Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

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I finally understand why CNT players train FH to FH with their right foot in front or level with the left foot. I gave it a try as well and it became so, so much easier and faster to transition between BH and FH because it's basically the same stance, no stance changes required. Furthermore, the FH becomes faster because you rotate less in this stance. There's no need to over-rotate the body when the ball coming is not an opportunity ball - it's training this concept into the subconscious.
I was taught old school Chinese way. Left foot always forward and right foot always toward the back. That way forehand you have a lot of room. Backhand, well, you just twist a bit and use your waist and wrist. And that's good enough.

However, I think the new way is to be parallel. Like you said, close to the table, especially for Chinese women, it is all about transitioning FH to BH to FH to BH.

I am set in my way. I cannot change the way I stand nowadays.
 
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For some reason, we don't have a thread for European championships 2023 . Just wanted to ask you guys ... does Ionescu remind you of Kreanga's forehand ?


Haven't seen a windmill forehand in an european player since .. ...
Open a thread, it is puzzling that one doesn't exist but we create our reality in this community.

On your original topic, I think Ionescu doesnt have anything unique about his forehand per se and IMHO neither did Kreanga. Kreanga because of his athleticism and relatively small size managed to throw himself around and recover quickly, but in principle, technique is about bringing your athleticism to bear on the ball, not so much about fitting some textbook stroke, though there are things that can make it harder to hit the ball, there are lots of ways to swing with quality at the ball. I was reminded of this yesterday when I saw a video with a high level player coaching a good player to change his forehand and it was interesting to see what changes were being encouraged. I wasn't 100% convinced that the forehand was massively improved if it was improved but I am nothing compared to that coach and everyone hits the ball differently, we just sometimes pretend that differences in athleticism and game reading skills are ultimately technical because that is what we can see.
 
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Open a thread, it is puzzling that one doesn't exist but we create our reality in this community.

On your original topic, I think Ionescu doesnt have anything unique about his forehand per se and IMHO neither did Kreanga. Kreanga because of his athleticism and relatively small size managed to throw himself around and recover quickly, but in principle, technique is about bringing your athleticism to bear on the ball, not so much about fitting some textbook stroke, though there are things that can make it harder to hit the ball, there are lots of ways to swing with quality at the ball. I was reminded of this yesterday when I saw a video with a high level player coaching a good player to change his forehand and it was interesting to see what changes were being encouraged. I wasn't 100% convinced that the forehand was massively improved if it was improved but I am nothing compared to that coach and everyone hits the ball differently, we just sometimes pretend that differences in athleticism and game reading skills are ultimately technical because that is what we can see.
I agree with your position on technique wholeheartedly NL , what I wanted to point out is more "visually" it seemed very similar to Kreanga's
 
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ttmonster,

You gunna do 888 Championships this fall?

I will be doing the LA Open this fall I think, as well as the OCTTA Seniors in Oct.
Well ... I still have my Troublemakers jersey :) ... I saw the same one on NL in one of his videos here ... lets see how health and form holds till then ....
 
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Well ... I still have my Troublemakers jersey :) ... I saw the same one on NL in one of his videos here ... lets see how health and form holds till then ....

My webstore is defunct and our LLC dissolved, I am officially out of business.

I invested in a bunch of Donic uniforms recently.

But you can check out Sergey's team all decked out in the TIGER in the CDNF tourney action...

Team Tsos 2.jpg
 
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I was taught old school Chinese way. Left foot always forward and right foot always toward the back. That way forehand you have a lot of room. Backhand, well, you just twist a bit and use your waist and wrist. And that's good enough.

However, I think the new way is to be parallel. Like you said, close to the table, especially for Chinese women, it is all about transitioning FH to BH to FH to BH.

I am set in my way. I cannot change the way I stand nowadays.
I tested it for another night, think it offers faster transitions and is better suited to close table topspin play especially against quick switches down the line from the opponent after BH-BH. The transitioning is really much faster. But it's kinda useless otherwise. I tried it in matches and played a lot worse. I very much prefer my usual FH loop otherwise, it's a lot spinnier and powerful with more body rotation.
 
