Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[dingyibvs]

I would take some as offered, maybe the Tuesday at Citrus heights is always 10 ft short of that stuff. maybe use it at Auburn league. Those two places could use it. Auburn's is real old and JZ Citrus Hts is kinda short.

The way the Russian Church multipurpose room is built, one can only line up 4 tables in a row and walls are 10-12 ft behind tables, couldn't use it in that room.

TT is a small world and those who learn as adults are usually very humble and nice people.

Sometime soon on a weekend I will be in ur area and hopefully drive you to Pleasanton or TTA or somewhere and we get a proper hit and BH to BH battle.

Ha, be careful what you wish for. In practice at least I'm now quite a beast with the BH Since my exceptional coaching session with coach Huang 3 months ago, I've restarted my BH training from scratch and over the past week I feel like I've finally successfully incorporated the last remaining pieces, namely footwork and body/finger usage. I feel like everything is finally put together now, and I've started combined FH/BH trainings to start making it a natural part of my game rather than playing games with a focus on using the BH now.

 

[Der_Echte]

Hi @dingyibvs you will enjoy any and all BH hitting/spinning when I am around for sure.

The BH Battle is a drill where both players can play only BH shots cross court BH to BH. It can get intense and very interesting.

One day I would like to run into your adult coach and shake his hand for he has done and is doing for you. From only what I read you are saying and doing, he must be a very reasonable dude for adults... which is pretty rare.

 

[Jslick89]

I have very often chided who is the majority of amateur TT players in my area for their strong and wrong adherence to playing TT for the absolute minimum to zero amount of money expended.

Such players wear the same white $2 undershirt they bought in 2007, and their FH ruber might still be from that year or only replaced 1-2 times.

When we actually had a real TT gym club with 20 plus tables and great space/light... these were the type to COMPLAIN LOUDLY about having to pay a DISCOUNTED $40 USD a month to play there every day for 10 hours a day every damned day.

Such players want to improve, but they would NEVER spend any funds on doing so, maybe only on a new equipment purchase and that reluctantly. paying a coach to improve footwork or tactics is far from their minds... only how to get a TT fix for free or next to it.

come freeload at my house. it will be done Feb 7 and shortly after i will be setting up the "Ping Pong Paradise" equipped with rubber gym flooring.

 

[Der_Echte]

Hi J-Slick...

You gunna be at W-Park or some other neighborhood?

I would be loud and proud to visit ur garage and bring in-town trouble makers with me.

 

[dingyibvs]

I played at the Pleasanton club the past two days. Last night I first practiced against a RPB player. He has the best BH I've seen at any of the clubs I frequent, including 2200+ level players, and it's not even close. His FH is not great though, and he plays like Noshad Alamiyan, full table BH. We did a lot of BH/BH counters. He usually takes it easy during those practices. Occasionally he'd use a bit of power, I'd miss, and then he'd step back. Last night was not the case. We went full ham at each other with max speed quick counters and it was a sight to behold (for me at least lol)! Afterwards, he said he'd never had such quick BH counters before. It was great for me, of course, but also that I can rarely feel like I really accessed the power of the W968 with my BH, but when the incoming shots are blazing like his BH I really felt it with every shot. I can see why WCQ doesn't need a blade like the Viscaria to hit power BH counters now.

I then played a few doubles. My partner was an old guy who essentially plays as a TPB chopper, so it's all up to me to attack. Most people know I can loop well with my FH, so most shots came to my BH and I made them pay this time. Soft loops, spinny loops, power loops, I did them all. Not as consistent as on the FH side, but it was finally not a liability.

Today I had some great practice against one of the better players at the club, an older guy named Thomas. We played a match at the end, I lost 3-1 but 3 of the sets were decided by 2 points. That's the closest I've come to defeating one of the top players at that club. His style is particularly troublesome for me, as he's a powerful 3rd ball attacker like me. He was impressed afterwards, and complimented my BH which surprised me. That's never happened before, and I actually played well with my FH, a lot of loop kills and I think I successfully counter-looped every loop to my FH side. But I guess because he's a very good FH looper himself, he's not easily impressed on that side

A couple weeks ago I played against another top player at the club, a guy named Ji, whom I think @Der_Echte played against before. I lost to him 3-1 twice in a row, but I think I have a pretty good shot at beating him now. He's more of a control player, good opening on both sides but his loops don't have a lot of power. He also has a tendency of BH opening down the line, which after starting to add some FH practices for the first time in 9 months I can counter quite easily now.

 

[Der_Echte]

I guess Pleasanton is gunna be one of the stops on the Thunder Run of TT clubs when I bring Out Of Town Trouble makers with me to link up with you @dingyibvs ...

 

[dingyibvs]

I guess Pleasanton is gunna be one of the stops on the Thunder Run of TT clubs when I bring Out Of Town Trouble makers with me to link up with you @dingyibvs ...

It's gonna be a fun one! Hopefully my BH will be more mature by then. My FH in games is playing at a level pretty close to my practices, that's not even close to being the case with my BH yet though I'm getting much better at it. I now have enough confidence in my BH that when I miss a shot I look at my red rubber and be like "WTF is wrong with this thing?"

