Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[ttmonster]

Happy to report my singles game came together today and I beat my partner 3-0 ... it was one of the days , I showed up, started warming up and immediately felt I don't need to warm up more to start playing ... we played one match before our doubles started and essentially I could not do anything wrong today , kept serving corkscrew regular not reverse and kept making good play one after another ... either my partner was tired , or I was playing too well , I think he had played 3 matches already when I came in ... told him that he is looping too soft for a one winged looper and for the swing he was using , I could easily block down to the line once he started his loops from the backhand corner ....

also, my backhand on high balls was really on today , who says posting on table tennis daily does not help improve your game

 

[NextLevel]

Many of you have probably seen this video or a similar video before about serve placement - I actually first learned this from Brian Pace and it applies to all shots, but most easily to serve and serve return. When you understand how ball placement limits the opponent's options, you develop a better and better idea of why you can or cannot get away with certain serves against certain opponents. I used to serve really short and close to the net, but people then started flicking hard or dropping the serves short and I had to make some adjustments.

If you want to improve your game and get better at restricting any kind of opponent at any level, these are the kinds of things you need to focus on. Of course, power (spin, speed), height, deception etc. are all important as well, and when you start measuring the overall quality of your shots, then you have an ideal of what level of difficulty you are creating for your opponents. It's easy to underestimate these things, but if you have an opponent who is easily returning all your serves with quality, you are likely violating these things. And what I personally find is that if an opponent is making a poor quality return to a poor serve, then the attacking opportunity is very high quality. So if I serve a high ball and you don't attack it, then you tend to pop the ball up even higher.

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

You were in the Zone!! FLOW!!!

Congratulations!!

Please remember this state/feeling!! Attach it to vivid mental imagery of the sights/sounds of the day ... anchor it... recall the anchor in the future to elicit the Flow State.

Awesomeness!!


EDIT: may sound like a lot of woo-woo... but i truly believe there is something to it.

Happy to report my singles game came together today and I beat my partner 3-0 ... it was one of the days , I showed up, started warming up and immediately felt I don't need to warm up more to start playing ... we played one match before our doubles started and essentially I could not do anything wrong today , kept serving corkscrew regular not reverse and kept making good play one after another ... either my partner was tired , or I was playing too well , I think he had played 3 matches already when I came in ... told him that he is looping too soft for a one winged looper and for the swing he was using , I could easily block down to the line once he started his loops from the backhand corner ....

also, my backhand on high balls was really on today , who says posting on table tennis daily does not help improve your game

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

Last night, miraculously had a table all to ourselves... decent space around... no matches, just hit and flow. K, i jokingly refer to as my arch-nemesis, is a good friend and helps me with tips time to time ... we both are steady enough, although the below vid doesn't indicate it.

About the vid, i was having so much fun, playing mostly SH, but once in awhile modern PH and yes, once in awhile oldschool PH. Intended to use one of my backup rackets, Avalox P700 with DHS H3... but could not get used to it... have used tensor rubbers longer and didn't want to waste K's time from me missing with it

Played with the American Hinoki CPen with 2 Tenergy's. Hit for 2 hrs straight and BH to BH. Sometimes BH loop by either partner. We were flowing and having fun and so in the moment, neglected to record the session. after 1 hr 53 mins, the lightbulb moment said to record... so i was a bit tired already. Not an excuse. Just a glimpse into my SH BH. No loops or modern PH.

Edited the ~7 mins vid down to ~3:30. Propped phone against the wall.

0-2:29 SH
~2:30 i go oldschool PH
~3:00 back to SH

Was looking forward to playing LP dude, he didn't show up. Going back tonight for 60-90 mins. Today, body achy all over. Haven't pushed myself like this after the months off recuperation.

 

[suds79]

You know there are so many good resources out there online, you just can't remember all of them so a refresher course is nice.

I have seen that PingSkills video before but honestly had forgotten about it. The video for me is timely as I'm looking to beat my training partner who does not struggle with my serves like others might. If I'm being honest, I"m sure I serve in the danger zone probably far too often. Either in trying for a short ball and or not having that fast long serve completely in my game. Alios's long fast serves in that video were nice. I can do that once in a while. Just not with that amount of speed.

I think for service practice at home I'm going to try an idea of laying a couple of towels down on the table in the danger zone where it'll be easy to see if I was able to keep my serve short or very long.

 

[NextLevel]

You know there are so many good resources out there online, you just can't remember all of them so a refresher course is nice.

I have seen that PingSkills video before but honestly had forgotten about it. The video for me is timely as I'm looking to beat my training partner who does not struggle with my serves like others might. If I'm being honest, I"m sure I serve in the danger zone probably far too often. Either in trying for a short ball and or not having that fast long serve completely in my game. Alios's long fast serves in that video were nice. I can do that once in a while. Just not with that amount of speed.

