Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

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I've tried way more than I hate to admit and most of them are way too spinny which wrecks my service return game. Rozena is still quite cheap at 30$/sheet. The only thing remotely as boring and fantastic as Rozena has been EL-S but it was a bit too fast for me. T80 is quite good/similar but way too expensive for my habit of slamming my setup into the table.

Any tips for a replacement?

Which of the Hexer, Baracuda, Genius, Xplode, Xtra Energy, G1, Vega Pro generation did you try?
 
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Which of the Hexer, Baracuda, Genius, Xplode, Xtra Energy, G1, Vega Pro generation did you try?

I've tried Hexer, Baracuda and Vega Pro. I think I still have a sheet of Vega Pro which I may try. They're all way slower than Rozena though and I like to backhand punch quite a bit.

G1 I've tried on a friends setup and it was too spinny for my liking. I try to stay away from stuff that messes up my short FH receive.
 
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I've tried Hexer, Baracuda and Vega Pro. I think I still have a sheet of Vega Pro which I may try. They're all way slower than Rozena though and I like to backhand punch quite a bit.

G1 I've tried on a friends setup and it was too spinny for my liking. I try to stay away from stuff that messes up my short FH receive.

Sounds like you have what you need. I don't try to push FH short other than in drills. Maybe something with softer sponge will do well for you but since I haven't tried softer sponge in a while, I really can't make any informed comments. Genius is the most similar to T80 but the slower speed will likely cause you issues.
 
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Did a car driving trip to Las Vegas and back this weekend... now safe back at home.

I received an offer to stay at a resort for free 3 nights (normally 300-500 USD a night) if I listen to a sales presentation (which we declined in a manner that upset the sales force, their management, and even their Goon Squad.)

First off, to get to Vegas, one has to choose mode of transportation. Airplane for 2 costs over $400 round trip, but a trip in the VW Passat costs USD $100 in fuel. Of course we chose to drive... even if there are numerous California turtles in the left lane who think it is their God-Given American right to stay in left lane, even if there are 5 km of cars stacked up behind them.

One way was just under 1000 km (that is around 600 miles for USA folk)… was 10 hrs road time, excluding bathroom breaks.

Made it safe their, happy to check into room, setup computer, relax, read some TTD, comment, drink fresh coffee, and get ready to be unconscious.

That was my mistake... getting unconscious. That hotel bed was worse than a Man-Eater... both our (ME + wife) bodies were racked with pain the next day... and every day we slept on those... I would have been better off on the floor. Pillows were worse. I would have been better using rucksack for pillow on floor.

But what the heck? It was FREE. HAHAHAHAHAHA next time you couldn't pay me $1000 USD to do that mission for free. No way. But, at least the wife got to see why I never was in a hurry to take her to Vegas... even if she saw all the expensive shopping areas.

I got to play ZERO TT, even though I know a few players there.

Good deal, bad deal.

Made it home safe on one tank of fuel and drank a few cappuccinos.

Mission Complete.
 
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Martin, stop hitting the rubber on the table!

Nextlevel, why Do you never push short? Better blocking game than attacking game?
 
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Martin, stop hitting the rubber on the table!

Nextlevel, why Do you never push short? Better blocking game than attacking game?

Lula, you gotta ask NL yourself, (which you did, but I am in first before Goon Squad attacks) but I think Next Level likes to put heavy topspin on the ball. :D
 
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Lula, you gotta ask NL yourself, (which you did, but I am in first before Goon Squad attacks) but I think Next Level likes to put heavy topspin on the ball. :D

Okay, But then he should really have a reason to push short so he can topspin the ball first. Hard to loop short balls.

I think that if you are better at attack you should not really push long much, Maybe just for variation and if you are great at counterattack.
 
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I guess because he does not want the other guy to push heavy and fast , which would be to his disadvantage because he would have to move fast and also use his knees to make the first loop quality , if he pushes half long , if placed well e.g. to the knucklebreaker / elbow breaker zone .. he is going to get a weak topspin which he can play around with ( block / counter aggressively ) .. even if its placed within the table double bounce ( does not mean it has to be very short to be double bounce ) either he is going to get an over the table loop or a weak push ... and if he is pushing long , he has to place it very well if .... otherwise at 2000 level and above after a few pushes the opponent will mostly start attacking
Okay, But then he should really have a reason to push short so he can topspin the ball first. Hard to loop short balls.

I think that if you are better at attack you should not really push long much, Maybe just for variation and if you are great at counterattack.
 
