POLL : Is theoretical discussion worth it ?

Do you think theoretical discussion is worth it

  • No, I have not found any improvement

    Votes: 0 0.0%

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    19
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I can say it all depends...
I can give you some positive ideas at first.
I have a internet friend from another forum (never seen him playing) but I know he plays in 2nd league in Poland and he is improving, because he keeps me updated. I know I am far from 2nd league so his level is much better. Once I thought to change my middle chop to long one, so I asked him about opinion because I know he plays long chop for about 10 years and tried many of them. This kind of information is very helpfull for me because I ask someone who Ican call expert.
The bad idea is to put a question to a forum first without any video and second you do not know who is going to answer. Most of forum users I would say 90% are amateurs so in many cases their level is too low to help but on the other hand they try a lot to get more posts or likes (I do not know the reason).
Believe if you ask pro players they discuss very seldom about equipment, they just rely on their coaches.
 

NDH

says Spin to win!
I think people are missing the point, and trying to come up with arguments which are irrelevant here.

Is there a coach who is better than a player in the top 10? No.... Of course not.

So yes, coaches are often worse than their students (at a high level). But that isn't the point.

Why do people ask for advice on the internet, when it's such a technical game (I'm talking about playing and strokes, rather than equipment)?

Well, for starters, perhaps they don't have access to a coach. They possibly also don't have access to players who are above their standard. Maybe they play remotely, with only 1 or 2 other players.

I see this happen quite a lot, and these players want to improve and learn about the game, but they have no one they can ask locally - So they turn to the forum.

You then get a host of "internet professionals" offer an opinion to someone who doesn't know any better - Most of the time these opinions are inaccurate and won't help in the slightest.

A lot of people who post on these forums are not great players - They have a love for the game which is good, but their standard is self taught, and they don't have decent technique.

Of course there are some who offer very good advice, and could even offer better advice than their level - But these people are few and far between.

Personally, I think it should be mandatory for the person who is asking for advice to post a video, and the person who responds should also have footage of themselves playing - It would help immensely, and everyone would benefit.
 

NDH

says Spin to win!
If he or she is 60+ years old this footage will not be relevant. Enough is when somebody mention level of play or coaching.

Why? I know plenty of people 60+ who would wipe the floor with a lot of decent players.

I just see no reason to argue against it? It benefits everyone.

If you don't want to post footage - Fine. No one is forcing you to.

But if you want to get into debates about technique or advice etc - Without footage or knowledge of your playing level, it's irrelevant!

Like I said, basic footage does not always show the true picture.

I know people who are top 100 in England and they have a very unique playing style - If you saw them, you'd probably not rate them very highly. But they are good.... Very good.

Likewise, I know people who have superb forehand to forehand and backhand to backhand technique, and they look really good.

At the end of the day, I'd take advice from both of those players - One can do the technique, but perhaps isn't as good in matches.

The other is a proven winner, with a unique play style.

I'm yet to see a legitimate argument against NOT posting footage?
 
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Why? I know plenty of people 60+ who would wipe the floor with a lot of decent players.

I just see no reason to argue against it? It benefits everyone.

If you don't want to post footage - Fine. No one is forcing you to.

But if you want to get into debates about technique or advice etc - Without footage or knowledge of your playing level, it's irrelevant!

Like I said, basic footage does not always show the true picture.

I know people who are top 100 in England and they have a very unique playing style - If you saw them, you'd probably not rate them very highly. But they are good.... Very good.

Likewise, I know people who have superb forehand to forehand and backhand to backhand technique, and they look really good.

At the end of the day, I'd take advice from both of those players - One can do the technique, but perhaps isn't as good in matches.

The other is a proven winner, with a unique play style.

I'm yet to see a legitimate argument against NOT posting footage?
I do not argue with video - it is the best proof. But for myself when somebody says he is pro player or pro coach - it is enough without sending video. I think some people prefer to be anonymous here and do not want to show themselves, but still their opinions can be worthy.
 

NDH

says Spin to win!
I do not argue with video - it is the best proof. But for myself when somebody says he is pro player or pro coach - it is enough without sending video. I think some people prefer to be anonymous here and do not want to show themselves, but still their opinions can be worthy.

Perhaps I'm more cynical......

Generally speaking, the pro players or pro coaches have an online presence, and you can see plenty of video footage.

If a random TTD member claims to be a "pro player" whilst staying anonymous...... Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to believe them.
 
