Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

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The thing about unilateral disproportion is it would need extremely heavy training load over time to make a difference. Only pro players are likely to come anywhere close to creating a noticeable difference and even then, not all of them. It's not something to worry about for an amateur player.
 
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The thing about unilateral disproportion is it would need extremely heavy training load over time to make a difference. Only pro players are likely to come anywhere close to creating a noticeable difference and even then, not all of them. It's not something to worry about for an amateur player.

It is something to worry about and something to address.
 
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went to the club as every Tuesdays.
spent more than 1 hour doing drills. Then some matches.

1st guy I never beat him. I feel somehow I *SHOULD* beat him, at least SOMETIMES, but I just can't. He doesn't have strong shots, but he's quite consistent, plays smart and never gives up. Good FH and also good controlling BH with SP. I was playing well, especially in the 3rd, and was 2-1 ahead at that time. I started to think about winning. I think that was it. But he started to be more aggressive , and i started to panic and totally melted down. lost 3-11 both 4th and 5th... BAAAAAD

Then i played that talented young girl. I had beaten her only, with a lot of luck in our very first meeting, and she's been regaining her form and I've always lost since, even though we had at least 2 tight matches recently. She may be a cutie, but no mercy here, i was totally pumped up, played a great match and tchooed a lot. She won the 1st , but i came from behind in the 2nd to edge her 11-9, was crushed in the 3rd, in the 4th i saved match point to win 12-10, and in the decider, I was up 10-7 but she came back. Ouch. I think she had 2 other match points, but after a long fight i won 17-15 or 18-16... YEAAHHHH, feels soooo good

i wanted to keep this good feeling but the girl wanted a rematch. Hey, can't I go home as a winner for once ? after losing 10 or 20 times in a row ??? PLEASE.... This is a childish attitude. I really wanted to say no, but I was trapped.

Strangely it looked like her mind was elsewhere because i was well in control in the first 2 sets. But then she upped her level to win it 3-2. PFFFFFF....

At last I played another teammate. I never beated him but we had some very tight matches recently. He won 1st game with a bit of luck, but i won 11-3 the 2nd, i think my best set ever against him. But then he returned the favour 3-11 and crushed me in the 4th. In the rematch i was 2-0 ahead , and had my chance in the 4th but lost 10-12 (no match point) and the match.

TT is the best sport ! There were very good points during all the session, I'm quite happy with my level.
 
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*** SANDBAGGER POST ALERT***

Played by far my best Monday league ever.

Usually working on next to no sleep, long work day, hurrying just to get to gym on time, etc...

This week prolly even more tired and bad attitude. Somehow laughed it off. Was consistent, saw ball better, played looser. Led Sergey Scoobie Doo in every set, but won only one. I must play 3 levels above normal to win on a normal day... almost. Did so many things well. Gave him few chances to play easy. Made him work hard. Forced a lot of risks from him. Played short when I wanted, flipped when I wanted. Countered when I wanted. Pressured him in every way and still got edged out.

If I play the California 2000 level Goon Squad this tough I will add my name... but I gotta do it next tourney and the next three before anyone can chisel it down.

Beat a player who edged me out the last two times. Won 3 to 1 vs a player who I never can read his touch. Did that after losing game 1... 0-11. Yup, that's right, got goose egged, then bounced back. That is a much better indicator than others.

Lost a game at Long deuce in 5th to a guy around my level... he chopped on an edge ball at 11-11, I walked over to choke my friend out with a towel. He bought the sushi after the match.

I should lose to him in 5th and get sushi more often...Get my cake and eat it too kinda thing.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
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I think that if you have played tabletennis for some years and somewhat serious you definely Will have a stronger playing arm. If i Do weigths i can lift much much less with my left which is my non playing arm. A big difference.

Only if you do nothing else.
 
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You have no idea my friend , instead of guessing speak from experience !
The thing about unilateral disproportion is it would need extremely heavy training load over time to make a difference. Only pro players are likely to come anywhere close to creating a noticeable difference and even then, not all of them. It's not something to worry about for an amateur player.
 
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You have no idea my friend , instead of guessing speak from experience !

I am speaking from experience. Everyone is stronger on one side than the other. Even advanced powerlifters retain some imbalance. It's nothing to concern yourself with unless it becomes extreme. It can't become extreme from table tennis since it cannot produce that level of adaptation.

Instead of guessing about my experience maybe reassess yourself instead.
 
