ttmonster-smash said:
It just feels so much more convincing from somebody who has been there done that and is still doing it !! nice post Der_Echte .. cannot agree with you more ... there is no bad play, there is no weird style, there is no junk rubber , its not a dark art if you understand what going on .. fear of the unknown is the reason for most negativity ... forget it just play, make the most of it and try to put one more ball on the table .. remember at the most basic level, in table tennis the person who puts one more ball on the table wins ! Some times we just lose track of the essentials ...
I agree overall. There are a couple ways to look at it. Your view, which all styles are a part of TT nothing is weird, it is all open. Looking at it in my view, there are "weird" styles and "junk" rubber. If one plays mostly modern offensive style, then a gal or dude who bumps the ball with a 25 yr old glazed over and rutted rubber will have a weird style and give "junk" balls... that is what someone from that perspective would see and feel.
We are in agreement on what to do - screw those who want to ban o eliminate it.
"Non-Standard" equipment, tactics, shots, or decision making are part of our sport. If one wants to be able to function in battle vs this stuff, one has to learn, plan, adapt, overcome, and win.
For the "Walking Dead" player I describe... that kind of player plays a mostly un-athletic game (literally walks like a dead zombie to the ball if they move at all) stays parked near middle of table, sticks out the bat (FH or BH dead glazed irregular rubber) and bumps back the ball off the bounce low and deep (or short enough). (sometimes high enough to entice a strong attack while you mis-read the ball) That player depends on errors from the opponent for outright points. Sometimes, they rely on a pop-up or a slightly high ball, which they plan and see, which they step around open FH position ready to smash. It is often successful as their bang impact overcomes the dead of their rubber and they hit a straight shot line drive winner.
Many offensive players are not accustomed to a lazy looking player just bumping the ball back - offensive player is out of sync on his or her instincts. That is issue number one. Next is the spin - or lack of it (and placement). Depending on the impact, the "Walking Dead" player can kill the spin (mostly what they do) reflect it back to give underspin, or add to it to give under or top back, depending on what came to them. Often, this player plays off the bounce, uses angles, wide placement, short placement (or shorter than it looks) or deep placement at body just fast enough to keep it low and deep and safe. Understanding the kinds of shots for each given ball and their basic tactics is the next step.
Now we see the basic shots and tactics, plus their way of thinking and reacting to different situations... we can assess what we do and work with what we got to make a plan to win vs this. A part of the plan is to be safe and create opportunities to use offense, or their failed offense to win points. A part of it is to not play "too safe" and mis-read a ball to give them an easy point. These players are patient and opportunistic. Understanding the opponent and feeds them is important.
Some things we can do in general are to keep it low, keep it real deep, keep it low and tight (the most difficult to do) for the first return if the incoming ball is short (or real deep, a low return is possible) You do that right and the opponent doesn't have an easy ball to attack, so they bump it back. You know what you put on the ball, you know you put it deep and fast enough, you know opponent is gunna bump it and not much time to change stuff. PERFECT. Opponent is gunna give you a long and slower ball (so he or she can be safe) You are ready... and depending on the ball, can spin it really heavy right at them or away... or smash or loop-kill it if it is high enough.
You can also try to push low and away, then bump it right back to where they were to run them around. If you can read their ball, you can do this. If you mis-read the ball or are not in position, you will miss, hit the net, or pop it up. BAD on you if you do that.
If you try to play "Too Safe" and push more than one ball, you increase your chance of mis-reading a ball and putting it in the net or out. "Walking Dead" player giggles as he or she picks up the ball and the TV goes to commercial break. Even worse, you mis-read it, and pop it up. Opponent sees it, takes a step around and forward, then smashes the ball of your noggin. The giggle from opponent is equally loud and you are demoralized. That is what that player does. Don't feed the troll.
Understand your risks and work with them, be aggressive safe and know your odds. The more you bump it back to them in a rally, the more chance "Walking Dead" is gunna walk to the scoreboard and increase the number on their side.... while they giggle and annoy you to insanity.
Give the walking dead what they hate... HEAVY spin. It is easy to setup. Just be sure you understand that you give one underspin light, then be ready to loop heavy, BH or FH. Know opponent is gunna try to pressure you. Just bend knees and be ready. Later, when you hit a few heavy loops in a row and show the "Walking Dead" they cannot handle you... then they will start to take more risks with their pressure shots... usually it will result in lost points for them. They are 2-3 levels lower player, so that should be natural. Later, they see this doesn't work and go back to "safe", but you are ready to spin them out of the gym. They see this too and give up. That is what you do to opponents when you are 2-3 levels higher level player.
Still, if the lower rated "Walking Dead" player sees you be indecisive or inconsistent, then they will step on your throat over and over and make you wanna give up. If you went down that road, you deserve what you got. It is called "Using leverage" and a shrewd player lower level than a higher player has to use every inch of leverage they got.
That is how I dealt with the dead rubber player in my singles in the team finals and sent dude "walking" back to the team bench. Unfortunately, our doubles team up 9-6 in the last game of the deciding doubles match vs players both 3 levels higher rated... eventually they tightened up under pressure and the better opponents played loose and won 12-10... just like a better and more experienced team should do.