says
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pgpg said:Der_Echte was not really making an argument that we should prohibit all equipment discussion on this forum, I think: his main points were that A) these threads suck out a lot of oxygen from discussion of more important TT things, like technique, tactics, mental game etc. and B) it indirectly suppresses participation by coaches and higher level players in this forum, since all they see is constant flood of threads about most recent blade/rubber, koto vs. limba, 'what should I get as my first setup' threads etc...
Others have said it already but EJing is not about the human desire to improve but what human beings do when they have wealth and choice. While it is not an absolute, human beings tend to hunt and gather things. So looking for the best tools is just human nature and in this era of wealth, having multiple options leads to people trying out more stuff. Maybe some people only wear one suit or set of clothes. I am not one of them.
I am an EJ and I don't see anything particularly wrong with it. I think the real issue with online EJing is that there is a disproportionate focus on what the results of EJing gives you vs what it realistically can give you.
First and foremost, let us dispense with silly statements, some of which I have being guilty of writing without proper qualification like "equipment doesn't matter" or "equipment matters".
It is clear as some people wrote in this thread that equipment does matter. Even Timo Boll when reviewing his blade discusses what happens when he tries Tamca 5000 blades and that the problem is the lack of arc which he struggles with not on the easy higher balls but on the low balls. Playing a hitter style with inverted is possible but is in some ways not as optimal as doing it with short pips. Same for chopping topspin - better to use long pips than inverted for most players unless they want to do a lot of lobbing on the backhand. There are people who have made careers out of being exceptions but you get the gist.
The problem begins when a player says that they want to improve and their equipment is not letting them improve. Here, the most common issue is lack of appropriate instruction. And inappropriate instruction comes in different forms. Some coaches do not investigate the equipment of their students. Others will not at least present a student with a theory of equipment to work with. Finally, some coaches do not get their students out of the bad habit of focusing on whether the ball hits the table and into the good habit of trying to hit the ball the way they should be hitting it. Older learners want to hit the ball hard and on the table and to do so, they often compromise on proper strokes.
Another facet of inappropriate instruction is that unless someone has consistent technique, which is loaded into muscle memory, it is extremely difficult to know how much of your issues are coming from your technique and how much are coming from the equipment. When I didn't loop, I used to struggle with a lot of equipment as I didn't know how to use spin to reduce my margin of error. If I was having a good day in my home club and my timing was on, I would win. If I was having a bad day and my timing was off, or I was at an away club where the air was different and the tables were slower, I would be missing balls against unfamiliar opponents. And then I would be angry about using an DEF blade and wish I was using an ALL+ or OFF+ or whatever the day seemed to dictate with the weather.
I tell people in modern table tennis that if you are a modern topspin player, until you hit roughly 1600 or so with your looping technique, equipment doesn't really matter because you will not really know what it does for you. If you are playing for over 4 years and below 1600 as an adult, then your technique has likely matured and my advice at that point is similar. It is when you have 1600+ or maturing technique that equipment investigation can yield some benefits. But the benefits are not more than a small percentage of your level. And they are more to be found in switching across classes of speed and spin in rubber (DEF vs ALL vs OFF) vs changing from one ALL blade to another ALL blade or one OFF blade to another OFF blade. But if your technique is not stable, all these evaluations will just be a waste of time.
One of the underrated aspects of EJing is how it makes you feel. It is common for people to denigrate the importance of subjectively feeling good about your equipment. But in fact, I partly EJ because I want to feel good about my equipment. What has surprised me though is how my taste in equipment has changed especially with the new plastic ball. No, not the speed per say which is still OFF+ to OFF, but that outer plies I used to hate like Koto, Walnut and Mahogany I now like and outer plies I once loved like hinoki and limba feel dead to me. Not sure what caused it but it is what it is.
To cut a long story short, it is the EJ who comes here thinking that getting new equipment will make him a radically better player, when he would never argue that having a better car will clearly make him a better driver or that having better bicycle will make him a faster cyclist. These things add 2% to 3% at most and 2-3% can be a lot when the margins are thin (where we have high level technique that is almost or very mature). But it is not a lot when looking at the bigger picture of TT improvement. That I think is where a lot of the confusion comes from.
Others have said it already but EJing is not about the human desire to improve but what human beings do when they have wealth and choice. While it is not an absolute, human beings tend to hunt and gather things. So looking for the best tools is just human nature and in this era of wealth, having multiple options leads to people trying out more stuff. Maybe some people only wear one suit or set of clothes. I am not one of them.
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Yep. Another great post. That is what NL does.
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I personally like my setup and don't need to try other things anymore. But I am really happy with what I have and I like it so much I get all my EJing from my setup. [...]
And this is the voice of common sense.For me, I am pretty sure I improved a lot more when I stopped messing around so much with my equipment and focused on the rational process of assessing my skills and weaknesses and finding ways to train that would strengthen my weaknesses and still develop my strengths.
For me, I am pretty sure I improved a lot more when I stopped messing around so much with my equipment and focused on the rational process of assessing my skills and weaknesses and finding ways to train that would strengthen my weaknesses and still develop my strengths.
As a contrast, I improved all through my years of EJing until I was too injured to continue to play. The main thing is that I worked on my technical and tactical instruction all those years as well. Maybe the equipment changing hurt but I don't think so. In fact it gave me a perspective on equipment that many people don't have and often just talk about.
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On the contrary, I've taken 50+ lessons and spent wayyyy more time in the training hall, watching videos, talking to coaches, etc. than browsing the forums.
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