Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[SleepyMaster]

That's odd, spin at 6 sounds like a bit too much. I occasionally use +6 spin for counter loop practice, but it only works OK when the speed is kept low at around 15 as any faster and the speed/spin combo is unrealistic during games. For backspin I only use -3 spin most of the time. I rarely use -4 as that's more for the spin level when you're playing a chopper.

I’m not sure that term “odd” is correct in this case.

There is a coach that guiding the process his picking exercises and spin/speed levels - after I performed an exercise I can tell to him my feedback on how I feel etc, but I’m kinda good at counter looping considering that I’m new to this sport and counter looping is advanced technique that demands timing and good brushing motion/racket speed/feeling. Maybe that’s why we training countering at spin level set to 6. I don’t find it hard.

I’m also easily lifting heavy chops maybe because I’m used to did underspin loops on 6. But there is so much stuff to learn for me for more years to come got a lot more work to do. I’m not trying to tell that I’m a strong player - but I have strong sides already.

When it’s just looping from different spots - usually spin is set to 3. The cool thing about the robot that you can set it accordingly to your speed and technique playing levels.

My coach had a really good quality multiball feeding by himself. His feeding national level players so he is advanced in multiball training methods. He just get robot by a gift from a client and sometimes uses it other than feeding by himself

 

[dingyibvs]

I’m not sure that term “odd” is correct in this case.

There is a coach that guiding the process his picking exercises and spin/speed levels - after I performed an exercise I can tell to him my feedback on how I feel etc, but I’m kinda good at counter looping considering that I’m new to this sport and counter looping is advanced technique that demands timing and good brushing motion/racket speed/feeling. Maybe that’s why we training countering at spin level set to 6. I don’t find it hard.

I’m also easily lifting heavy chops maybe because I’m used to did underspin loops on 6. But there is so much stuff to learn for me for more years to come got a lot more work to do. I’m not trying to tell that I’m a strong player - but I have strong sides already.

When it’s just looping from different spots - usually spin is set to 3. The cool thing about the robot that you can set it accordingly to your speed and technique playing levels.

My coach had a really good quality multiball feeding by himself. His feeding national level players so he is advanced in multiball training methods. He just get robot by a gift from a client and sometimes uses it other than feeding by himself

You know what, on closer look I don't think we have the same robot. Which model is yours? I have the Amicus Prime, and mine actually doesn't even have a -6 spin level for underspin, it goes to a max of -5, which is not humanly possible to lift. That's why I said it was odd lol, because of the level of spin is so ridiculous at -5 and +6 that I find -5 completely unusable and +6 with only limited usefulness.

Our settings numbers must represent different things, so probably not that useful to compare settings.

 

[SleepyMaster]

You know what, on closer look I don't think we have the same robot. Which model is yours? I have the Amicus Prime, and mine actually doesn't even have a -6 spin level for underspin, it goes to a max of -5, which is not humanly possible to lift. That's why I said it was odd lol, because of the level of spin is so ridiculous at -5 and +6 that I find -5 completely unusable and +6 with only limited usefulness.

Our settings numbers must represent different things, so probably not that useful to compare settings.

This is not my robot, so I made an mistake. I’m asking a coach right now about it. This is Amicus Prime too. But I was wrong about underspin levels, I’m looping underspin on 3 it has 5 max when programmed to underspin. Looping from different spots is 3 level of spin too.
And counterspin loops we are doing at 6 - 6 is available when programmed to counter loops.

Im sorry for a bit of mistake 🫡

 

[dingyibvs]

This is not my robot, so I made an mistake. I’m asking a coach right now about it. This is Amicus Prime too. But I was wrong about underspin levels, I’m looping underspin on 3 it has 5 max when programmed to underspin. Looping from different spots is 3 level of spin too.
And counterspin loops we are doing at 6 - 6 is available when programmed to counter loops.

Im sorry for a bit of mistake 🫡

Makes a lot of sense then! I've found -3 to be best for simulating heavy pushes and +6 to be best for counterloops. Interesting that he has you use +3 for multi-position loops, I usually use +4 or +5. Maybe I should mix in some more +3 as well. Since the robot uses friction to generate both speed and spin, maybe +3 generates a more realistic speed/spin combo than the higher spins.