I think for service practice at home I'm going to try an idea of laying a couple of towels down on the table in the danger zone where it'll be easy to see if I was able to keep my serve short or very long.

It is very important to be able to tell when your serve is not good enough. That lets you prepare in advance for the appropriate response. Usually, it is easy to be ready for the low level responses but you always need to have an idea of how well your serve is truly limiting the opponent's options.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Chess-style tournament today with 10 people including a coach.Everybody plays five rounds.


First round I have an easy expected 3-0 win


Then I play the coach who plays defence with LP. I am not ridiculous, there are some rallies and I have some winners but I'm not much used to play against this level and I lose the first two games but with some improvement in between. In the third I am able to raise my game further, with more consistency, and I mix my serves more to get an easier third ball attack. I have three set points but cannot convert. The guy did to me his signature trick shot, a long push with side spin with his LP, to get this set 13-11 and the match


Third match is another expected easy win 3-0


Fourth match is against an attacking PH guy who beat me really bad 3-0 last time (like 11-4 on average) and that was perhaps one of my worst matches ever. But I have to admit that today I had the opportunity to see him against other guys including the coach, and he's two levels above me. His drive is very consistent with good placement. He has a relative weakness on the BH with his style but he's very quick on his feet.


This time, he won the first easily 4but I gave a good fight in the second losing 9. That was tough for me because it was very close and I had some chances to win that set. In the third I play even better and manage to win 9. Probably I felt something like mission accomplished unconsciously because I had a very bad start in the fourth and he crushed me 4 again with the momentum and the pressure on me.


The guy can find very good angles with his FH if I play on his FH and his pivot is very effective. I tried to stay more in the middle of the table to cover the wide FH, right from the serve. I also tried to make the rally last by not staying too close from the table,, so could find an opportunity to play cross court to his BH side. Still what I lacked most was a good short and low serve to his FH that he could not flick and force a predictable receive.


I had the same problem against the last player. I think his level as close to mine. He didn't look that strong with no very strong shots but he was able to flick with a lot of spin all my short serves with his BH even if I served short to his FH. He hit quite hard with his FH if the ball is a bit too high and he blocked the ball early with his BH. Overall his BH was better than mine. On the other hand he was not very good notably on his FH side when I could get the initiative so the key was being able to receive well. But I was a bit too tense and that cost me dear.


Lost the first set 9 while I had some very good chances. Lost the second set on a wide margin. I was set up to lose in straight sets as he was 7-2 up in the third but I came back to win 12-10.
In the fourth unfortunately he had a good start and there was no comeback. This defeat hurts a lot because i should have done better.


in the end 2 wins, 3 losses like last time but i played much better. I was tchooing much more thats usually a good way to know. I was playing at a good level at times but wasn't able to keep it a whole match. But at least i was fighting all the time.


There's a more important tournament (for me) this WE. I hope i'll perform better. I feel i have to be a bit more active and positive in 3rd ball and receive. I'm becoming more consistent but its not the right level of risk taking to beat better players, and i can't level up if i don't try to up my game in this sector. It may cost some more matches but i may have to make a "long term" investment here.

PS. coach just sent a personalized report on today's tournament
(+) I often have a strong FH attack on the 3rd ball after my long serves. and my FH smash is good.
(-) I was too passive with my BH and my opponents kept playing there.

thats not what i felt in priority so it's a quite interesting take

 

[ttmonster]

IMO you should let your wrist lead the stroke , rather than your forearm ... may be Der_Echte can compare my BH stroke to yours , because I haven't seen a video of my BH in a while ... but I feel that you have some leftovers from your TPB when you hit BH with SH . Honestly, the strokes are great , but I feel you will have better quality and control if you let the ball come to you are little more , pull your elbow back a little bit more , create space and use your wrist more ... this backhand loop drive video from Stefan explains a little more , of coure he is around 6feet 2 , so he can get over the ball more easily ,but the principle is the same ..

the other way to hit the backhand is like this ...

It looked like your elbow position to me was somewhere in between the two techniques .. slightly in front than the first one and closer to the body than the 2nd one but not as close as to the first one ....

this is all my opinion , and you know the reason , I want to convert you , your SH game is too good to not transition .. .it will be much easier on the body ...

Last night, miraculously had a table all to ourselves... decent space around... no matches, just hit and flow. K, i jokingly refer to as my arch-nemesis, is a good friend and helps me with tips time to time ... we both are steady enough, although the below vid doesn't indicate it.

