Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

Der,

Yikes. I guess it will come down to how much does "cost a lot" come to...
Still hoping to get somewhere, though. Thanks for the suggestions. I will be going armed with notes and hope.

Thanks again.

Der_Echte said:

None of the clubs are accessible by public trans and uber will still cost a lot...

Wdctt is the closest to public trsns but still a pain.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

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Nuke Skywalker said:

Uh...hello!?
Let me know when you are in town so we can have a hit!

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It's your reward for not playing the league. More seriously, I should have told you I was coming ao please forgive the oversight on my part. Was only there on Sunday.

If Flatstyk didn't already figure it out, Nuke Skywalker plays at Chantilly and WDCTT. I guess from Arlington, an Uber ride would be cheaper to WDCTT, maybe 15 miles ??

Takkyu_wa_inochi said:

Today, staying positive, and focused is really what could have made a difference. if i think always "i have to put a lot of much spin in this serve" or "i have to be careful about his long serve" thats when i make mistakes. instead i have to think "im going to attack immediately with my BH after this serve" or "i'll do a FH after this receive" to not make mistakes and then "i'll always reposition myself". When i'm nervous, and i'm not fighting it, i'll have the first kind of thoughts, and I'll lose points either with a mistake or getting stuck and not moving after my stroke. It happened so many times today. I was not mentally strong on 100% on points and in all those tight games it cost me a lot as i lost 3 matches today in the decider with the tightest margin

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A good coach told me that self-talk in table tennis is highly underestimated, and it is almost as important as having a good coach to talk you through a match. You can even tell yourself lies, but you have to tell yourself things that put you in the best mindset to play well, not things that will make you freeze when your opponent does anything. Again, they can be lies. You can even make yourself believe your opponent is having a bad day if it makes you more relaxed at the table.

Der_Echte said:

If Flatstyk didn't already figure it out, Nuke Skywalker plays at Chantilly and WDCTT. I guess from Arlington, an Uber ride would be cheaper to WDCTT, maybe 15 miles ??

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If he does the red line, he might be able to get close to WDCTT. I think Fort Totten plus an Uber might do the trick.

NextLevel said:

Takkyu_wa_inochi said:

Today, staying positive, and focused is really what could have made a difference. if i think always "i have to put a lot of much spin in this serve" or "i have to be careful about his long serve" thats when i make mistakes. instead i have to think "im going to attack immediately with my BH after this serve" or "i'll do a FH after this receive" to not make mistakes and then "i'll always reposition myself". When i'm nervous, and i'm not fighting it, i'll have the first kind of thoughts, and I'll lose points either with a mistake or getting stuck and not moving after my stroke. It happened so many times today. I was not mentally strong on 100% on points and in all those tight games it cost me a lot as i lost 3 matches today in the decider with the tightest margin

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A good coach told me that self-talk in table tennis is highly underestimated, and it is almost as important as having a good coach to talk you through a match. You can even tell yourself lies, but you have to tell yourself things that put you in the best mindset to play well, not things that will make you freeze when your opponent does anything. Again, they can be lies. You can even make yourself believe your opponent is having a bad day if it makes you more relaxed at the table.

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2 quotes from Muhammad Ali:

“I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was”


“I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest”

@flatstl. In Arlington, there is a club near Ballston: http://www.nvttc.org. Average, however, it is a place to hit. They'll be open W,Tr,Sa. Check out the link. Provide more info (PM) and can suggest more.

We moved put of NoVa 11 years ago, however, know the above club is still there.

Chuck

Another training session with my usual partner. 1 hour of drills then we played 2 matches. This guy is around two levels above (he thinks a bit more) and indeed i had beaten him only twice in perhaps 80? matches, the very first time when he hadn't played for a while and another time when he was a bit sick.

But ive been feeling frustration for a long time as i felt it was more a case of me playing bad against him than him playing well. He usually doesn't need his best game to beat me, and if he just sticks to be consistent that's usually enough. On the other hand I could feel some defeats were due to me getting nervous when i was ahead against him as he has the upper psychological advantage from having won so many times.

