What is my USA ranking now?

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Well, you are ranked, so that disqualifies me from judging haha. Never played in the US, UK, Germany, or anywhere else that bothered to give me a rating...

Congrats on ripping him apart on the first game (8-0?!).

Never tried medium pips, but you seem to control it well enough. I'd wager your backhand is better than your forehand.

A few negative criticism though:

1. You lost your duck stance. Not exactly a rear end I'd enjoy looking at, but put it up for the world to see anyways!

2. Your forehand is all arm no body. Get back to your duck stance and swing the whole package.

3. Maybe you are trying to slice too much on your pushes. A lot of free high balls from your end. Try some side-down push/swipe receives on backspin serves.
 
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Regarding bending the legs I think you could try a little wider and knees pointing outward? Feel like you need to stand more steady so you can move well and use the power from the legs in the forehand stroke. Like now I think it will difficult to get a weight change.
 
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MOG, I absolutely cannot accurately tell your level from tis vid.

I can say that Mr. Ali P, your opponent in this vid, would not achieve USATT 800 in California right now without improvement.

In a lot of USA, I suspect you would be in the range sampletext mentioned... but you have to understand certain locales are toughter in certain band ranges of ratings than others, and certain regions in general are stronger up to 2200, like California.

Some areas have "Ringers" who purposely keep their rating down, so they can qualify for lower divisions in HUGE tourneys where the cash prize is enough to motivate thee ringers to do that.

That is pretty much the reason why in most tourneys, there is enough cash prize only in hte open or elite divisions(s).

I would need to see some more vids against players who I can classify better.

Still, going up 8-0 on a 700ish player indicates 1500+ potential.
 
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OK, saw your match vs the classic defender opponent in black shirt.

This opponent MIGHT make 1400 in California... but take it for what it is worth... He would be 1600 on east coast if he could spell LONG PIMPLES or ANTI correctly 3 out of 5 times.

You would likely be in the 1700s on east coast USA. You come to LA or Bat Area, much less, much.
 
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Since we saw the vid, there should be a few things to look at to make it simple.

In your division, especially against an opponent who likes to receive a serve 1 meter off table and retreat... WHY are you serving slow and deep long each serve? This kind of player LOVES it when you give him long balls, LESS he has to move. Why not use short serves 1/3 to 1/2 the time to keep him honest? The short serve, if you learn variation, will give you all kinds of setups to go on offense right away. Does ANYONE in your division spell short serve?

Also on serve, look how you do your ritual before serve (covering ball by tilting hand vertical... you bring hand to horizontal position for less than one second, cup the ball excessively (although cupping ball to a minor degree is legal as hand cannot be perfectly flat)... so you are not pausing long enough to present the ball in reasonable judgment... then you on majority of serves, dip hand holding ball a few cm below table top level. Serve fault... that umpire never called. Be aware of that, because one day, you will be in front of an umpire who knows, pays attention, or actually cares about service rules.

Look at where you are serving from... nearly center of table and what you serve (almost every time a long, slow serve near or witin a foot of endline)... and how you position yourself... it appears you aboslutely DO NOT want to open the point with yuor FH... from other points where ball comes back as light underspin, I see you make a reliable FH topspin opening on those... so why not do that with serve and first topspin? The way you are setup, you try to do a BH opener... Look at the entire vid and count how many times you opened from BH and actually landed it... it was NOT as high a total as you think. You made SO MANY ERRORS on BH... I do not understand why you are so dead-set to open with BH when it is not getting the job done for you. You may want to consider serving from BH corner, turning your body on serve and using your FH to open when you have the chance. Sure, having a good BH is a plus, keep that ready, but in this match, you GAVE AWAY SO MANY POINTS with your BH... That opponent every time was like "DONATION by Paypal ACCEPTED".

You made some errors on FH too, but it was mostly because (IMO) that you did not quite make the tiny adjustment to be in position crouched ready. The times the ball came to your FH (from your push or BH opener that actually landed) you made a reasonbly good percentage of FH topspin openers or attacks... for sure good enough ratio to use that weapon more often and favor it. You also made a LOT of points finishing with a strong FH. You missed some of those, but was obviously worth it to play that shot on those balls based on the ratio of FH shots attempted, landed, and won.

