Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[blahness]

Hi everyone.
Here’s a situation I ran into: I was playing a match against someone who turned out to be much weaker than me. Since I’d never played him before, I went in fully prepared for a tough fight. It wasn’t until the score reached 8–0 in my favor that I remembered hearing somewhere that you shouldn’t win 11–0. I tried to concede a point by serving with less spin, but that just seemed to confuse him even more. Anyway, at 10–0, when he was serving, I simply smashed the ball into the net—to which he remarked that I should have just gone for the winner. Has anyone else experienced something like this? If you do need to give away a point, what’s the best way to do it—in a way that’s, I don’t know, more... respectful, perhaps?

I never give mercy points. It is even more disrespectful to the opponent to give mercy points imo. In tennis you see 6-0, 6-0 games all the time and no one bats an eye over it.

 

[dingyibvs]

Hi everyone.
Here’s a situation I ran into: I was playing a match against someone who turned out to be much weaker than me. Since I’d never played him before, I went in fully prepared for a tough fight. It wasn’t until the score reached 8–0 in my favor that I remembered hearing somewhere that you shouldn’t win 11–0. I tried to concede a point by serving with less spin, but that just seemed to confuse him even more. Anyway, at 10–0, when he was serving, I simply smashed the ball into the net—to which he remarked that I should have just gone for the winner. Has anyone else experienced something like this? If you do need to give away a point, what’s the best way to do it—in a way that’s, I don’t know, more... respectful, perhaps?

I usually go for a pretty wild shot and intentionally miss it. That's usually the most believable since 1) I'm up 10-0 so it's reasonable to attempt a high degree of difficulty shot, and then 2) since it's difficult, it's reasonable that I'd miss it. Then it'd just look like I was trying to show off a bit and failed.

 

[jonol]

I've lost games 11-0 and won games 11-0. I don't see a point in the mercy rule, it is what it is.

 

[Archosaurus]

Hi everyone.
Here’s a situation I ran into: I was playing a match against someone who turned out to be much weaker than me. Since I’d never played him before, I went in fully prepared for a tough fight. It wasn’t until the score reached 8–0 in my favor that I remembered hearing somewhere that you shouldn’t win 11–0. I tried to concede a point by serving with less spin, but that just seemed to confuse him even more. Anyway, at 10–0, when he was serving, I simply smashed the ball into the net—to which he remarked that I should have just gone for the winner. Has anyone else experienced something like this? If you do need to give away a point, what’s the best way to do it—in a way that’s, I don’t know, more... respectful, perhaps?

I would just win 11-0. It's up to the tournament organizers to schedule a fair fight.

If you give away a mercy point or suddenly play very badly, it festers doubt in the opponent's mind whether you were actually playing seriously or not.

 

[RPB Enthusiast]

Hi everyone.
Here’s a situation I ran into: I was playing a match against someone who turned out to be much weaker than me. Since I’d never played him before, I went in fully prepared for a tough fight. It wasn’t until the score reached 8–0 in my favor that I remembered hearing somewhere that you shouldn’t win 11–0. I tried to concede a point by serving with less spin, but that just seemed to confuse him even more. Anyway, at 10–0, when he was serving, I simply smashed the ball into the net—to which he remarked that I should have just gone for the winner. Has anyone else experienced something like this? If you do need to give away a point, what’s the best way to do it—in a way that’s, I don’t know, more... respectful, perhaps?

Honestly, people think giving a mercy point at 10-0 is "respectful", but it's actually disrespectful since you're essentially saying that you have no shot getting a point, so here's a free one. If you want to respect your opponent, just play your game and if they can't get a point, then they need to work on a new strategy to get more points. I've only been 11-0 ONCE, and this was when I was about a year into my table tennis journey. I didn't get mad when I didn't win a single point, I just understood I need to make adjustments to get points on the bored, and I respected my opponent for not giving me a mercy point. Tbh people need to stop doing this mercy point crap because you're only disrespecting your opponent, even though you're trying to do a good gesture. That's just my opinion since I try my best to give all my opponents the highest of respect when playing.

 

[NextLevel]

Honestly, people think giving a mercy point at 10-0 is "respectful", but it's actually disrespectful since you're essentially saying that you have no shot getting a point, so here's a free one. If you want to respect your opponent, just play your game and if they can't get a point, then they need to work on a new strategy to get more points. I've only been 11-0 ONCE, and this was when I was about a year into my table tennis journey. I didn't get mad when I didn't win a single point, I just understood I need to make adjustments to get points on the bored, and I respected my opponent for not giving me a mercy point. Tbh people need to stop doing this mercy point crap because you're only disrespecting your opponent, even though you're trying to do a good gesture. That's just my opinion since I try my best to give all my opponents the highest of respect when playing.

IF you have only been 11-0ed once, you need to play stronger players more frequently lol... just kidding but you get my drift...

 

[Archosaurus]

I can usually steal one or two points by doing some stupid serve, but otherwise I'd definitely have been 11-0'd quite a few times. Some of my partners don't fuck around...

