Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[Tyce]

This new ball slows down much more off the table than people realize.

Funny how I had this realisation when I couldn't slap-chop the ball across the hall (5-6 tables over) by making it float forever on a lot of backspin.
I noticed last week that I adjusted to the new ball, using less backspin and a harder slap I could reach the table on the other side again. A little less controlled than what was possible with the old cell ball perhaps but it works.

 

[Der_Echte]

Oh awesome! I'm maybe visiting west coast at some point this year so we'll see if I can get there Thank you!

Drive over to Sacramento and I guarantee you some ACTION.

 

[Der_Echte]

@Novarac23 You get here to Sacramento before my wife gets back from Boston, I guarantee you lodging and Bread.

 

[NextLevel]

So I am back to my old blade with a new rubber (though i am still keeping the old rubber in reserve as well.

One of the things I observed yesterday while training (and I am not sure whether this will hold up) is that my attempting to hit the ball within the sweetspot and tip of the blade might be counterproductive with the Garaydia ALC or a similarly stiff blade especially on powerful shots. I found much better control doing shots that I would have been theoretically disgusted with had I tried them with my all wood blade and i am now trying to hit lower on the blade and closer to the handle which is more towards the geometric center of thr blade at least on forehand.

I should have a lesson on Monday evening. Will try to see if I can find a coach to work with my game on short forehand and forehand overall.

 

[kindof99]

So I am back to my old blade with a new rubber (though i am still keeping the old rubber in reserve as well.

One of the things I observed yesterday while training (and I am not sure whether this will hold up) is that my attempting to hit the ball within the sweetspot and tip of the blade might be counterproductive with the Garaydia ALC or a similarly stiff blade especially on powerful shots. I found much better control doing shots that I would have been theoretically disgusted with had I tried them with my all wood blade and i am now trying to hit lower on the blade and closer to the handle which is more towards the geometric center of thr blade at least on forehand.

I should have a lesson on Monday evening. Will try to see if I can find a coach to work with my game on short forehand and forehand overall.

Non-sweet spot is less bouncy and can hold the ball longer. But if you need speed, then the sweet spot at the center is definitely the choice.

 

[Der_Echte]

So I am back to my old blade with a new rubber (though i am still keeping the old rubber in reserve as well.

One of the things I observed yesterday while training (and I am not sure whether this will hold up) is that my attempting to hit the ball within the sweetspot and tip of the blade might be counterproductive with the Garaydia ALC or a similarly stiff blade especially on powerful shots. I found much better control doing shots that I would have been theoretically disgusted with had I tried them with my all wood blade and i am now trying to hit lower on the blade and closer to the handle which is more towards the geometric center of thr blade at least on forehand.

I should have a lesson on Monday evening. Will try to see if I can find a coach to work with my game on short forehand and forehand overall.

In coaching, like nearly 100% of Korean ex-pro coaches, and even Werner Schlager hizself... I advocate for aiming to strike ball on blade in center of sweet spot, not a particular place on the blade. That is consistent and blade will not deflect, giving more consistent impact. Also, it is much more difficult to target the tiny upper part of the sweet spot... unless you are REAL GOOD, you will experience many misses, which hurts consistency and your chances. TT is a game of consistency and placement with enough quality. That wins.

I believe it is much more important to strike the part of the BALL (back, side, half near top, etc) than anything else.

Like NL frequently encourages, I advocate for stroke to fit the "Shape" of the ball, so there is some bending of stroke and it is not a perfect line to strike point. (Think of a clock when shaping the stroke)

 

[NextLevel]

Non-sweet spot is less bouncy and can hold the ball longer. But if you need speed, then the sweet spot at the center is definitely the choice.

Yeah, maybe I just can't control the true speed of the blade lol.

In coaching, like nearly 100% of Korean ex-pro coaches, and even Werner Schlager hizself... I advocate for aiming to strike ball on blade in center of sweet spot, not a particular place on the blade. That is consistent and blade will not deflect, giving more consistent impact. Also, it is much more difficult to target the tiny upper part of the sweet spot... unless you are REAL GOOD, you will experience many misses, which hurts consistency and your chances. TT is a game of consistency and placement with enough quality. That wins.

I believe it is much more important to strike the part of the BALL (back, side, half near top, etc) than anything else.

Like NL frequently encourages, I advocate for stroke to fit the "Shape" of the ball, so there is some bending of stroke and it is not a perfect line to strike point. (Think of a clock when shaping the stroke)

I try for center of the sweet spot usually and I mamaged to make most of my contacts closer to there. But yesterday I just started experimenting with other contacts because I don't like my consistency with this new blade plus Zyre 03 even if I prefer the blade because it blocks and smashes more easily. But I will just continue experiments and see where I end up.

 

[Der_Echte]

I believe that REGARDLESS of your efforts to hit center of sweet spot, it is first important to time the ball to the center of the strike zone.

That is the number one skill in TT for every shot.

If one is not seeing the impact, not discerning what happened, decides almost immediately how to respond, and uses skill #2 in TT, the footwork to get into position on time on balance with good leverage knowing what to do to the ball... then nothing else matters - no matter how good one's technical shot is, if one is of time off balance out of leverage... off strike zone... then that shot will fail.

 

[kindof99]

I believe that REGARDLESS of your efforts to hit center of sweet spot, it is first important to time the ball to the center of the strike zone.

That is the number one skill in TT for every shot.