 

[SleepyMaster]

Makes a lot of sense then! I've found -3 to be best for simulating heavy pushes and +6 to be best for counterloops. Interesting that he has you use +3 for multi-position loops, I usually use +4 or +5. Maybe I should mix in some more +3 as well. Since the robot uses friction to generate both speed and spin, maybe +3 generates a more realistic speed/spin combo than the higher spins.

When multi-position spin set to +3 sometimes im asking for +4 and i like the feeling too. But as i understand it should be more like a topspin ball that you will get returned back after a block - so the ball should have some topspin but not too much - thats why we using +3 more often.

 

[latej]

I know it's not about TT, but if I had to vote, what is the highest level at his personal peek, then I have to say, probably Andy Murray. You know I love Novak Djokovic, and he is for me the undisputed goat, but if I had to compare these 2 at a single point of their highest level, it would be very tight, with possibly the slight edge for A.M. It's just that his peak was kind of short, but Novak is capable of keeping it, almost like multi-peak ;-) Novak's smoothness is absolutely amazing, and I admire that so much, and he keeps it very long, but at Andy's peek, this smoothness was also there and it was additionally joined with some brute raw power and unconscious will, which gives that edge for me. ;-) Cheers.

 

[netdriver]

im contemplating going back to chinese rubber on my backhand once my rakza 7 dies but a part of me still wants to explore tensor rubbers (looking forward to xiom vega asia and fastarc c-1)

i kinda dont like how i can rip the ball as hard as i want with R7 on opening shots but when it comes to counterhitting i have to limit my strength and do tippy-tappy strokes or else the ball goes out of bounds

R7 is a sweet rubber though........... love it for blocking. in the meantime i would just have to deal with it and adjust my technique accordingly.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Meanwhile at the shooting range...

 

[Novarac23]

So I took my new donic true inner carbon blade out for a spin today. Blade is great. I had rakza 7 on fh and yasaka mark v soft on backhand. Reason why I say had is because i switched mark v with my rozena on the bh after practice because I really like the way rozena feels on my bh more. Overall really happy with the blade and setup after day 1 of practice. Looking forward to practicing more with it and playing a few matches. Oh and I got those mizuno shoes, love them. Super comfy, grippy and stable I was pretty rusty though today, I haven’t played in 2 weeks

 

[dingyibvs]

I was out with COVID a couple days ago. After I started feeling a bit better but still had some symptoms was still quarantining at home, I did some light practices with the robot. Mostly the short push right off the bounce. Backspins, no spins, and a focus on topspins. I had a drill where there would be a topspin service to the FH, randomly short or long, and I'd have to decide quickly whether to step in or not to push short or loop the long one.

When I started going back to the club, the short push against topspin was not very useful. Most people on my level aren't very good at keeping topspin serves to the FH side short. The short pushes against backspin and nospins were very useful. I became more and more confident in using them. Even when it's not perfectly executed the half-long pushes that came faster than usual were tough for a lot of people to attack. What was surprising is that I got much better at covering my wide FH as well. I used to always instinctively use too big of a motion, but due to being forced to be ready to step in to receive short, I started looping the ball much earlier with a smaller motion which was much more consistent and highly effective. What it lacked in power was more than made up by an increase in speed due to taking the ball earlier.

I'm also tweaking my FH loop motion a bit further. Before I wouldn't really actively flex my biceps much to achieve the "salute" finish, but now I'm trying to use it as much as I would use my core and shoulder. This seems to primarily add more spin to my loops, and allowing me more control for some reason.

Besides that I'm working a lot on keeping my eyes on the ball, and especially moving on the BH side to get my body into the optimal position to hit the ball. I find myself on the BH side often stuck to the floor, trying to hit different paced shots from the same spot, whereas on the FH side I would always move into the optimal position to hit the shot. So now I'm trying to have my eyes glued to the ball and body moving toward the ball. This seem to be helping my BH consistency quite a bit.

 

[AutomaticBackhand]

3rd day training with short pips done.

I think I got the hang of it already.
I can return serves well and chop decently.

Forehand counter looping has never felt easier with this racket.
Feels like I can't miss.

 

[OvrChkn]

Finally got a good amount of practice this week after two weeks off, but I feel so out of sorts mentally with moving and looping backspin balls. That's the first to go, but I'm confident in getting it back quickly. Did a bit of Falkenberg drills for the first time ever and my step to the wide forehand is rather slow and my cardio is terrible.

