district champion in singles and doubles in the B division this year lol

I'm on the right.

 

[Der_Echte]

And if we add to this that he is EJ'ing and playing rubbers that he can allegedly activate with 41° sponge hardness then this to me looks like a big mess that is hard to come out of. very demanding rubbers + boosting (which will lead to different throw angles and the like) + not moving for shots + not training shots that happen in a match against a weak opponent is really going to make it hard to improve.

i can totally understand that there is a variety of recommendations by the fellow forum members, but instead of disregarding all, perhaps pick one or two of them and exercise them for a month. I am sure the result will be visible. Playing random matches against low level players gives you really nothing at this time. you might as well just do drills or exercises, because goofing around makes you better at exactly that : goofing around

Archo has been like this from the get go so many years ago... and in the past, i wore his shoes too. (I was a very prominant poster on TT forums everywhere and was still an untrained recreational player.)

Archo simply needs to get structured professional or competent training and coaching assistance for 5 or 7 years, but either it isn't available near him or he is unable or unwilling to get it. Simple and plain. he chose his way and goes at it hard, so in that regard it is what it is. I was in similar situation until I got assigned to Korea and it was a game changer.

Archo loves table tennis and is the naked essence of everything we are and want to be... loving table tennis, loving playing it and sharing it... and talking about it ten times til the sun goes down.

No one should petition for Archo to shut up despite his TT level or situation, I was exactly like him my first few years on the forums albeit a little less discrepancy in my level and what I posted - I was simply a very enthusiastic player with little level or experience and I opened my mouth a lot in my early days in TT.

 

[Der_Echte]

Tried the Joola Trinity blade as a gift from @NextLevel with Arthur Asia and Rxton 1. It is a stiff, hard feel, direct and powerful blade. The handle is among the most comfortable for backhand/forehand transition. It can almost land the ball anywhere you throw the ball at. The speed is pretty good even with the two cheap Loki rubbers. Wondering why @NextLevel did not stick with it. Do other Joola blades like the new Joola Hugo blade have similar handle dimension?

Something similar for me, I played setup in my sig three years and at a veterans tourney, a player named Peter showed me a Donic blade with a perfect handle, I knew on site it was great, so I ended up with the Waldner Legend Carbon and with the regular rubbers in my sig it has been successful.

Getting back to what you said that caused me to comment, you mentioned a very good BH FH transition,,, the fat ST handle allows this so damn easy.

 

[J-fed]

After trying sp fh for 4 months... I think i will come back to inverted.
Had a session with a clubmate yesterday. He asked me to play with jpen t05. Somehow i could do nasty topspins i could never do before.

Conclusion: if you want to learn how to control tenergy, learn short pips 🤣🤣🤣

I used SP on BH for many years. FH seemed calamitously difficult.
One of my occasional coaches BITD was Dennis Neale. He would brush and roll with it. I could never figure that out on FH.
People who do it well are tough to play. Tough to block their flat drives.

 

[Archo]

@Der_Echte

I'm gonna let the competition results speak for themselves as regards to level. Any other analysis by randoms on the internet is speculative at best. Your opinion of someone's game generally changes once you actually play them and don't just spectate, but you surely know this. One of my opponents in the last tournament found that out the hard way. Supposedly I am too lazy in my practice and I play much better in real matches so people tend to be surprised at what they actually have to play against. It's hard to psych myself up enough to actually hunt for the points in practice matches but I need to get over that hurdle, so hopefully soon enough I can film something quality with my usual partner at least.

I'm pretty happy with how things are. There's nobody anywhere here who's improving faster apart from maybe the most serious juniors, and I'm not super sure about that either. Of course developing into a solid intermediate player isn't something you just decide to do over a weekend. There's plenty of dodgy players who will still beat my ass because of my inadequacies so it doesn't really matter how close I get to the top division guys lol.

Ramble time:

Worked on using more legs and core and less shoulder in the backhand today; not sure it's doing much but I was getting quality out easier near the end. I also have alright (80%~) success in a random backspin multiball drill with pushes and loops on both wings mostly focused on the backhand. I can probably get it to 90% soon once I learn better automatic reactions to elbow placement. Backhand vs backspin shot quality much better after doing a few rounds of single point multi.

We played some practice sets after and while my point performance was poor due to the opposition being largely much better players, I'm completely happy with how I executed and I don't think I could have possibly done better, which isn't always the case.