 

[RPB Enthusiast]

IF you have only been 11-0ed once, you need to play stronger players more frequently lol... just kidding but you get my drift...

Probably the only person who might be able to constantly 11-0 me if he actually played 100% is the club owner I go to, but he also has 30+ years of experience on me and his pendulum serve is hidden, even when I stand at the end of the left side, you still can't see it lol I've played a few people that are significantly better than me, but I always get points off them each set. I just know I'm much better than how I was a few years ago and I'm happy about that progress without getting coaching.

 

[Archosaurus]

Probably the only person who might be able to constantly 11-0 me if he actually played 100% is the club owner I go to, but he also has 30+ years of experience on me and his pendulum serve is hidden, even when I stand at the end of the left side, you still can't see it lol I've played a few people that are significantly better than me, but I always get points off them each set. I just know I'm much better than how I was a few years ago and I'm happy about that progress without getting coaching.

Is this competition or practice matches? People are pretty happy to just try to blow a hole in the table in competition.

 

[RPB Enthusiast]

Is this competition or practice matches? People are pretty happy to just try to blow a hole in the table in competition.

Practice matches. Every other serve he does is legal, except the pendulum serve. All he has to do is just move his arm more before he makes contact and it would be legal. I rarely play him since he always has his students when I go, but he's fun to play and it definitely shows the gap between skill levels.

 

[Archosaurus]

Practice matches. Every other serve he does is legal, except the pendulum serve. All he has to do is just move his arm more before he makes contact and it would be legal. I rarely play him since he always has his students when I go, but he's fun to play and it definitely shows the gap between skill levels.

I meant playing people who are much better than you and still getting points off them. In competition they might just 11-0 3-0 to get it over with.

 

[Tyce]

I think mercy points are more about sparing someone a full disgrace, and to me that sounds more like an Asian culture thing.
Over here, it's not a thing, if you don't get a point, you didn't earn one. I guess if I was competing internationally I would do it. Missing a serve or dumping a receive into the net feel like the best way to do it.

I have been on both sides of the 11-0 and sure it's awkward, but you gotta respect your own form and the other player's, if one side is playing that good, then thumbs up and hats off.

 

[blahness]

I think mercy points are more about sparing someone a full disgrace, and to me that sounds more like an Asian culture thing.
Over here, it's not a thing, if you don't get a point, you didn't earn one. I guess if I was competing internationally I would do it. Missing a serve or dumping a receive into the net feel like the best way to do it.

I have been on both sides of the 11-0 and sure it's awkward, but you gotta respect your own form and the other player's, if one side is playing that good, then thumbs up and hats off.

Not sure if it is really an Asian culture thing given one of the 1st examples of 11-0s are for eg Liu Shiwen vs Ding Ning and Chen Meng in her World Championship winning run.

 

[Archosaurus]

Training today, nothing remarkable. Didn't film any because place was insanely busy.

Tried Cuifeng blue sponge; good! It's even closer to H3 than Dianchi D is, by a little bit. I think I would honestly prefer it to H3 orange sponge; but not to blue sponge. I don't know how durable it is (the topsheet looks a bit fragile, I got marks on it from rubbing it a bit when I tried to get some speck of glue off) but the compound is harder than H3 so it shouldn't be very bad.

I would say the sponge is between orange and blue sponge H3; more towards blue.

In terms of playing characteristics, faster and easier to get power out of than H3 blue, less grip than H3 orange by a small margin. Throw angle and all that seems similar enough that I didn't need to think about it at all.

 

[backspacer]

Hi everyone.
Here’s a situation I ran into: I was playing a match against someone who turned out to be much weaker than me. Since I’d never played him before, I went in fully prepared for a tough fight. It wasn’t until the score reached 8–0 in my favor that I remembered hearing somewhere that you shouldn’t win 11–0. I tried to concede a point by serving with less spin, but that just seemed to confuse him even more. Anyway, at 10–0, when he was serving, I simply smashed the ball into the net—to which he remarked that I should have just gone for the winner. Has anyone else experienced something like this? If you do need to give away a point, what’s the best way to do it—in a way that’s, I don’t know, more... respectful, perhaps?

No mercy especially if it's an official match. I have choked plenty of times losing once even a 10-1 lead so I'm never giving anyone an opportunity for a comeback. If you are much better than him and he can't score that's just the reality.

 

[RPB Enthusiast]

I meant playing people who are much better than you and still getting points off them. In competition they might just 11-0 3-0 to get it over with.

Hmm, well I've never gone against opponents that high on the USATT rating scale, but I would hope they can beat me that easy.

 

[RPB Enthusiast]

I ordered my DHS Skyline 2 Blue Sponge 40° for FH and JOOLA Trinity Charged for BH so I can use and get used to since I have months until my bigger tournament May 2027, but will do smaller tournaments starting January 2027. When using my Dignics 09c, I actually was using proper technique and am able to get lots of topspin, so I'm ready for my Chinese rubbers again. Will be enjoying the 09c/ T05H setup until they get here, then will just sell the rubbers on eBay for someone else to use up.