Today first match, first set he plays more aggressively than usual, to make things more interesting and he wins it 11-6. Second set is a disaster for me 11-0 !!!! At this stage I feel bad but its like waking me up. I tell myself I'm not that bad and i have to show him and myself i can do much better. I win the third 12-10 saving one match point ! Fourth set i play well but lose it 8-11.
I feel that after all i can play even better than this and ask for a revenge match... I win the first 12-10 lose the second 6 .. but manage to win with a comfortable margin the next two !!
For my first 'regular' win !! And breaking the curse finally !!!

He was very upset and didn't understand why it happened because he felt he didn't play that bad in the second game.

The truth is I played a much much better match due to being much more positive. Finally i was able to find the rhythm after serve or receive and after going back to neutral play good third or fourth balls, taking the initiative. Rallies were 50/50 or only slightly in my favour. What changes a lot is really to not worry to much about my serve or receive and be positive all the time...

He wasn't playing his best but it's a very good win and encouraging result. I believe i wont have to wait one year to get the next one.

Yeahhhhhh!!!!!

Takkyu_wa_inochi said:

but manage to win with a comfortable margin the next two !!
For my first 'regular' win !! And breaking the curse finally !!!

....

He wasn't playing his best but it's a very good win and encouraging result. I believe i wont have to wait one year to get the next one.

Yeahhhhhh!!!!!

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Woot Woot. Nice!. Congrats. Few things are better than that feeling of finally getting over on someone you've been chasing.

I actually have a similar experience. My training partner has beaten me for probably the last two years (we don't play every week. Usually just practice. That's about to change though. More on that later) but in Oct or Nov, can't remember. I finally beat him.

Here's the thing. I recorded the match and at the time also thought, like you did just now, "He wasn't playing his best". And here's my thoughts on that.. Don't use that line of thinking. All it does is beat yourself up & diminishes your victory. Furthermore, I think it psychologically sets in your head that they should pretty much always beat you. It's counterproductive. The truth of the matter is that it doesn't matter if he was off or if he was lights out. A win is a win and you take it every time you can get it.

Maybe he was playing off, or seemed to be so, because of something you were doing? Possible. Or maybe he was just off. That's not your problem. Consistency at the amateur level IMO is the #1 thing in the game. Whoever makes fewer errors typically wins. So props to you for being more consistent in that match.

Lastly, I'm starting this with my partner but I've seen another player around my level beat my partner. But they play a million matches every time. So I've started to do that with him also. If you play 5 matches in a night & lose all five? Big deal. (that's the challenge. is to not beat yourself up over losses or be afraid to lose) I promise you with him being the better player, you will improve quicker & start to adapt & close that gap. First you'll get the rare win. Then maybe it'll get to be where you have a 20% chance to win. And so on from there. Just keep closing that gap until it's even or until you've passed him up.

Takkyu_wa_inochi said:

Another training session with my usual partner. 1 hour of drills then we played 2 matches. This guy is around two levels above (he thinks a bit more) and indeed i had beaten him only twice in perhaps 80? matches, the very first time when he hadn't played for a while and another time when he was a bit sick.

But ive been feeling frustration for a long time as i felt it was more a case of me playing bad against him than him playing well. He usually doesn't need his best game to beat me, and if he just sticks to be consistent that's usually enough. On the other hand I could feel some defeats were due to me getting nervous when i was ahead against him as he has the upper psychological advantage from having won so many times.

Today first match, first set he plays more aggressively than usual, to make things more interesting and he wins it 11-6. Second set is a disaster for me 11-0 !!!! At this stage I feel bad but its like waking me up. I tell myself I'm not that bad and i have to show him and myself i can do much better. I win the third 12-10 saving one match point ! Fourth set i play well but lose it 8-11.
I feel that after all i can play even better than this and ask for a revenge match... I win the first 12-10 lose the second 6 .. but manage to win with a comfortable margin the next two !!
For my first 'regular' win !! And breaking the curse finally !!!

He was very upset and didn't understand why it happened because he felt he didn't play that bad in the second game.

The truth is I played a much much better match due to being much more positive. Finally i was able to find the rhythm after serve or receive and after going back to neutral play good third or fourth balls, taking the initiative. Rallies were 50/50 or only slightly in my favour. What changes a lot is really to not worry to much about my serve or receive and be positive all the time...