This opponent did not have much quality on defensive shots - it was pretty much get it back on the table at all costs... and at a certain level (well, EVERY LEVEL, but quality counts), that is a good policy. What the heck, priority number one should be getting the ball back on the table, because if that fails, priority 2 through 4 do not matter, right? yet, when the quality of return is so bad, it is practically POINT OVER when he returns those high gopher balls as we would call them in USA... and you DID finish a very high percentage of them. (with a strong FH)
 
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I wish I could come to LA to prove you right or wrong!!

You come to LA or Bay Area and play the 1700 rated crowd, they will make you a believer. But what the heck, you from Merry ole England and like a pint or two... LA likes to roll like too, so you would be very popluar for sure.

Seriously, west coast or east coast, LOTS of Americans who play TT like it when someone new and differnt shows up. You would be instantly accepted and liked. You go to Korea, it is 100x the same way, both in person, in TT, and at teh resturant on hte after TT chicken and beer mission(s).
 
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MOG said:
...Psychologically this was a good win for me as this player always beat me in past.
Also I have switched my pimples since this video and I am a little more consistent with the present ones (Spinlord Keiler)...

I read this and spit out by Coors beer all over my monitor. What the heck, it is alcohol and has cleaning properties, and it has been a long time since I wiped my monitor down, so it wasn't a total waste of beer or alcohol abuse.

I can believe that YOU believed it would be difficult to win vs this player... but Der_Echte believes you ALWAYS had the tools to win vs him (assuming your FH was pretty much similar consistency/quality)

An offensive player wiht a consistent FH topspin of minimal spin and placement quality would absolutely EAT UP this player, who bsically just gets the ball back high and easy to kill (if he gets it back).

A player with the tools you have should have a FIELD DAY vs this player. If I was courtside and ITTF rules allowing very brief comments to player while ball is picked up, I would ensure you stayed focused on the kind of shot selection and execution it would take to dominate easily.

take a look at your match vid again... look for points where you dominated the point. Write down what happened. Do this on enough data, like say 15 points or more.

I will bet you a few pints that is around 75% FH opener / 25% BH opener, chopped back high, then you whacked the ball with FH and point was over right away, or next point.

Do the same thing for points you missed right away and you will see it was your BH opener failing you time and time again. That is not to say to avoid using BHat all cost, just be aware what is setting you up for success and for failure... and use it to train and improve.
 
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and I am a little more consistent with the present ones (Spinlord Keiler)

This quote troubles me. I didn't notive it until now.

I saw SO MANY ERRORS on your BH (you mostly lifted ball out long) using this rubber, which you say you are more consistent using... I would hate to see how inconsistent you were with the former rubber.
 
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Ha ha this is funny.

If my bh is that inconsistent should I be using pimples? I have a good bh topspin with reversed rubbers a few years ago. But I have more confidence in serve return with pimples.

You are asking a valid question in the regard of what equipment will make it easier to play the kind of shots important to you in a match that contribute to winning. One should be relaistic in assessing this, sometimes, the truth is different than what we believe it is, until we see the evidence and it convinces us.

Reciving serves is VERY IMPORTANT and a HUGE contributor to the outcome of a match... so asking oneself if one can use SP on BH to have a higher quality receive, control the ball in the rally, and finish a chance given... that would be an obvious question with an obvious answer.

Still, I do not believe it a mission impossible for you to have a quality receive with inverted... but I have many a player ask and asnwer your question, put SP on BH, be real about shot selection, and play over 2000 USATT level soon enough. Valid question and assessment for yourself.

To address the second part... should you be using pimples right now...

Well, from what I see in the vid... vs that last opponent, you should NOT have been trying to open EVERY DAMN POINT OR BUST with your BH pimples... you made too many mistakes. Of course, more time and trianing and confidence may help your poercentages in matches... but the percentages in that match for your BH opener were akin to RUSSIAN ROULETTE... except there were THREE or FOUR roundsin hte 6 round chamber instead of only one... so you were playing Russian Roulette Extme Edition for sure that match trying to open everything with the BH.
 