 

[dingyibvs]

My BH loop is improving at a solid pace, I think what helped the most is being able to adjust the starting racket position relative to the ball much better. For the FH I'm working on further reducing the amount of sidespin. There's still a little bit right now, which isn't much of an issue in game anymore, but it does make it much harder for me to loop half-long balls down the line. Not that of a big deal at my level, but being a perfectionist I'd like to fix that. My coach tells me it should also help with contact consistency overall, though it's probably more limited by a myriad of other things right now.

I recorded some of my BH loops from a side view angle, which showed that I still have limited forward lean, which in turn limits how much my elbow can move forward during loops since I don't have any space to move it back. I think what happened is that I found that too much forward lean wasn't working for my FH, so I adopted a smaller change than previously intended. After watching some pro videos, I realized that they actually adjust their lean based on whether it's FH or BH. They stand more upright for FH shots, and lean forward more for BH shots. I guess I should do that too instead of trying to use the same lean for both sides.

Also I tried out Zyre on the BH of a FZD. Man it's rocket lol. I did a bit of comp with my current setup as well as a Q968 with LAC on the BH side, the FZD/Zyre combo is a certifiable rocket, although on the higher end it didn't feel particularly different from the Q968/LAC combo. The somewhat surprising thing about Zyre is that despite the non-tacky topsheet, it feels more like D09c than D05. D05 despite having a softer sponge (and also thinner than Zyre) feels difficult to hit into and has low dwell. Zyre feels like it has decent dwell, and lower throw like D09c. In regular loops it really just feels like a faster D09c. It feels different with 1) full power loops where you start feeling the lack of dwell relative to the D09c, and 2) brush loops where you need to be more decisive and have more acceleration to grab the ball.

What's most interesting to me is that I kinda like it more on the FH side. I just need to shorten my swing a bit, and it becomes quite easy to play with. I make good acceleration when I brush loop on the FH side, and smaller strokes is an easy adjustment as my body habitus and physical strengths favor explosiveness over powerful large swings. I couldn't tolerate the D05's bounciness and lack of dwell, but the Zyre actually felt quite right! Umm a lot to think about for sure.

 

[NextLevel]

Not sure if it is really an Asian culture thing given one of the 1st examples of 11-0s are for eg Liu Shiwen vs Ding Ning and Chen Meng in her World Championship winning run.

When LSW did it, it was well known she was breaking a trend/tradition to the point that LGL even had to comment on it and establish it as true professionalism.

 

[blahness]

My BH loop is improving at a solid pace, I think what helped the most is being able to adjust the starting racket position relative to the ball much better. For the FH I'm working on further reducing the amount of sidespin. There's still a little bit right now, which isn't much of an issue in game anymore, but it does make it much harder for me to loop half-long balls down the line. Not that of a big deal at my level, but being a perfectionist I'd like to fix that. My coach tells me it should also help with contact consistency overall, though it's probably more limited by a myriad of other things right now.

I recorded some of my BH loops from a side view angle, which showed that I still have limited forward lean, which in turn limits how much my elbow can move forward during loops since I don't have any space to move it back. I think what happened is that I found that too much forward lean wasn't working for my FH, so I adopted a smaller change than previously intended. After watching some pro videos, I realized that they actually adjust their lean based on whether it's FH or BH. They stand more upright for FH shots, and lean forward more for BH shots. I guess I should do that too instead of trying to use the same lean for both sides.

Also I tried out Zyre on the BH of a FZD. Man it's rocket lol. I did a bit of comp with my current setup as well as a Q968 with LAC on the BH side, the FZD/Zyre combo is a certifiable rocket, although on the higher end it didn't feel particularly different from the Q968/LAC combo. The somewhat surprising thing about Zyre is that despite the non-tacky topsheet, it feels more like D09c than D05. D05 despite having a softer sponge (and also thinner than Zyre) feels difficult to hit into and has low dwell. Zyre feels like it has decent dwell, and lower throw like D09c. In regular loops it really just feels like a faster D09c. It feels different with 1) full power loops where you start feeling the lack of dwell relative to the D09c, and 2) brush loops where you need to be more decisive and have more acceleration to grab the ball.

What's most interesting to me is that I kinda like it more on the FH side. I just need to shorten my swing a bit, and it becomes quite easy to play with. I make good acceleration when I brush loop on the FH side, and smaller strokes is an easy adjustment as my body habitus and physical strengths favor explosiveness over powerful large swings. I couldn't tolerate the D05's bounciness and lack of dwell, but the Zyre actually felt quite right! Umm a lot to think about for sure.

Damn, you are really tempting me to try out Zyre lol. D09c really lasts not long enough, and D05 is just way too bouncy for good short game. I also have relatively short strokes on both wings now and create quite a lot of spin with my contact usually, so for me it is not so much about the looping but more for durability and also how does it feel in the short game esp serving and pushing?