Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[Jslick89]

love Squat univeristy. Dr Horschig and Dr]. Stuart McGill healed my back and changed my life!

 

[JeffM]

If we are talking about ouchies i got one as well.

But first the positive, i started doing strength and conditioning work for like one and a half year now, like 3-6 hours a week. And it has been amazing, i never suffer from back aches or pulled hamstrings anymore etc...
I do however feel my sciatic nerve on the left side. The more since i started doing weighted workouts for my legs. (Nothing too heavy) and in combination with my Icelandic through-hike which i did this summer (with a lot of weight on my back) the sciatic nerve acted up again.

Does anyone of you have experience with sciatica?

I don't have sciatica personally but seeing a physio and work through the exercises might be a good way to go.

 

[JeffM]

Today is a first for me! Getting interviewed by the local newspaper!

Old coach has had so many interviews in his past that this is nothing new, but for someone like me, this is definitely new.

First he got me and coach to have a quick hit. Initially he asks if I would play a game with coach, but coach says we only do drills. So we did some FHs and BHs while the guy took some photo/video. Then the guy asks if he could play with me. So he tried, but he could barely play haha, even though I am trying my best to not put any spin on the balls for him. Then he took a few photos of me with my medal and then with coach. Finally he asks us a few questions. It was interesting for me as I never thought to answer those questions, as I feel they are more for the sport stars, not for a nobody like me. Questions like: When did you realise you are better at this sport than others? What did you think of your win at the state open? When did coach start training you? What is your strongest attribute? What is your next ambition?

After the interview, he left.

Coach and I then have our regular training. I was focusing more on my bh flicks, and they are doing better. But now I still have the issue with my fh flick. I just don't feel natural to flick the no spins. My fh likes to brush to add topspin, so when the ball is short (i.e. second bounce within table) and low, my flicks are weak and easy to be attacked. If they are half long, that is fine, I will try to loop them. Perhaps because I have to return it straight down the line, it makes it even more awkward.

After 1 hour, coach said that is enough. So I left. This was the only TT session for this week, but it was certainly a memorable one with the interview.

 

[Archosaurus]

Today is a first for me! Getting interviewed by the local newspaper!

Old coach has had so many interviews in his past that this is nothing new, but for someone like me, this is definitely new.

First he got me and coach to have a quick hit. Initially he asks if I would play a game with coach, but coach says we only do drills. So we did some FHs and BHs while the guy took some photo/video. Then the guy asks if he could play with me. So he tried, but he could barely play haha, even though I am trying my best to not put any spin on the balls for him. Then he took a few photos of me with my medal and then with coach. Finally he asks us a few questions. It was interesting for me as I never thought to answer those questions, as I feel they are more for the sport stars, not for a nobody like me. Questions like: When did you realise you are better at this sport than others? What did you think of your win at the state open? When did coach start training you? What is your strongest attribute? What is your next ambition?

After the interview, he left.

Coach and I then have our regular training. I was focusing more on my bh flicks, and they are doing better. But now I still have the issue with my fh flick. I just don't feel natural to flick the no spins. My fh likes to brush to add topspin, so when the ball is short (i.e. second bounce within table) and low, my flicks are weak and easy to be attacked. If they are half long, that is fine, I will try to loop them. Perhaps because I have to return it straight down the line, it makes it even more awkward.

After 1 hour, coach said that is enough. So I left. This was the only TT session for this week, but it was certainly a memorable one with the interview.

Ship me some autographed goods before you become famous in the big leagues and we can split the earnings later.

 

[Archosaurus]

re: injury, still painful on bad movements, but noticeably less than in the early week. I will delay TT to likely late next week. Not taking any chances.

 

[Boogar]

I don't have sciatica personally but seeing a physio and work through the exercises might be a good way to go.

Jea seeing a physio is above my financial means at the moment, but i feel good doing the exercises through youtube.
Started doing some work for the external rotator in my hip, because i always had a very short range of motion there. This seems to benefit my sciatic situation as well.

 

[NextLevel]

Today is a first for me! Getting interviewed by the local newspaper!

Old coach has had so many interviews in his past that this is nothing new, but for someone like me, this is definitely new.

First he got me and coach to have a quick hit. Initially he asks if I would play a game with coach, but coach says we only do drills. So we did some FHs and BHs while the guy took some photo/video. Then the guy asks if he could play with me. So he tried, but he could barely play haha, even though I am trying my best to not put any spin on the balls for him. Then he took a few photos of me with my medal and then with coach. Finally he asks us a few questions. It was interesting for me as I never thought to answer those questions, as I feel they are more for the sport stars, not for a nobody like me. Questions like: When did you realise you are better at this sport than others? What did you think of your win at the state open? When did coach start training you? What is your strongest attribute? What is your next ambition?