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How may years are you playing table tennis and what is your rating ?

I have been playing for quite sometime , but as a trained amateur since around 2011 , with gaps depending on availability of players and facilities. I play approx. 8-10 hours in a week which is not much in amateur terms. My rating is around 1700 USATT ... I have videos posted on this forum and there are establised members in this forum who have played with me and can attest to my understanding of table tennis and sports in general ...

I can see there is a noticeable difference in my musculature on the right and left sides , and I have been told by professionals that some of the problems I have ( e.g. borderline tennis elbow , back pain , knee ) etc are due to the difference in usage ...

you still think I spoke without assessing or experience ?

with due respect , you make a lot of flippant remarks across the forum, may be thats your style may be not , may be you want to project a persona depicted in your profile pic .. how do I know ?
so you need to look at your own credibility before pointing fingers when you get responses that are deserving of the online persona that you are projecting ....


I am speaking from experience. Everyone is stronger on one side than the other. Even advanced powerlifters retain some imbalance. It's nothing to concern yourself with unless it becomes extreme. It can't become extreme from table tennis since it cannot produce that level of adaptation.

Instead of guessing about my experience maybe reassess yourself instead.
 
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I am speaking from experience. Everyone is stronger on one side than the other. Even advanced powerlifters retain some imbalance. It's nothing to concern yourself with unless it becomes extreme. It can't become extreme from table tennis since it cannot produce that level of adaptation.

Instead of guessing about my experience maybe reassess yourself instead.

How may years are you playing table tennis and what is your rating ?

I have been playing for quite sometime , but as a trained amateur since around 2011 , with gaps depending on availability of players and facilities. I play approx. 8-10 hours in a week which is not much in amateur terms. My rating is around 1700 USATT ... I have videos posted on this forum and there are establised members in this forum who have played with me and can attest to my understanding of table tennis and sports in general ...

I can see there is a noticeable difference in my musculature on the right and left sides , and I have been told by professionals that some of the problems I have ( e.g. borderline tennis elbow , back pain , knee ) etc are due to the difference in usage ...

you still think I spoke without assessing or experience ?

with due respect , you make a lot of flippant remarks across the forum, may be thats your style may be not , may be you want to project a persona depicted in your profile pic .. how do I know ?
so you need to look at your own credibility before pointing fingers when you get responses that are deserving of the online persona that you are projecting ....

You're actually both right. A lot of it depends on one's muscle fiber makeup, the amount of time they play for, and the amount of physical effort put into one's game. Someone that's fast twitch dominant can actually build enough muscle through repetitive explosive movement that it can lead to an unhealthy imbalance. The counterpoint to that is someone that's slow twitch dominant - they could even lift weights and not see much difference in muscle size and strength. To give real-life context here, look at sprinters vs marathoners and their physique and muscularity. Sprinters tend heavily toward fast twitch dominance, while marathoners are the opposite.

From personal experience playing and devoting a lot of time practicing un-balanced sports (baseball, golf, etc.), it's definitely possible to develop bad enough imbalances to cause problems. The core is more susceptible to this than the limbs, but the whole body is affected by it. My chiropractor even told me that lifting weights is just about the best thing one can do to balance out their body.
 
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Does not work that way my friend , you questioned my credibility I responded , then I asked you to prove yours, and you don't have anything to support your "expertise or your credibility" , so you need to first respond to my questions .. with something !!! ( either a video of you playing a match or whatever ) and I will provide you the pictures ... I call first dibs my friend :)
Show a picture of your noticeable difference in muscularity. Provide an objective strength measure which shows the discrepancy. I'll wait.
 

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Well, I do love a good unscientific TT thread......

From my experience......

My right arm/side is stronger - But that doesn't seem to be associated with Table Tennis, and more to do with being right handed etc.

How much of an impact TT makes to that, I can't be sure.

What I do know is that I'm almost always going to pick up injuries on my right arm/side - Right now I have a tricep strain which is due to TT (bloody thing won't go away either!)

I'd be surprised if many amateurs had a big difference in their bodies due to this - A small difference perhaps, but likely not noticeable unless you are playing 10 hours plus per week.

That being said, everyone is different, and it's logical that your dominant side would be physically different to a degree if you played TT quite a bit.

So yeah, firmly on the fence!
 
