Table Length Psychology

agold · Sep 26, 2015

Hi everyone. Yesterday I was at a family friends house. They had a table with a retractable net, and the table was smaller than the regulation table.

It reminded me of the mini table tournaments Westchester Table Tennis sometimes has. Me and a friend would always hit at the mini table between tournament matches, and then, after hitting for a few minutes, go back to the normal table. It seemed impossible to miss all my shots.

In baseball, in the on-deck circle, players use a weight or two bats to make the swing with one bat seem really easy.

Could this be a method of psychology we players could use? I bet for 30 dollars we could buy a block of wood that has correct bounce height, maybe (or maybe not) give it a paint job, buy legs and a retractable net. Bring them to your tournaments, and practice on there?

This could ruin your game also, I don't know. But If you always practicce on a regular table, and then just on tourney days practice a little on the mini table, it could help your game maybe?

Let me know your thoughts!

UpSideDownCarl · Sep 26, 2015

I bet playing 4x4 also, could help improve your power and mobility. so a combination: regular training, training on a giant table made up of 4 tables, 2 wide and 2 deep, for extra mobility and power, and on a little table for extra control.

But I think all you really need is a regular table.

If you didn't know what I meant by 4x4, here:

NextLevel · Sep 26, 2015

agold said:
Hi everyone. Yesterday I was at a family friends house. They had a table with a retractable net, and the table was smaller than the regulation table.

It reminded me of the mini table tournaments Westchester Table Tennis sometimes has. Me and a friend would always hit at the mini table between tournament matches, and then, after hitting for a few minutes, go back to the normal table. It seemed impossible to miss all my shots.

In baseball, in the on-deck circle, players use a weight or two bats to make the swing with one bat seem really easy.

Could this be a method of psychology we players could use? I bet for 30 dollars we could buy a block of wood that has correct bounce height, maybe (or maybe not) give it a paint job, buy legs and a retractable net. Bring them to your tournaments, and practice on there?

This could ruin your game also, I don't know. But If you always practicce on a regular table, and then just on tourney days practice a little on the mini table, it could help your game maybe?

Let me know your thoughts!

It won't make much of a difference other than maybe helping your mind adjust. It might hurt at a higher level in specific ways.

Table tennis is a precision sport as well as an accuracy sport so being able to put the ball at precise locations is pretty critical. My guess is that many of the top players would struggle to do some of their best serves on a smaller table given how honed their serves are to the specific table length and so on. So getting as precise as you can on the current table is ideal. Some people like to play precise shorts deep on the table while some others (or even the same people in different situations) like to topspin short to hit the lines. I know one guy who was once 2300+ whose powerloops seem to hit the corner of the table for some reason. How he does it I don't know but it is hypnotizing.

allencorn · Sep 27, 2015

I think any mental effect, positive or negative, would be short lived. We used to practice on one half of the table as we were setting them up, and for a couple of minutes afterward the full-sized table seemed huge, but that perception did not last long.

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Table Length Psychology

agold

agold

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UpSideDownCarl

UpSideDownCarl

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NextLevel

NextLevel

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allencorn

allencorn

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