Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[dingyibvs]

So I finally made up my mind to shave down the 968. I made a mold out of my HL5 and used that to reduce its head size. To my surprise, the 968 wasn't just longer, it was bigger all around, and the HL5 already has an oversized head. Anyhow, now it's a more reasonable size, I'll see how it feels. The BH rubber cut to a Viscaria still won't fit well, of course, but since I aligned it with the top edge when I cut a new rubber to it it shouldn't affect the balance too much.

 

[blahness]

Well, unless your skills regressed, it's a good thing! I'm trying to help the fast improving guy in my club to beat me. Thr way I look at it, it's not like we're both contending for the same spot on Team USA, we're just trying to become better players, maybe get a nice rating one day. To that end, the better each of us is, the more likely that's to happen.

Haha yeah that's true... It's better if your partners are also always levelling up, giving you more challenging scenarios.

I've improved a huge ton since half a year ago, but he probably improved even more imo. I guess I also coached him a bit too well and he's benefiting so much from those Fang Bo videos.

The dream would be to give the ex CNT provincial player a run for his money hahah, one can dream!

 

[latej]

So I finally made up my mind to shave down the 968. I made a mold out of my HL5 and used that to reduce its head size. To my surprise, the 968 wasn't just longer, it was bigger all around, and the HL5 already has an oversized head. Anyhow, now it's a more reasonable size, I'll see how it feels. The BH rubber cut to a Viscaria still won't fit well, of course, but since I aligned it with the top edge when I cut a new rubber to it it shouldn't affect the balance too much.

I'm curious how the change will feel... Also, what is the target size, 159x150?

 

[jk1980]

So I finally made up my mind to shave down the 968. I made a mold out of my HL5 and used that to reduce its head size. To my surprise, the 968 wasn't just longer, it was bigger all around, and the HL5 already has an oversized head. Anyhow, now it's a more reasonable size, I'll see how it feels. The BH rubber cut to a Viscaria still won't fit well, of course, but since I aligned it with the top edge when I cut a new rubber to it it shouldn't affect the balance too much.

View attachment 24798

you have to keep in mind that making the same blade smaller in dimensions will not make it more controllable, but faster ! It will be stiffer for sure. Is that really what you want ?

 

[dingyibvs]

I'm curious how the change will feel... Also, what is the target size, 159x150?

Had a practice session yesterday, it felt pretty much the same except for a little less head heavy. I'm still using the same rubbers which were cut a little smaller than the blade, so the weight change is only about 1.5 grams. The target size is 159 x 149.

I ramped up the intensity of the practices today, tourney coming up! I added a full exercise before my first sets of random FH/BH exercises. I used a trick from back when I first started, when I was practicing FH loops vs backspin against a glass wall. I'd serve a ball to the glass wall, then get into ready position and close my eyes right after the ball is released, and only open my eyes and start reacting to the ball after I hear it bounce against the wall. This helped me practice to loop on short notice, as I purposefully delayed my backswing, and while I knew the ball would come to my FH side I didn't know it's exact trajectory, and I had to quickly fix my eyes on the ball after opening them.

Today, I had the robot serve random 3 location backspin to my BH. I slowed it down from my usual 50/min to 30/min, and I closed my eyes and got into ready position until I hear the ball being served. I then quickly find the ball, backswing, and then loop the ball. I think this will help me develop better reactions to a backspin ball to my BH.

I then did my usual 5 sets of random FH/BH drill. I used to sometimes take longish breaks in between sets, I shortened them a bit. I also made sure to be more mindful during the drill. Sometimes I'd get a bit lazy and just hit the ball back, but now I'm making sure to use maximal backswing, forward swing, and the correct form on both wings. I was able to land shots with a lot better consistency and quality by the end.

Then I did 5 sets of my usual BH loop vs backspin drill. Again, tried to be more mindful of timing and my arm action. I might try to use the eye closing thing with this drill as well next time. This drill isn't just random though, it also varies a lot in length, speed, height, and it includes some FH shots, so it'd be a lot tougher.

