good reversed rubber for bh (coming from short pimples)

says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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I will not accept that someone with good rallying skills but poor serves and returns beats me but loses to everyone who can stay in the rally, etc.
You need a mirror, not a rubber.

oof.jpg
 
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Do not think you need a coach really. You Will learn to return, it Will just take more time. Trying to play against alot of players and Do not make the same return mistake twice. Testing til you know how to return.
 
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I respect you Mr. MOG, but the quoted expression is...
View attachment 20632

Yes well, I did mean that with respect, too. My tone was mostly due to the sheer number of such threads by the OP, and my feeling the need for a bit of a wake up call (and of course, I wasn't the only one). But I didn't mean it to be condescending - anymore than necessary, anyway. I think the issue here goes beyond TT, and sometimes readjusting one's perception/expectations of one's own self or abilities can be a very healthy move. Any step from there, and I do mean realistic and achievable steps, is going to be forward and constructive (also keeping in mind the non-linear, and sometimes not all that obvious in the very short term, nature of progression). Somewhat endearing and refreshing too, with the right kind of mentality, and you will find that it overlaps of its own into other aspects of your life. Clinging onto perceived strengths and avoiding the weaknesses which affect us, disguising them in any way, or focusing on the effects more than the cause - a recipe for hell.
I've been there plenty by the way, or I wouldn't let myself go full Dalai Lama on you here. Anyhow, have fun.
 
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I guess this is obvious But you need to try different returns on the same serve. If you Do all kind of returns and still miss they must have varied the spin and you have misread it.

Try looking at their motion. Go down, more backspin. Up, mot topspin. Hit the ball fast, more spin. Hit the ball slow, less spin. Listen at the sound. More flathit is less spin. The thinner they hit and the less it sounds the more spin.

Look at the ball. What kind of why Do it spin. Maybe color it? If the ball jumps and go forward there is topspin. If the ball slow down There is more backspin.

Make a decision. Can not Do something inbetween. If you think it is backspin you go for that.

If they Do the same serve A youcan try different returns to se which one that works. But if they Do serve B you need to think again. Try thinking that if they do more backspin you want the angle more open. They more topspin you want it more close. If they Do sidespin, you need toncounter this with angle and motion. Try Going not with and against the spin and simning toward different places.
 
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MOG,

I would offer to think about a middle of the road modern rubber (without a thick topsheet) that has a soft sponge.

This will make it easier to do the things you want and what Lula suggests.

Baal's suggestion of Karis is good, but there are dozen of control class rubbers out there that will work in a softer sponge.

One think I would offer additionally is to step to the bounce, impact ball soon after bounce, but keep a LOOSE arm and wrist. Do not use a lot of wrist right away until timing to impact is good.
 
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I didn't do a review, but I recently got a sheet of Nitaku Magic Carbon from tt11 in 2.0 sponge, that joker is among the gold standard of control rubber all-time. It isn't very fast of a rubber, but you rarely miss as it is SO DAMN EASY to control the ball.

That is what you need right now to go with your learning curve.
 
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Even with LP, it is not a guarantee you return the ball. Against players my level and below, I give fits to LP players on serves. I might consider it the ultimate joy of Table Tennis when I serve to a player who receives with LP and the ball doesn't even make it to the net. Friction LP still requires ability to read serve and use all the other factors of a good receive... it is just that it is mush easier to get the ball on the other side.

Against players who are higher level than me who use LP, they are higher level, because they are better players with better fundamentals. (Think - Robert Shahnazari - a full 2 levels better player than me) I still can get attacking chances or limit their options. LP can only do so much in terms of spin variation or spin production.

The point is a good server at or above your level can still eat you up when you use LP.

It may be a better thing for you long term as a strategic goal to slap on a soft control ruber on BH and develop habits and skills to receive serves.

If you learn how to become an excellent server yourself, you are almost halfway there to becoming a good returner of serves. Knowing what is possible and how/when to do it gives you insight as to what is happening, which helps you cope with it.
 
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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I love spin when I am dishing it out, just don't like it on incoming serves!! Ha ha

Carl, I hate my game with LP in some aspects, however it does make the game more interesting in some ways.
Tried LP tonight and it really makes the blade feel hollow and horrible, but my lp hitting was on point pretty quickly.

Wait....you hate LP but want to play with LP. Why would you turn something you obviously must enjoy into something you don't?

You really just don't make any sense.

What will happen when you play one of those low level players who is just really good at playing vs LP because they hit all dead balls? Will you complain that you are better than them but couldn't win because they gave you all dead balls. :)
 
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says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
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If I didn't like spin I'd play ping pong instead.

I love spin when I am dishing it out, just don't like it on incoming serves!! Ha ha

And if you actually love spin, you start to understand spin, and then you start to know how to counter and compensate for incoming spin.
 
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True but after 25 years of returning and serving below the level of the rest of my game am I really going to improve that much.

At least with LP, because of my unique LP hitting I could become that weird awkward player to some extent.
My bh seems to work better with thinner or less reactive rubbers so I can explode thought the ball or up through the ball using power to send it back, so it has always been better with slower or thinner rubbers even in reversed days.

Dude,

Before I learned how to serve, I was 1400 USATT level, after practicing one year without any other practice, I was 1600, some of that was better receive.
 
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The thing with LP is that at a certain level you will need to read the spin (probably to the same extent as with inverted if not even more). Chopping a slow extremely spinny loop is a completely different stroke compared to chopping a mega hard power loop. The same goes for hitting through back spin. Hitting a modest backspin push will most likely send the ball 1-2m outside of the table whereas hitting a ball loaded with backspin is extremely easy to execute. The same actually goes for any LP stroke unless you just plan of bumping back the ball which will not work against players at a certain level. You always have to judge what kind of spin that's being sent at you and how heavy it is.
 
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