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Does not work that way my friend , you questioned my credibility I responded , then I asked you to prove yours, and you don't have anything to support your "expertise or your credibility" , so you need to first respond to my questions .. with something !!! ( either a video of you playing a match or whatever ) and I will provide you the pictures ... I call first dibs my friend :)

I am afraid it does work that way. Firstly you are the one who first questioned someone else's credibility. So don't play that game.

Secondly the fact you think a video of me playing table tennis is something to provide credibility in this matter is all I need to know. Ability at table tennis has nothing to do with what is at hand. An utter irrelevancy.

Thirdly, if you are going to make big claims it will need evidence. Luckily that evidence is simple to provide. Incredibly simple. Since you are the anecdotal evidence, it is not hard to turn it into actual evidence. Trivial. Go on. Still waiting.
 
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My right arm looks bigger than my left in an unnatural way. It gets worse when I play and better when I don't. I have started extensive shadow swinging with my left side to see if it helps. But maybe at some point I will have to lift weights.

Look at Kreanga for an example of a pro who clearly has something going on other than just a bigger hand...
 
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Got a question for you guys.

How long do you give a rubber before you decide if it's not for you or if you simply need time to adapt to it.

I have been playing H3 Neo commercial on my FH for probably close to a year. Around the holidays, family members gifted to me a sheet of Gambler Burst Thor's hammer sponge.

Theoretically it should play pretty similar. Both are Chinese tacky. Both are firm sponges. I suppose H3 Neo has a light tuning but I'm sure that wore off a long time ago for me.

Anyways, I have about 6 hours on this new rubber and I am simply hitting the ball long a lot. I'm almost positive it's the firmer sponge as I'm probably not getting the feel or spin I'm use to not engaging the sponge. It's the year old broken in sponge vs a brand new one.

Playing devil's advocate, It's not like I'm exactly going to the exact same rubber just a newer version. It is technically different.

So like I posed earlier. How long do you give a rubber to break in before you cast judgement?
 
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Got a question for you guys.

How long do you give a rubber before you decide if it's not for you or if you simply need time to adapt to it.

I have been playing H3 Neo commercial on my FH for probably close to a year. Around the holidays, family members gifted to me a sheet of Gambler Burst Thor's hammer sponge.

Theoretically it should play pretty similar. Both are Chinese tacky. Both are firm sponges. I suppose H3 Neo has a light tuning but I'm sure that wore off a long time ago for me.

Anyways, I have about 6 hours on this new rubber and I am simply hitting the ball long a lot. I'm almost positive it's the firmer sponge as I'm probably not getting the feel or spin I'm use to not engaging the sponge. It's the year old broken in sponge vs a brand new one.

Playing devil's advocate, It's not like I'm exactly going to the exact same rubber just a newer version. It is technically different.

So like I posed earlier. How long do you give a rubber to break in before you cast judgement?

I usually give it a few weeks but no more than a month. I play the same rubber on my forehand and had the same problem as you for a bit when I changed from 999. You can get away with a lot more of a forward stroke with BTH and you almost have to in order to bring the ball down on the table.
 
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Got a question for you guys.

How long do you give a rubber before you decide if it's not for you or if you simply need time to adapt to it.

I have been playing H3 Neo commercial on my FH for probably close to a year. Around the holidays, family members gifted to me a sheet of Gambler Burst Thor's hammer sponge.

Theoretically it should play pretty similar. Both are Chinese tacky. Both are firm sponges. I suppose H3 Neo has a light tuning but I'm sure that wore off a long time ago for me.

Anyways, I have about 6 hours on this new rubber and I am simply hitting the ball long a lot. I'm almost positive it's the firmer sponge as I'm probably not getting the feel or spin I'm use to not engaging the sponge. It's the year old broken in sponge vs a brand new one.

Playing devil's advocate, It's not like I'm exactly going to the exact same rubber just a newer version. It is technically different.

So like I posed earlier. How long do you give a rubber to break in before you cast judgement?

Break in? I just loop with it and see what it does. If the loop is promising then I run through some strokes, mostly short game stuff like pushing and flicking and serving. If it looks reasonable, then I play with it for a month. If it fails an area, it must have done so well in another area for me to go forward.

But at this point all tests lead to G1, as performed and longevity for cost is not outdone by anyone else.
 