I then did my usual 5 sets of random FH/BH drill vs higher spin. Consistency was pretty poor on the BH side, but that was par for the course. This is moderately heavy spin, and in real games I'll probably use a more blocking motion with my BH.

I then finished off with FH counter loop practice. The robot can generate a pretty wicked slow spinny loop. I turned up the speed slightly, from 12 to 13, with the spin remaining +6. 3 locations to the FH only as I'm only in the beginning stages of developing this shot. I'm starting to get a hang of it, and I think I might try to use it during games as I do get a fair number of slow but very spinny open loops.

 

[dingyibvs]

you have to keep in mind that making the same blade smaller in dimensions will not make it more controllable, but faster ! It will be stiffer for sure. Is that really what you want ?

I don't feel any change in stiffness, by far the biggest difference is less head heavy. I've shaved down numerous blades and that's always been the case. The reduction in flex is only theoretical, it's never been noticeable. Give it a try with a cheap blade if you don't believe me.

 

[NextLevel]

So I tried out a slower blade today hoping to learn something about my game and I think I learned what I needed to learn - even against a short pips backhand player, slow equipment hurts my game because I have become heavily dependent in blade stiffness to confidently smash the ball and spin with pace. I am flat hitting a lot more even in rallies off the table as crazy as it sounds, but more importantly for high balls, and the slower blades just don't get the job done. I have no major issues with backspin with the faster blades so far, but the touch shots are challenging for sure. My hitting partner thinks I have great touch and I don't work on that part of my game enough to win points with it, maybe I will just ask him what to work on and go from there. A part of me wants to weep and give my Korbel a chance but a part of me also realizes that my technique is too upright to use slower blades and get good speed.

So I will keep my Innerforce T5000 as my main blade for now and try to see what happens when i use the faster blades in my collection. I never thought I would use the Boll T5000 again but I will test it again. My backup Innerforce T5000 is a whopping 100g so I don't think i can use it. But i still want something as a backup. I suspect I will look at either the SALC or SZLC blades or some point (the Mizutani SZLC has always been on my list). But I will be patient and continue to train with what I am playing well with and only spend money on obvious deals.

Will play tomorrow and record some matches. Cameras are easier to set up at the Sunday spot.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

So I tried out a slower blade today hoping to learn something about my game and I think I learned what I needed to learn - even against a short pips backhand player, slow equipment hurts my game because I have become heavily dependent in blade stiffness to confidently smash the ball and spin with pace. I am flat hitting a lot more even in rallies off the table as crazy as it sounds, but more importantly for high balls, and the slower blades just don't get the job done. I have no major issues with backspin with the faster blades so far, but the touch shots are challenging for sure. My hitting partner thinks I have great touch and I don't work on that part of my game enough to win points with it, maybe I will just ask him what to work on and go from there. A part of me wants to weep and give my Korbel a chance but a part of me also realizes that my technique is too upright to use slower blades and get good speed.

So I will keep my Innerforce T5000 as my main blade for now and try to see what happens when i use the faster blades in my collection. I never thought I would use the Boll T5000 again but I will test it again. My backup Innerforce T5000 is a whopping 100g so I don't think i can use it. But i still want something as a backup. I suspect I will look at either the SALC or SZLC blades or some point (the Mizutani SZLC has always been on my list). But I will be patient and continue to train with what I am playing well with and only spend money on obvious deals.

Will play tomorrow and record some matches. Cameras are easier to set up at the Sunday spot.

Have you ever tried out the Hinoki T5000 blades like Primo Carbon and Sardius?

 

[NextLevel]

Have you ever tried out the Hinoki T5000 blades like Primo Carbon and Sardius?

