Poll: Right Hand players vs. Left Hand Players

Are you right-handed or left-handed?


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    38
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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But it is a definite pattern that people who are lower level think they are higher level than they are. And that when people are watching footage of players who are lower than top 300 in the world, often people think they are lower level than they are.
 
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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In the USA, in general, ratings are deflated overall, especially below the 2000 level which is affected the most by developing kids.

There are also players who purposely sandbag so their rating is lower than their level so they can enter brackets they can win easily to make the money from winning the lower bracket.
 
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Wow I would never expect that Adam Hugh to be rated so high... Maybe if I watched more footage. But I'm not from USA so I can only compare to other USA rated players
 
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Adam hugh was playing Richard Dewitt. So he is playing a very deceptive man with almost an anti spin backhand (10 year old seiver)
It is a nightmare to play people like that because you cannot sit on a shot or else he will notice and put it the other side. He will artificially deflate eye ratings because of his touch based style
 
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says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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Wow I would never expect that Adam Hugh to be rated so high... Maybe if I watched more footage. But I'm not from USA so I can only compare to other USA rated players

That is the thing. It is hard to see what the heck Rich Dewitt is doing to the ball. But he has magic touch and messes with spin. He is playing with Mark V rubbers. Not anti, not modern rubbers. But he is messing with the spin much more than you could see in a video. He lost that match to Adam but it went the distance and was close till the end.

But seeing Adam against a more traditional player might help you be able to see his level differently:


But that was the point. Anyone in that poll who is guessing their level based on USATT rating is guessing and likely not accurate. The people who know their rating, that is different.
 
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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Adam hugh was playing Richard Dewitt. So he is playing a very deceptive man with almost an anti spin backhand (10 year old seiver)
It is a nightmare to play people like that because you cannot sit on a shot or else he will notice and put it the other side. He will artificially deflate eye ratings because of his touch based style

I think it is Mark V but it could be Sriver. And it is old. But it was not 10 years old in that video. 2 years, yes. Maybe now it is 10 years old. :)

But you are exactly right about how deceptive Rich is. There is a reason he has been over 2400. There is a reason he has beaten lots of 2500 level players. And deceptive is the exact point of how hard it is for people to "see" level when it is not so easy to see what is being done to the ball. And even with the racket Rich is using, it takes excellent touch to do the things he is doing to the ball because he is varying the spin and he can make the spin heavier when he wants (maybe not HEAVY, but heavier than the dead balls he is famous for). And, of course he can put the ball all over the place at amazing angles which is why Adam was being run all over the place.
 
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A friend of mine who estimates himself around 1700 as he plays me many time and always loses closely like 11-9, 11-8. He has never played tournaments. I told him because he played me so many times so surprising factors didn't not contribute much, (and ruling out psychological factor), in the matches. He didn't believe me!
So yesterday one US rating 1400 kid challenged us. I beat this kid 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 11-2) very easily. But my friend had a tough time and lost to the kid 3-2. He only then realizes how wrong he was.
 
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Posts always have a life of their own and often times go in a direction very different from the first post. Enlightening for me in this thread has been the way players perceive themselves. It seems natural when one plays against a known player, and that player has a standard or rating, that we judge ourselves comparing our play to theirs, and then assume, we are a player in a certain range. Obviously those who play in sanctioned events and have multiple games with various players are the best judge of knowing their true skill level.

Is there a need for a less formal, uniform standard, sanctioned, second tier rating system that would be easier for more players to play? A way for most all players to universally play so a rating/ranking standard was established. TT is an international sport with no universal standard.

What about the mass of people, the majority of people who actively play 3-4 times a week, who only have their local clubs, and other clubs they visit and play, as a barometer to judge their skill. Question: In the US, of all the table tennis clubs, how many have sanctioned tournaments vs. how many have local non-sanctioned tournaments? If such a second tier was created it would seem to be a strong promotion for the sport by allowing players advance and eventually join the governing TT bodies. In the US, college football is the feeder system for the NFL. D League feeds the NBA, and Rookie, A, High A, AA, AAA feeds MLB. And what about TT? What feeds it?
 
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