Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[NextLevel]

i have been playing again now for 10 days. it is still a bit painful but i feel if i don't play anymore im quickly becoming a crumbling old man. I need to move

I can play BH normally, but i cannot make full swing on FH ie extending the arm quickly hurts unless im really warmed up which can take at least half an hour then i start to play more normally on this side. the right hand is hurting at fingers 4 and 5 which affects the FH grip.

but being hurt helps me to focus on my footwork and try to get the better timing of the ball. Its actually a good practice to improve my technique. Having focused on the BH, i have improved my feeling, and im becoming very confident on this side in any situation
--
im really working hard on being able to play more aggressively, especially 3rd ball attack and after a short or long push (especially after being dragged to the table by a short serve or short ball)

and what i noticed its really the MINDSET which is important. after a push now i want to go back quickly and attack any ball behind. normally the opponent should loop or drive it as i will push either short and most of the time push, or long fast aggressive. When attacking you need to be really quick to move compared to blocking. So if finally the ball which comes is a bit tricky (the placement or spin not really ideal for me to make a good attacking shot) then i always have time to block or take another decision.
if i don't have this mindset, i realize even a slow loop will surprise me as i will tend to be too passive, too upright, and the block would fly over the table.

at times i become really good at this and when its the case in matches its like im playing more than 1 level above "usual". I hope it will become the new usual.

Good to hear you are playing again, if possible invest some time into physical therapy if you haven't already.

 

[NextLevel]

Being stuck close the table has me looking for options, so I am at a cross roads of sorts. I really should just accept it is almost impossible to get better playing once a week but losing to some players is just getting to my pride.

 

[Der_Echte]

Being stuck close the table has me looking for options, so I am at a cross roads of sorts. I really should just accept it is almost impossible to get better playing once a week but losing to some players is just getting to my pride.

One of the best players in Sacramento, J. Zhuang was 2100 rated playing shakehand double inverted. he got to 60 yrs old and despite playing near 2100, he never really won events or medals mush.

He switched o short pips FH and LP OX BH. He played a style close to the table where pretty much, he needed only one step footwork... on BH, he would have soft touch right off the bounce... sometimes hit on BH. On FH, he would mostly just hit real hard.

This style let him play easier, more error free, and gave his same opponents a lot more trouble. He plays 2200 level with this style and wins events and medals in nearly every tourney he plays now.

That is a sign of trouble making.

 

[Der_Echte]

I shoulda also mentioned that @dingyibvs FH hits his FH loop with a natural hook... sometimes it is a little nice severe...

So call dude CPT Hook a little if you like.

 

[dingyibvs]

I shoulda also mentioned that @dingyibvs FH hits his FH loop with a natural hook... sometimes it is a little nice severe...

So call dude CPT Hook a little if you like.

My secret plan to disable your index finger (if you're BH blocking).

 

[blahness]

I shoulda also mentioned that @dingyibvs FH hits his FH loop with a natural hook... sometimes it is a little nice severe...

So call dude CPT Hook a little if you like.

I think most of the BH oriented pros these days have a bit of a hook on their FH loops, it makes the FH-BH transition way faster than if you switch to a more FH grip. I don't think it's that bad of a thing tbh, and you can always open it up if you really want to fade it or play a bit straighter topspins, but not as your "main stroke". Also I feel you can wrap the ball a bit better, and the sidespin generated causes some major problems for blockers

 

[NextLevel]

My secret plan to disable your index finger (if you're BH blocking).

Whenever someone complains about the sidespin on my loop, if they have the patience, I point them to this video.

 

[Der_Echte]

I think most of the BH oriented pros these days have a bit of a hook on their FH loops, it makes the FH-BH transition way faster than if you switch to a more FH grip. I don't think it's that bad of a thing tbh, and you can always open it up if you really want to fade it or play a bit straighter topspins, but not as your "main stroke". Also I feel you can wrap the ball a bit better, and the sidespin generated causes some major problems for blockers

You will never see me talk bad about the hook. Impacting a little on the side of the makes for much easier control on counter topspins.

 

[Jslick89]

One of the best players in Sacramento, J. Zhuang was 2100 rated playing shakehand double inverted. he got to 60 yrs old and despite playing near 2100, he never really won events or medals mush.

He switched o short pips FH and LP OX BH. He played a style close to the table where pretty much, he needed only one step footwork... on BH, he would have soft touch right off the bounce... sometimes hit on BH. On FH, he would mostly just hit real hard.

This style let him play easier, more error free, and gave his same opponents a lot more trouble. He plays 2200 level with this style and wins events and medals in nearly every tourney he plays now.

