Returning to the sport – bit of advice would be great

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Hi chaps - well I've been playing for a good couple of months now and trying to play 2/3 times a week - around 6 hours or so. First of all I'm really enjoying it and have joined a club and signed up for the season so looking forward to that. I think i will be playing in a division or two lower than i thought as lack of space in the teams in those divisions but be good to be playing competitive again.
My game has really come on and I'm a lot more confident looping and playing my attacking shots - mainly as footwork has picked up. Im a lot more consistent in my play and have good spin (players have commented) but I think my shots maybe lack a bit of power. Do you think its down to my 10/15+ yr old blade that wasn't made for the current balls rubbers etc - or is that over thinking it?
Ive had knocks with lots of other bats and blades recently and they have a crisper and more direct feeling to my shots. One guy had an OSP blade (can't remember which one) with H3 BS boosted and Stiga Mantra on the BH and it felt great - obviously faster than mine but not ridiculous. Have tried BF Roundell too which felt nice. Have also tried Vega and MX-P but didn't quite like those as much - though i think they weren't the freshest of rubbers.
So i guess the question is - is the blade fit for purpose (as they make a new version now i believe?) or would it be worth looking at faster rubbers at some point.

Also I think I'm taking the ball a little late on my forehand - is there any tips to address this? Will try to get some film at some point
 
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Hey welcome back to the sport ... one of the theories that I have heard from coaches is to keep playing without thinking about power , the more you play and drill , the better your footwork and anticipation will be and automatically your power will improve. We often forget that most of the play in table tennis is not to overpower, but outsmart opponents and put one more ball on the table than the other guy ....also you should put only so much power in your shots that you can handle it when it comes back .. frequently we practice putting a third ball opener with a lot of power which is enough to over power our regular opponents and then you come up against somebody in the league/tournament who get it back and we fail ... so my advice is to not worry about it ... power will improve as your game improves ... also if you are really concerned, putting your recording out here will help fellow members to analyze and advise ...
Hi chaps - well I've been playing for a good couple of months now and trying to play 2/3 times a week - around 6 hours or so. First of all I'm really enjoying it and have joined a club and signed up for the season so looking forward to that. I think i will be playing in a division or two lower than i thought as lack of space in the teams in those divisions but be good to be playing competitive again.
My game has really come on and I'm a lot more confident looping and playing my attacking shots - mainly as footwork has picked up. Im a lot more consistent in my play and have good spin (players have commented) but I think my shots maybe lack a bit of power. Do you think its down to my 10/15+ yr old blade that wasn't made for the current balls rubbers etc - or is that over thinking it?
Ive had knocks with lots of other bats and blades recently and they have a crisper and more direct feeling to my shots. One guy had an OSP blade (can't remember which one) with H3 BS boosted and Stiga Mantra on the BH and it felt great - obviously faster than mine but not ridiculous. Have tried BF Roundell too which felt nice. Have also tried Vega and MX-P but didn't quite like those as much - though i think they weren't the freshest of rubbers.
So i guess the question is - is the blade fit for purpose (as they make a new version now i believe?) or would it be worth looking at faster rubbers at some point.

Also I think I'm taking the ball a little late on my forehand - is there any tips to address this? Will try to get some film at some point
 
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Thanks TTmonster. Yes that’s good advice and totally understand the process of that. It’s something I’m working on, shot placement so my forehand especially isn’t just going across the table and working my opponent.
I guess I’m still working out what the effect of the newer ball size and material are to previously playing also. Rally’s seem longer, whereas when I played before if I opened up the rally first and got my forehand in it would be the end of the point maybe 70% of the time pretty quickly. (Now I know there’s a bunch of factors there, me still not being as good as I (thought :) I was/fitness/age/skill of players playing etc.) But playing lately if definitely seems more about outlasting than overpowering/a winning shot - which backs up your point. It also might be the fact the club I go to maybe has more defensive players than I’m previously used too - who just love to get loops back!
Will look at getting some footage up at some point.

So you don’t think I need to worry about my possibly 15/20year old blade with the newer rubbers and ball- as in not the biggest factor?
 
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