Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[NextLevel]

MichalZ,

That's obviously a good player.

 

[Michal_Z]

So, this is me with our no. 3 player and in the background first match of our no.1 and the blocker..

 

[Michal_Z]

To be fair, me and our no. 1 player both agreed, that y-day the blocker was in a really good form.
Mostly he doesnt play that well, (one of the reason I lost too), .. but some tactic advise would surely help me..

So this is my match with him:

 

[NextLevel]

Nope, what do you mean?

If he is taking your #1 to 5 games playing legitimate matches and you are #4 and truly believe that you are the same level, then someone is being hustled.

 

[Michal_Z]

If he is taking your #1 to 5 games playing legitimate matches and you are #4 and truly believe that you are the same level, then someone is being hustled.

Okay, but I still dont know what that word means
Also - I regularly beat our no. 1 without any problems.
We are pretty much the same in our team.
This blocker just knows us just like his own shoes

 

[NextLevel]

To be fair, me and our no. 1 player both agreed, that y-day the blocker was in a really good form.
Mostly he doesnt play that well, (one of the reason I lost too), .. but some tactic advise would surely help me..

So this is my match with him:

It's hard for me to give advice to people who habitually back off the table to loop, especially when their opponent is not looping. My game is serve and attack or serve and try to set up attack, not serve and push or serve and lob or serve and soft loop or serve to rally.

 

[Archosaurus]

@Michal_Z

I didn't notice you guys playing very much at all to the wide angles or to his elbow. Just into his sweetspots, and he is very stable there. You are better than me, so take that in mind. It's just what I noticed.

An example of hustling would be to convince gullible table tennis players that your form and playing level is worse than them, then play them for money, win, and continue to pretend that you're worse than them, winning more money in the process.

 

[NextLevel]

@Michal_Z

I didn't notice you guys playing very much at all to the wide angles or to his elbow. Just into his sweetspots, and he is very stable there. You are better than me, so take that in mind. It's just what I noticed.

An example of hustling would be to convince gullible table tennis players that your form and playing level is worse than them, then play them for money, win, and continue to pretend that you're worse than them, winning more money in the process.

Unless you loop with power, and sometimes even if you do, it is hard to hit elbows or wide angles when you are 10 feet off the table. The opponent can see your shot coming a mile away.

 

[Archosaurus]

Unless you loop with power, and sometimes even if you do, it is hard to hit elbows or wide angles when you are 10 feet off the table. The opponent can see your shot coming a mile away.

Yes, and perhaps due to that reason, you shouldn't play all the way back off the table when playing a blocker who rarely loops at you.

I've only ever played much, much worse blockers, but it has worked better for me to play close than far.

 

[Michal_Z]

@Michal_Z

I didn't notice you guys playing very much at all to the wide angles or to his elbow. Just into his sweetspots, and he is very stable there. You are better than me, so take that in mind. It's just what I noticed.

An example of hustling would be to convince gullible table tennis players that your form and playing level is worse than them, then play them for money, win, and continue to pretend that you're worse than them, winning more money in the process.

Aaah.. Thats hustling, oki, I get it now
Well, its not really about the money..
I lose when we dont play for money, because to play him is too exhausting mentally and physically.
But when there are money in it, I try harder.
For example - y-day - he was playing really good at his standards, normally I would lose 0:3 and wouldnt care.
This way it was 12:10 in the fifth, with my forehand letting me down in the final point (receiving the serve)..

 

[Michal_Z]

Unless you loop with power, and sometimes even if you do, it is hard to hit elbows or wide angles when you are 10 feet off the table. The opponent can see your shot coming a mile away.

Yes, and perhaps due to that reason, you shouldn't play all the way back off the table when playing a blocker who rarely loops at you.

I've only ever played much, much worse blockers, but it has worked better for me to play close than far.

That mindset is pretty tough for me to change, but I am working on it.
Its just.. how to explain..
EVERY SINGLE BALL from him is pretty uncomfortable for me.
So for me is better to stay more away, so I can get into better position (due more time) and read the spin better..

 

[Archosaurus]

@Michal_Z

To me it really looks like it's just mostly your own spin coming back. Maybe he is doing some stuff that I don't see.

 

[pgpg]

Oki, this is the last match between our no. 1 (Černický) and the blocker (Ursíny)..
They played for 10 eur (5 from both)..

His style (especially BH) reminds me of Rich DeWitt somehow - flat hits into BH corner a lot. If he did the same on FH, he would be even more nasty. Has some interesting pushes too.

Have not watched the whole match, but looks like he's beating you guys with consistency. Not really blocking off the bounce and playing the angles, but happy to drop back and just bring ball back over and over. More like a retriever, perhaps.

Pretty solid player, not sure what this whole 'he is not playing table tennis' argument was about.

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

Thank you Sir for your feedback!