EDIT:
Oh, I got told that my serves have improved a lot. The only modification I've made lately is to serve with a straight index finger and the 3 bottom fingers curled pressing into the handle, which allows me to pivot the blade faster by pressing into the handle with them. Previously I was serving with the usual pendulum grip with curled fingers and no handle use.

Spin is up maybe +10%, but the real value is in how you can now disguise the heavy back and light back even more by using or omitting the handle press.

Next step is to learn to serve really quality topspin serves with that grip, and also reverse. I still revert to the high grip for reverse due to angle stability being higher.

 

[J-fed]

@Der_Echte

I'm gonna let the competition results speak for themselves as regards to level. Any other analysis by randoms on the internet is speculative at best. Your opinion of someone's game generally changes once you actually play them and don't just spectate, but you surely know this. One of my opponents in the last tournament found that out the hard way. Supposedly I am too lazy in my practice and I play much better in real matches so people tend to be surprised at what they actually have to play against. It's hard to psych myself up enough to actually hunt for the points in practice matches but I need to get over that hurdle, so hopefully soon enough I can film something quality with my usual partner at least.

I'm pretty happy with how things are. There's nobody anywhere here who's improving faster apart from maybe the most serious juniors, and I'm not super sure about that either. Of course developing into a solid intermediate player isn't something you just decide to do over a weekend. There's plenty of dodgy players who will still beat my ass because of my inadequacies so it doesn't really matter how close I get to the top division guys lol.

Ramble time:

Worked on using more legs and core and less shoulder in the backhand today; not sure it's doing much but I was getting quality out easier near the end. I also have alright (80%~) success in a random backspin multiball drill with pushes and loops on both wings mostly focused on the backhand. I can probably get it to 90% soon once I learn better automatic reactions to elbow placement. Backhand vs backspin shot quality much better after doing a few rounds of single point multi.

We played some practice sets after and while my point performance was poor due to the opposition being largely much better players, I'm completely happy with how I executed and I don't think I could have possibly done better, which isn't always the case.

Obviously you love the game.
I don't like internet arguments but whatever. Keep bashing the balls.

So to speak.

 

[Archo]

Obviously you love the game.
I don't like internet arguments but whatever. Keep bashing the balls.

So to speak.

I've been asked if I live at the club.

 

[J-fed]

I've been asked if I live at the club.

I'm glad you get to play both higher and lower.
Learn from the killers and give back to the aspirants.

 

[Archo]

I'm glad you get to play both higher and lower.
Learn from the killers and give back to the aspirants.

Anyone else would have quit by now with how badly I'm getting pummelled by some of the expert players, but in all honesty the sets go close most of the time and I'm not *actually* supposed to win these games. I think RC assumes that a +100 rating advantage is an 80% win chance, and it doesn't scale linearly, so it's probably basically 0 by the time you get to a +500 or whatever it is.

I measure my progress more in how close the sets are than how many I get lol. The rules don't care if you lost 2-3 10-12 or 0-3 0-11 but it's not really the same thing.

That last one was surprising though, apart from one 11-10 sudden death set in my favor (lucky as fuck), the other two I won were brutal. 11-5 or whatever. Luck was involved to a point of course, and it's probably relevant that the opposition looks down on me and got traumatized by what they actually had to play with and let me get momentum before damage control could set in. Maybe in a best of 7 it'd have gone the other way.

 

[J-fed]

Anyone else would have quit by now with how badly I'm getting pummelled by some of the expert players, but in all honesty the sets go close most of the time and I'm not *actually* supposed to win these games. I think RC assumes that a +100 rating advantage is an 80% win chance, and it doesn't scale linearly, so it's probably basically 0 by the time you get to a +500 or whatever it is.

I measure my progress more in how close the sets are than how many I get lol. The rules don't care if you lost 2-3 10-12 or 0-3 0-11 but it's not really the same thing.

That last one was surprising though, apart from one 11-10 sudden death set in my favor (lucky as fuck), the other two I won were brutal. 11-5 or whatever. Luck was involved to a point of course, and it's probably relevant that the opposition looks down on me and got traumatized by what they actually had to play with and let me get momentum before damage control could set in. Maybe in a best of 7 it'd have gone the other way.

Not sure fella. I didn't watch and have no idea about ratings.
Since I came back to playing recreational TT though I've noticed that there's not really much luck. I apply my sports psych learnings and generally beat the headless chickens and lose to the tactical wolves.
I'm hoping to be able to get some wins against those match tight wolves soon though.
Let's go.