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In Austin, TX, about 1300. I am ranked about 1200 and think we'd be even. I have played against some 1500 ranked players here and they tend to have tighter serves and play into the corners. Players ranked 1700 have a tight game and no obvious technical weaknesses, and good footwork.
 
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I only watched game one...

Your BH opener from your serve... was not enough quality9although yes, it was high percentage this time) to trouble him much... until you started to place it better, like his middle, or wide FH. When you gave shorter return and he pushed your dead ball, you could step in and BH hit with angle and safety.

When you returned shorter or to his BH before he could step around, he played much weaker.

When you made him move, like when you open to his BH, he handles easy, then you go kinda wide FH, he made errors. (at least twice) You did a loop to FH or middle then wide BH to win one point... so your opener can be useful, even if it isn't devestating. He wasn't trying to kill you on countering your BH opener... and you had chances... and played smart enough to win some of those chances.

You even won a point on a half-long touch shot.

You pushed an easy ball high to his middle, and he obliged by trying a bad BH loop that went way long.
 
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ejprinz said:
In Austin, TX, about 1300. I am ranked about 1200 and think we'd be even. I have played against some 1500 ranked players here and they tend to have tighter serves and play into the corners. Players ranked 1700 have a tight game and no obvious technical weaknesses, and good footwork.

EJ, you just made me spit out some more Coors all over my monitor again. OK, it needed more cleaning anyway.

A 1700 rated player in TX has HUGE technical flaws in their game.

Yet, I can see the POV from a 1300s player... and I was pretty much in your shoes the first years I played TT. I was in Oklahoma and 1400-1500s level. I thought the 1800 crowd in TX Wesleyan was real good, so good, that i thought I would be real happy just to play that level.

Then one year, I got assigned to Korea... After 4 years in Korea where I grew, did a tourney and came out mid 1900s east coast, I discoveed I still had huge flaws (and still do)... and I was not satified to be 1900s, I wanted (and still want) to play better level.

I moved to California as a mid to upper 1900s player... and within a few tourneys, even though I could play every day with decent players, and even felt I was improving... my rating was right back in 1700s. That is just how it is over there (here). (Over the next 1.5 years I improved and made mid/upper 200s level at LA Open.)

I RARELY see a 1500 level player (even in CA) able to serve short in a match when they want to do that... I got to 1600 in TX area from 1400 by only practicing serves 3 minutes a day for a year while deployed no match play... I seemed to be the only player at 160 level who could serve short in that Dallas area... some 1800 level players could serve short some...

Even in CA, where there are so many great players, you do not see a ton of short serves between two 1700 level players. They may THINK they are serving short, but are not. You isolate them on the table and ask them to show you short serve... that level of player is slowing down the bat to make a weak no spin ball to keep it short... that isn't a short serve, technically it is, since it would bounce twice, but it isn't your underspin serve or whatever spin serve with any quality.

Show me a match vid of your 1700 rated friends and let's see the video evidence. I will agree to choke on my Coors if I see 1700 level players )I'll choke on TWO of them if both can serve short) serving short consistently with any quality or displaying a lack of technical flaws... heck, I will buy you Korean pork belly rice lettuce dinner for just showing the vid if i ever roll through your area. Remind me of that and hoild me to my word if/when I roll through Austin.

For those who never knew on the forum, Austin is absolutely one of the best cities around, so much to do there for anyone. Summer too hot though...
 
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Howdy Y'All, actually I didn't find any YouTube videos of 1700 rated folks, so here is me at roughly 950, after the 2019 US Open I flirted with 1300 now I am back at ~1200.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbKpVcguNxM. I am playing short pips backhand so I do have short serves consistently. I've seen that some of the young players especially in San Antonio have improved quite a bit last year, I think YouTube helps a lot. I am focusing on loosing weight, improving footwork, and overall technique.
I think the more important video is this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1mQJZhI108
where I show how I use a 3-stage filter with 2 face masks to be safe(r) playing table tennis. Given the increasing Covid-19 case numbers playing without a mask seems risky. I use the same scheme when I go grocery shopping. I am worried that my 86-year old Mom in Germany has sewn herself a better face mask (with fleeze filter) than what I see here on 90% of the people.
And yes, Austin/Texas is a nice town to live, although traffic has gotten a lot worse lately (before Covid-19).
 
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