Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[Matteones]

Season is practically finished and the summer of trying has come!

My usual setup is a very head heavy W968 (208-210 grams depending on how much glue I put on it) with boosted BS H3 and non-boosted dragon power 55 which some of my students and other coaches have nicknamed "Thor's hammer". It easily gives the best quality and the most amount of spin of any blades I have ever tried but quick transitions are a nightmare, and it doesn't forgive anything, I must always be in the best position with my legs.
It brings my style of play (which already relies a lot on spin and deception and closing out the point as fast as possible) to the extreme, giving a boost to both my strengths and my weaknesses (I am really not fast when the ball doesn't go where I expect it to go and I have large movements).
It's a pleasure because since I came back to serious table tennis 2-3 years ago I finally feel like I've come back to my best level and I can make a lot of points out of sheer spin like in the good old times, but the drawbacks are serious and I'm not getting any younger or faster.

Here is what I'm trying: Stiga inspira plus (I wanted a Viscaria like blade, just not the Viscaria ), DHS Wang Chuqin (the commercial version) and Freitas ALC, all with the same rubbers I use on W968 to have the best comparison possible.

I have tried the Inspira plus for 5-6 hours and in some friendly matches and whilst it is much more maneuverable (200 grams and less head heavy), much faster in lower gears and extremely fun and friendly to play a couple of metres behind the table especially, I find myself looking for my backhand (amazing backhand) more and more as I do not like its' forehand (special mention to the extreme low bounce of the first forehand opening though, real chinese style). Also the spin is considerably less. I knew I wouldn't really like it because whilst I love koto on backhand, I just never like it on forehand.

Yesterday I've tried the Wang Chuqin and I really really liked it. At 202 grams and not as head heavy as the W968 it felt like it rounded the hard edges of my W968: a bit faster, more forgiving, better transitions, a lot easier when out of position, very good backhand and no noticeable difference in the forehand. The takeaway is that the absolute spin and quality is less than with W968, but not that much. Also it was very easy to transition to from W968, I will play our yearly local club tournament with it tomorrow, but I really really have a feeling that this might be the right choice for me.

@dingyibvs is the difference between commercial and national q968 (which is on sale on prott 😁😁) very noticeable? To me the difference between long 5 commercial and W968 was noticeable (W968 was really long 5 on steroid, slightly better backhand and more stable) but the transition was seam-less, and needed no adaptation time at all.

I haven't tried the Freitas ALC yet, but I am very curious to try it with its' limba outer.
I think I will try the new Darko Jorgic Infinity when it comes out, and hope in the miracle that it will give me the perfect solution for forehand and backhand .
All of this in preparation of my turn with Sergio of SDC (in one year or two I imagine), so that I know what I want and can order 2-3 perfect blades

 

[Tyce]

So after a few weeks on H3 and similar (Battle 2, pf4, H3 37) on BH I'm starting to miss the qualities of more tensor rubber again. I love how it plays with Chinese tacky, but I don't have the physique to make it through a game night with more than a few sets of good play.
So I've gone kind of full circle and put G1 and C1 on my Korbel. I was initially thinking of using the Fextra but I wanted to keep hurricane on it because it's currently the setup I feel like I can play the easiest with.
I wonder what G1 will do on a slower blade (this time) with the experience I've gathered.

 

[dingyibvs]

Season is practically finished and the summer of trying has come!

My usual setup is a very head heavy W968 (208-210 grams depending on how much glue I put on it) with boosted BS H3 and non-boosted dragon power 55 which some of my students and other coaches have nicknamed "Thor's hammer". It easily gives the best quality and the most amount of spin of any blades I have ever tried but quick transitions are a nightmare, and it doesn't forgive anything, I must always be in the best position with my legs.
It brings my style of play (which already relies a lot on spin and deception and closing out the point as fast as possible) to the extreme, giving a boost to both my strengths and my weaknesses (I am really not fast when the ball doesn't go where I expect it to go and I have large movements).
It's a pleasure because since I came back to serious table tennis 2-3 years ago I finally feel like I've come back to my best level and I can make a lot of points out of sheer spin like in the good old times, but the drawbacks are serious and I'm not getting any younger or faster.

Here is what I'm trying: Stiga inspira plus (I wanted a Viscaria like blade, just not the Viscaria ), DHS Wang Chuqin (the commercial version) and Freitas ALC, all with the same rubbers I use on W968 to have the best comparison possible.

I have tried the Inspira plus for 5-6 hours and in some friendly matches and whilst it is much more maneuverable (200 grams and less head heavy), much faster in lower gears and extremely fun and friendly to play a couple of metres behind the table especially, I find myself looking for my backhand (amazing backhand) more and more as I do not like its' forehand (special mention to the extreme low bounce of the first forehand opening though, real chinese style). Also the spin is considerably less. I knew I wouldn't really like it because whilst I love koto on backhand, I just never like it on forehand.