 

[Archo]

Not sure fella. I didn't watch and have no idea about ratings.
Since I came back to playing recreational TT though I've noticed that there's not really much luck. I apply my sports psych learnings and generally beat the headless chickens and lose to the tactical wolves.
I'm hoping to be able to get some wins against those match tight wolves soon though.
Let's go.

Luck when I say it just means silly stuff like the ball barely grazing the edge and not even bouncing, barely hitting the net and going out by a millimeter, the net being a little loose and leaned one way so some balls that land on top of it just plop right down to the other side. Scenarios that could have gone either way from a light breeze or something.

I must have gotten at least 5 points from bullshit like that, but I feel like it was more.

 

[J-fed]

Luck when I say it just means silly stuff like the ball barely grazing the edge and not even bouncing, barely hitting the net and going out by a millimeter, the net being a little loose and leaned one way so some balls that land on top of it just plop right down to the other side. Scenarios that could have gone either way from a light breeze or something.

I must have gotten at least 5 points from bullshit like that, but I feel like it was more.

You deserved it!

 

[Archo]

You deserved it!

Some of those are symptoms of playing with quality and going for lower % shots; but no, lol, I didn't.

At least it tends to come in waves. One day you'll get it, the other your opponent will.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

busy weekend for me.

Yesterday I participated to the 東京卓球新人優勝大会
which might be translated to Tokyo Table Tennis Rookie Championship, where Rookie means "having never played in a national tournament", so actually its a pretty high level amateur tournament, even in R1 the level can be very high although there is a lot of randomness because there is no official JTTA rating.

Because it was very crowded (107 entries in men over23), they announced that there would be no warming up at all except 2 minutes at the table, and that R1 and R2 only best-of-3. I was paired with a young pen-tsubu guy == LP penholder. its a terrible matchup for me and the guy was quite good. First time i see such a guy being able to pivot after his LP push and twiddle to hit a proper FH down the line winner, and he did it to me 3-4 times with no hesitation in the match. No idea of his true level because he did make some "unforced errors" but it was the first match of the day for both of us, all i know is that i lost very quickly 0-2 (-5 -6) as i had no feeling until the match was already almost over, and i was so pissed off i didn't look at how well the guy played in next match, i just know that he lost 0-2 next. Basically i played like a real rookie or noobie.

At the very least it was a nice day so i could enjoy walking in the park and going for a nice lunch after that.

Today, i was in another tournament in my local "ku" and it was possible to play 30mns at the table before it began.

in the first draw (50+)
I was seeded n1 of my group of 3, but started against n3 new guy who beat n2 easily 3-0. Given yday performance my confidence level was low, i lost G1 but won G2-G3 increasing a bit my level but i was really struggling against his hook serve, the one im least confortable with and basically i choked this match. 9-11 in G4. i had a good start in G5 54 then 106 !!!! but he was the one playing more positively; i received twice passively then made 2 !!! serve errors and he played very well last 2 points. 10-12, and its game over. I still don't understand what happened because i had been serving those serves very well throughout the whole match and felt confident about those 2 serves and i did take deep breath and a lot of time before serving..

in the afternoon draw (open),
i was again n1 seed of my group of 3, i won 1st match easily but not convincingly 3-0 but then played a guy that i lose 80% of the time in practice BUT against whom i'm 4V0D in tournaments before today. I thought id lose this time given my level, but i did play that match very well, and perhaps he had the Dima v ML syndrome lol, but tonight its now 5V0D, could have been a straight set victory, won G1 easily, G2 106 lead but 119 only whew. G3 106 but 1012 (again !!!!) but G4 82 106 and close it finally. I was able thanks to the lunch break to totally change my mindset and not care about the result, but focus only point by point on my tactics and technique.