I tried a TB ALC setup with H8 and it felt pretty good. Not satisfied with the Rakza Z, mainly the throw angle, so I'll look into something else. Thinking about experimenting with the Cybershape I have just to try something slightly lighter. My current setup is around 200g.

 

[dingyibvs]

Finally got a good amount of practice this week after two weeks off, but I feel so out of sorts mentally with moving and looping backspin balls. That's the first to go, but I'm confident in getting it back quickly. Did a bit of Falkenberg drills for the first time ever and my step to the wide forehand is rather slow and my cardio is terrible.

I tried a TB ALC setup with H8 and it felt pretty good. Not satisfied with the Rakza Z, mainly the throw angle, so I'll look into something else. Thinking about experimenting with the Cybershape I have just to try something slightly lighter. My current setup is around 200g.

Ha, what a coincidence, I tried out the Falkenberg the first time as well. I'm doing a variant where I have to cross step to reach the FH shot. But then I have to really slow down the next feed to get to the BH shot. Thinking back at it, I think I'm gonna do a modified Falkenberg next time and add a 4th shot to the middle of the table as a transition shot.

In my recent practices I'm continuing to find it very difficult to practice two things at once. I know what prevents optimal application of my practice shots into games on the BH side is footwork and timing, but I'm finding it difficult to focus on improving both at the same time in practice. Gradually as I practice both they do improve though. This weekend I played against Bill, the older CPen player I had posted videos of me playing against before. When I posted the videos I could never beat him, but now he's clearly a level below. On Saturday after losing the 1st set with a close score I demolished him the next 3 sets with an average score of ~11-5.

 

[OvrChkn]

Ha, what a coincidence, I tried out the Falkenberg the first time as well. I'm doing a variant where I have to cross step to reach the FH shot. But then I have to really slow down the next feed to get to the BH shot. Thinking back at it, I think I'm gonna do a modified Falkenberg next time and add a 4th shot to the middle of the table as a transition shot.

In my recent practices I'm continuing to find it very difficult to practice two things at once. I know what prevents optimal application of my practice shots into games on the BH side is footwork and timing, but I'm finding it difficult to focus on improving both at the same time in practice. Gradually as I practice both they do improve though. This weekend I played against Bill, the older CPen player I had posted videos of me playing against before. When I posted the videos I could never beat him, but now he's clearly a level below. On Saturday after losing the 1st set with a close score I demolished him the next 3 sets with an average score of ~11-5.

My entire body is still burning two days later from this drill. My coach had me build up to it, but I got gassed from the other drills that lead to it. I saw this video from Tony a while back on the pivot to the wide FH.

 

[dingyibvs]

My entire body is still burning two days later from this drill. My coach had me build up to it, but I got gassed from the other drills that lead to it. I saw this video from Tony a while back on the pivot to the wide FH.

Yeah, that's basically the drill I'm doing. I'm doing them a bit faster and with a full lunge to cover the wide FH, basically the max of my capabilities. The idea is that I wouldn't be intentionally playing full table FH but that I MUST cross step in order to reach the wide FH shot.

I find it helpful to do other exercises to help improve fitness for TT training. The issue of relying on TT training only is that TT is very much a precision sport. Playing at 90% means missing 50% of your shots, so you can't really train as hard as needed. Since I started playing soccer 2 months ago my fitness for TT training has vastly improved. Even doing exercises like these I hardly feel anything the next day. I used to feel tired at the end of a 4 match RR, but now I feel fine after 8 straight matches even after a few consecutive days of playing/practicing.

 

[Der_Echte]

Finally got a good amount of practice this week after two weeks off, but I feel so out of sorts mentally with moving and looping backspin balls. That's the first to go, but I'm confident in getting it back quickly. Did a bit of Falkenberg drills for the first time ever and my step to the wide forehand is rather slow and my cardio is terrible.

I tried a TB ALC setup with H8 and it felt pretty good. Not satisfied with the Rakza Z, mainly the throw angle, so I'll look into something else. Thinking about experimenting with the Cybershape I have just to try something slightly lighter. My current setup is around 200g.

