2 feet limit.

This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jun 2020
24
0
25
Hey guys, i play in my local club and my coach force me to stay really close to the table, i only have 2 feet to move from the table, and all the players i play against use that and its reaaly hard to me, do you have any guesses why he did it?
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jun 2020
24
0
25
I ask him and he says that it will help me to get better, but i dont know how because now, i have barrier behind me and its make my shot selection very hard because, i didnt have enough space to slow spinny loop, and counter loop, i have a friend in the club that play very offensive, and the space limit make it hard for me to counter his shots, and he got more adventage on me. (Im the only one with the limit and my friend with the same play style as me dont have limit)
 
Last edited:
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jun 2020
24
0
25
There is chance that you right but even when i told him that i need to go far from the table for lobbing when i need( im not lobb a lot) he said me to block the ball, which i find very annoying, and when i need to counter loop attack from the opponet im not able to, and most of the people i play against take adventage of this and they give my down the line when i in my fh/bh side, and because i do t have very god footwork, i cant go and block the ball, so when out of position i rather counterhit than block, but i cant do it because the limit
 
says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
Well-Known Member
Jul 2020
1,755
1,192
4,409
Read 11 reviews
My Coach has told me that there is a statistic that generally most points are won within 5ft of the table, and that if you go further back than 5ft your chances of winning the point are decreased.
so your coach is trying to improve your speed, movement and anticipation. If you can control a point from close to the table it’s a real benefit. Ask him about tactics to use when close to the table, placement of your shots can help reduce your opponent’s options.
like myself, your footwork needs improving, so ask your coach for some footwork drills covering how to move (movement patterns, ie left to right etc) including exercises to help increase the speed of the feet.
 
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
Well-Known Member
Nov 2010
3,568
5,931
10,356
Read 8 reviews
It will help your anticipation, help you control angles, help you put pressure on your opponent. It will also help you develop power from compact strokes. Stick with it. Your comment about footwork suggests you back up to compensate for that (I'd need to see you play to know for sure). That's a common problem as people tend to overcompensate. Your coach's order will help that too.
 
Last edited:

Brs

This user has no status.

Brs

This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2015
1,107
1,376
2,608
Maybe your coach thinks you have very fast hands and you are wasting that talent by backing away from the table. Maybe your coach sees you playing a Harimoto style where taking the ball very early causes trouble for your opponent.

Your coach probably has good reasons, but I agree with you that it is stupid of him not to tellyou what they are. Ask him what should you be focused on when you play with the barrier behind? Footwork? Compact strokes? Ball timing like hitting it at the highest point or even on the rise. It will be much more effective training if he tells you why, and it would take five seconds. A lot of coaches are like that, they don't think the player needs to understand anything, and it is lazy and not effective, bad coaching.

But do try to stick with the two feet. The matches you are losing are practice matches, nobody cares how many practice matches you win. Honestly the fact that the coach does this with you and nobody else may indicate he thinks you have the most potential out of the group. Otherwise why would he bother?
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jun 2020
24
0
25
The problem is that i never move more than 5 feet, and when i move, i move only 4 feet, and the barriar is literly 2 feet from the table.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jun 2020
24
0
25
I move only 3-4 feet, and usualy i do this to have more space when counter loop, and wehn execute slow spinny loop.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Jul 2017
1,763
835
2,918
I play close to the table most of the time but I have won a lot of points by dropping back when I know I screwed up so the opponent can make a good shot. Getting back allows me time for a counter which often surprises the opponent.

When playing with pips one normally plays close to the table. I think I have yet to see a video where He Zhi Wen is driven back from the table even when he was younger.

Playing close to the time requires quick reflexes. If you can do it you put extra pressure on your opponent because the ball will come back to him faster when you succeed.

What I don't like about your coach is that one must be adaptable. The best players are very adaptable.
 
says Fair Play first
says Fair Play first
Well-Known Member
Jan 2012
1,286
406
1,760
[size=+2]One man's meat is another man's poison.[/size]
Tell this old famous wisdom to you coach. The world famous teachers of every sport, I believe.
 
