Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[Richie]

It's wonderful to hear. I think we were all waiting for Sweden to come back. I was personally sceptical about Falck and his FH pips, Def. V. good, but Truls is a one off. Real must watch sportsman. Where were you in England? I was in Cambridgeshire, near Grantham.

I was in Taunton and then Plymouth.
I think I've played some players from Grantham, Riley Fraser, the commentator being one of them.

 

[J-fed]

I was in Taunton and then Plymouth.
I think I've played some players from Grantham, Riley Fraser, the commentator being one of them.

Oh! Lovely places. You must be high level then. I’m just decent. Never got up to the higher echelons but love the game still.
I wish I had my current skill level at 20.
Youth is wasted on the young as they say.

 

[J-fed]

So one last time, I will be doing a blade giveaway. This will hearken back to old times, though this time, as a fix to what happened in previous times, the blades will all be quality blades. No exceptions. Unless you want to a lower quality blade... I definitely could sell them and probably should... I considered donating as well and if you win a blade and decide to donate it to any cause, that is fine. I will probably donate others.

So the desired parameters are to post a video of yourself doing two of the tricks in the old Marcos Freitas skills video. Any of them will qualify. The video must be at least 1 minute long with whatever skills you choose.

The prize blades - 2 Xiom HAL blades , 2 Andro Wosik Legacy blades, and 2 Joola Trinity Vyzaryz blades, all used or almost new but in quite playable condition and worth something reasonable. As the dictator mod, I judge the entries. I will cover postage. When you post your video of your skill and I say it qualifies, just let me know which blade you want. First 6 videos get the blades. The end date for this is August 31, 2026.

Oh wow. I’ve never tried any of these. If I fail I’ll just claim I didn’t get round to it.

 

[NextLevel]

Oh wow. I’ve never tried any of these. If I fail I’ll just claim I didn’t get round to it.

None of them will come to you instantly. But all can be developed with practice. You juat have a limited time but let's say I wouldn't make you do something I couldn't do lol...

 

[Takkyu_ga_suki]

So one last time, I will be doing a blade giveaway. This will hearken back to old times, though this time, as a fix to what happened in previous times, the blades will all be quality blades. No exceptions. Unless you want to a lower quality blade... I definitely could sell them and probably should... I considered donating as well and if you win a blade and decide to donate it to any cause, that is fine. I will probably donate others.

So the desired parameters are to post a video of yourself doing two of the tricks in the old Marcos Freitas skills video. Any of them will qualify. The video must be at least 1 minute long with whatever skills you choose.

The prize blades - 2 Xiom HAL blades , 2 Andro Wosik Legacy blades, and 2 Joola Trinity Vyzaryz blades, all used or almost new but in quite playable condition and worth something reasonable. As the dictator mod, I judge the entries. I will cover postage. When you post your video of your skill and I say it qualifies, just let me know which blade you want. First 6 videos get the blades. The end date for this is August 31, 2026.

I'm sure those tricks are easy.... with AI

 

[J-fed]

I'm sure those tricks are easy.... with AI

Was thinking the same.
Not that I’d ever abuse AI. Scurrilous behavior.

 

[Archosaurus]

Well, I guess I came to the same conclusion everyone else does. There's nothing like H3.

I searched far and wide, high and low, cheap and expensive, tried a bunch of options from almost all of the Chinese manufacturers and some of the other ones and I've come to the conclusion that while Battle 2 and Battle 3 are solid and the better versions of Target are usable, I'd much rather just pay a little bit more for H3. This is after having tried "high-end" rubbers like Dignics as well.

What was especially surprising is that both a 42A National blue sponge (Unboosted!) I've tried and my own 41A Provincial blue sponge feel very easy to hit through and they will crack on anything that's not a slow brushed shot. I'm a beginner by all accounts so this shouldn't be possible according to the internet, but that's what I've found. It doesn't feel hard to hit through at all.

Surprisingly it works on the backhand as well. Definitely not ideal sponge hardness, but it wasn't that far off my objectively much softer backhand rubber. I can understand how some players will use 37-39A on the backhand.

Part of it is probably that I'm familiar with the orange sponge and it's a psychological thing, but that's my 0.02. It will be interesting to see if these views change as my play level improves years down the line.

PS: Hardness consistency on the Provincial is incredible. Mine was 51.5 O topsheet +-0.10 and 56.0 sponge +-0.10. I've only ever seen that kind of precision on Butterfly and Nittaku sheets. None of the other Chinese manufacturers produce anything as precise, the best they can do is +-0.25, but +-1.00 is not atypical, Yinhe sponges are mostly like that.

For reference Commercial H3 Neo 40A is 49.5 +-0.50 topsheet and 48.5 +-0.50 sponge.

/EJ

In terms of actually playing, there's not that much to report. Slow and steady improvement. It'll probably still take me a while to get to my old peak playing level. 10~ hours a week isn't enough to really improve quickly, and my body can't manage the kind of hours I did anymore anyway. I used to play for about 25 a week.