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Dude its completely relevant ... if you are an amateur player , a really amateur player who just hits the ball high across the net hoping it will land on the opposite side for 20 hours a week without using any power or spin on the ball .. .your musculature will remain amazingly symmetrical ... so if I don't know you are playing the same sport that I am ... I don't find any reason to pay any attention to what you are saying ... and I have been here long enough to see enough people misleading others with their poorly founded ideas when they really don't have any business doing it other than trolling ... and I have seen enough posts from you in particular to be sure that you do troll people at times ... so I find it my business to call out when somebody says something that does not make any sense to keep things in perspective in the forum ... especially when I am responding to somebody like Jeff who I know for some time and I know how serious he is about developing his table tennis skills ..

I am afraid it does work that way. Firstly you are the one who first questioned someone else's credibility. So don't play that game.

Secondly the fact you think a video of me playing table tennis is something to provide credibility in this matter is all I need to know. Ability at table tennis has nothing to do with what is at hand. An utter irrelevancy.

Thirdly, if you are going to make big claims it will need evidence. Luckily that evidence is simple to provide. Incredibly simple. Since you are the anecdotal evidence, it is not hard to turn it into actual evidence. Trivial. Go on. Still waiting.
 
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I am afraid it does work that way. Firstly you are the one who first questioned someone else's credibility. So don't play that game.

Secondly the fact you think a video of me playing table tennis is something to provide credibility in this matter is all I need to know. Ability at table tennis has nothing to do with what is at hand. An utter irrelevancy.

Thirdly, if you are going to make big claims it will need evidence. Luckily that evidence is simple to provide. Incredibly simple. Since you are the anecdotal evidence, it is not hard to turn it into actual evidence. Trivial. Go on. Still waiting.

Fruitloop,

I strongly disagree with you on this. I give TTEdge charity, and if I didn't know you in that light, I would have been extremely puzzled by your stance on this.

I've played a lot over the last 7 years, hit the ball much more than I can remember and would be embarrassed to admit, even with various forms of degenerative arthritis. And I speak from my own experience that most amateurs (we can consider ourselves semi-pros) who play hard enough and frequently enough to take the sport seriously know that they have significant muscular imbalances. We have two kids at our club and 3 adults who all broke USATT 2000 under a coach and we all complained about how much bigger our playing arms were than our other arms until we learned that it was typical for TT players who practiced seriously over long periods of time. OF course, there could be an alternate explanation, but I have seen it in enough tournament players that I think it is relevant to ask what your experience with playing is when claiming that playing experience is irrelevant to the issue. Because if you don't play at a serious level, then maybe you are arguing without familiarity with why someone would think the way they do. I never had the impression that right bicep was bigger than my left until I started playing table tennis regularly. Never. IT still is but I am working harder to balance both with shadow swinging.

The other thing is video of your play. I am not sure if I have ever seen you play, but if you actually posted video of your play, you would become far more humble. One of the great things about this site, in part fostered by work from Carl (UpsideDownCarl), Will (DerEchte) and myself, is that we strongly encourage people to post video and share their personal lives a little bit with the community. It does a few things - it avoids the issues with trying to answer questions about someone's description of what is happening when we can see what is really happening. It gives us a context with which to place someone's level of play and how to gauge their comments and put them in context. People also become more humble and less arrogant when we know their level as they are neither Gods nor monsters nor ants. They become human beings like the rest of us.

On this thread, I have seen just about every regular poster hit the ball at one time or another with a few exceptions. Lula the most recent, but Boogar, Takkyu, myself, ttmonster, DerEchte, Richie, Carl when he used to post, thekleifheit13, JeffM, sud79, OldschoolPenholder, NDH etc. have all posted video of their play. It has helped me understand and fraternize with them. I consider them family in one way or another.

We used to have a lot of posters who may have understood facts and logic but almost never understood table tennis enough to understand why one could misconceive something very strongly (assuming it really was a misconception - in fact, very often, the fact that one did not play at a high enough level made it more likely they just never really understood what they were talking about). Some of them eventually shared video and were assimilated. Others either left or just realized there was no point in speaking as if you understood things that you really didn't. People who didn't share video sometimes just gave some evidence of their playing level/ranking. Even before seeing Lula, others had said he played at a good level in Sweden.

None of this is to say you are wrong on the muscular imbalance topic etc. But that if you think that your experience with TT is irrelevant to the dynamics here, or that not posting video is irrelevant, I disagree. Knowledge in something like TT is complex with nuance. There is very little that is absolute, a lot of stuff is embedded in hard experience, so knowing your degree of experience helps. And with it might come some humility and empathy with others who have put hard time into the sport.
 
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