Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[SleepyMaster]

Had a really good session today, There were even few hours with electricity lol. I did started to understand what is humid condition is when its 37 of celsium outside and inside is thirty people that playing a tourney without air condition system. Ball slippage all of those things heh, especially with hybrid rubbers. Anyway i had chance to play - that is awesome. Consistency is the key for me for better progress.

Here some of the today rallies with my coach

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Not all ball is made the same, some are less tolerance towards the vigour and rigour of modern offensive game.

NB: Don't blame me, it's the Tenergy's fault. I am innocence ok! It wasn't me.

 

[Tyce]

View attachment 31097
Not all ball is made the same, some are less tolerance towards the vigour and rigour of modern offensive game.

Oh dear! I thought you were going to post you had a grandchild!

 

[NextLevel]

So I got to play with Skyline 3 BS yesterday. I really couldn't tell the difference vs OS. But I didn't do any real tests, I played mostly unfamiliar opponents using the BS without seeing a significant drop in consistency. But now I am definitely set on my blade and Skyline TG3 on forehand. I will likely use D05 on backhand through 2024. Then maybe look into D80. But who knows, I might get a desire to change after the tournament in August depending on the results.

So enough about equipment, time to focus on technique, movement and touch. The biggest problem with using a rubber like unboosted DHS is being able to get power/speed away from the table. Consistency has been traded for speed. So I need to work on getting my away from the table strokes strong and consistent enough to rally with them. Usually this helps my overall game if I can find a good blocker as the cardio and physical effort makes my overall technique more efficient.

The other thing is to start recording and reviewing practice strokes again. I am getting to a point where I have started enjoying good and tiring practice more than matches. But I also like the chess game of matches and being able to deploy timing and spin changes to affect unsuspecting opponents.

Fun times ahead...

 

[TampaBayTableTennis]

Awesome! Looking forward to the progress. My main blade is still Rz/Rz but after seeing and experiencing many different incoming shots my current plan is to get started with H3 Neo / D05 on my second blade. Hoping for a strong second half of the year! Good luck!!!

 

[dingyibvs]

My BH in practice has been pretty deadly, but I've been having trouble translating it into games due to the timing variations in real games. This is particularly troublesome with BH service receives. In my recent BH practices, I realized that it's an issue that can be fixed by something I saw on coaching videos but had neglected because it was never correctly stated as to why it's important.

So the issue is that I have my elbow too high, which in coaching videos they say limits your power and that's why you shouldn't do it. Sure, it limits power a little bit, but that's not actually why it's important. I realized that when my elbow is high, my racket is high, so I needed to compensate by lowering my body. This puts my eyes around ball height, which I preferred early on as it lets me put the racket on the ball reliably and that's actually primarily why I developed this high elbow style in the first place. In the beginning I didn't know how high or low to start the swing so this was very helpful as it allows me to judge the height of the ball relative to my racket easily. However, when your eyes are near the ball's height, it's also harder to judge the distance and velocity of the ball as it speeds directly towards your eyes.

So now I stand up a bit higher, and lower my elbow to match the racket to the ball's height. This allows me much more accurate judgment of the ball's speed and distance to me, and I've found to be very useful for all types of BH shots.

 

[NextLevel]

My BH in practice has been pretty deadly, but I've been having trouble translating it into games due to the timing variations in real games. This is particularly troublesome with BH service receives. In my recent BH practices, I realized that it's an issue that can be fixed by something I saw on coaching videos but had neglected because it was never correctly stated as to why it's important.

So the issue is that I have my elbow too high, which in coaching videos they say limits your power and that's why you shouldn't do it. Sure, it limits power a little bit, but that's not actually why it's important. I realized that when my elbow is high, my racket is high, so I needed to compensate by lowering my body. This puts my eyes around ball height, which I preferred early on as it lets me put the racket on the ball reliably and that's actually primarily why I developed this high elbow style in the first place. In the beginning I didn't know how high or low to start the swing so this was very helpful as it allows me to judge the height of the ball relative to my racket easily. However, when your eyes are near the ball's height, it's also harder to judge the distance and velocity of the ball as it speeds directly towards your eyes.

So now I stand up a bit higher, and lower my elbow to match the racket to the ball's height. This allows me much more accurate judgment of the ball's speed and distance to me, and I've found to be very useful for all types of BH shots.

Usually high elbow means that your racket is going to have upward motion that might be excessive. I usually think of high elbow as elbow above the racket, not so much as elbow being absolutely high. I prefer generally to feel as if the elbow is the lowest point in my arm on my strokes both forehand and backhand. It maintains a slight bend and reduces upper arm overuse.

 

[SleepyMaster]

Have done some multiball practise today for about an 1,5 hours and played some matches.