That is a sign of trouble making.

as he's not only one of the best players in sacramento, but he's one of the best senior players in the whole country having won multiple national senior events (including hardbat without ever having used hardbats before)

 

[Jslick89]

The great @Der_Echte came over to my ping pong dojo mojo casa house yesterday to smack a few balls around before he went off to the russian church for his regular monday night TT troublemaking. We talked about our regular backhand mechanics...timing...impact zone, and how a good BH can save you a lot of physical excursion in matchplay. i still have a lot of work to do.

ALso, i have to get some type of barrier to stop the balls from flying down my driveway lol.

 

[OvrChkn]

This week in practice, I have been getting a lot of counter forehand winners, which is a first for me. People have been playing me less on by BH, so I'm taking more time to develop my FH.

 

[Jslick89]

Big night for me last night at the round robin. I came into table (2) as the last seeded player, having won my table at the previous round robin and moving up. The top 2 players at the table were both rated about 200 points higher than me. My first match was against #2. He won the first game 11-6. thought it was goin to be a blow out. But I saw a weakness in his backhand, especially if i hit it a little more flat at him. I was able to win the next game 11-2 going almost strictly to his backhand but making the appropriate switches in ball placement. Long story short, we alternated games until the 5th. He got up 4-1 against me. Then i won 4 straight points to take the lead going into the turn. then he got up 9-7, and then i went on another 4 point run to win the match.

The next match was against the #1. a guy who i've beaten a few times, but its been at least half a year since i've done that. We alternated games until we got to the 5th. The gym was hot and muggy last night and i think he got really tried. He started complaining about being out of shape in the 5th game. i got up 6-0 and ended up winning in the 5th 11-6.

Now the #4 is one of my bigger rivals in the club. He got me the last couple times though. I knew i was due for a big one. I was so pumped from beating the #1 #2 i was in the zone. I was making unbelievable forehand loops all over the table. directing my backhand blocks with precise placement. I beat him quite handedly in 3 games.

By this point i already won the table. i let off the steam a little bit i think, which i shouldn't have, and i lost to #3, someone who is similar rating as me, but beats me in a 2 to 1 ratio in our overall match record. I need to figure out something against him because he's beaten me the last 4 or 5 times we have played now. anyways, i'm now rated 1650 in the club. I was happy to surpass 1600 before I hit my 100th round robin.

 

[Der_Echte]

Maybe @Jslick89 gunna give Der_Echte a handicap point or three soon.

 

[JJ Ng]

Big night for me last night at the round robin. I came into table (2) as the last seeded player, having won my table at the previous round robin and moving up. The top 2 players at the table were both rated about 200 points higher than me. My first match was against #2. He won the first game 11-6. thought it was goin to be a blow out. But I saw a weakness in his backhand, especially if i hit it a little more flat at him. I was able to win the next game 11-2 going almost strictly to his backhand but making the appropriate switches in ball placement. Long story short, we alternated games until the 5th. He got up 4-1 against me. Then i won 4 straight points to take the lead going into the turn. then he got up 9-7, and then i went on another 4 point run to win the match.

The next match was against the #1. a guy who i've beaten a few times, but its been at least half a year since i've done that. We alternated games until we got to the 5th. The gym was hot and muggy last night and i think he got really tried. He started complaining about being out of shape in the 5th game. i got up 6-0 and ended up winning in the 5th 11-6.

Now the #4 is one of my bigger rivals in the club. He got me the last couple times though. I knew i was due for a big one. I was so pumped from beating the #1 #2 i was in the zone. I was making unbelievable forehand loops all over the table. directing my backhand blocks with precise placement. I beat him quite handedly in 3 games.

By this point i already won the table. i let off the steam a little bit i think, which i shouldn't have, and i lost to #3, someone who is similar rating as me, but beats me in a 2 to 1 ratio in our overall match record. I need to figure out something against him because he's beaten me the last 4 or 5 times we have played now. anyways, i'm now rated 1650 in the club. I was happy to surpass 1600 before I hit my 100th round robin.

Is the club rating matching the USATT rating?

It is a big deal with beat people 200 points above you! Congrats.

It is the same at my club. When someone starts losing, everyone is making up excuses. Lol. You lose you lose. You win you win. It is not like you cannot win or lose again next time. Lol!

 

[Der_Echte]

The league rating at Folsom TT (where all this is about)... the ratings there are reasonable close to what the player's USATT is or ought to be... another local "club" that isn't a club (they setup tables in a rented gym for a few hrs 1-2x a week and do league)... that place has ratings that would make a player feel real damn good about his number... often 200+ points higher than where @Jslick89 just described.

