Another tournament - another defeat

[azlan]

I think looking at the entire match, your main problem is confidence buddy. You're not taking initiative in that match. You're more of a reaction player. You wait fro a return, then you react. The other guy was just maybe 1% better than you, but he took the initiative. He was like dictating you, like a puppet master. I am sure you can play a whole lot better than that during your training.

When you noticed that you can't cope, your confidence dropped further and you're missing some very easy shots (count how many points you gave him with your BH push into the net). The guy got a lot of points from your mistakes buddy. I can count his winners on my one hand.

You gotta be more aggressive buddy. Dictate your opponents, dominate them, put them on a string and tell them what to do. And those long underspin pushes from him to your BH....you're standing way too high. too upright. Bend your knees more and get underneath the ball buddy. You will be surprise. Loop those long balls, FH and BH.

Generally, you played as if you were afraid to lose. Play to improve and apply what you've learned. Once you nailed that, in no time, when you come into a match, you will be playing to win

GOOD LUCK BUDDY, and don't be disheartened. You can improve, and that's a huge plus!!

 

[Der_Echte]

It could be because you have to go under the ball and move your racket more forward from that angle, rather than serving the ball down.

Carl, that statement is gold. It is what I stressed on his serves. Move forward more, do not hit ball down.

it will take more work and timing to learn to impact teh ball below net, but those short serves done that way will be spinnier.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

It could be because you have to go under the ball and move your racket more forward from that angle, rather than serving the ball down.

Carl, that statement is gold. It is what I stressed on his serves. Move forward more, do not hit ball down.

it will take more work and timing to learn to impact teh ball below net, but those short serves done that way will be spinnier.

Yep. I was aware I was restating what you were saying. Your comment was spot-on. Catching the ball from lower will take care of a lot of things once he gets used to it.

 

[Der_Echte]

Repetition in this sport is golden. I KNOW I have to hear and try to do the same stuff as others at least 5-10x more to achieve the same result. Whatever I have learned, I have either heard it from someone or read it somewhere, so in essence, everything I say on forums is pretty much repeating what some other joker said before. Carl... You are likely decades longer a vet in this sport than I am. Ditto for Azlan. He is old school as well.

 

[strangeloop]

Wow Carl.. I tried what you said on my serve yesterday. Recovering to a FH oriented ready position and recovering by the time my serve bounces on the other side. It made a huge difference. I landed many more openings loops than usual. I pushed hardly 3-4 balls. I surprised myself. So excited! I have to slowly make this an instinctive thing and also try to contact the ball lower on my serve (I tried but this seems harder to correct).. Thank you so much for the suggestion..

Azlan, yeah. When I see that my opponent is better than me, I become a reactive player. Because I think he can do anything and I start anticipating everywhere. That's a mental thing I have to overcome. Should have more belief and confidence as you say.

 

[azlan]

Wow Carl.. I tried what you said on my serve yesterday. Recovering to a FH oriented ready position and recovering by the time my serve bounces on the other side. It made a huge difference. I landed many more openings loops than usual. I pushed hardly 3-4 balls. I surprised myself. So excited! I have to slowly make this an instinctive thing and also try to contact the ball lower on my serve (I tried but this seems harder to correct).. Thank you so much for the suggestion..

Azlan, yeah. When I see that my opponent is better than me, I become a reactive player. Because I think he can do anything and I start anticipating everywhere. That's a mental thing I have to overcome. Should have more belief and confidence as you say.

What Carl mentioned is part of the matter that I highlighted. As you noticed, you didn't react, instead you took the initiative to prepare and go into offense by putting in the best serve for you to do so. You must do these all throughout your game. Instead of waiting for the right ball, you must go after the ball, hunt the balls. That way, you won't be reacting for every shot.

I also would like to add, like Carl and D_E mentioned, you were standing square to the table. That's a passive stance buddy, a stance that you take to defend. Try standing a little side ways, with your chest facing diagonally to the table.