He wasn't playing his best but it's a very good win and encouraging result. I believe i wont have to wait one year to get the next one.

Yeahhhhhh!!!!!

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Omedetōgozaimasu Sir!!

NextLevel said something to the effect of: when playing partners higher level than you, you know you generally would lose, so you have nothing to lose by playing your best. Please forgive me, I don't have the time to look for the exact quote. It's kind of liberating to play higher level partners as compared to play partners equal to you in skill.

UpSideDownCarl has mentioned that generally he serves with the idea of having a decent look at the 3rd ball and not looking for aces. ttmonster advised me not to look for the unreturnable serve, and just serve to have a playable 3rd ball and get into a rally.

There are 2 ways to win that I've found when partners of different levels play:

1) The higher rated partner plays aggressively and 'muscles' for the win
2) The higher rated partner plays steady and gives his partner 'a noose to hang himself' ... that is let his partner make the mistakes.

Your partner will not be able to play lackadaisical next time!

"Success breeds confidence and confidence breeds success."

Looking forward to your reports of the next time you two play!

CONGRATULATIONS!

I mean i really played very well the second match. Especially the first two strokes with consistency and that's really great because if you can do it all the time then it's level up for sure.

I knew i could beat him because I've had tight games already with him, sometimes i took him some sets with a wide score (11-1 !! Last week) playing very well, but i wasn't able either to maintain that kind of level during a whole match or i wasn't able to close sets or matches because mentally i was weak due to losing so many times probably.

So yes I'm enjoying this win and i know i can beat him again even if he plays better than today because I don't feel i was playing as well as i can either and that i can improve even more. The most important is being able to play good quality third and fourth balls consistently and always try to be active to play one more ball

suds79 said:

"He wasn't playing his best". And here's my thoughts on that.. Don't use that line of thinking. All it does is beat yourself up & diminishes your victory. Furthermore, I think it psychologically sets in your head that they should pretty much always beat you. It's counterproductive. The truth of the matter is that it doesn't matter if he was off or if he was lights out. A win is a win and you take it every time you can get it.

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Frame it postive! Although some people respond better to negative thinking, but generally positive thinking works for most people.

"If, when playing an opponent, you are also opposing yourself, you will be outnumbered.”
~ Dan Millman

Consistency at the amateur level IMO is the #1 thing in the game. Whoever makes fewer errors typically wins.

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*SIGH* after almost 2 yrs of playing following a 30+ yrs break, i still am inconsistent LOL

Great post suds!

Takkyu_wa_inochi said:

I mean i really played very well the second match. Especially the first two strokes with consistency and that's really great because if you can do it all the time then it's level up for sure.

I knew i could beat him because I've had tight games already with him, sometimes i took him some sets with a wide score (11-1 !! Last week) playing very well, but i wasn't able either to maintain that kind of level during a whole match or i wasn't able to close sets or matches because mentally i was weak due to losing so many times probably.

So yes I'm enjoying this win and i know i can beat him again even if he plays better than today because I don't feel i was playing as well as i can either and that i can improve even more. The most important is being able to play good quality third and fourth balls consistently and always try to be active to play one more ball

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Remember the feeling! Recall the feeling/memory next time you play, try to get yourself back into the flow/relaxed state you were in when you won the match.

You can do it!

I hit for an hour with a modern defender at our club before work today. He's solid has even beat Daniel a couple of times recently. Fore reference Daniel is our club's top player who is just over USATT 2000.

Anyways, it was good practice. I feel like I've been on this weird long journey but the cliff notes version is this. October-December I was playing the best TT of my life. Playing short pips/Long pips cpen twiddle game. But my SP 802-40 on my custom sponge was starting to separate so I needed something new. In the quest of ever more speed, I went with TSP Spectol Red in 2.0, which is a tuned short pips. It was lightening fast but I didn't know that Spectol had significantly smaller pips than 802-40. I could tell the spin capibility was significantly less. With more speed & less spin, it didn't work out. This threw me into EJ pondering where I tried inverted/Long pips, short pips/inverted, duel inverted. Shoot I even thought about shakehand.... Enough of that. All these styles I played easily 200-300 points worse.