So in the KO tournament, in R1 i played a guy whose (unofficial) ranking is like 400-500 points above me, we played a couple times before and i was always very far to have a chance to win. But i think he was overconfident and even a bit arrogant, trying to win by lobbing (without success) in the first few points of the match and then goofing around a bit. otoh i was playing very well, and i was 84 ahead but suddenly he was up 810 as i missed a couple serves and penalties. I managed with the serve to get it to deuce and win it 1412. in G2 he played much more seriously it was an intense fight that i managed to win with the help of a lot of luck 1513. down 0-2, he became nervous especially after i took a good start, and he started losing his mind, and totally disconnected from the match 114 !!! [I was so much into the match i thought i won 117 but hours later after checking the score sheet it was much better ]. Definitely my best competition match so far this year (or best ever ?) even though the opponent greatly helped me with his poor attitude and lack of tactics (not enough variation in his serve)

R2 was an equally strong but tougher guy for me as he was a SP penholder whose serve are incredibly spinny (and fast !) despite his rubber, and he also has an excellent touch game and placement, its the kind of matchups i hate. I lost G1 311 but was unshattered and manage to try and find tactics he didn't like (very simple short no spin serve to the middle) and won G2 117. but in G3 and G4 i think he served less to my BH and a little more to my middle or FH, and it turned the tables against me.

TLDR my level of play is in a very wide range. in a few hours i went from playing like a beginner to advanced amateur player... and there is not so much explanation for it. Anyway despite it being only 2 very good wins today (plus a very decent performance in R2), I feel so happy of how i was able to play. All my buddies were watching, no one could have bet even one yen on me before the match, certainly not on a 30 win, I had a lot of support and it did help a lot to win and earn those bragging rights.

 

[J-fed]

busy weekend for me.

Yesterday I participated to the 東京卓球新人優勝大会
which might be translated to Tokyo Table Tennis Rookie Championship, where Rookie means "having never played in a national tournament", so actually its a pretty high level amateur tournament, even in R1 the level can be very high although there is a lot of randomness because there is no official JTTA rating.

Because it was very crowded (107 entries in men over23), they announced that there would be no warming up at all except 2 minutes at the table, and that R1 and R2 only best-of-3. I was paired with a young pen-tsubu guy == LP penholder. its a terrible matchup for me and the guy was quite good. First time i see such a guy being able to pivot after his LP push and twiddle to hit a proper FH down the line winner, and he did it to me 3-4 times with no hesitation in the match. No idea of his true level because he did make some "unforced errors" but it was the first match of the day for both of us, all i know is that i lost very quickly 0-2 (-5 -6) as i had no feeling until the match was already almost over, and i was so pissed off i didn't look at how well the guy played in next match, i just know that he lost 0-2 next. Basically i played like a real rookie or noobie.

At the very least it was a nice day so i could enjoy walking in the park and going for a nice lunch after that.

Today, i was in another tournament in my local "ku" and it was possible to play 30mns at the table before it began.

in the first draw (50+)
I was seeded n1 of my group of 3, but started against n3 new guy who beat n2 easily 3-0. Given yday performance my confidence level was low, i lost G1 but won G2-G3 increasing a bit my level but i was really struggling against his hook serve, the one im least confortable with and basically i choked this match. 9-11 in G4. i had a good start in G5 54 then 106 !!!! but he was the one playing more positively; i received twice passively then made 2 !!! serve errors and he played very well last 2 points. 10-12, and its game over. I still don't understand what happened because i had been serving those serves very well throughout the whole match and felt confident about those 2 serves and i did take deep breath and a lot of time before serving..

in the afternoon draw (open),
i was again n1 seed of my group of 3, i won 1st match easily but not convincingly 3-0 but then played a guy that i lose 80% of the time in practice BUT against whom i'm 4V0D in tournaments before today. I thought id lose this time given my level, but i did play that match very well, and perhaps he had the Dima v ML syndrome lol, but tonight its now 5V0D, could have been a straight set victory, won G1 easily, G2 106 lead but 119 only whew. G3 106 but 1012 (again !!!!) but G4 82 106 and close it finally. I was able thanks to the lunch break to totally change my mindset and not care about the result, but focus only point by point on my tactics and technique.

So in the KO tournament, in R1 i played a guy whose (unofficial) ranking is like 400-500 points above me, we played a couple times before and i was always very far to have a chance to win. But i think he was overconfident and even a bit arrogant, trying to win by lobbing (without success) in the first few points of the match and then goofing around a bit. otoh i was playing very well, and i was 84 ahead but suddenly he was up 810 as i missed a couple serves and penalties. I managed with the serve to get it to deuce and win it 1412. in G2 he played much more seriously it was an intense fight that i managed to win with the help of a lot of luck 1513. down 0-2, he became nervous especially after i took a good start, and he started losing his mind, and totally disconnected from the match 114 !!! [I was so much into the match i thought i won 117 but hours later after checking the score sheet it was much better ]. Definitely my best competition match so far this year (or best ever ?) even though the opponent greatly helped me with his poor attitude and lack of tactics (not enough variation in his serve)

R2 was an equally strong but tougher guy for me as he was a SP penholder whose serve are incredibly spinny (and fast !) despite his rubber, and he also has an excellent touch game and placement, its the kind of matchups i hate. I lost G1 113 but was unshattered and manage to try and find tactics he didn't like (very simple short no spin serve to the middle) and won G2 117. but in G3 and G4 i think he served less to my BH and a little more to my middle or FH, and it turned the tables against me.

