Re-Building the BEAST

Thanks Phamster, but the tourney was in a remote part of Upstate NY, my opponent was 2100s, I almost took him to 7th game, I had my chances.

After that tourney, I dropped 200 ratings points the next few tourneys. Sitting down all winter got me to 100 KG in weight and I got my injury shoveling snow from under my car too extended. Injury hampered me, but I dropped level because I simply sucked.

I am only in Boston a couple days and before I got heree, my true level was closer to 1600. 2 days at the club of 9 hrs Sat and 7 Hrs Sunday seem to have recovered my playing level a lot, so I feel I am closer to a 1800 level player now, still gotta do 2 months of daily practice/play before I get my level back, but it will come back.

My injury only recovered enough to begin doing some of my explosive BH Carl has seen me do, before, I couldn't even rotate my arm without pain or if I reached and hit it would be real painful. The last two days have been encouraging, so I think I can go to the strengthening exercises with confidence now.

For the record, today I operated both the Modifed Kanaph Beast and the original Stiga Allround Evolution beast Sunday.

I agree with Phamster about his points of increased sweet spot and stability in blocking, but it is much more than that I fail to properly articulate it to give it justice. Strong shots feel more stable, pushes have the oomph, Serving feels better.

Some dude from India named Pradeep showed up with an ancient Joyner BTY bat with Mark V and Sriver, he said he had not played in over 10 years, his performance tells me he had some practice, or he was a damned good player back then.

He asked me a lot about US suppliers and equipment and I ran down 6 of the 12 suppliers and told him about TTD, maybe I can get him to be a member.

I'm with Carl in saying don't tweak it any moar or risk it, it isn't worth it.

Ariel, I only got a couple weeks left before i close the house and relocate to Boston, so I don't think I'm gunna be in Syracuse any moar

Even some of those wraps with magnets that stimulate blood flow (and are a lot cheaper) would be some help.

Mahomedy, it is just temporary, just until I get a federal job somewhere, will be there anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 years.

I dropped three full levels in three months this winter from doing nothing (but losing big time in a couple tourneys) and fattening up like panda bear. I got back a level or 1.5 just this last weekend playing 9 hrs, 7 hrs, and 5 hrs in the club in Boston. My injury barely healed enough to attempt some of my BH shots that require explosion and sudden rotation of the forearm (that needs the rotator cuff to be healed and stable) and that is a good sign.

If I can hang around Boston another month, I will get back to solid mid 1800 level, I feel like I am almost back to 1800 now, felt like I was 1600 level just 4 days ago. My touch and timing will come back, half of it already has, but by no means will I get my former playing level back anytime soon.

Phamster... ONLY 202 grams. That is BARELY the sweet spot for me.

I have returned from Korea 1.5 yrs ago and lived in a remote part of upper NW NY near the Canadian border, no TT near me at all. Sure, It is 1.5 hr drive to Syracuse, but when church gets out and I drive there, not a lot of time left to play, I only went there twice. I visit Boston more often than I go to Syracuse and Boston is a 6 hr dive away, my daughter lives there. Still, I only average a visit once every two months.

The last THREE months, I did ZERO TT, except a few tourneys where I dropped almost 200 points in rating, and should have dropped over 300. I sucked that bad from no regular practice and an injury (that is only now allowing me to play a LITTLE like my old self)

You have to look at overall results vs other players in a tourney setting to know an estimated playing level of someone. When I got back from Korea, I got shortchanged on ratings (a player I lost to was 2100 level, but didnt get adjusted) and shoulda been over 2000. Big deal. Zero regular practice means my skills decline, along with touch and feel. I am suprised it took me this long to decline. I dropped down to 1750 after the last tourney. I shoulda been 1600 or lower the way I played.

Robert "The Master" Chen thought I was 2100, because he was stubborn in trying to give me dead balls to FH or fast loops I could block at angles away from him. He is slow as he is old. BUT, he can ATTACK and play very smart in a rally. VERY FEW players around 2100-2200 block like I can, but I have weaknesses that make me my level for good reasons. The Master was very stubborn in trying to attack my strong zones and I made him pay a lot. I have some flashy shots and a many BH shots that are WAY developed above my playing level, but that does not at all mean I am that playing level.

I think I was lucky he was simply dead-set on playing a certain style vs me, I love it when People fast attack my BH and I see it coming, I already got player to move off balance and they make an all-or nothing attack i deflect away. The master also gave me a few tasty chances to short BH I crave.

Did any of that make sense?

Yes, I can have a BH flip and opener vs underspin that some 2400-2500+ level players do not have, but I play worse than some 1700 level players in some respects of the game. The BH shots and SOME of my strong Fh topsins make one think I am a higher level player than my rating, that is true, but my ratings are true, I am a lower rated player than the appearance of some of my strong points for very good reasons that are also sadly true.

It is also true that I actually declined to 1600 overall level. Today was my last day on this Boston mission, I got back 1-1.5 levels for sure, so my current rating of mid 1700s is now pretty much a true rating for the most part.

If I played Carl right now, he would trouble me, but I would pull it out, somehow, Carl gives me good chances to open strongly and that opener when i get it going is too strong. In some rallies, Carl can control me and make it rough. if it was 2 weeks ago, Carl would have won 3-0 or 3-1.

