Hello TTDers:
Last night, played pretty much nonstop 3 hrs ... very tired and sore all over today... at my age, it takes longer to recover LOL ... normally while waiting on a table i would have a break, but it worked out as i finished on one table and called next on another, they finished and my turn came up
1) played J., a shakehander, who is generally defensive... tricky spinny lobs, sidespin loop, hit with him once before, but his back acted up and he took a break, last night, warmed up with him, he was already warmed up and he won 1st game at 7, but then i think he said his knees were acting up and he took a break ... i thanked him for the game
2) played a traditional Japanese penholder grip next (he lost to my first opponent J. in 3 straight, but close games) ... ~1800, steady player, super sidespin loops, can smash, excellent backhand (which somehow has a little sidespin on it) ... played him one other time, and we had close games then but i lost 3-1 with 2 games of the games at extended deuce... used my old racket then) ... last night with my new racket, lost 3 straight and again, all close games at 8 and 9 and last one at deuce. Some points were classic me, he's a slower style player, i served fast no spin to his backhand, he pops it up surprised by my speed and i smashed for a winner ... another point, i smashed and he lobbed and i smashed to other wing for winner ... he is either my age or a little older, so not sure if it's my explosiveness/speed on smashes that gets him or he is used to playing opponents who have a slower paced game or if he doesn't play mostly smashers ... i lost last night mostly because i missed my loops (still trying to loop the modern short stroke loop vs my oldschool windup-behind-the-back loop)
3) A gentleman I usually play, we both know each other's games by now ... i have never beaten him, but we have close games, generally i lose 3-0, but once in awhile i'll lose 3-1 or 3-2, easily 1600, may be 1800 or so
Weapons-wise he has more as he is a modern ph ... steady, can attack, generally plays away from table, can play some defense ... he eats my pendulum sidetop serve, before he ever played me, i don't think he ever served down the line to opponent's fh, after we played and i get a few aces from that serve, he has added it to his service repetoire and aces me from time to time LOL
If we push, i generally have better control and angles to set up loop ... he generally loops his first with slow topspin, i generally time it and smash it, sometimes for outright winners and sometimes for extended rallies with me winning the point more often than not ... as i type this up, i just had an epiphany, force him to loop so i can smash them ... LOL at me
One point he reverse bh me good! I served fast nospin to his bh and he expected it or timed it right ... he got me good! I move him side to side mostly. He 2nd ball loops fast to my fh catching me flatfooted. I lost 3-2. All close games.
He speaks Mandarin and I speak Cantonese, despite the language barrier in Chinese dialects, we have the common language of Table Tennis and after my losses, I AM ALWAYS SMILING FROM EAR TO EAR AND HE AS WELL ... we both know we have good close matches. I enjoy playing him as he is a good challenge.
4) A gentleman i only played once before was next... SH, has a good fh smash, plays away from table ... the last time we played he was winning 2-1, i was too tired to continue and apologized to him and called it a night
Last night, i was starting to fatigue, i eked out a win and won 3-2. lost most my points on my missed loops. served fast nospin to his bh and i was able to smash mostly winners. He ate my pendulum side top as well as my short sidedown. i ate some of his serves. I'm not a defender and if i let him attack me, i lose.
5) My friend M2 saw an open table and said, "Let's hit.", told him i was pretty tired, but he quipped, "I'm trying to help you lose weight" ... lol ... M2 peaked at 2300, currently he's rated 2000, but i think he's ~2200. With him, we generally hit for 15-30 mins. Last Monday, first time, he said let's play a game and he spotted me 4 points... says he doesn't think he can spot me 5.
Last night, we just hit and chatted at the same time. A better table opened up, we moved. R. was sitting on side and watched and I was hitting spastically, fh to fh ... R. commented that i move my racket too much and it's not steady at the same angle. My friend 42andbackpains pointed that out to me in the past. In my mind, i think i'm hitting with the same form/stroke, but i see the hits
M2 says loop from my fh side to his bh... so i tried to loop the short stroke ... he says to relax, and i'm still trying to find the stroke/timing and am tense... when i loop the longer stroke i'm generally more relaxed ... he asked me to try his sh racket ... the side i hit with had Yinhe Max Tensor (or some similar-sounding name... i don't know the new rubbers yet)... either the weight of the 2 rubbers and/or the shakehand blade or the rubber, i seemed to loop better ... M2 says i shouldn't use the DHS H3 and use that rubber he has, also mentioned i probably should add a backsheet for weight ... i'm not used to the weight
Maybe hit only 30 mins or so and then closing time. Walked home ~30 mins.
REFLECTIONS
* may try the Yinhe Max Tensor (if i have name right) instead of sticking to DHS H3
* lost most of my points on missed loops
* started last night with intention of 3rd ball loops and 2nd ball - mind was willing, body wasn't... executed about 60% of the time, lost about 50% of the points based on bad looping
* have not started to shave my racket handle more yet, but will soon ... i can't 'turn' from my fh to my bh on some points
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