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I tested it for another night, think it offers faster transitions and is better suited to close table topspin play especially against quick switches down the line from the opponent after BH-BH. The transitioning is really much faster. But it's kinda useless otherwise. I tried it in matches and played a lot worse. I very much prefer my usual FH loop otherwise, it's a lot spinnier and powerful with more body rotation.
It Is useless because you aren't using your feet the right way on the strokes, if you are (jumping into backswing and lunging on forehand and bowing on backhands), the quality loss is minimal and the transitions are definitely much much faster
 
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I tested it for another night, think it offers faster transitions and is better suited to close table topspin play especially against quick switches down the line from the opponent after BH-BH. The transitioning is really much faster. But it's kinda useless otherwise. I tried it in matches and played a lot worse. I very much prefer my usual FH loop otherwise, it's a lot spinnier and powerful with more body rotation.
Maybe you just need to practice a bit more. I know that standing parallel is the more modern way with 40+ plastic ball. I, personally, just am too lazy to change my habit, for now. Until it impedes my progress, I tend to resist changes.
 
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It Is useless because you aren't using your feet the right way on the strokes, if you are (jumping into backswing and lunging on forehand and bowing on backhands), the quality loss is minimal and the transitions are definitely much much faster
Out of curiosity what angle is your right foot to the incoming ball during the FH backswing when your feet is parallel?

So I tried having my feet pointed much more forward (maybe 1o clock?) yesterday and this might be the issue. I usually loop with my right foot pointing sideways at around 3 o clock with it placed behind my left foot.
 
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Out of curiosity what angle is your right foot to the incoming ball during the FH backswing when your feet is parallel?

So I tried having my feet pointed much more forward (maybe 1o clock?) yesterday and this might be the issue. I usually loop with my right foot pointing sideways at around 3 o clock with it placed behind my left foot.
In almost every TT stance, both feet should point outwards, but they can point forward as well as long as you twist on the balls of your feet when backswinging.
 
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In almost every TT stance, both feet should point outwards, but they can point forward as well as long as you twist on the balls of your feet when backswinging.
Yep I guess I found my problem, maybe it was not so much the parallel stance but the right foot orientation.

I will try having feet parallel and still pointed at around 2-3 o'clock next session.

Like what you said, there are some significant advantages in transition speed with the parallel feet position.

Now that you mentioned it, I think the reason why the feet pointed forward doesn't work as well is because you cannot lunge in that feet position.
 
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Yep I guess I found my problem, maybe it was not so much the parallel stance but the right foot orientation.

I will try having feet parallel and still pointed at around 2-3 o'clock next session.

Like what you said, there are some significant advantages in transition speed with the parallel feet position.

Now that you mentioned it, I think the reason why the feet pointed forward doesn't work as well is because you cannot lunge in that feet position.
You can but it takes practice to twist into it - the advantage of twisting is that twisting back feels natural on the follow through but it isnt a must. As long as you develop smooth connecting movements, there are options in footwork but they have to deliver solutions fast enough at the level you play.
 
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You can but it takes practice to twist into it - the advantage of twisting is that twisting back feels natural on the follow through but it isnt a must. As long as you develop smooth connecting movements, there are options in footwork but they have to deliver solutions fast enough at the level you play.
Thanks, I understand the problem more deeply and know what I have to do now.
 
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Ratings came out and I lost 80 points from my bad matches and got zero for my great match.

I expect another tourney or two with mixed results and ratings drop... but by the time the LA Open in August or Oct OCTTA Seniors tourneys roll around, the locals are gunna hate or love me... hate me for giving me ratings points, and love me for being way too low rated...

Following up on that point, it is to be expected for another tourney before I bottom out and start to win vs who I should win against in the bad conditions or bad day.

I expect 2024 to be like my 2018-2019 where I simply move up in tourney level. I am now doing the things that will get me my match level back, but it takes a few months to equalize before it moves back up.
 
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