OC,

The Z version plays like med hardness, or at least significantly harder than a soft sponge... and a lot of developing players will not use a harder feeling rubber very well opening vs underspin (unless they are forward loop driving the heck outta it, then it is a good rubber)

Consider any modern rubber with a SOFT sponge. it makes it easier to get the ball into the topsheet... AND you can engage the sponge easily. This adds up to generating topspin vs underspin more easily... which is actually a meaning of control.

Another plus is that soft sponged rubbers tend to have a higher throw angle, which makes it even easier to open vs underspin.

 

[Der_Echte]

Yeah, that's basically the drill I'm doing. I'm doing them a bit faster and with a full lunge to cover the wide FH, basically the max of my capabilities. The idea is that I wouldn't be intentionally playing full table FH but that I MUST cross step in order to reach the wide FH shot.

I find it helpful to do other exercises to help improve fitness for TT training. The issue of relying on TT training only is that TT is very much a precision sport. Playing at 90% means missing 50% of your shots, so you can't really train as hard as needed. Since I started playing soccer 2 months ago my fitness for TT training has vastly improved. Even doing exercises like these I hardly feel anything the next day. I used to feel tired at the end of a 4 match RR, but now I feel fine after 8 straight matches even after a few consecutive days of playing/practicing.

@dingyibvs We gotta go to Pleasanton and tear up the doubles jokers again sometime.

Sounds like now all I gotta do is serve or return and watch you add another point to the scoreboard. You were already doing it on 3rd ball setups...

 

[Der_Echte]

My entire body is still burning two days later from this drill. My coach had me build up to it, but I got gassed from the other drills that lead to it. I saw this video from Tony a while back on the pivot to the wide FH.

YES. This vid is old as sin, but so right. Coach shows very well how to lean into and hop for that cross step... with explosive push off of hitting leg.

This power hop works well for a 2 step (balls within a meter so away) and a cross step for those balls 1.5 to 2+ meters away.

One day, this vid will not be online, so one should find a way to save it. VERY good teaching tool.

 

[OvrChkn]

Yeah, that's basically the drill I'm doing. I'm doing them a bit faster and with a full lunge to cover the wide FH, basically the max of my capabilities. The idea is that I wouldn't be intentionally playing full table FH but that I MUST cross step in order to reach the wide FH shot.

I find it helpful to do other exercises to help improve fitness for TT training. The issue of relying on TT training only is that TT is very much a precision sport. Playing at 90% means missing 50% of your shots, so you can't really train as hard as needed. Since I started playing soccer 2 months ago my fitness for TT training has vastly improved. Even doing exercises like these I hardly feel anything the next day. I used to feel tired at the end of a 4 match RR, but now I feel fine after 8 straight matches even after a few consecutive days of playing/practicing.

It's definitely a balance on training. I am trying to get back on the bike and do some interval training on my free time. I've started to focus on my diet a lot now, so hoping the pieces make up the whole eventually.

@Der_Echte It feels like the arc I generate is too high on the Z, which can definitely be a technique issue. Flat smashes I struggle with a lot, but I'm getting coached to fix that. I like how linear and tacky/grippy it is, especially when I'm mid-far from the table, but it doesn't click with me when hitting through the ball close to the table. I send a lot of my shots to the baseline or further. I tried the C-1 on the FH, but it was a little catapulty for my liking. Using the H8 (not sure if it was the regular or 80) on the TB ALC felt like a revelation to me in terms of the arc I was getting.

 

[dingyibvs]

It's definitely a balance on training. I am trying to get back on the bike and do some interval training on my free time. I've started to focus on my diet a lot now, so hoping the pieces make up the whole eventually.

@Der_Echte It feels like the arc I generate is too high on the Z, which can definitely be a technique issue. Flat smashes I struggle with a lot, but I'm getting coached to fix that. I like how linear and tacky/grippy it is, especially when I'm mid-far from the table, but it doesn't click with me when hitting through the ball close to the table. I send a lot of my shots to the baseline or further. I tried the C-1 on the FH, but it was a little catapulty for my liking. Using the H8 (not sure if it was the regular or 80) on the TB ALC felt like a revelation to me in terms of the arc I was getting.

I've found smashes to be much more affected by the blade. They're very, very hard shots and it's just a lot tougher to control with a flexier blade. It feels a lot easier with the Viscaria compared to the W968 with the same rubber.