NOt those ones, I thought I would be breaking the law. I do have a Garaydia T5000, which I think is the Schlager Carbon remake but I have never put rubbers on it. I also have a Gergely with a modified handle that I bought used. I do have the Garaydia ZLC which is the Amultart with a different handle, but like I say, the problem isn't what happens when you play the topspin players with it, the problem is what happens when you play Xiangyu (medium pips penhold hitter) with it. Of course when you play better players and just cant do anything, equipment doesnt matter. But when players are telling you that your ball is too slow with a medium speed carbon blade, you need to listen to the players you are trying to beat. My technique is just not good enough with the lower body to use reasonably stuff, I have to find ways to compensate and practice other strengths.

T5000 was the devil with the celluloid ball but I find it quite usable.with the plastic ball.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

NOt those ones, I thought I would be breaking the law. I do have a Garaydia T5000, which I think is the Schlager Carbon remake but I have never put rubbers on it. I also have a Gergely with a modified handle that I bought used. I do have the Garaydia ZLC which is the Amultart with a different handle, but like I say, the problem isn't what happens when you play the topspin players with it, the problem is what happens when you play Xiangyu (medium pips penhold hitter) with it. Of course when you play better players and just cant do anything, equipment doesnt matter. But when players are telling you that your ball is too slow with a medium speed carbon blade, you need to listen to the players you are trying to beat. My technique is just not good enough with the lower body to use reasonably stuff, I have to find ways to compensate and practice other strengths.

T5000 was the devil with the celluloid ball but I find it quite usable.with the plastic ball.

Reason I was asking was that Ive recently been testing Gewo Codexx 52 (seems visually similar to Golden Tango PS and feels similar enough to Sieger PK50, though I have not used GT series) on my forehand and I have been having good success with it, but it's just so slow on my Stratus, and I really don't enjoy the dampened feeling of ALC. I have been testing Mercury 2 and Arthur China on a Xiom Feel HX, I did not like German rubbers on this blade because the soft Hinoki surface and stiff nature of the blade felt strange and unpredictable with the bouncy German rubbers but with the Chinese rubbers it feels very good. So I figured you out of anyone would best know how hybrid rubbers similar to GT would play on fast carbon blades like PC

 

[blahness]

I did some a lot of continuous FH looping today with the bent arm backswing - the club didn't have good enough players today to train serve/receive with my nastiest serves which was what I really wanted to do...

There's this guy who plays inverted and does the weirdest block stroke I've ever seen - it's almost like he's doing a hook serve movement everytime he blocks on the FH, and somehow he's developed enough repetitions to accurately take away all the incoming spin and momentum of the ball and is kinda consistent at that. The real weird crap is that he puts at random sideunderspin, sidetopspin and sidespin and sometimes no spin, and all at different lengths and momentum all at different placements so it is always a challenge to loop continuously against.

I can usually slow loop it pretty consistently but today I gave it my all with powerloops and somehow he was still blocking quite a few of my spinniest powerloops, just amazing...

I'm not sure what I feel about training against weird af blockers like this... Just am not sure if it helps my game or not.

 

[JeffM]

So I finally made up my mind to shave down the 968. I made a mold out of my HL5 and used that to reduce its head size. To my surprise, the 968 wasn't just longer, it was bigger all around, and the HL5 already has an oversized head. Anyhow, now it's a more reasonable size, I'll see how it feels. The BH rubber cut to a Viscaria still won't fit well, of course, but since I aligned it with the top edge when I cut a new rubber to it it shouldn't affect the balance too much.

View attachment 24798

What do you use to reshape your racket? What was the reason for wanting to cut down on the size?

 

[JeffM]

I did some a lot of continuous FH looping today with the bent arm backswing - the club didn't have good enough players today to train serve/receive with my nastiest serves which was what I really wanted to do...

There's this guy who plays inverted and does the weirdest block stroke I've ever seen - it's almost like he's doing a hook serve movement everytime he blocks on the FH, and somehow he's developed enough repetitions to accurately take away all the incoming spin and momentum of the ball and is kinda consistent at that. The real weird crap is that he puts at random sideunderspin, sidetopspin and sidespin and sometimes no spin, and all at different lengths and momentum all at different placements so it is always a challenge to loop continuously against.