 

[Jslick89]

Maybe @Jslick89 gunna give Der_Echte a handicap point or three soon.

haha no. not while you still have that backhand and those ultra spinny loops! I still have much to learn.

Is the club rating matching the USATT rating?

It is a big deal with beat people 200 points above you! Congrats.

It is the same at my club. When someone starts losing, everyone is making up excuses. Lol. You lose you lose. You win you win. It is not like you cannot win or lose again next time. Lol!

This place my rating is pretty close to my USATT rating. If I played my tournaments I would have a higher USATT rating but ever since. I started saving up to buy a house, I stopped going to tournaments in the Bay Area and only play in local tournaments here in the valley. I also think in under rated at my club a little bit because there’s a few of us in the same rating range that sort of hold each other back from consistently winning the table and moving up to face the higher rated players, if that makes sense. But since we are all getting so good playing each other, when we do move up tables we cause trouble to the higher rated dudes.

But yes some big wins!! I was happy. Even my wife came to watch me a little bit haha

 

[Der_Echte]

Next league I lose to you with ur esposa watching for the price of free cold water in ur garage next time.

 

[Der_Echte]

Just got in a 92g Persson Power Play blade...

Gunna slap on fatter handles and weight likely goes to 100-105g.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Just got back from a friendly inter-club game. I did poorly, no surprise here.

First opponent I meet; yes! You guess it; a F**king long pips / inverted combo player. I was like a deer in the headlight situation and lost badly. Confidence smashed.

OK on to the Second game, should be better right? Wrong; meet a leftie and again mess up my serve and receive game. The placement is all mirror image.

I was screaming inside: Hey! Be a man, use the right rubber.

and

Play proper TT, be a right handed player.

But alas, I live in a real and not a fantasy world.

If you need me, I'll be at the Joola e-store looking at some shinny Pickle ball paddle.

 

[NextLevel]

So I have lamented a few times here about the pains of being unable to move. I started taking collagen supplements and while I am not sure whether they work or not, I have to accept I feel somewhat better and will continue to use them for at least the next six months.

Last Sunday was the 3rd week in a row that I drove an hour to another club to play TT. They have a league of sorts so I was going to get some matches in. On the first Sunday, I got beaten by a penholder with good serves and another guy I feel I should have beaten, but beat a long pips guy I had played before straight forwardly.

The next Sunday, I lost go a guy who had a pips hitting and chopping game and a spinny forehand. I had like 9‐7 leads in every game I lost I think or something like that. No one else showed up so I spent a lot of time playing a lefty who used a fast blade and smashed a. Lot. We traded victories.

Last Sunday, I went again and I played a guy in warm ups and my spin game worked really well, my serves gave him it's and I blocked and countered him well. I was trying to move more and see whether I could add footwork (collagen confidence lol). When it came to actual matches, I beat my first opponent who had a classic Russian spinny game. Then I had to play make up matches from the previous week. I played a guy who used Chinese rubbers on a Garaydia ALC and I got annihilated. The first thing had that had this funky sidepin serve into the short forehand that I couldn't attack. And hr would tee off on passive returns. He smacked my spinny strokes without any fear. It made me think really hard about whether I was approaching this all wrong.

Then I played another guy who is used to beat easily a few months ago. He had improved a lot, he could now backhand topspin my pushes with confidence and he always had more physical strokes than I did. After losing 2 games going backhand to backhand, I won the third game playing his forehand, but I played too many lazy points in game 4 and lost a close game. Maybe if I had played his forehand from game 1 I would have been better off.

All that said, my game was in a crisis. I felt as if Rakza Z was giving me high archers and was probably too soft and I needed to go to Golden Tango or something again. But then I thought about it and said, if these guys that are beating me are using Hurricane and Milky Way and 09c, I might be able to use those as well, I mean all I need is a lower and safer ball, it doesn't have to fast, and I hit the ball relatively powerfully anyway. So I got on TT11 and ordered some 41 degree Hurricane that night.

I glued it up (badly I might add, I need to develop a process because the rubber is more sensitive than my usual European stuff). I usually don't like Hurricane because I have always felt that the rubber wasn't that spinny and I don't boost. But now I realized that as a close to the table player, and speaking to Chinese players at the club I drove to, the control of something like Hurricane was what I needed now. Everyone already talks about how spinny my loops are so I don't need something that gives me more spin, I need something that I don't miss when I spin.

I played with it on Friday and won both matches, one against my lefty friend who is now using pups on backhand and one against a professor who is a bit rusty. Two things were obvious - I could attack harder close to the table and that I could develop new shots that I couldn't play with my current rubber. That said, it is going to be 3 months before this experiment gets a full report.

Wish me luck!