 

[Der_Echte]

I do not know if I ever banged a BH at you, but I look forward to banging and spinning some BH to BH and being on the other end if we can get time and space at a table.

 

[blahness]

I think keeping bat high on FH has made some huge impacts to my topspin rallying game. I feel like I'm now dominating a lot of topspin rallies against my He Zhiwen wannabe practice partner. It felt good being able to handle almost anything at any angles he tries. I won most games until he tried some weird ass LP serve which for the life of me I just kept missing even when I knew exactly what spin was on it. Basically it's just no spin, mild topspin or med backspin. But for the life of me I just kept missing the ball even on pushes! He mixed it very well with his inverted serves. It was as if my mind was playing tricks on me! Fml it was also weak spin so my pushes didn't have much spin and got attacked bad

 

[dingyibvs]

I think keeping bat high on FH has made some huge impacts to my topspin rallying game. I feel like I'm now dominating a lot of topspin rallies against my He Zhiwen wannabe practice partner. It felt good being able to handle almost anything at any angles he tries. I won most games until he tried some weird ass LP serve which for the life of me I just kept missing even when I knew exactly what spin was on it. Basically it's just no spin, mild topspin or med backspin. But for the life of me I just kept missing the ball even on pushes! He mixed it very well with his inverted serves. It was as if my mind was playing tricks on me! Fml it was also weak spin so my pushes didn't have much spin and got attacked bad

There's a pretty good TPB twiddler who comes to my club fairly often. I had trouble with his LP serves, often missing the ball entirely. His advice for me was to wait a bit, idk if that'd work for you.

 

[blahness]

There's a pretty good TPB twiddler who comes to my club fairly often. I had trouble with his LP serves, often missing the ball entirely. His advice for me was to wait a bit, idk if that'd work for you.

Yep I did that, still missed it. Also with long fast serves you cant wait that long otherwise the ball will pass you and you have even lower percentages. It didn't help that the serves were not all LP - the twiddle happens out of view so you only really see it during contact.

My suspicion is that my brain is playing tricks on me because of the pattern recognition. The LP serve doesn't have the sidespin that the exact same racket movement using inverted would produce - its just that I see a sideunder movement and then I swing at it as if it had sidespin but it doesn't. In my mind the ball was swerving and wobbling in both sidespin directions like a magic ball which is avoiding my racket.

I used to be able to loop this serve easily but it was elusive af yesterday. Fml I went from easily winning to losing just with this dumb serve.

 

[Der_Echte]

Yep I did that, still missed it. Also with long fast serves you cant wait that long otherwise the ball will pass you and you have even lower percentages. It didn't help that the serves were not all LP - the twiddle happens out of view so you only really see it during contact.

My suspicion is that my brain is playing tricks on me because of the pattern recognition. The LP serve doesn't have the sidespin that the exact same racket movement using inverted would produce - its just that I see a sideunder movement and then I swing at it as if it had sidespin but it doesn't. In my mind the ball was swerving and wobbling in both sidespin directions like a magic ball which is avoiding my racket.

I used to be able to loop this serve easily but it was elusive af yesterday. Fml I went from easily winning to losing just with this dumb serve.

Hi Blahness...

Try this.

Take a step to the ball with whatever leg/foot. Extend bat out a little, keep arm bent some. backswing only a little... actually you are doing this as a part of getting bat out there a little... use a short stroke pushed off with the foot some... LOOSEN THE GRIP... and GO FOR LESS POWER. Use a relatively open bat. Go through the ball, but do not bang it.

Go for a feeling of catch and throw.

This will not result in a devastating ball, but you will get consistent contact in the strike zone and you will go places from there later.

 

[blahness]

Hi Blahness...

Try this.

Take a step to the ball with whatever leg/foot. Extend bat out a little, keep arm bent some. backswing only a little... actually you are doing this as a part of getting bat out there a little... use a short stroke pushed off with the foot some... LOOSEN THE GRIP... and GO FOR LESS POWER. Use a relatively open bat. Go through the ball, but do not bang it.

Go for a feeling of catch and throw.

This will not result in a devastating ball, but you will get consistent contact in the strike zone and you will go places from there later.

Yep I did all that and was starting to get the hang of it, then he stops serving it. Suddenly at 9 all he brings out the crap again and I again get caught and miss the ball. Pips players can be assholes like that lol

 

[dingyibvs]

I had a good practice session today, invited a clubmate to my garage and we had a solid 3+ hours of practice. We did a range of practices, first time so good to find what we're weaker in. We finished off with some BH opening loops. I did incredibly well with it, with good power and placement. I had trouble looping with power down the line, but at least I could make it if I just focused on spin.

He had a lot of issue making he BH opening loop. The drill is he serves, I push long, then he loops. Very simple, yet while he could loop consistently while we did some multiball he had maybe just a 20-30% success rate in a serve/push/loop drill. I'm not sure what the issue is, maybe some of you more experienced guy would know? I'm puzzled as to why he has so much trouble with it. I know it's tougher than just standing at once place and loop, and I saw a sizeable drop off when I incorporated movement to my BH opening loop, but it wasn't anywhere near THAT big of a difference. I want to help him improve, though I'm not sure how to proceed. He doesn't use his body much if at all on the BH side, I know that's one thing he could certainly improve on, but I feel that he should at least be able to get it on the table.