@OSPH

the angle on the vid is a bit strange and I can't tell for sure whats good and whats wrong.

Apologies for the weird angle, phone propped against my bag on a chair... it was late, the other tables were already put away. I will see if i can get video with phone on a table instead of a chair.

The main *impression* is that you are too tense. relax a bit more

Agreed on relaxation, not just the RPB, but overall in my game! I rush ... after about 2 yrs playing fairly regularly after the decades long break, I still cannot relax enough. Coincidentally my partner mentioned the same to me... relax!

At times, if I wait 0.5-1 second more, I find I have a better return. But the key is to relax and wait which is part of my struggles.

The timing looks pretty good to me. Touch as well.

You are too kind! I missed many shots because my timing was late. Touch i attribute to the rubber!

The balance looks bad, you look to be on one foot only. That looks to me as your #1 problem.

Try to keep feet both feet on the same line, keep equal weight on them, and hit the ball in front of you. Don't forget those micro footwork adjustments as well. They make the whole difference. If you do so, i think you can have a (very) good RPB rather quickly

Coincidentally my partner mentioned the same to me... the micro-adjustments/footwork/weight-shift. 42andbackpains mentioned to me to be more squarer to the table also. Having not been properly trained in many aspects of TT since I was much younger, I need to work on this way more.

Strangely though, on some shots, I seem to pick up my right foot and stomp down on it and make the shots. Noticed I did this quite a few times. Need lots of work and install the proper form/technique.

Thank you again Sir!

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

"Ask not what you can do for your country: ask instead what your country can do for you!'

LOLOL at me, you got me GOOD on this one, i misread this quote (i believe JFK said it) - read too fast and my eyes read the first few words and my mind filled in the rest of the quote correctly

And the Bruce Lee quote i recognized instantly

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

went to the club today. I didn't play Wed,Thur,Fri so i was really in need LOL

but i went without my usual buddies, and it was not easy to find partners. after 30mns of wait, i found a guy just to practise FH to FH. I could try some new tips that my coach told me about foot balance and transferring weight. I got some good (new) sensations there but focusing too much on it, meant i wasn't moving always so well, and also i had more problems than usual with my swing.

With the emphasis on transferring weight on the left foot and FORWARD, i manage to get more power (and deepness) with my FH *BUT* i get carried forward a bit too much and my replacement is slower. so its good to make a powerful attack if the opponent will be a bit late on it else I'm exposing myself.

then i played with an usual buddy, a leftie, we just practised likes of FH to FH, BH to BH or FH to BH etc..and then i was serving with my BH, he tried to flick it with his BH and free... It was fun, and good practise for my BH serves, blocks and even loop.

Lastly played with some young girls, the better one was a chopper. Good practice for me. Some loops were really good and better than usual but still too many mistakes on this side. BH attacks on the other hand was more satisfying.

Awesome report!

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

I just came back yesterday, and went to play some TT at the club. I didn't lose my touch too badly. I was able to play rallies quite well, the only thing I lost was my backhand banana flip.

OK Si-hing (in Japanese - Senpai), I will only ask for 8 points then until you get your bh banana flip back!

I see you are starting to play RPB now OSP! Soon you will need to go easy on me!

Only my 2nd time training the RPB! Will still settle for 8 points from you ;-)

Seriously though, glad you got to play TT!

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

"lau tsu once said: The a-hole to be destroyed is the ego. When the ego has been mastered there will be no a-hole and no junk player. Therefore young padwan, master yourself and your opponent will cease to be joo se hyuk and will always be liu shiwen so it will at least be fun to get an ass whipping!"

wait, that isn't the quote oldschool used! [emoji2]

bwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[OldschoolPenholder]

Michael Z,

"Hustle" and its various forms like 'hustling', 'hustled', etc. means various things.

Please keep in mind, the usage on this thread with respect to the blocker, is to mean that he tricked you all, he scammed you, he 'played you for fools' ... etc. He may have pretended to of lower level, but indeed is a bit more than you all gave him credit for.

Also hustle is used in other sports and aspects of life too, it is NOT specific to TT... poker and billiards come to mind immediately ... but any time money is involved, there is always a chance of hustling at work ... chess, checkers, backgammon, 3 card monte, etc.

~osph

 

[Michal_Z]

To be fair, me and our no. 1 player both agreed, that y-day the blocker was in a really good form.
Mostly he doesnt play that well, (one of the reason I lost too), .. but some tactic advise would surely help me..

So this is my match with him:

Ha, now I even found out that he fooled me one point.. Damn..
After the change ends it was 5:4 me in the lead. Then at 6:6 the rally with me lobing, catching the edge, 7:6 for me.
He should serve, I gave him the ball, he say 7:7, you serve.
Me stupid believed.
So in fact I didnt lose 12:10 but 11:10, lol..
I will show him the tape next week