Yesterday I've tried the Wang Chuqin and I really really liked it. At 202 grams and not as head heavy as the W968 it felt like it rounded the hard edges of my W968: a bit faster, more forgiving, better transitions, a lot easier when out of position, very good backhand and no noticeable difference in the forehand. The takeaway is that the absolute spin and quality is less than with W968, but not that much. Also it was very easy to transition to from W968, I will play our yearly local club tournament with it tomorrow, but I really really have a feeling that this might be the right choice for me.

@dingyibvs is the difference between commercial and national q968 (which is on sale on prott 😁😁) very noticeable? To me the difference between long 5 commercial and W968 was noticeable (W968 was really long 5 on steroid, slightly better backhand and more stable) but the transition was seam-less, and needed no adaptation time at all.

I haven't tried the Freitas ALC yet, but I am very curious to try it with its' limba outer.
I think I will try the new Darko Jorgic Infinity when it comes out, and hope in the miracle that it will give me the perfect solution for forehand and backhand .
All of this in preparation of my turn with Sergio of SDC (in one year or two I imagine), so that I know what I want and can order 2-3 perfect blades

Can't say for all the blades but mine do feel different. The regular HL5 feels like it bends but doesn't deliver all the stored power back when it snaps back, whereas the W968 does. The Q968 has the similar feel, but doesn't bend quite as easily. That's both good and bad. Good in that with lower powered shots where the blade is not fully activated it still produces a quality ball, but bad in that you don't get quite the catapult effect you would with the W968, and it's a bit harder to reach the catapult activation point.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

I bought this item,
inspired by a recommendation from Iba Diaw on one of his vlog. I was looking for the original item, but it was much more expensive, and i found this on Amazon Japan

Amazon.co.jp

at a much more reasonable price.

I can recommend it - and i am not affiliated.

 

[jk1980]

the longpips robot/spinsight analysis really made it click for me against long pips.
i played doubles today with one of the opponents just having short pips on the backhand and the other having long pips. My team mate already complained about the pips and how they are odd to play against and then the short pips player said "yes, the shots float and wobble in the air and are unpredictable" which to be honest would have been my estimate as well. Very often when i played a long backspin serve onto the longpips of a defender who would "attack" by doing the push counter creating a topspin ball that would fly at me i would be kind of clueless about how to handle it. The ball always felt like having an odd straight (non curvy) trajectory and empty spin that i would not know how to loop properly.
This training match though it immediately made click. I reconigzed the technique, new what to expect in terms of how the ball would fly of the opponents long pips bat and had a 85% success rate basically looping each of these balls. All of a sudden it did not feel odd, empty or unpredicatble. I treated it like i was playing against a beginner trying to loop, that is an incoming ball with medium speed and low topspin on it. Similar to a spinny flick probably.
I was confident counter looping them all. I hope that learning sticks to the back of my mind and keeps me prepared for when i play long pips next.
I don't want to confuse my memory with too much new information, but i think in a month or two i will do a similar test with an antispin test and see what strokes to result in which trajectories and spin.

On another note i was really happy that i have removed the Stiga DragonGrip (55) from my bat. It was just not my cup of tea, even though i felt it would be close enough to Rakza Z EH at the very beginning, the gears are slightly off and overshooting was way too easy because of the more tensorish characteristics. I put a Rxton 7 (40) on that blade and it was quite a lot more controlled obviously. This one should last me through the league break, so that i don't waste my regular RZEH rubbers in this off season period. I will probably also do a session comparing the Battle 2 Gold Prov with the Rxton 7 but i think i already know what the outcome in terms of spin will be.

 

[Der_Echte]

So I played matches with my new setup today. A couple of struggles but I think a couple of things are clear. Against opponents of similar strength, i gain more from Zyre in the open rally if I can get off the table and less if I try to hold the the table. Therefore I have to work on chopping serves as well as looping them and getting back and doing returnos that invite attacks to predictable spots.

My current setup also improves my dominance on the backhand diagonal as the punching and counterinf with Zyre from a yard off the table is both stable and effective. I can also redirect with confidence.

The challenge is stilll finding and playing the forehand. I need to a lot of drills and practice matches where I swing at balls I usually do not swing at and aim for places I don't consistently aim for. I am also realizing that in thoae rallies Zyre can be sneaky and I should stop trying to compensate for the blades lack of power and just let Zyre do the hard work and rhe opponent misread the spin.

Fitness is paramount and heading in the right direction. But now I need to drill more countering and better transitions between forehand and backhand and more in and out footworl as well. So forehand footwork, in and out footwork,.and transition from.backhand to forehand. I am not winning more matches but my possibilities for winning poonts are expanding in ways that I can see a path to the next level. And diet and weight loss are clearly a core part of it.

And weapon i have significantly improved is after a backspin serve, if my opponent pushes and I don't want to attack, I have developed this half long / short push which invites the patient attacker to attack but isn't entirely easy if you don't have the right stroke. This has helped me quite a bit and I suspect it is something I should practice a bit more.

@NL, your states issues on FH... it really isn't your setup. It is directly related to your stance and leverage before and after a shot, period. Also about spacing and rhythm relative to the ball that I would rate that you already have a great understanding... one day soon, I visit on the weekend of a tourney and prolly discover you have grown forward more than me as a player even though you coach.