I'd love to post some footage but there's privacy concerns so I may have to not do that. I might post some video of just myself serving some time for fun. Highest division amateur players, state players and ex-national players cannot return my serves adequately and often make outright mistakes on them so it would be very entertaining at the very least. No I don't hide them.

 

[J-fed]

Well, I guess I came to the same conclusion everyone else does. There's nothing like H3.

I searched far and wide, high and low, cheap and expensive, tried a bunch of options from almost all of the Chinese manufacturers and some of the other ones and I've come to the conclusion that while Battle 2 and Battle 3 are solid and the better versions of Target are usable, I'd much rather just pay a little bit more for H3. This is after having tried "high-end" rubbers like Dignics as well.

What was especially surprising is that both a 42A National blue sponge (Unboosted!) I've tried and my own 41A Provincial blue sponge feel very easy to hit through and they will crack on anything that's not a slow brushed shot. I'm a beginner by all accounts so this shouldn't be possible according to the internet, but that's what I've found. It doesn't feel hard to hit through at all.

Surprisingly it works on the backhand as well. Definitely not ideal sponge hardness, but it wasn't that far off my objectively much softer backhand rubber. I can understand how some players will use 37-39A on the backhand.

Part of it is probably that I'm familiar with the orange sponge and it's a psychological thing, but that's my 0.02. It will be interesting to see if these views change as my play level improves years down the line.

PS: Hardness consistency on the Provincial is incredible. Mine was 51.5 O topsheet +-0.10 and 56.0 sponge +-0.10. I've only ever seen that kind of precision on Butterfly and Nittaku sheets. None of the other Chinese manufacturers produce anything as precise, the best they can do is +-0.25, but +-1.00 is not atypical, Yinhe sponges are mostly like that.

For reference Commercial H3 Neo 40A is 49.5 +-0.50 topsheet and 48.5 +-0.50 sponge.

/EJ

In terms of actually playing, there's not that much to report. Slow and steady improvement. It'll probably still take me a while to get to my old peak playing level. 10~ hours a week isn't enough to really improve quickly, and my body can't manage the kind of hours I did anymore anyway. I used to play for about 25 a week.

I'd love to post some footage but there's privacy concerns so I may have to not do that. I might post some video of just myself serving some time for fun. Highest division amateur players, state players and ex-national players cannot return my serves adequately and often make outright mistakes on them so it would be very entertaining at the very least. No I don't hide them.

25 hours a week? Jeez.
I might have played 10-15 when I was 15 but gosh. Even now I play 1 or 2 90 min sessions a week and I feel progress in various areas.
I think you can definitely improve if you focus on 1-3 technical, mental or tactical aspects each time.

 

[Archosaurus]

25 hours a week? Jeez.
I might have played 10-15 when I was 15 but gosh. Even now I play 1 or 2 90 min sessions a week and I feel progress in various areas.
I think you can definitely improve if you focus on 1-3 technical, mental or tactical aspects each time.

Yeah, maybe 20 on a bad week. I was in my teens back then, though, and I also went to the gym 5 times a week. And to be honest, probably a minimum of 2 hours per day was serve practice, so it's not really as much as it sounds like.

Still, if I did that now, I'd get injured in all kinds of ways. I might manage 15 next year but we will need to see. Granted my play is actually more physical now than back then (wider, lower stance, more rotation etc).

The training is a lot more focused and high quality now, that's for sure. You just tend to unlearn what you learned if you take even a small break. Playing almost every day is very good.

 

[J-fed]

Yeah, maybe 20 on a bad week. I was in my teens back then, though, and I also went to the gym 5 times a week. And to be honest, probably a minimum of 2 hours per day was serve practice, so it's not really as much as it sounds like.

Still, if I did that now, I'd get injured in all kinds of ways. I might manage 15 next year but we will need to see. Granted my play is actually more physical now than back then (wider, lower stance, more rotation etc).

The training is a lot more focused and high quality now, that's for sure. You just tend to unlearn what you learned if you take even a small break. Playing almost every day is very good.

If you can do so without injury, great. Me? I need rest and variety. Always have really, regardless of age

 

[JustANoob]

I like this dude, his videos kind of kill/satisfy the ej in me

 

[dingyibvs]

Well, I guess I came to the same conclusion everyone else does. There's nothing like H3.

I searched far and wide, high and low, cheap and expensive, tried a bunch of options from almost all of the Chinese manufacturers and some of the other ones and I've come to the conclusion that while Battle 2 and Battle 3 are solid and the better versions of Target are usable, I'd much rather just pay a little bit more for H3. This is after having tried "high-end" rubbers like Dignics as well.

What was especially surprising is that both a 42A National blue sponge (Unboosted!) I've tried and my own 41A Provincial blue sponge feel very easy to hit through and they will crack on anything that's not a slow brushed shot. I'm a beginner by all accounts so this shouldn't be possible according to the internet, but that's what I've found. It doesn't feel hard to hit through at all.