Last edited:
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jan 2020
23
8
33
The only goal of training with your coach is strategic development as a player. Doesn’t matter if you’re winning or losing your practice matches right now, what matters is you’re developing what you need to, and your coach is in charge of your development. Everything is a practice match except the tournaments. Take the long term view. If I had a dollar for every time my coach told me something and I disagreed, only to have a revelation moment later on where I realize why he told me that, well I’d have like a dozen extra dollars.

He’s definitely got reasons. One could be to force your brain and subconcious to react faster, choose shot and catch the ball quick. This will mess up a lot of players when you cut off their time. Force them to fall back. When they fall back they have to cover a LOT more space, and you have lots of angles to work with.

Also could be coach noticed a habit of falling back too often and wanted to break that. Or coach wants you to work on strategic block shots rather than the high-risk shot of counter-topspin. Counter is flashy, but if your blocks at the table are good, well-placed and varied pace, you can really cause grief, especially against players looping from a few feet back.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Jul 2018
1,011
554
1,962
To me this looks like productive training. You don't move nor block very well and this forces you to train both. Working on your weak areas is really the only way to improve.

Everyone likes to "counter-loop", but counter-looping is a low frequency event even at the highest levels. If someone kept tallies, most points are won on successful first attacks or attacks vs block.

Most of my openers are within 2ft, all blocks are within 2 ft, I'm guessing its the same for others. Hell, one of my former coaches rarely makes contact behind the back line (when blocking).
 
Last edited:
Looks like your coach is trying to force you into a specific style of play (or more likely to train in a specific style of play), where you take the ball right off the bounce. This is pretty understandable as it is a style that's getting increasingly popular today, and quite possibly going to be more prevalent in the future.

That said, just ask him directly if that's what he is going for, just forcing someone to train a certain way, without telling them what exactly they are trying to improve is, in my opinion, not a productive way to train.

If that is indeed what he is going for, then that makes a lot of sense. A lot of your complaints about what people do to you, are exactly things you would need to improve to play that style of game. Better footwork, better anticipation/control of angles close to the tables rather than moving back to give yourself time. Counterlooping off the bounce, instead of near the top of the bounce. Lobbing should just not be a regular part of your game, it's a shot of last resort.

Many of these things are unproductive in the frame of thinking involved in the close to the table aggressive game. You need to have the footwork to reach those serves. Counterlooping close to the table, off the bounce is harder than counterlooping a step back, near the top of bounce, but this gives your opponent less time in the rally also, and makes it harder for them to counterloop with you. Lobbing is generally just unproductive, sometimes you are in a bad position in a rally, and you lob to stay in the point, you rarely win points from a position of lobbing in a rally. Staying aggressive (even with blocks), and just forfeiting points where you are forced to lob is not a big loss.
 
Last edited:
says Spin and more spin.
says Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Dec 2010
16,146
17,685
54,747
Read 11 reviews
Here is the thing, if you are already good at backing up and playing from further, but not so good at playing close, playing close is likely the skill you need more work on. And, if you are good at playing close, you skill from further away will also improve because the extra time will feel like even more time when you are able to adjust to playing close. And backing up will never help you improve at how to play close up.

Playing from further gives you more time. But it also gives your opponent more time. If you get good at playing close to the table you will be able to put more pressure on your opponent because you give them less time. When your anticipation and reaction time adjusts to staying close, you will have a bigger edge than you realize. So, in the long run, being able to stay close will expand your options rather than limiting them because you already can play from further away. If your coach only had you working on the things you were already good at, he would not be such a good coach for you. But that he is making you work on something that is actually important as a skill in TT and it is something you are not quite good enough at yet, I would say he is probably a better coach for you than you realize.

ReRead what Baal, Tinykin and Der_Echte wrote. There is more in those posts than you might realize.
 
Last edited:
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
says ok, I will go back and make sure you have access. Be...
Well-Known Member
Nov 2010
3,568
5,931
10,356
Read 8 reviews
With 40+ balls being able to play close in is a big advantage.. It sounds like you're not comfortable doing it. All the more reason to work on it.

As a general observation, I see a lot of people who only practice the stuff they are already relatively good at.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: UpSideDownCarl
Top