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Perhaps I'm more cynical......

Generally speaking, the pro players or pro coaches have an online presence, and you can see plenty of video footage.

If a random TTD member claims to be a "pro player" whilst staying anonymous...... Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to believe them.
ok got your point but still I imagine for instance pro player can be anonymous here without saying his real name. I mean if somebody wants to be anonymous and just say he is pro for me it is enough, but I understand somebody else need more proof.
 

NDH

says Spin to win!
ok got your point but still I imagine for instance pro player can be anonymous here without saying his real name. I mean if somebody wants to be anonymous and just say he is pro for me it is enough, but I understand somebody else need more proof.

I think the problem is when you are a lower level player - You just want advice - Any advice.

If someone says they are a pro player, and sounds like they know what they are talking about - Perfect.

However.....I've seen so many people do this (sound like they know what they are talking about), and they simply don't.....

Their advice causes more harm than good, and in my opinion, that person is intentionally trying to fool others into thinking they are great.

I can't ever recall someone saying they are a pro player, and NOT have footage of themselves online.
 
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However.....I've seen so many people do this (sound like they know what they are talking about), and they simply don't.....

Their advice causes more harm than good, and in my opinion, that person is intentionally trying to fool others into thinking they are great.
That can be a problem.
 
Perhaps I'm more cynical......

No, you are not cynical at all, and are avsolutely right, but you are right regarding your experience, level and proffesionalism. You will be right in the eyes of other players with same experience, level and proffesionalism too. But what will happen in the eyes of the beginers asking questions? I wrote about iconolizing for a reason. Video tutorials are good, but what would a beginer take from some godd players' video? Wolud he be able to evaluate the players' level or to analyze the worthy shots? Or he would just say "oh yeah, he is a good player and I'll listen to him, not to the others". In my experience I've seen a lot of very good players, who know almost nothing about theory and equipment, but they are training hard and follow good coaching. And there are some very good players with very good theoretical and equipment knowledge, who wrongly evaluate some technical aspects watching others live play, claiming that a shot has no spin at all and changing their mind only when the ball is missed looking at it madly rotating all around the place and feeling hot when take in hand. And if this is on live, what will be on video?
Expertise and proffesionalism have to be prooven, I believe, but most of the discussions are not about that and not between such persons. Most of the conversations are about exchanging personal experience, opinions and feeling. I think that generally most of the members perticipate where they feel to have the competence. The exceptions are well visible and usually well corrected. And I believe that everyone can make a mistake, no matter what his level or proffesionalism is.
 
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NDH

says Spin to win!
Expertise and proffesionalism have to be prooven, I believe, but most of the discussions are not about that and not between such persons. Most of the conversations are about exchanging personal experience, opinions and feeling. I think that generally most of the members perticipate where they feel to have the competence. The exclusions are well visible and usually well corrected. And I believe that everyone can make a mistake, no matter what his level or proffesionalism is.

I think debating personal experience is absolutely fine - Although if someone from the UK says...."I play in Division 3" - That does not mean they are the same level as someone from Division 3 in Germany.

It also means absolutely nothing to most people, as they don't have a division type structure (or even if they did, it's still hard to judge).

A basic video would give SOME indication of that persons level, and allow better conversation in my opinion. It wouldn't cover all bases of course, and there would still be anomalies - But it would massively help.

I also think people aren't corrected enough, because we just don't know what their level is.

Anyone can repeat what they've seen, or repeat another post by someone else.

A brand new player could watch a video of Ma Long, or could read the forum, and then give advice to a rookie player (bend your knees more, move your hips etc etc).

I don't think anyone is saying you can't have a conversation at all unless you post a video - But when talking about specifics on the game play ("how's my backhand..... I tend to brush the ball more than hit") etc etc, a video is a necessity.
 
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I don't think anyone is saying you can't have a conversation at all unless you post a video - But when talking about specifics on the game play ("how's my backhand..... I tend to brush the ball more than hit") etc etc, a video is a necessity.

Yes, to deal with such specifics a video is needed. Of course no one can tell you how is your backhand if one can't see it.
 
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Some people in this forum will write a whole thesis paper to someone asking how to do simple forehand loop

Some people will comment how they are doing this spin or that spin when on the video they are swinging like chicken.

I just avoid talking too much about theory in general unless you can watch the video of the person who asked the question and even then you should try to make it as simple as possible
 
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