I can usually slow loop it pretty consistently but today I gave it my all with powerloops and somehow he was still blocking quite a few of my spinniest powerloops, just amazing...

I'm not sure what I feel about training against weird af blockers like this... Just am not sure if it helps my game or not.

Sounds like he is an unorthodox blocker.. If he was giving you consistent side spin, it might be more helpful for your training. But if it is all random, perhaps you would find it helpful to be familarised with the type of return when you play him in a game situation.

 

[JeffM]

I have not been able to play TT for coming to nearly 2 weeks due to my chest injury. I thought it was getting better, but now it doesn't seem to (or it might be very very slowly) and it was still giving me pain issues, especially when I roll in my bed at night, and if I flex my elbow while my arm is above shoulder height. I tried asking for help from my physio (back in the main city) and the physio that I saw once in this rural town, but they have no replied to my email, and I was unable to find a common time where the physio and I are both free.

I have resorted to taking ibuprofen for a week to see whether that anti-inflammatory effect will help settle this sooner. I only started doing it yesterday, taking a full dose yesterday 400mg 3x/day, and it certainly took away alot of my pain but there are movements that give slight pain that remind me that it is the medication doing its job not that I have recovered. Today, I am trying to take half dose to see if that is enough and will probably continue for a week to give it a good try.

Unable to play, but I am going to gym just to work on my cardio + leg extension. Can't even do squats as that requires my arms to hold weight and that have a high chance of further injuring my chest.

I am craving TT badly.

 

[dingyibvs]

What do you use to reshape your racket? What was the reason for wanting to cut down on the size?

I wanted it to be less head heavy, especially considering I currently have my BH rubber cut to a typical Butterfly racket so it'd only get head heavier with a new sheet cut to its size. I used 60 grit sand paper, doesn't take very long.

I have not been able to play TT for coming to nearly 2 weeks due to my chest injury. I thought it was getting better, but now it doesn't seem to (or it might be very very slowly) and it was still giving me pain issues, especially when I roll in my bed at night, and if I flex my elbow while my arm is above shoulder height. I tried asking for help from my physio (back in the main city) and the physio that I saw once in this rural town, but they have no replied to my email, and I was unable to find a common time where the physio and I are both free.

I have resorted to taking ibuprofen for a week to see whether that anti-inflammatory effect will help settle this sooner. I only started doing it yesterday, taking a full dose yesterday 400mg 3x/day, and it certainly took away alot of my pain but there are movements that give slight pain that remind me that it is the medication doing its job not that I have recovered. Today, I am trying to take half dose to see if that is enough and will probably continue for a week to give it a good try.

Unable to play, but I am going to gym just to work on my cardio + leg extension. Can't even do squats as that requires my arms to hold weight and that have a high chance of further injuring my chest.

I am craving TT badly.

Have you been exercising your chest?

I'm gonna go back to my first post re: your injury. If you don't exercise it, it'll feel better after a few days, and then linger for forever.

If you exercise it after a few days, it'll feel worse, but then in a couple of days you'll feel slightly better. Then you exercise it again, and it'll feel worse again, but then in another day or two it'll feel slightly better again. Do this a few times and you'll recover quickly. The important thing is that the exercise should be light, only to the point of causing slight pain. And after the exercise you should ice and maybe take a couple Ibuprofen.

Note that I don't recommend taking Ibuprofen before exercising, as it may mask the pain and give you a false sense of where your limit is at. Also, I recommend chest specific exercises rather than those that may use it as an accessory muscle (e.g. squats with heavy weights),as you never know when you might suddenly need to use your chest to support a heavy weight. Better to do it with an exercise that you know already stresses your chest as much as possible with its given weight.

 

[blahness]

Sounds like he is an unorthodox blocker.. If he was giving you consistent side spin, it might be more helpful for your training. But if it is all random, perhaps you would find it helpful to be familarised with the type of return when you play him in a game situation.