After the interview, he left.

Coach and I then have our regular training. I was focusing more on my bh flicks, and they are doing better. But now I still have the issue with my fh flick. I just don't feel natural to flick the no spins. My fh likes to brush to add topspin, so when the ball is short (i.e. second bounce within table) and low, my flicks are weak and easy to be attacked. If they are half long, that is fine, I will try to loop them. Perhaps because I have to return it straight down the line, it makes it even more awkward.

After 1 hour, coach said that is enough. So I left. This was the only TT session for this week, but it was certainly a memorable one with the interview.

Just test different finishing heights and swing speeds with the forehand flick until you get something you can live with.

 

[blahness]

Today is a first for me! Getting interviewed by the local newspaper!

Old coach has had so many interviews in his past that this is nothing new, but for someone like me, this is definitely new.

First he got me and coach to have a quick hit. Initially he asks if I would play a game with coach, but coach says we only do drills. So we did some FHs and BHs while the guy took some photo/video. Then the guy asks if he could play with me. So he tried, but he could barely play haha, even though I am trying my best to not put any spin on the balls for him. Then he took a few photos of me with my medal and then with coach. Finally he asks us a few questions. It was interesting for me as I never thought to answer those questions, as I feel they are more for the sport stars, not for a nobody like me. Questions like: When did you realise you are better at this sport than others? What did you think of your win at the state open? When did coach start training you? What is your strongest attribute? What is your next ambition?

After the interview, he left.

Coach and I then have our regular training. I was focusing more on my bh flicks, and they are doing better. But now I still have the issue with my fh flick. I just don't feel natural to flick the no spins. My fh likes to brush to add topspin, so when the ball is short (i.e. second bounce within table) and low, my flicks are weak and easy to be attacked. If they are half long, that is fine, I will try to loop them. Perhaps because I have to return it straight down the line, it makes it even more awkward.

After 1 hour, coach said that is enough. So I left. This was the only TT session for this week, but it was certainly a memorable one with the interview.

imo, FH topspin flick is the weakest variant of the flicks. The dead ball flick (you can search 推挑 on youtube or douyin, plenty of tutorials) is usually the strongest variant for opponents to face because it can produce quite a LP like disgusting ball. There's no topspin to borrow - if they treat it like topspin it's gonna go straight to the net, but it's still fast so they can get jammed if they try to do a normal loop against underspin. If they push it then it'll be your opportunity ball to loopkill because theres not a lot of underspin either lol.

Like what you mentioned, topspin flicks are too easy to deal with in general - which is why I dont even see the pros do it except for the penholders because their version is a lot more nasty with more variation than the shakehand version. Any good two wing looper worth their salt trains topspin against weak topspin balls all the time and they won't miss the loop against a weak topspin flick.

The only topspin flick variant I like is the short flick when opponents are further away from the table - the outgoing ball has almost no momentum to borrow and can be quite disgusting to attack too.

 

[Mikey_TT]

hey everyone! just got back from the tournament, yeah i lost at pre quarters in doubles and 3rd round in singles.
i wouldn't say i played how i wanted to in doubles, but i definitely played how i wanted to in the singles, first round was easy.
In the second i played a good pushblocker who attacks on weak balls, won 2-1.
in the 3rd i was against a short or mid pips player, thats where the problem occured.
idk why the referee didnt let us ralley on th bh, thats why i couldnt understand wether it was short or long, in set 2 i realised it was short but still felt kind of unsure about it.

i want allowed to record the games but my teacher recorded a point of the first game.

Conclusion: i realised that my fh counterattack against flick was kinda useless in this tourname since no one flicked on my serves. i developed a counterattack since most of my practice partnerd dont push long and usually flick.
now i realise that i should have played against opponents who pushed long to develop my loop better, I need to develop spinny loops since my kills are quite good.

I am in the pink tshirt. (3rd round footage)

Gonna join a coaching now, and develop my game will definitely update.