I won't go into details about your serves coz I think Carl and D_E had mentioned some very good points for you to work on. Just try not to hit the ball onto the table buddy. Coz if you do, the ball will bounce high over the net. Just let it fly by it's own weight over the net. That way you can keep the ball low, especially after it bounce in the opponents side of the table.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Repetition in this sport is golden. I KNOW I have to hear and try to do the same stuff as others at least 5-10x more to achieve the same result. Whatever I have learned, I have either heard it from someone or read it somewhere, so in essence, everything I say on forums is pretty much repeating what some other joker said before. Carl... You are likely decades longer a vet in this sport than I am. Ditto for Azlan. He is old school as well.

You make me laugh. I am not young. I am not old. 47, I am just hitting my prime. I played as a kid, but recreationally, not with people who knew the sport. With basement players who were all tennis players and all topspin. Then I did not play from about the time I was 14 till when I was about 25. At 25 I found a club in NYC and played there for 3 months. I got good enough to be able to hit a backhand proficiently, in other words, I could get it on the table. But I got that from hitting with a machine because I was not really good enough to play with any of the guys from the club. After 3 months, I was much better but still a recreational player, even though I liked watching guys like Waldner back then. Then I did not play again until I was 44. I have been playing at clubs in NYC for almost 3 years now.

But I play 5-6 days a week and totally love this sport. And I know most of the pros in NYC and I do exchange my work (yoga) for some coaching. But what I would do to have been able to play and get coaching when I was 14 and really loved the game even though I did not know how to play at the time.

Starting at 44 to try to learn to really play has been interesting. When I started up for real, I was amazed that they had changed the size of the ball and the # of points in a game. It took me a while to get used to and like games that go to 11. Now I actually think there is something better about only serving 2x and having to really focus all the way through because a 9-3 lead can be deceptive. You cannot relax. Whereas, in a 21 point game, I know there are times when I was up 18-7 and could just goof around because it was too big a lead.

So three years of play, but Table Tennis is definitely my drug of choice.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Wow Carl.. I tried what you said on my serve yesterday. Recovering to a FH oriented ready position and recovering by the time my serve bounces on the other side. It made a huge difference. I landed many more openings loops than usual. I pushed hardly 3-4 balls. I surprised myself. So excited! I have to slowly make this an instinctive thing and also try to contact the ball lower on my serve (I tried but this seems harder to correct).. Thank you so much for the suggestion..

Azlan, yeah. When I see that my opponent is better than me, I become a reactive player. Because I think he can do anything and I start anticipating everywhere. That's a mental thing I have to overcome. Should have more belief and confidence as you say.

That is awesome, strangeloop. I am glad that was able to help your play that quickly. It is really hard to keep your focus on that process of getting ready for the next shot as quickly as possible. If you find yourself going back to the old habits, just remind yourself and keep trying to get ready as fast as you can. After the serve, and all your shots. Just keep trying to get ready as fast as you can.

 

[Der_Echte]

Hey Carl, I'm mid-40s myself, I guessed you to be around same, just thought you played a touch longer than me. I was a rec player once a week in US for a year or so, a few times in Iraq TT was sometimes there, sometimes not. I never could play daily and get coached until I came to Korea a few years ago.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Hey Carl, I'm mid-40s myself, I guessed you to be around same, just thought you played a touch longer than me. I was a rec player once a week in US for a year or so, a few times in Iraq TT was sometimes there, sometimes not. I never could play daily and get coached until I came to Korea a few years ago.

It is fun learning, isn't it. It is great that you are able to learn in a place like Korea where there are so many good players and coaches. One of the things I love about this sport is how much there is to learn and how much faster you can learn it when you are around good players.

 

[Der_Echte]

TT here in Korea has its irritations, like a lot of cramped space and balls everywhere, but you cannot beat teh TT action, the tourneys, and team fun, period, anywhere, period.