So hit with Piotr (the mordern defender) with a brand new sheet (I literally just got it in the mail yesterday) of 802-40 1.8 stock sponge & LPs OX. Took some feeling out again. He beat me 3-0 first match where I largely noticed it was unforced errors on my part. So many points he only had to touch the ball once and the point was over for him. Next match 3-1. Last match 3-2. Didn't quite get him but I started to dial it in and play more consistent. I've beaten him before with this setup so I know I can do it and will get him at some point in the future.

I'm just glad to be playing a style that suites me and is comfortable. It's not pretty (it's actually a rather slow play of style) but it works for me and I find fast players typically don't like it. So that works for me.

Hoping to get some video of club matches on Sunday.

Last night, I hit/played for ~ 2hrs - during warmup, I alternated between SH and PH... trying to get used to my new backup racket. Trying to learn SH as well as modern PH strokes as well as learning how to use the super-bouncy Tenergy.

SHORT VERSION

1) I relaxed a bit better and didn't rush my shots.
2) I served more of my BH sidedown serves which seems to have heavy downspin.

LONG VERSION

1) My archnemesis, K, who also is a good friend/partner, knows I beat myself whenever I play him. He gives me a noose to hang myself. I rush my shots during rallies. He just plays steady. I took a few months off to recuperate and in that time, K improved tremendously. M2 estimates K is about 1900 now. With me, K, works his defensive game as I move him side-to-side with blocks/punches and he fears the explosivesness of my FH smash. But he still lobs to me from time to time to have me help him improve. If I was more consistent, I think I will beat him. I'm not looking for wins so much as improving my consistency. With that in mind, K is a good barometer for me ... if i can beat him consistently that means my game has gotten back to a fairly decent level of steadiness.

We warmup for a bit and K comments I should convert to SH ... ttmonster in 3, ,2, 1, ... LOL

As SH, i have no serves, no game, only decent FH, inconsistent BH, etc. Told him I'm trying to learn the modern PH style and trying out SH for that reason. However during matchplay, i only played PH

We start a match... lost at 5 in first, and won 2nd at 5. I am still not used to my new backup racket - only 4th time playing with it. Very challenging so far. Despite loss in 1st game, I may have found a weakness in K's game. Many partners underestimate my BH side-down serve, it's heavy downspin and many partners net the return. I started serving that more.

Also varied the serve placement... in the past, I've focused on the pendulum serve and mostly to partner's deep BH for the unreturnable serve. With K, NextLevel advised to serve short as K vs me plays a defensive game and steps back.

Another factor, I consciously took half a second to 1 second more before I hit ... i generally rush myself in the rallies and frustrating for me as I'm controlling the point moving K side-to-side only to rush one ball and lose the point ... last night, had better control/rallies as i took a little longer before hitting the ball

As K and I played on a table with another member's net, and they were leaving, we didn't finish the match and left it at 1-1. K's net was on another table but he was tired and called it a night.

I am not interested in how many wins or beating K consistently to have more wins... however, am interested in improving my consistency and if i win vs K, it shows some progress in my 'unretirement'. Happy to have won a game vs K in that respect. However, if K plays offensively or mixes in more offense with his defensive game which is what he is working on, I would have a tougher time to win.

2) Played with B, he is ~1900 ... nice FH and BH loops ... in the past, i couldn't read his serves ... a SH player, in some ways B reminds me of 42andbackpains ... B is a bit 'softer' than 42&bp, but both are challenging for me to play against. In the past, vs B i beat myself... he just lets me make mistakes... when we warmup, he has some idea that i'm steady enough, but yet in gameplay, i lose easily to him. At times he will attack. He won many points off his serve in the past.

Last night, took half to 1 second extra before hitting the ball. Got a better look when i don't rush myself. Lost 3 straight but at -8, -7 and -8. Despite the losses, happy with my play somewhat.