 

[blahness]

I haven't played TT for 3 weeks lol. Holidays and doing a startup has robbed me of all my time and energy

Played today for the first time and boy was I rusty. Couldn't BH loop down the line to save my life

I figured out that against the nasty FH pendulum serve that exits the BH side, trying to loop down the line is kinda a fool's endeavour. Very risky especially if you dont have good touch or are only reading the serve mediocrely, and it can be punished bad as its going into the opponent's FH. Much, much better to play on the diagonal except vary the placements. If they're standing in the middle, the BH cross court loop which also exits their BH on the side can be quite the killer - no chance for them to pivot, and they can only do a weak TPB which you can then FH loop down the line into their FH to get points. Otherwise the trusty loop that curves into their elbow area is always a good choice.

Also was a bit frustrated with FH loops dying a bit too much into the net. I discovered a way to use the fingers even better on the FH loop to increase the power/spin even more, that stopped a lot of the dying into net crap because I had better feeling of the ball with the new method.

Won quite a few games but I was way too rusty and basically lost a lot of the close games.

Serving from the FH corner to the short FH doesn't work against penholders - their FH short area receive is no joke and they can do everything with the balls there. Still the standard serving position from the BH corner works amazing because you can bully their BH corner easily from there.

Practised short pushes at the end with my penhold practice partner and he basically won like 80% of the short push practice rallies lol. D05 is really a joke in the short game, but it's still worthwhile practising this short push because I find that it gives me more feeling on the long push too for some reason which is very important.

 

[blahness]

hey everyone! just got back from the tournament, yeah i lost at pre quarters in doubles and 3rd round in singles.
i wouldn't say i played how i wanted to in doubles, but i definitely played how i wanted to in the singles, first round was easy.
In the second i played a good pushblocker who attacks on weak balls, won 2-1.
in the 3rd i was against a short or mid pips player, thats where the problem occured.
idk why the referee didnt let us ralley on th bh, thats why i couldnt understand wether it was short or long, in set 2 i realised it was short but still felt kind of unsure about it.

i want allowed to record the games but my teacher recorded a point of the first game.

Conclusion: i realised that my fh counterattack against flick was kinda useless in this tourname since no one flicked on my serves. i developed a counterattack since most of my practice partnerd dont push long and usually flick.
now i realise that i should have played against opponents who pushed long to develop my loop better, I need to develop spinny loops since my kills are quite good.

I am in the pink tshirt. (3rd round footage)

Gonna join a coaching now, and develop my game will definitely update.

Yes - the spinny loop is extremely important as it gives you the margin of error against weird af balls especially coming from pips players. Loopkills look cool but if you look at your miss rate it can hurt your game more than it helps. The good old slow spinny loop can be killer especially if you throw in a few fake loops (with little spin) from time to time to make them question their sanity. Also being able to generate huge spin easily also helps your loopkill success rates tremendously because there's more Magnus effect which drags the ball down.

 

[Archosaurus]

Well, seems I got lucky with my injury. I can walk again. All I did was some side plank, myofascial self-release and some light stretches, and a few weeks of rest.

My knee and ankle on that side are still feeling a little funny because they ended up taking a lot of the load that my glutes and back couldn't take, but they're getting back to normal again now when I'm getting more acclimated to normal biomechanics again. Funny how quickly you can produce compounding issues.

There's an evening session tomorrow, but I think I am gonna skip TT for most of the week. Some balls arrived anyway, so I can just do bed serves for a few days instead. I can't time the wrist in the serve anymore, so there's nothing on the ball right now.

 

[NextLevel]

So I haven't posted a lot but I have played a lot this past week. A few highlights and a summary of the upcoming events follow here:

Wednesday night, I went to a recreation center I was invited to play at. The table was in the cafeteria and in many ways it wasn't be best experience. But if was a chance to test my new setup with RazZ EH on both sides of a Mizutani SZLC. My opponents were significantly lower rated than I was but I play one of them almost every week on Saturdays so he is familiar with my game. I didn't lose any games, the Mizutani felt okay but I struggle to drive my forehand somewhat, probably still have some work to do to figure out what my forehand should be doing there or maybe just change the rubber to Golden Tango again.

Trained with my coach on Friday. So basic thing he wants me to work on is being more precise with my serve combinations to the short forehand and long backhand as well as to be more precise in placing my thirdballs behind them. Still work in progress, I have a sidespin backhand serve that has been frustrating me on thirdball when people push it back reliably. I have done pretty well with plain backspin serves so I think If I can figure out the math to make this thirdball work, I will have a small level jup because people do pus it long, but the ball doesn't come out the way I think it should and I miss it too often.