Some of my videos from today

Btw mk hybrid works pretty well on backhand for me, I will stick to it till the end of the summer at least. The goal for close future is to improve speed/power/consistency of it and to develop a hook serve also.
I have seen an slight improvement in the backhand area even in a month or so. I have winning more points from backhand then usual and doing less of step arounds with my forehand (and getting less punished for abusing that lol)

 

[SleepyMaster]

My BH in practice has been pretty deadly, but I've been having trouble translating it into games due to the timing variations in real games. This is particularly troublesome with BH service receives. In my recent BH practices, I realized that it's an issue that can be fixed by something I saw on coaching videos but had neglected because it was never correctly stated as to why it's important.

So the issue is that I have my elbow too high, which in coaching videos they say limits your power and that's why you shouldn't do it. Sure, it limits power a little bit, but that's not actually why it's important. I realized that when my elbow is high, my racket is high, so I needed to compensate by lowering my body. This puts my eyes around ball height, which I preferred early on as it lets me put the racket on the ball reliably and that's actually primarily why I developed this high elbow style in the first place. In the beginning I didn't know how high or low to start the swing so this was very helpful as it allows me to judge the height of the ball relative to my racket easily. However, when your eyes are near the ball's height, it's also harder to judge the distance and velocity of the ball as it speeds directly towards your eyes.

So now I stand up a bit higher, and lower my elbow to match the racket to the ball's height. This allows me much more accurate judgment of the ball's speed and distance to me, and I've found to be very useful for all types of BH shots.

In my first year of training i had this “too high elbow” for a backhand problem and my partially torn shoulder joint was in constant pain bc of that. So I changed a swing and elbow position close to the body. And it gives me more control certainly.

But there is so much guys that are hitting rockets with their elbow pretty high (FZD, Alexis Lebrun, Pitchford and others) that I didn’t know what is the best way and does there is any. I guess the best way is the one that gives you highest possible consistency with maximum quality but your elbow can be higher or lower - it depends on a personal preference and bone/ligament structure of each individual

 

[NextLevel]

In my first year of training i had this “too high elbow” for a backhand problem and my partially torn shoulder joint was in constant pain bc of that. So I changed a swing and elbow position close to the body. And it gives me more control certainly.

But there is so much guys that are hitting rockets with their elbow pretty high (FZD, Alexis Lebrun, Pitchford and others) that I didn’t know what is the best way and does there is any. I guess the best way is the one that gives you highest possible consistency with maximum quality but your elbow can be higher or lower - it depends on a personal preference and bone/ligament structure of each individual

I must not understand what a high elbow is, I have never looked any of these guys and thought "high elbow".

 

[dingyibvs]

Usually high elbow means that your racket is going to have upward motion that might be excessive. I usually think of high elbow as elbow above the racket, not so much as elbow being absolutely high. I prefer generally to feel as if the elbow is the lowest point in my arm on my strokes both forehand and backhand. It maintains a slight bend and reduces upper arm overuse.

Nah, I meant elbow at about the same level as the racket. You can also look at it as low upper body (head near the level of the net.) When I first started practicing BHs that helped me not to whiff, but now I realize why it's not conducive to anything more advanced than that.

 

[SleepyMaster]

I must not understand what a high elbow is, I have never looked any of these guys and thought "high elbow".

Some coaches are very strict in this when their teaching backhand loop to a students.
You can loop forehand/backhand with elbow closer to your body or elbow naturally goes a bit far and “higher” - than little bit more of a shoulder takes part in the movement.

But as I see this - it’s shouldn’t matter that much. I saw Pitchford and Creanga videos ( from TTD YouTube as I remember ) where they are telling that lifting up an elbow (shoulder) helps with power and spin generation so they doing it and I must say they developed crazy good of a backhand stroke

 

[NextLevel]

Some coaches are very strict in this when their teaching backhand loop to a students.
You can loop forehand/backhand with elbow closer to your body or elbow naturally goes a bit far and “higher” - than little bit more of a shoulder takes part in the movement.

But as I see this - it’s shouldn’t matter that much. I saw Pitchford and Creanga videos ( from TTD YouTube as I remember ) where they are telling that lifting up an elbow (shoulder) helps with power and spin generation so they doing it and I must say they developed crazy good of a backhand stroke

Sounds like what you are calling high elbow is what most coaches would consider the proper elbow placement for the backhand topspin.

 

[SleepyMaster]

Sounds like what you are calling high elbow is what most coaches would consider the proper elbow placement for the backhand topspin.

Yeah it maybe the same thing.

But again there is many coaches and slight technique differences that can be teaching and explaining differently by them. Especially in such technically demanding sport as tt.