Surprisingly it works on the backhand as well. Definitely not ideal sponge hardness, but it wasn't that far off my objectively much softer backhand rubber. I can understand how some players will use 37-39A on the backhand.

Part of it is probably that I'm familiar with the orange sponge and it's a psychological thing, but that's my 0.02. It will be interesting to see if these views change as my play level improves years down the line.

PS: Hardness consistency on the Provincial is incredible. Mine was 51.5 O topsheet +-0.10 and 56.0 sponge +-0.10. I've only ever seen that kind of precision on Butterfly and Nittaku sheets. None of the other Chinese manufacturers produce anything as precise, the best they can do is +-0.25, but +-1.00 is not atypical, Yinhe sponges are mostly like that.

For reference Commercial H3 Neo 40A is 49.5 +-0.50 topsheet and 48.5 +-0.50 sponge.

/EJ

In terms of actually playing, there's not that much to report. Slow and steady improvement. It'll probably still take me a while to get to my old peak playing level. 10~ hours a week isn't enough to really improve quickly, and my body can't manage the kind of hours I did anymore anyway. I used to play for about 25 a week.

I'd love to post some footage but there's privacy concerns so I may have to not do that. I might post some video of just myself serving some time for fun. Highest division amateur players, state players and ex-national players cannot return my serves adequately and often make outright mistakes on them so it would be very entertaining at the very least. No I don't hide them.

The issue with H3 is the topsheet QC. My last 3 sheets have been just hot garbage, 2 nationals and 1 provincial. The nationals were not playable from the start. They were matte appearing rather than glassy like normal H3s, not tacky, and not grippy either. Simply unusable. The provincial was a little tacky, barely playable for the first 2 weeks, and then became unplayable thereafter.

There's nothing like the H3 for sure, but I'm just about done with it due to the terrible, terrible topsheet variability.

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

The issue with H3 is the topsheet QC. My last 3 sheets have been just hot garbage, 2 nationals and 1 provincial. The nationals were not playable from the start. They were matte appearing rather than glassy like normal H3s, not tacky, and not grippy either. Simply unusable. The provincial was a little tacky, barely playable for the first 2 weeks, and then became unplayable thereafter.

There's nothing like the H3 for sure, but I'm just about done with it due to the terrible, terrible topsheet variability.

I am curious if it would be any different for the player edition versions. Sure they are more expensive but tbh I don't mind as much when the boost dies so long as the topsheet remains shiny and sticky, it takes a lot to kill a good H3 topsheet and I don't hit anywhere near hard enough consistently to bubble the topsheet. Meanwhile the matte topsheets do not even feel like H3 at all to me, to the extent that I'd rather use something like Turbo Orange even though its a brick. I bought a handful of sheets of national Neo bluesponge between '24-'25 and have had to bin near half of them by now because the topsheets were hot garbage. I can play fine with most new gen Euro hybrids, I'm getting along fine with Trinity Dynamic atm, but nothing beats the spin and safety of a good H3 topsheet

 

[Archosaurus]

The issue with H3 is the topsheet QC. My last 3 sheets have been just hot garbage, 2 nationals and 1 provincial. The nationals were not playable from the start. They were matte appearing rather than glassy like normal H3s, not tacky, and not grippy either. Simply unusable. The provincial was a little tacky, barely playable for the first 2 weeks, and then became unplayable thereafter.

There's nothing like the H3 for sure, but I'm just about done with it due to the terrible, terrible topsheet variability.

I suspect it matters who you buy from. I have never had a bad experience to now, they're all pretty consistent. I wonder if people are just buying counterfeits.

Measuring the hardness and confirming that it's indeed near-exact would be a decent real-world way to confirm counterfeit vs real, because some shit knockoff factory is not gonna be able to produce top-tier consistency IMO.

 

[NextLevel]

I'm sure those tricks are easy.... with AI

If I go to a club, I will do the two I recommend. I could definitely do the pancake one without going to a club.

 

[NextLevel]

The issue with H3 is the topsheet QC. My last 3 sheets have been just hot garbage, 2 nationals and 1 provincial. The nationals were not playable from the start. They were matte appearing rather than glassy like normal H3s, not tacky, and not grippy either. Simply unusable. The provincial was a little tacky, barely playable for the first 2 weeks, and then became unplayable thereafter.

There's nothing like the H3 for sure, but I'm just about done with it due to the terrible, terrible topsheet variability.

Try using protector sheets, they can help improve tack.

 

[Archosaurus]

Try using protector sheets, they can help improve tack.

I like the hard plastic precut ones, like the Yinhe and XVT ones. The ones which don't crumple up after one use and which are easily washable.

I don't know if it's proper or not, but the way I've always done it is to drop a bit of water on the sheet, run my fingers on it in a circle to grab the debris, then (very lightly) wipe the water off with a paper towel (microfiber surely better), then cover with a protector sheet while there's still some water on it. I don't know why for sure, and it seems like it'd be bad instead of good, but the last part is important.

My first Super FX sheet I ever got was still tacky over a decade later!