About the vid, i was having so much fun, playing mostly SH, but once in awhile modern PH and yes, once in awhile oldschool PH. Intended to use one of my backup rackets, Avalox P700 with DHS H3... but could not get used to it... have used tensor rubbers longer and didn't want to waste K's time from me missing with it

Played with the American Hinoki CPen with 2 Tenergy's. Hit for 2 hrs straight and BH to BH. Sometimes BH loop by either partner. We were flowing and having fun and so in the moment, neglected to record the session. after 1 hr 53 mins, the lightbulb moment said to record... so i was a bit tired already. Not an excuse. Just a glimpse into my SH BH. No loops or modern PH.

Edited the ~7 mins vid down to ~3:30. Propped phone against the wall.

0-2:29 SH
~2:30 i go oldschool PH
~3:00 back to SH

Was looking forward to playing LP dude, he didn't show up. Going back tonight for 60-90 mins. Today, body achy all over. Haven't pushed myself like this after the months off recuperation.

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

CCers,

BTW, for those who don't know, in the above vid, i'm the one on the far side of the table.

ttmonster,

Thank you for your encouragement, vids and pointers! As you know, last night is probably only my 5th time playing SH seriously. When much younger, I started as PH, only played SH back then to goof off from time to time.

I don't expect an instant 1200 game, and expect my PH game is still going to be in my SH strokes. 42&bp noted to me, i BH block/PH like a TPB on SH BH ... modern SH players spin ... my partner K has also advised me to add a little spin on all strokes ... but the TPB punch game is in my 'muscle memory'.

My SH frustrations are mainly 2, outside of 'technical strokes': ball hitting my finger/hand, and ball to my elbow LOL. If I'm hitting BH to BH, my mind is still not fluid enough to step and change to FH if the ball comes to me at the elbow or to my FH side.

Sadly, i didn't record earlier in the session, i had some ok BH with spin, like maybe a junior BH loop ... in my mind, I do something like what Brett teaches. Will see if i can get video to see if i really am doing what i think i'm doing.

your SH game is too good to not transition .. .

LOL ... i have no "SH game" - i have the beginnings of SH strokes perhaps ... but no game. I believe i look ok as SH because of the Tenergy rubbers... I'm awed by them as many shots i don't believe i would've made, landed in ... my partner K was a former PH and converted to SH about 2 yrs ago. He is 60 yrs young. He has also tried to get me to convert citing SH is more fun, especially BH, and better for overall health. My friend M2 says i have decent strokes and should convert too... it's in the back of my mind.

However, PH style is dying, and the romantic in me thinks I need to continue to play PH so it won't die out ... even if i was the only one left on earth playing PH. Plus any PH blade is an anchor to my youth ... the days of yore ... life was so different back then. I know, I know, I'm silly!

Thank you ttmonster as always!

[Begin Boogar voice]

Will see if i will remember to record tonight's play

[/voice]

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

As a side note, i saw a guy playing today with a bat with a curved handle !!!

i think it was this one

http://www.tabletennisdb.com/blade/nittaku-tenaly-acoustic.html

 

[ttmonster]

Its like the PH teenager in you does not want to pay heed to the elders , I totally get it OSPH . My point in posting the videos is while you are at it , you might want to work on these things ... I saw your partner's game and even in his backhand there are remnants of his PH ... it will always be there , hence IMO better you transition to the backhand drive technique , where you position your hand over the bounce of the ball and use the wrist with a loose forearm and shoulder ... its a slight modification on the block and is ever efficient with tenergy ... yes you will have trouble with higher balls and you will have to figure out how to punch them or stand up tall or use the more traditional technique or pivot and use forehand .. I know there are a lot of choices compared to PH but thats the fun and challenge part of it ... traditional PH has fewer choices ... and is easy to make a decision ..

CCers,

BTW, for those who don't know, in the above vid, i'm the one on the far side of the table.

ttmonster,

Thank you for your encouragement, vids and pointers! As you know, last night is probably only my 5th time playing SH seriously. When much younger, I started as PH, only played SH back then to goof off from time to time.

I don't expect an instant 1200 game, and expect my PH game is still going to be in my SH strokes. 42&bp noted to me, i BH block/PH like a TPB on SH BH ... modern SH players spin ... my partner K has also advised me to add a little spin on all strokes ... but the TPB punch game is in my 'muscle memory'.

My SH frustrations are mainly 2, outside of 'technical strokes': ball hitting my finger/hand, and ball to my elbow LOL. If I'm hitting BH to BH, my mind is still not fluid enough to step and change to FH if the ball comes to me at the elbow or to my FH side.

Sadly, i didn't record earlier in the session, i had some ok BH with spin, like maybe a junior BH loop ... in my mind, I do something like what Brett teaches. Will see if i can get video to see if i really am doing what i think i'm doing.