Carl will not accept this, because his impression of my former play is too strong in his mind, the recent facts back up my opinions, I simply suck too much last week, and I still suck, only not nearly as much as I did just a week ago. Maybe Carl upped his level in the meantime, he had better opportunities to practice than I did. That is gunna change greatly in a few weeks when I temoprarily relocate to Boston.

phamster said:

on another note, i just weighed my current set up..

the clipper wood classic flared legend, with butterfly spin art for my back hand and a sheet of Neos H3 black on my forehand..

each rubber side has 4 layers of glue and one on the wood...

this set up is a whooping 202 grams.. and it still feels light enough for me to play solid matches for 3 hours and i have no problems with hitting chops, over the table flips , banana flicks and of course this 202 gram set up blocks and hits like a dream on the long game.. just loving the clipper

here is a video of my practicing

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Phamster, you got one the most badd-Azzz robots around and you like solid impact and fast play. I like seeing a slower more spinny first ball or two, but that is me. Sometimes your opener has to be fast vs some people and I get that. You can put a lot of pressure on an opponent by taking the ball quick and being ready for next shot, I get that too.

Regardless, misses or hits, you got the rythm and footwork to do some damage in a rally. The robot is good for practicing footwork sequences and some rote and random stuff. Good you got that thing.

phamster said:

Carl, so Der Echte is playing to a style or technique of a 2100 level player? wow... that is some playing!

Der Echte, the area your in right now, not boston, but is it Syracuse ? <-- don't they have universitys or clubs that have players that you can train with? or push you to the next level?

or is it the injury that is holding you back? if it is the injury - god speed on your recovery... man i wouldn't know what to do if i couldn't train or hit balls every other day !

@ Carl, do you train regularly or hit on a robot?

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What got my true playing level down to 1600 was several things.

1) ZERO TT for 5+ months (except one visit to Boston and 3 tourneys) That was the biggest killer, I lost too much timing and touch and feel, and became VERY inconsistent,

2) -30C or worse daily low temps kept me indoors too much, so much sitting down and I gained weight to 100 KG and I am only 5' 8" dude and nearly 50 yrs old.

3) I had a grade two tear on a tendon on upper arm of my hitting arm, nearly tore it smooth off, dont know what did it, starting snow blower pulling cord, or digging out snow under car laying down arms extended or pushing cars out of snow/ice... doesn't matter, it hurt like heck for 2.5 months, and I tweaked it daily. I couldn't extend and hit, not could I rotate the arm like in some of my good BH shots. Really limited me to blocking or punching on BH and short strokes on FH.

I already explained why I can LOOK like I am 2100 when I play offensive (or offensive/defensive fast blocking) or use some flashy shots not so many can do in a match consistently. Smart players learn to avoid my BH (on short balls) like it is poison and do well. 2100 level players do not kill these balls with consistency, but I do. That is one of the things that make my level LOOK higher than it is. I also have a strong FH (if opponent allows me to get it into play) Certain rally shots I simply do not have. Certain returns I do not cope well, especially if my anticipation was wrong.

UpSideDownCarl said:

Darn. If only I could have played you when your level was lower than mine. Haha. I doubt you dropped as much as you say. You love to underrate yourself. So you can hustle unsuspecting club members for free Chickens and beerz

Robert Chen thought you were 2100 when you played him and he knows technique. Even if you weren't at the top of your game, your technique is better than your rating.

Sent from my i-ee-Phone using Tipsytalk

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Carl, you make lunch or veggie juice bets on me over this and you had better be close with the juice bar owners. I really dropped level that bad, maybe worse and that is truth. The few times we hooked up for TT and you saw me, I only temporarily was in a zone and playing above my level. My flashy shots do not reveal my many weaknesses and make me look much stronger. The lack of regular practice and the injury and weight gain killed me.

Sure, I like to say I am lower level than my rating, but it is generally true (if I am not temporarily in a zone)

Robert Chen has been around and knows his stuff REALLY WELL. He knows how to evaluate a player and for the most part, he is true, most of my game is that level, but he somehow overlooked a few weaknesses that make me a much lower level than 2100. Sure, I defeated a mid/upper 2000s player my first tourney back from Korea (after I played 15+ matches) but big deal, that was only one match.

haha Carl, You are a comin' to get me haha, good one, YOU wouldn't leave NYC if you got paid ATM. I WOULD believe that you would come to SPIN Manhattan to meetup with me and try get me though, and there is NO telling what kind of trouble you would have waiting for me there.

Carl is not nearly as good at serve receive as many of the other nice components of his game he build, last year he had one BH shot that is CLEARLY better and WAY more consistent than mine. (Close to table off the bounce soft to medium topspin counterloop)

The real reason Carl plays TT is for the THUG LIFE, he simply enjoys the LULZ and the social & competitive culture of TT going at it full tilt fun.

Carl is a troublemaker at heart and you gotta watch him. I put my appearance out there as one who likes to start a lot of stuff, but Carl is WAY more sly than me in creating trouble. I can only exceed him if I am around Koreans and only then am I the BOSS of trouble. I am a Kitty Cat everywhere else.

MAYBE at the last time Carl saw me, the day prior I played 1600-1700 level at Boston, before NYC adventure 2.0... SOMEHOW, the next day, I was playing out of my mind, immediately after a 5 hr drive and zero to little warmup. Carl took first game 11-5 or something like that. My real level at that time was prolly 1800-1825. I had already been out of practice for almost a year.