For me (and many others lol), the key is to relax and not to rush myself. Able to do that better last night. B also unestimated my BH sidedown - heavy on the downspin and he nets the 2nd ball. Interesting... served less pendulum and more BH serves to him. Was able to distinguish between his pendulum nospin and spin serves, perhaps ttmonster's comment of really focusing on seeing the partner's serve helped vs B.

Happy to have perhaps made a little improvement last night. Can't wait for next week lol

At some point, will go 2x a week and perhaps back to 3x a week like i used to prior the time off for shoulder achiness.

suds79 said:

Does anybody have an idea for league play at our table tennis club?

Some players have expressed interests in having a league. But I'm thinking, how do you run a league where people sometimes show up to play & sometimes don't.

We could do an individual league but honestly that's probably not going to be that exciting. Everybody kinda knows who the top players are 1-4. Sometimes they show. Sometimes they don't.

So I'm thinking some team drafting thing would be fun. Would it be you win more points for challenging someone & winning and very little positive points even in losses? I figure there's got to be some incentive for players showing up to play, even if they lose, compared to players who never make it to club.

Anybody have ideas or do something similar at your club?

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Man, i wanted to respond to this already two days ago. Hope i understood correctly.
Well, anyway late but here:

As monster wrote, it depends a bit how many players you have.
Have you ever heard of "Corbillon Cup"? Basically you have two players form a team and the Team that scores 3 points has won.
Example for running order:
Player 1 Team A vs. Player 2 Team B
Player 2 Team A vs. Player 1 Team A
Doubles
Player 2 Team A vs. Player 2 Team B
Player 1 Team A vs. Player 1 Team B

If you have like 8 players you could form 4 Teams and let each team play against each other. If you don't want it to be over already then let all Teams have a ReMatch so you would have 1st leg and 2nd leg season.
There are tournaments played like this with all matches played on one single day, But you could also split it up and just have one team match per day.
Of course the number of teams can be increased, but the number of players could also be increased easily if you have more players participating. You could also have a substitute Player per team in case your best players don't show up on a regular. If you have like 3 or 4 players per Team only the playing order would be slightly different. That's all.
You can also set up a prize for the team who wins the most.
Make sure the best players don't play in the same team otherwise things might get boring too soon.
If the best players show up to your Team matches then fine, and if they don't then they are weakening their Team, so it's not the best player that wins the season but rather the best team with the best consistency. And if your best players have some sportsman spirit then they won't let their teammates hang.

I hope this has been somewhat helpful an in case of any questions feel free to ask.
[Emoji2]

OldschoolPenholder said:

LOL nah, people know this, but may need reminding from time to time ... instead of sulking after a loss, analyze/reflect and use the loss to improve on ... after all, all the inventors/creators/scientists etc all 'lost'/'failed' before they succeeded ... a loss is only a loss if nothing is gained from it ... build off of the loss, glean what you can ... the Way to Self-Pefection



So i'm sitting here thinking dayum Suga D got the strokes ... if i ever play him i gotta ask for 9 points !!!!!!!!

Maybe clean your glasses before you watch vids of me ... you are not the only one who is overweight!!

Thank you for sharing the vids!! Looking good!

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Hahaha,
[Emoji23]
Thanks for the kind words, Sir. You're too kind.
But you certainly know it's the other way around.
If you don't spot me at least nine I'll be hopelessly lost.
You do your tpb punch block in a Bruce Lee 1 inch punch manner and punch a hole with it on my side of the table. How do you expect me to beat that when all your blocks get stuck in the table and don't bounce up anymore?
[Emoji12]

Suga D said:

You do your tbh punch block in a Bruce Lee 1 inch punch manner and punch a hole with it on my side of the table.
[Emoji12]

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OH MY GUOYUEHUA LOLOLOL !!!!!!!!!


Need I remind you any vid of my matches or just the punch, i include a few misses just to show i'm still inconsistent!!!!!!

Oh my Zhang Jike !!!

OldschoolPenholder said:

OH MY GUOYUEHUA LOLOLOL !!!!!!!!!


Need I remind you any vid of my matches or just the punch, i include a few misses just to show i'm still inconsistent!!!!!!

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ttmonster said:

Oh my Zhang Jike !!!

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What's OMZ?

That's not OMG!!!