Saturday morning, playwed with my regular opponents. I actually lost my first game (not match) with the best of threes and then won every game after that. For the last few games, I played my 1500 opponent with either forehand exclusively or backhand exclusively, losing the point when I used the wrong side. It led to some interesting strategy and improvised returns. Now to be perfectly honest, I used to play backhand all over the tavble pretty comfortably when I was 1500 so I wasn't surprised I beat him doing that. But forehand all over the table, I don't have the footwork and when he served short into my backhand wide over the table, I was initially helpless. Later I improvised with this interesting sidespin push that is probably similar to how a penholder might push that serve with thier forehand and I actually managed to win playing only forehands as well. Definitely something I will try again even if I lose some matches doing it, I do need to push the limits of my game more meaningfully,

Finally, today, we played our African league today, and I was the defending champion. I used the double elimination format again, but I suspect we will go to round robin best of threes the next time. I got to the finals again and played my lefty practice partner (who got to the finals again as well) and he went up 2-0 this time, and I had to come back from being down in game 3 and game 4 and won game 5. So I won the first final. My lefty practice partner got back to the final and we played again, this also went 5 and I was down 0-5 in the 5th and then 5-9. The only thing that kept me hoping was that I won the games on the side of the table with the change of ends really decisively so I felt I could cover 0-5 and just like that, I got it to 9-9. Unfortunately, after a few deuces, my final backhand topspin against push hit the top of the net and didn't go over. My practice partner defaulted the last match and since defaulting is not a fun way to win, we just called it a tie.

So the big question now is whether to flip the Golden Tango on the forehand or to leave Rakza Z EH there. I think now I reflect on it, some forehands I hit at the end of the day probably mean I should stick with the Razka Z EH and just continue to see how I can increase the effect of good timing there. I can revisit Golden Tango in 2024.

I have a tournament coming up on Saturday but not sure I will be able to practice before it, but I am going to get better sleep than I did last time for sure. I will be playing the NA Teams this year so I will have lot of matches to review after Thanksgiving. Time to return to family, work and school and thanks for reading this far if you did!

 

[Der_Echte]

NL, maybe more profitable to be more concerned about keeping a loose grip on the non-powerloop openers instead of the exact rubber in the universe of possible appropriate rubbers.

 

[NextLevel]

NL, maybe more profitable to be more concerned about keeping a loose grip on the non-powerloop openers instead of the exact rubber in the universe of possible appropriate rubbers.

Nah - you can't change habits as quickly as you change equipment, especially when you are not playing and training every day. These are just subtle differences between similar rubbers that I have used enough to have an idea of what I am gaining and losing - one rubber shoots the ball higher, while another shoots the ball lower, and both have good spin - I prefer the rubber that shoots the ball lower on my forehand and the one that shoots the ball higher on my backhand. But I am not in a rush to change at this point, just frustrated at arcing the ball on forehand even when I want to play relatively direct shots.

 

[Der_Echte]

Of course many the same rubber will have different throw angles at different impacts, particularly the more dynamic ones.

That is another bag of EJ discussion not needed in this thread.

 

[Der_Echte]

To those who are clueless about the choice of pic in my post above, it is FELIX THE CAT... with his BAG OF MAGIC TRICKS.

 

[JeffM]

To those who are clueless about the choice of pic in my post above, it is FELIX THE CAT... with his BAG OF MAGIC TRICKS.

I love felix the cat.

 

[JeffM]

Will be playing table tennis at the weekly singles club tonight! Can't wait for it to happen! Wasn't able to play last week, so I am keen to play with more people than coach alone.

 

[dingyibvs]

My stamina has improved now, so I went to Pleasanton to play on back-to-back days Fri/Sat. On Friday I spent the first half having some counter-looping training, I'm pretty solid at that now against power loops away from the table. Still have trouble with the very spinny brush loops though for some reason, as it's a loop that I can actually practice against the Amicus robot (it can't generate much speed, but it can generate inhuman amount of spin). I guess I haven't practiced that in months, so need to do that a bit more.

On Sat I started off the day playing against an older guy who's a VERY good TPB short pips player with long pips on the BH side that he occasionally uses to confuse people. At first I literally couldn't even touch some of his services if they're to my BH, and he puts so much pressure on you because any weak return will be immediately punished. In rallies I could hold my own, although I really had to take a couple mins to get used to playing against someone who can actually return my opening loops consistently and with good quality.

They play a lot of doubles there, which is not my favorite. I'm a bit afraid to try out new skills in doubles because I don't want to lose the point for the partner. My preference is to prioritize the moves that I'm able to do in practice but not yet able to do in games. The FH counter-loop is one, and aggressive BH service returns is another.