If one is not seeing the impact, not discerning what happened, decides almost immediately how to respond, and uses skill #2 in TT, the footwork to get into position on time on balance with good leverage knowing what to do to the ball... then nothing else matters - no matter how good one's technical shot is, if one is of time off balance out of leverage... off strike zone... then that shot will fail.

Agree and disagree. Table tennis is so dynamic and it is not easy to say only one way is correct. Understanding how the physics of movement works is most important. Of course, for beginners, aiming at sweet sport is very important because it will ensure the strikes are not too wrong.

 

[Der_Echte]

Here is why I state that reading the opponent's impact is number one skill.

If one does not immediately see what happened, and know where the ball is going in 3D space and time to one's endline AND quickly decide the response... then that player will be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong leverage...

Three wrongs do not make a right. This is where many players fail, even myself as I am practically handicapped with worse and worse eyes and brain.

Failing to get skill number one well enough simply ruins everything and ruins your percentages.

Maybe this skill is so accepted as crucial, that many players do not even mention it... maybe because it is so fundamental to success of every shot.

 

[Der_Echte]

I believe that REGARDLESS of your efforts to hit center of sweet spot, it is first important to time the ball to the center of the strike zone.

That is the number one skill in TT for every shot.

Getting the ball to the strike zone starts with skill number one in TT - reading the impact and knowing where/when/how the ball will come and what to do with it.

That is the number one skill I refer to.

I stated skill number one in my quote from previous post...but this was in the context of within a shot... assuming skill number one and two were applied effective enough.

Many players do not have the spatial awareness (of positioning) and the discipline to allow ball to get to strike zone (and the effective backswing/leverage)...This is an important skill. In my personal TT philosophy, I consider this part of skill number two - after reading impact and deciding how to respond, getting to position on time with leverage.

I say bringing ball to strike zone as part of skill number two... maybe it is the last part of skill number two and the very first part of skill number three - the technical shot.

Here is a coach who frequently discusses and integrates such concepts into shot making. She doesn't outright say skill one, two, three, but the concepts she articulates, the importance she places on what I hold as important to me are spot on.

This is only one tiny vid of many great ones she makes.

 

[Der_Echte]

Another totally unrelated issue she articulates in this and many other vids is disagreeing with how many players are trained.

She argues that training at just one speed or tempo while learning and improving shots really hurts ones match play.
I agree with her and she says to train for many different tempos and vertical ball positions (on rise, on descent) and get these to muscle memory so it helps match performance where ball is random.

The trade-off of early training of multiple ball positions dynamic is that is can be difficult to get consistency early on... so many coaches will argue get consistency first, then increase difficulty of pace and placement of incoming ball.

I cannot argue against the pundit coaches in that concept.

Maybe the coach in the vid is advocating for training multiple ball positions after a baseline of skill/consistency is achieved -that would make sense.

 

[Tyce]

Tonight was one of those lovely sessions where several things that I have been trying to learn start coming together and form something good.
First is shorter FH strokes. Not stretching my arm all the way, because when I do I disconnect and lose control of the stroke. Sticking within my circle of influence so to speak with my playing arm.
Second is grip. I made a couple of changes, BH ready thumb position as default, move the emphasis to thumb and index finger and let the rest be loose. This also changed my FH to a better, more controlled grip making both sides more stable.
Third is more patience for the ball and putting trust in the acceleration process meeting the ball well on time.
Fourth point is using relaxed strokes.

Those things coming together honestly made me feel like I was playing 200 points higher. I put some solid practice wins in and largely felt completely in control. Amazing experience.

Funny thing, I played with 3 quite different rackets tonight and it mostly didn't make a difference. In fact I felt safer with the fastest blade but to be fair it had tacky on both sides.

I'm 90% convinced of selling my Innerforces now.

 

[Tyce]

I was today years old when I realized 729 is actually a triple lucky number, 9x9x9.

You're welcome

 

[Matteones]

So I have been trying Hurricane King with H3 BS on forehand and DNA helix XH on backhand (200 grams heavy and not head heavy) and also the Freitas ALC with Dragon power 55 on both forehand and backhand (Haven't even weighed it but feels so light, probably around 185 and weight on the handle).
My usual blade is W968 with H3 BS forehand and Dragon power 55 backhand, 210 grams extremely heavy on top (AKA Mjolnir - Thor's hammer).

Both setup intrigue me and I am quite convinced I am moving away from Thor's hammer for the next season, because as awesome as it is it's just a pain in the ass for transitions and when I am feeling even a little lazy.

Hurricane King is the obvious choice, it's exactly what I expected, very similar but easier to activate, a bit faster and much easier on transition. Maximum spin and forehand awesomeness may be a little less, but not very noticeable to say the truth. Adapting to it from W968 is a breeze, even if the change in balance requires a bit more time.

Now I have tried the Freitas ALC a couple of times (3-4 hours) already and everything is so freaking easy with it that it is luring me hard. It feels like a feather, sooo easy to activate and easy speed, and no particular drawbacks for the forehands like the Viscaria-type blades I have tried, on which I always instantly hate that koto feeling on forehand.
Also the hybrid on forehand may not have the same bite as H3 on serve and receive, but opening up the game is a breeze and it really behaves well from close and mid-distance.
I will keep on trying, maybe try H3 BS boosted on forehand of the Freitas too, but the idea of a cheap hybrid that works well and I can change up every month without boosting and similar things is alluring.
I didn't expect to like the Freitas so much and I am a bit surprised it doesn't have a more solid fan base.