Even in boxing each coach will give you his vision on how to throw a proper punch - an execution can differ pretty much from one to another. But the most important here is the result - consistency/power/accuracy/spin - if it there and winning more matches or puttin your opponents on a canvas - your are doing it right 👌🏻

 

[NextLevel]

Yeah it maybe the same thing.

But again there is many coaches and slight technique differences that can be teaching and explaining differently by them. Especially in such technically demanding sport as tt.

Even in boxing each coach will give you his vision on how to throw a proper punch - an execution can differ pretty much from one to another. But the most important here is the result - consistency/power/accuracy/spin - if it there and winning more matches or puttin your opponents on a canvas - your are doing it right 👌🏻

Can't argue with results, I leave the pure and abstract technical arguments to the CNT fanboys.

 

[Jslick89]

Last night @Der_Echte wanted me to try out his $25 (or was it $35?) blade to prove that I could make killer shots with a cheap blade. I did "crack" some pretty nasty forehands the moment i picked it up. i'm probably at a point where I can make a nasty forehand with just about any decent blade because I know how to generate the power from my feet, legs and hips to produce a high quality shot.

 

[NextLevel]

Last night @Der_Echte wanted me to try out his $25 (or was it $35?) blade to prove that I could make killer shots with a cheap blade. I did "crack" some pretty nasty forehands the moment i picked it up. i'm probably at a point where I can make a nasty forehand with just about any decent blade because I know how to generate the power from my feet, legs and hips to produce a high quality shot.

Cracking the forehand isn't everything. When the ball comes back, how easy is it to borrow the incoming pace to hit another winner or to block the ball down the line for a winner? Do you have to be in perfect position? Can you reach and do it? How much power do you have to add to the ball?

When you play at the higher levels ( and by higher, I mean the puny 1800+), consistency is important but so are elements of speed. Athleticism can make up for them but unless one just likes to run down and loop everything, there is a lot to be said for letting the equipment do a lot of the work. I know players who like to play quality and consistent power openings with slower blades. But when they face someone with a faster blade who can take a step back and block and counter these returns, the fast openings don't matter as much because they now have to play multiple shots quickly and that is where having a faster setup yields some benefits.

 

[Jslick89]

Cracking the forehand isn't everything. When the ball comes back, how easy is it to borrow the incoming pace to hit another winner or to block the ball down the line for a winner? Do you have to be in perfect position? Can you reach and do it? How much power do you have to add to the ball?

When you play at the higher levels ( and by higher, I mean the puny 1800+), consistency is important but so are elements of speed. Athleticism can make up for them but unless one just likes to run down and loop everything, there is a lot to be said for letting the equipment do a lot of the work. I know players who like to play quality and consistent power openings with slower blades. But when they dace someone with a faster blade who can take a step back and block and counter these returns, the fast openings don't matter as much because they now have to play multiple shots quickly and that is where having a faster setup yields some benefits.

Good points. I suppose I have not experimented enough with equipment to truly know the difference it would make. Afterall, I've only used 2 different rubbers on my forehand in my three years of playing this sport. I do know that his set up was noticeably different than mine. I only used the paddle for about 30 seconds (didn't want to throw off my groove before the round robin) so i cant truly remake on any of the differences.

 

[NextLevel]

Good points. I suppose I have not experimented enough with equipment to truly know the difference it would make. Afterall, I've only used 2 different rubbers on my forehand in my three years of playing this sport. I do know that his set up was noticeably different than mine. I only used the paddle for about 30 seconds (didn't want to throw off my groove before the round robin) so i cant truly remake on any of the differences.

Don't get me.wrong, Korbel as far as I know uses his blade with boosted Tenergy 80 or Dignics 80 so I am not saying what I am saying is impossible. But there is a really good video by Tt11 where a Hungarian Pro Daniel Kosiba plays TT11 co-owner Sergei Petrov, who is somewhere between 2400 ‐ 2600 with three different setups. The lessons learned there are generally along the lines of what I am saying with some nuances.

 

[backspacer]

So I did play in Hamburg with a few people. Got some practice in with a proper chopper which we don't have in both of my clubs. I only played sets against three guys. Lost to the chopper, but won most of the sets against the other two. Always funny to see people's reactions to a play style they are not used to. One of the guys is actually from Mannheim and told me he is in town this week and wants to come by. Unfortunately I slipped in the shower and broke one of my toes (yeah, that can happen) and am out of commission for six to eight weeks which is really shitty timing because I'm most likely gonna miss out on a big tournament with my summer cup team. We might still have to qualify for it if there are too many teams, but I definitely won't be able to help with that and the real thing is happening in five weeks so I'm gonna need a miracle.