TLDR my level of play is in a very wide range. in a few hours i went from playing like a beginner to advanced amateur player... and there is not so much explanation for it. Anyway despite it being only 2 very good wins today (plus a very decent performance in R2), I feel so happy of how i was able to play. All my buddies were watching, no one could have bet even one yen on me before the match, certainly not on a 30 win, I had a lot of support and it did help a lot to win and earn those bragging rights.

Excellent post. Reality of recreational sport.
Glad you enjoyed it on the whole.

 

[Archo]

I don't think you beat your opponent because of random chance or mentality entirely, you were probably putting your good skills up against his/her worse skills. Unless you have a complete skillset with no execution issues, that's bound to happen, isn't it.

 

[NextLevel]

I don't think you beat your opponent because of random chance or mentality entirely, you were probably putting your good skills up against his/her worse skills. Unless you have a complete skillset with no execution issues, that's bound to happen, isn't it.

Everything looks obvious with the benefit of hindsight, just enjoy his description of how he felt going through it so if you ever bite the bullet and enter the arena, you will not feel as if somethong is wrong with when a player as trained and experienced as Takkyu is going through an internal roller coaster of sorts as well.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Everything looks obvious with the benefit of hindsight, just enjoy his description of how he felt going through it so if you ever bite the bullet and enter the arena, you will not feel as if somethong is wrong with when a player as trained and experienced as Takkyu is going through an internal roller coaster of sorts as well.

I'm sure my opponents were having their own internal roller coaster. i can only tell my side of the story

That strong guy i beat also played the rookie tournament the day before. He played the morning draw in a competitive 39- category where he probably played only (many?) intense matches and perhaps had a good tournament and many emotions ? The lunch break maybe broke his focus and momentum, in the afternoon draw he had before me two even easier matches in his group, and already had switched mode to play "easy" to give him a bit more rest. He had beaten me easily before, but also lost two matches to my 2 other French teammates in the past (but they are much stronger than me) and didn't want to feel the "shame" of losing to old gaijin again, in front of his gf ???

you can often see a pro making a wonderful match in the morning or early afternoon against a much stronger player, get a big win, and then the next day or even in the evening lose it to a guy of his level.

As for tactics, all the players mentioned in the afternoon draw were familiar to each other as we've been playing against each other or watching the other play in tournaments or practice. so I knew what tactics i would use, i know who is a good matchup or not, which is as important or more perhaps than the supposed skill difference. but yes, if i can give an advice to my opponents: don't play the same next time; vary more your serve placement and make you serves more unpredictable because thats what i have trouble with, not so much serve quality. too bad for them they couldn't figure it out.

As for mentality, I definitely was in the zone. It sometimes happen. not easy to get in, i use a lot of shouting and only positive self-taking and (Monster) energy drink to help me. friends watching me play usually helps a lot too. could write a lot about it.

As for luck in TT, my strong belief is it always favor the player who's taking the more initiative and putting more quality in his ball. You hit the net often because your arc is low and it goes on the good side of the table because you put good spin. Its part of the game and a good sign that you're winning on quality if luck is on your side more often.

Another factor is my brand new very fast and low topspin serve (from both FH and BH) its totally obvious that I'm going to do it, but there is a lot of quality in it and its very unusual and im able to do this serve from different positions and aim different part of the tables and decide placement at last moment; nobody else does it. I've been practicing it a lot recently and it did work very well as people are not used to it and i can play behind it usually with an early advantage. so maybe this new skill which is not 100% reliable yet - and also depends on how fast the tables are - starts to be a quantifiable upgrade.

I'm giving me a good slap in the back for having the courage to use it in abundance already in matches even (or especially !) in tight moments whereas some serves that i've been practicing much more for years (pendulum) i still can't rely on it in matches.

its so unusual i could even make a YT tutorial on it, never seen any. i got the idea of doing it after watching another guy doing this kind of serve (but a different technique) to come back and win a match from a desperate situation