Pointers welcome from 37 year absence

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I am also 66 and had a 40+ year gap where I didn't play TT.
I have played with just about everything.
If you play with long pips you need to get a long pips paddle and that depends on whether you are a chopper or blocker.
You can try chopping but I think it is a young person's game. You must be fast and agile to run down balls.
If you play with LPs you should try push blocking.

Even if you decide to push block you will still need to be able to step around balls to loop with your FH or be able to twiddle.
There is no easy answers or short cuts and it takes time to learn how to push block. It also takes a different mentality or approach to the game. People think push blocking is easy, it isn't but at lower levels you can win some easy games.

The paddle you have now is more than good enough for starters. Have fun. I play 4 times a week for 1.5 hour each session.
 
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I am also 66 and had a 40+ year gap where I didn't play TT.
I have played with just about everything.
If you play with long pips you need to get a long pips paddle and that depends on whether you are a chopper or blocker.
You can try chopping but I think it is a young person's game. You must be fast and agile to run down balls.
If you play with LPs you should try push blocking.

Even if you decide to push block you will still need to be able to step around balls to loop with your FH or be able to twiddle.
There is no easy answers or short cuts and it takes time to learn how to push block. It also takes a different mentality or approach to the game. People think push blocking is easy, it isn't but at lower levels you can win some easy games.

The paddle you have now is more than good enough for starters. Have fun. I play 4 times a week for 1.5 hour each session.
Your thoughts and comments are encouraging. Glad to hear you believe my setup is acceptable. I'll have a better idea which way to go with future rackets and rubbers after extended play.

The best update is the ease of stress on the knees. No more icing and Advil. And after my most intense play Sat I felt like I could played today. I'm trying to get the body the TT skill set to both improve and come around. Playing tomorrow.

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk
 
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Your thoughts and comments are encouraging. Glad to hear you believe my setup is acceptable. I'll have a better idea which way to go with future rackets and rubbers after extended play.

The best update is the ease of stress on the knees. No more icing and Advil. And after my most intense play Sat I felt like I could played today. I'm trying to get the body the TT skill set to both improve and come around. Playing tomorrow.

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

Ok, someone above said that "The majority of the over 60 players and over 60 best players have long pips on one side. Only a few play with inverted on both sides." Not factual. I just played in the National Senior Games, the majority of players had inverted on both sides. In the 60-64 mixed doubles only one of the final eight used long pips, and they didn't win. Top three teams were all inverted. Don't be railroaded into someone else's idea of how you should play.
 
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Ok, someone above said that "The majority of the over 60 players and over 60 best players have long pips on one side. Only a few play with inverted on both sides." Not factual. I just played in the National Senior Games, the majority of players had inverted on both sides. In the 60-64 mixed doubles only one of the final eight used long pips, and they didn't win. Top three teams were all inverted. Don't be railroaded into someone else's idea of how you should play.
Right or wrong, I view pips out as a defensive measure to attempt to masks a loss of offensive skill. I know there are exceptions. It's my perception. It may be my choice in the future, but not now. Even small, improvements will motivate me to still believe I can be a predominantly offensive player.

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An aggressive LP punch hitting style vs underspin and dead, a retriever style with pips, an at the table disruptive then FH blast attack kind of games are easily possible at old age and are not the "cover the weakness" thing going on...

Many go down one of these routes... not a lot of them make it over 2000+... but what the heck, I never made it over west coast 2000 either. The ones who are over 50 and play a 2100+ game with LPs you can almost count on one hand at a large tourney... while you need to consult the program guide to count the number at that level or higher with double inverted attacking game.
 
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Ok, someone above said that "The majority of the over 60 players and over 60 best players have long pips on one side. Only a few play with inverted on both sides." Not factual. I just played in the National Senior Games, the majority of players had inverted on both sides. In the 60-64 mixed doubles only one of the final eight used long pips, and they didn't win. Top three teams were all inverted. Don't be railroaded into someone else's idea of how you should play.

Agree. The same here.
We have many 50, 60 and 70+ veterans who still get 1st, 2nd or 3rd place on national tournaments and opens, and All of them use inverted rubbers both sides. From all players in the club we have just 1 pips player and 1 hardbat veteran.

@OP
Stick to your current equipment and chamge it only if you find some great problems with it.
 
says The sticky bit is stuck.
says The sticky bit is stuck.
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At my club, none of the 50+ crowd use LP. One uses anti. Two younger players looking to eke out an advantage by leveraging the unfamiliar use LP, mainly to chopblock and to swipe backspin balls aggressively.

When playing veteran's tournaments, LP is played by about 1 in 10 or 15, or so (and anti's played by 1 in 30 or so; SP even less). No extinct species by any means, but not the majority by far.

This can vary wildly from club to club, though. A smaller club nearby probably has half of its players using LP.
 
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Question is, are you still physically capable of an all out offensive game?
This seemed to beg the question, "as we age and reflexes and hand/eye diminishes, when does one change style, and equipment, to maintain their skill level? Is it as simple when they begin to lose to previously beaten players? A personal recognition the skill is lessening? Or a blend of the two? I always want to look forward (offensive) when able with skill set improving, and then change (defensive) with lessening skills. Maybe it's an intent as much as the physical change.

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Reflexes and hand/eye coördination may go. But before that, often the wear and tear will reveal its presence in growing uncomfortability/pain in the joints (feet, ankles, knees, hips, back, shoulders, neck), eventually resulting in limited movement. As this happens, this strains agility, and the accommodations made to cope put further strain and tax stamina further. Overall fitness level and body mass also matters, as many people gain weight and excercise less as the years pass.

This all happens on a scale, and I don't think you change style in large, sweeping decisions. You adapt by making smaller adjustments. Anecdotal me still plays offensively when I start feeling impaired in my movements by (mainly) my knees acting up, but shifting more towards an over the table countering game.

For what it's worth, I don't actually believe defensive play is less demanding. If for example you want to see extremely agile footwork, don't forget to have a look at the modern day defenders.
 
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Most all of your points seem applicable to me. Regarding aches and pains, fortunately mine have lessened. After many years away from TT, the demand on a mostly dormant body was very uncomfortable. My wife is a retired RN and massage therapist so she worked on my aches, showed me stretches, encouraged the use of ice packs, and the result is I played yesterday for a good 2+ hours with less and diminishing discomfort. I particularly noticed when play demanded wide lateral movement less restriction in the knees (actually soft tissue connecting to the knees) where before the discomfort literally stopped me.

I may have presented a prior point inferring that defensive play was less demanding. Your point of agile footwork and modern day defenders is valid. It's something I am going to look at with different eyes. In the past, I remember little old people playing that way. Obviously, I need to view this from a new perspective. But I still want to act and play young. At least for as long as I can.
 
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I am in no way trying to insult the op but rather set the expectations on advancing age. I just want to let a person maximize his play and at the same time enjoy his playtime. This does not mean changing equipments outright but there are times that when we are at the stage where we cannot do on the rise loops above the table, we do loop the ball once it goes down. Flexibility is an issue to a lot of people with age.
 
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I am in no way trying to insult the op but rather set the expectations on advancing age. I just want to let a person maximize his play and at the same time enjoy his playtime. This does not mean changing equipments outright but there are times that when we are at the stage where we cannot do on the rise loops above the table, we do loop the ball once it goes down. Flexibility is an issue to a lot of people with age.
I agree a 100%. A clear, concise statement of how players in their 60s+ can approach the game now, and in the future. And flexibility is a huge issue.
 
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