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I guess because he does not want the other guy to push heavy and fast , which would be to his disadvantage because he would have to move fast and also use his knees to make the first loop quality , if he pushes half long , if placed well e.g. to the knucklebreaker / elbow breaker zone .. he is going to get a weak topspin which he can play around with ( block / counter aggressively ) .. even if its placed within the table double bounce ( does not mean it has to be very short to be double bounce ) either he is going to get an over the table loop or a weak push ... and if he is pushing long , he has to place it very well if .... otherwise at 2000 level and above after a few pushes the opponent will mostly start attacking

Yes, make some sense. But if he wants to make heavy topspin and this is his greatest shot i still find it odd if he never paus short. I agree that he can get a bad push back But many Will loop his long pushes. And hard to get spin when you counterloop.
 
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Martin, stop hitting the rubber on the table!

Nextlevel, why Do you never push short? Better blocking game than attacking game?

I do push short. But people rarely ever serve short at the level I play and I don't read ball depth well enough to tell the difference. If someone is serving long and you try to return short because you are not reading the ball, you will always return long or into the net. Moreover I don't read the ball on my forehand as well as I do on my backhand because i don't turn and move in and out so well. So forehand short push is rare for me.

So after I pop up one or two short pushes, I just focus on making a good return with a long push and getting ready to ply. Or flicking the ball etc. But I can't build my game around short push. Most people serve long if you wait for the ball to come long and since I loop half long balls well, I usually wait.
 
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I do push short. But people rarely ever serve short at the level I play and I don't read ball depth well enough to tell the difference. If someone is serving long and you try to return short because you are not reading the ball, you will always return long or into the net. Moreover I don't read the ball on my forehand as well as I do on my backhand because i don't turn and move in and out so well. So forehand short push is rare for me.

So after I pop up one or two short pushes, I just focus on making a good return with a long push and getting ready to ply. Or flicking the ball etc. But I can't build my game around short push. Most people serve long if you wait for the ball to come long and since I loop half long balls well, I usually wait.

Okay. Yes, i agree. if they serve long you should try to loop the ball.

If they serve short sidetopsin or nospin you might could try to brush the ball fast on the side and still get it short and low. I find that it is only very good players that do this. And it is somewhat difficult. But i think you can learn it if you work on it!
 
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Okay. Yes, i agree. if they serve long you should try to loop the ball.

If they serve short sidetopsin or nospin you might could try to brush the ball fast on the side and still get it short and low. I find that it is only very good players that do this. And it is somewhat difficult. But i think you can learn it if you work on it!

Thanks Lula. One of the tragedies of starting old is that I don't see spin as well as people who started young. But I try my best. I still think I have room to improve my long balls. But I will definitely go short once I have improved my ability and confidence seeing the ball.
 
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Thanks Lula. One of the tragedies of starting old is that I don't see spin as well as people who started young. But I try my best. I still think I have room to improve my long balls. But I will definitely go short once I have improved my ability and confidence seeing the ball.

Keep up the good work!

Maybe you can try to color half the ball, or make a big dot on the ball so you learn to look at the ball and learn what kind of spin different strokes and serve have. Then maybe you can train with that for a while till you are better at learning spin then start with at white ball. Also think to play alot of different players with different serves is important to learn to read spin. And never hesitate when you think you have read the spin correctly. Hesitate and do something inbetween is rubbish when returning serves. Better to miss with like five tables than hesitate in my opinion.

Talked to a old chinese player and coach yesterday. He thought that we should play tabletennis with a twocolor ball because the crowd do not understand why players miss a certain ball because they do not see or understand the spin in the ball. What do you think about that? did they not tried that in the chinese league for a while?
 
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I agree .. but you do acknowledge that some of this goes hand in hand .. like most other things in table tennis its so connected ... its hard to tell them apart. This is how I would summarize our conversation on this .. what you are proposing is the first step towards improvement in his table tennis skills ... what I am proposing is to also build the foundation so that he can take it further and not get caught up in the ceiling some of us have .... when to certain extent you have the right form and technique but you cannot take your game further because you don't have the foundation to connect your skills ... there is a reason why I play doubles better than singles :)

Thanks for the input ttmonster and NextLevel.
I have actually put in the effort to improve my physical condition. I have been doing weights to improve strength of arms, and also cycling 3 times / week on exercise bike to improve cardio and leg function. Doing it with help of professional will be optimal, so that is a good suggestion. Finding the time to do so is more tricky, as I am no longer a student (since 1 year ago) and work schedule makes it difficult to find time for things. But hopefully I can work towards it.
 
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just watched Kenta MATSUDAIRA at WTTC 2013. his matches against MA Lin, Vladi, and XX are epic.