LOL ... i have no "SH game" - i have the beginnings of SH strokes perhaps ... but no game. I believe i look ok as SH because of the Tenergy rubbers... I'm awed by them as many shots i don't believe i would've made, landed in ... my partner K was a former PH and converted to SH about 2 yrs ago. He is 60 yrs young. He has also tried to get me to convert citing SH is more fun, especially BH, and better for overall health. My friend M2 says i have decent strokes and should convert too... it's in the back of my mind.

However, PH style is dying, and the romantic in me thinks I need to continue to play PH so it won't die out ... even if i was the only one left on earth playing PH. Plus any PH blade is an anchor to my youth ... the days of yore ... life was so different back then. I know, I know, I'm silly!

Thank you ttmonster as always!

[Begin Boogar voice]

Will see if i will remember to record tonight's play

[/voice]

 

[Michal_Z]

New videos
From challenger series ;-)

Today I picked Florian Bluhm.. against Gilabert:

And agains Josef Šimončík (very good match)

And then two matches of Vráblík vs. Chtchetinine, first the group match:

And then highlights video of the semifinal..

Vráblík got a lot better against defense (or against Chtchetinine), if you look at his results over years, now he has much more success!!

 

[suds79]

maybe it's my eyes playing tricks on me but are they playing with that two-toned DHS ball? I swear I see orange.

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

Its like the PH teenager in you does not want to pay heed to the elders , I totally get it OSPH .

hence IMO better you transition to the backhand drive technique , where you position your hand over the bounce of the ball and use the wrist with a loose forearm and shoulder ... its a slight modification on the block and is ever efficient with tenergy ...

42&bp mentioned this to me also. Will do it tonight and hopefully get vid of it as well as RPB.

yes you will have trouble with higher balls and you will have to figure out how to punch them or stand up tall or use the more traditional technique or pivot and use forehand ..

to be fair ... this is also a challenge to TPB ... i sometimes mistime my punch and catch the ball to high on bounce and ending up on tiptoes/stand tall ... lol

traditional PH has fewer choices ... and is easy to make a decision ..

Ah the ignorant bliss of Hick's Law!

LOL

Thank you ttmonster!

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

i cannot be the only one who had this song in my head everytime he said 'danger zone'

Thank you NL! Intuitively i know this but in the heat of the moment, i don't implement.

I will venture to say that pushing is an important aspect of the game once short serves are implemented... pushing to offbalance partner and then jockeying for position to get a good look at attacking the partner's return

 

[NextLevel]

Someone found this old match of mine... thought some of you might find it interesting in case you assume I was a looping junior. I am going back to the knee braces again - I wish I was as physically well as I was back then - I thought it was bad back then but I didn't really know how bad it could get...

 

[Boogar]

Had an awesome day today!!
I went to another club about one hour away from where i live. They don't have an active team anymore but all of them still play at a really high level 2100-2300 ish. Some of them used to play in the National league of Switzerland.
First i had really good warm up with one of them, where he fed me great tips for finding the right feeling for the ball while warming up. After the warm up i was dead already

I played a first match against one of them and actually managed to get 2:1 in games, i made a lot of points with my backhand. Its such a relaying thing to not have to cover the whole table with the forehand.

But he kept his cool and came back from a 6:10 in the last game. That was so much fun!

Later that night i played a guy with unbelievable serves... all extremely short and loaded with spin. I did not think that something like this could be possible... this gives me a whole new perspective on how the game can be played!!
needless to say that he destroyed me 3:0 twice.

Much food for thought right now! I will try to go there more, but it costs me about 20 bucks to take the train... But i guess such high level experience is worth much more. Good thing they really like to play with all kinds of players! yay!

 

[StehTischtennis]

Off season, time for some equipment tests.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

i had a 1 to 1 session with my coach today.

He was thinking about how to correct my tendency for my body to lean backward and upward when i do FH.
Of course there are some bad habits, but he says it's also a lack of athleticism, notably the (right) leg, and core muscles.

Nevertheless, he also gave me this fresh tip, that could help, it might seem obvious for many of you, but it wasn't for me, never heard of it before ! Basically he told me to bend my toes (if this is the right english word), it gives more dynamism to the footwork, all the more perhaps that my feet are very much flat. I did feel an immediate difference. So i'll try to follow his advice from now on. You can try as well !!!

 

[NextLevel]

i had a 1 to 1 session with my coach today.

He was thinking about how to correct my tendency for my body to lean backward and upward when i do FH.
Of course there are some bad habits, but he says it's also a lack of athleticism, notably the (right) leg, and core muscles.

Nevertheless, he also gave me this fresh tip, that could help, it might seem obvious for many of you, but it wasn't for me, never heard of it before ! Basically he told me to bend my toes (if this is the right english word), it gives more dynamism to the footwork, all the more perhaps that my feet are very much flat. I did feel an immediate difference. So i'll try to follow his advice from now on. You can try as well !!!

"Clench" your toes might be more precise.