He doesn't play games, but we played some doubles before and basically he can't return my serves at all.

 

[NextLevel]

I did some a lot of continuous FH looping today with the bent arm backswing - the club didn't have good enough players today to train serve/receive with my nastiest serves which was what I really wanted to do...

There's this guy who plays inverted and does the weirdest block stroke I've ever seen - it's almost like he's doing a hook serve movement everytime he blocks on the FH, and somehow he's developed enough repetitions to accurately take away all the incoming spin and momentum of the ball and is kinda consistent at that. The real weird crap is that he puts at random sideunderspin, sidetopspin and sidespin and sometimes no spin, and all at different lengths and momentum all at different placements so it is always a challenge to loop continuously against.

I can usually slow loop it pretty consistently but today I gave it my all with powerloops and somehow he was still blocking quite a few of my spinniest powerloops, just amazing...

I'm not sure what I feel about training against weird af blockers like this... Just am not sure if it helps my game or not.

Anything that forces adaptation in reasonable doses is good, I suspect it is good training for watching the blocker and anticipating the right ball with the right movement and stroke. But definitely one should not hit with someone like that all the time because the adaptations would likely hurt you a bit vs conventional players. But if you ever competed against another team or in a tournament, you could be that player where everyone loses to a weird style but you have an idea how to adapt because you have adapted to weird styles.

 

[NextLevel]

Reason I was asking was that Ive recently been testing Gewo Codexx 52 (seems visually similar to Golden Tango PS and feels similar enough to Sieger PK50, though I have not used GT series) on my forehand and I have been having good success with it, but it's just so slow on my Stratus, and I really don't enjoy the dampened feeling of ALC. I have been testing Mercury 2 and Arthur China on a Xiom Feel HX, I did not like German rubbers on this blade because the soft Hinoki surface and stiff nature of the blade felt strange and unpredictable with the bouncy German rubbers but with the Chinese rubbers it feels very good. So I figured you out of anyone would best know how hybrid rubbers similar to GT would play on fast carbon blades like PC

I did test those precise setups somewhat, but it was way too long ago and I think the hybrid rubbers have improved quite a bit since then and most of my tests back then were with regular chinese rubber. The thing I am learning is that with these faster carbon setups, you aren't focusing on spin as much as forward momentum made consistent by spin. So the mental approach i have has to change a bit vs if you are someone used to just giving the ball energy and spin with powerful strokes which is what I used to try to do. I also think that seeing really good players i respect using these faster blades has changed my thinking on what level of precision is possible with practice. The control is completely different vs if you are using a slower setup so you have to be patient to decide whether it is for you. The hardest part is really the pushes IMHO. You have to work really hard to touch the ball short or push aggressively.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

mini tournament today. 6 players, round robin format. won all 5 matches, including 2 LP players, but struggled more than i should at this level, really, and i'm not satisfied about what I produced today (very little). However i lost too many such matches recently so at least the result is there and I won a t-shirt and rating is recovering a little bit, finally.

 

[blahness]

Anything that forces adaptation in reasonable doses is good, I suspect it is good training for watching the blocker and anticipating the right ball with the right movement and stroke. But definitely one should not hit with someone like that all the time because the adaptations would likely hurt you a bit vs conventional players. But if you ever competed against another team or in a tournament, you could be that player where everyone loses to a weird style but you have an idea how to adapt because you have adapted to weird styles.

Tbh I've trained more against unconventional players who flat hit, fade, hook, chopblock my loops compared to those who actually block properly. The timing and footwork is completely different.

It's annoying because they make me look like a fool even during practice, but I think it's valuable because I'm less vulnerable to block spin/placement variations this way, especially those from pip players.

It's actually starting to let me think what is the best response to an incoming loop. Imo a straight block almost seems like the worst response. Some of these block variations really mess up loopers hard especially if you can be consistent with them.