How come he literally didn't do anything great after that tournament ? (did he ?) He was full of promises.

Also when i saw him play in the last few years, i have the impression that he betrayed his original style and play a more conventional game, and it hasn't served him.
 
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I think people adapted to his serve and blocking style so he Did not win so much from it. So he was forced to become more offensive. But still pretty odd that that was his glory days. Bur i think people got used to his style.

I also think that blocking style worked great against forehand oriented players so he could make them run. But nowadays many play alot more backhand.

But i think his old style with blocking and counterattack would be good with the new ball.
 
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Thanks for the input ttmonster and NextLevel.
I have actually put in the effort to improve my physical condition. I have been doing weights to improve strength of arms, and also cycling 3 times / week on exercise bike to improve cardio and leg function. Doing it with help of professional will be optimal, so that is a good suggestion. Finding the time to do so is more tricky, as I am no longer a student (since 1 year ago) and work schedule makes it difficult to find time for things. But hopefully I can work towards it.

Not arm really, number 1 focus should be legs followed with core ... since you have knee injury you can do small weights with more repetitions to improve your quad strength .... arm is more to prevent injuries and balance the load on both sides otherwise one side becomes ridiculously big compared to the other side. I think finding time is more of a mindset issue than a schedule issue .. and i am guilty as we speak. I am sure you can take half an hour out from your schedule twice a day or 15 minutes 4 times a day to do small workouts without even using the gym. Even burfis or short bursts of core workout will give you cardio benefits ...


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Thanks for the input ttmonster and NextLevel.
I have actually put in the effort to improve my physical condition. I have been doing weights to improve strength of arms, and also cycling 3 times / week on exercise bike to improve cardio and leg function. Doing it with help of professional will be optimal, so that is a good suggestion. Finding the time to do so is more tricky, as I am no longer a student (since 1 year ago) and work schedule makes it difficult to find time for things. But hopefully I can work towards it.

Hi Jeff, I'll be the first to tell you I have no right giving anybody TT advice outside of parroting my coach/coaches I've worked with. But in the realm of fitness and health I've got pretty broad experience. Cycling is great for your cardio health, but it will not do much at all to strengthen your legs. The absolute BEST way to strengthen your legs is to squat and deadlift. If you don't have the time/skill/coaching/health to be able to do this, I suggest you start with bodyweight movements. I got my start with exercise by using the book, "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren. Despite being an advanced powerlifter, I still use that book for a couple months every summer as a break from heavy barbell training. It works really well for anyone from beginner to advanced-intermediate in the health/fitness world and it requires a lot less of your time than true weight training does.
 
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... arm is more to prevent injuries and balance the load on both sides otherwise one side becomes ridiculously big compared to the other side.

I don't have backup to support what I say but have heard it and it is logical. So take this FWIW...

A study (or studies) have shown that boxers have bigger left arms than right arms generally. As the world is 90% (or whatever large percentage) right-handed and generally boxers are taught to stand with their Dominant hand, their right in the rear and to have their Complentary hand in front. This is because of the old boxing adage, "Lead with speed, devour with power." The weaker Complementary hand/left is faster than the stronger Dominant hand, the right. The #1 punch in boxing is the jab, it is thrown with the left to probe for weaknesses and to set up for the power punch. Boxers also set up and end their combinations with the jab. Because of this, boxers left arms are bigger given the large percentage of use in training and in matches.

I digress. The point is that the danger in unilateral sports such as TT, golf, tennis, etc is disproportionately shaped body. Ideally the body should be balanced proportionately.

Good point by monster.
 
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Thanks OSP ...I will take the opportunity to digress back ... translating in table tennis terms .. the jab becomes the quick of the bounce backhand counter drive and then the big forehand ... pretty much... modern table tennis :)
I don't have backup to support what I say but have heard it and it is logical. So take this FWIW...

A study (or studies) have shown that boxers have bigger left arms than right arms generally. As the world is 90% (or whatever large percentage) right-handed and generally boxers are taught to stand with their Dominant hand, their right in the rear and to have their Complentary hand in front. This is because of the old boxing adage, "Lead with speed, devour with power." The weaker Complementary hand/left is faster than the stronger Dominant hand, the right. The #1 punch in boxing is the jab, it is thrown with the left to probe for weaknesses and to set up for the power punch. Boxers also set up and end their combinations with the jab. Because of this, boxers left arms are bigger given the large percentage of use in training and in matches.

I digress. The point is that the danger in unilateral sports such as TT, golf, tennis, etc is disproportionately shaped body. Ideally the body should be balanced proportionately.

Good point by monster.
 
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