As for me, I was hitting 80-90% with excellent quality in the same drill, so I was happy with my progress. I really want to improve my defense, and helping him improve his offense would really help in this regard. I think next time, for myself, I'm gonna be looking to do a lot of FH drills, as I can probably do a lot of BH stuff still on my own. I need to get more consistent with body usage and foot movement, so during my own practices that's what I'll be working on.

 

[Der_Echte]

I would have to be present and see with my own eyes to be able to say anything definitive.

Good chance he isn't allowing the ball to come to his strike zone or is positioned a little too far back.

 

[dingyibvs]

I would have to be present and see with my own eyes to be able to say anything definitive.

Good chance he isn't allowing the ball to come to his strike zone or is positioned a little too far back.

I think next time we'll record a video from the side and take a look.

 

[NextLevel]

I had a good practice session today, invited a clubmate to my garage and we had a solid 3+ hours of practice. We did a range of practices, first time so good to find what we're weaker in. We finished off with some BH opening loops. I did incredibly well with it, with good power and placement. I had trouble looping with power down the line, but at least I could make it if I just focused on spin.

He had a lot of issue making he BH opening loop. The drill is he serves, I push long, then he loops. Very simple, yet while he could loop consistently while we did some multiball he had maybe just a 20-30% success rate in a serve/push/loop drill. I'm not sure what the issue is, maybe some of you more experienced guy would know? I'm puzzled as to why he has so much trouble with it. I know it's tougher than just standing at once place and loop, and I saw a sizeable drop off when I incorporated movement to my BH opening loop, but it wasn't anywhere near THAT big of a difference. I want to help him improve, though I'm not sure how to proceed. He doesn't use his body much if at all on the BH side, I know that's one thing he could certainly improve on, but I feel that he should at least be able to get it on the table.

As for me, I was hitting 80-90% with excellent quality in the same drill, so I was happy with my progress. I really want to improve my defense, and helping him improve his offense would really help in this regard. I think next time, for myself, I'm gonna be looking to do a lot of FH drills, as I can probably do a lot of BH stuff still on my own. I need to get more consistent with body usage and foot movement, so during my own practices that's what I'll be working on.

Without video, the biggest thing is the preparation. 95% of high level backhand topspin vs backspin preparation is in the squat. The squat makes reshaping the stroke much easier without major swing changes. Dropping your arm excessively to drop the racket is far less stable and gives less room for acceleration from beneath the ball, so to speak.

The biggest step to making a backhand loop stable is to setup the backswing with the torso and good elbow position. While I don't think the body is required for a good swing, for good looping and preparation, body usage is incredibly essential especially when forced to move. Learning to move/hop/jump/squat into your backswing position when playing backhands makes you play all strokes much faster. Without that, good pushes will ruin your technique.

 

[Jslick89]

Hi J-Slick...

You gunna be at W-Park or some other neighborhood?

I would be loud and proud to visit ur garage and bring in-town trouble makers with me.

close to west park. just a little north of baseline. I'll let you know once i'm all set up!

 

[dingyibvs]

close to west park. just a little north of baseline. I'll let you know once i'm all set up!

I'm gonna assume this is an invitation for all TTD members.

 

[blahness]

I had a good practice session today, invited a clubmate to my garage and we had a solid 3+ hours of practice. We did a range of practices, first time so good to find what we're weaker in. We finished off with some BH opening loops. I did incredibly well with it, with good power and placement. I had trouble looping with power down the line, but at least I could make it if I just focused on spin.

He had a lot of issue making he BH opening loop. The drill is he serves, I push long, then he loops. Very simple, yet while he could loop consistently while we did some multiball he had maybe just a 20-30% success rate in a serve/push/loop drill. I'm not sure what the issue is, maybe some of you more experienced guy would know? I'm puzzled as to why he has so much trouble with it. I know it's tougher than just standing at once place and loop, and I saw a sizeable drop off when I incorporated movement to my BH opening loop, but it wasn't anywhere near THAT big of a difference. I want to help him improve, though I'm not sure how to proceed. He doesn't use his body much if at all on the BH side, I know that's one thing he could certainly improve on, but I feel that he should at least be able to get it on the table.

As for me, I was hitting 80-90% with excellent quality in the same drill, so I was happy with my progress. I really want to improve my defense, and helping him improve his offense would really help in this regard. I think next time, for myself, I'm gonna be looking to do a lot of FH drills, as I can probably do a lot of BH stuff still on my own. I need to get more consistent with body usage and foot movement, so during my own practices that's what I'll be working on.

The pushes likely are landing all in different positions with different spin (ever so slightly). If he's not using the body correctly it's almost impossible to cater for so much variation because he's not even reaching the correct positions, and it's probably even worse he doesn't have good feeling in spinning the ball - then the error tolerance will drop even further.