Daily Table Tennis Chit Chat

[andymagata]

I can relate to this in a slightly different way. I started playing table tennis as an adult, and after almost two years I’m still very much a beginner. I’ve tried a ridiculous number of blades and rubbers along the way, because I genuinely enjoy the equipment side of the hobby — probably almost as much as playing itself.


But I’ve gradually realized that I don’t really need to become “good” for table tennis to be worthwhile for me. I enjoy figuring things out: why one rubber feels completely different from another, what happens when I change my contact, why a particular blade makes a certain stroke easier, and so on. Sometimes I spend a whole session discovering one tiny thing that actually works for me.


And this exploration period has brought me a lot of fun. But I think I’m actually arriving at a conclusion now: I have found something I enjoy playing with more than ever before. I don’t know if it’s because it aligns better with my current skills, the kind of player I want to become, or simply because it feels more natural to me. Maybe it’s a bit of all three.


I’m still not very good, of course. 😄 But I feel like I’m getting somewhere. And that, in itself, is really enjoyable.


I also believe that, for most people, the exploration period eventually comes to an end — and when it does, you’ve hopefully found a setup that really appeals to you, one that you simply want to play with most of the time.


And to reach that point, I think we just need to be a little bit brave. In my case, I went back to a blade that I had previously ruled out as not fitting my style or feeling. I also started to use short pips - which was nothing I wanted to try - but I did it anyway - and I immediately liked it.

 

[NextLevel]

Lots of activities in life can be pretty fun and addictive at a challenging level even if you aren't fantastic at them. Table tennis, chess, they are mostly games that tap into one of the fundamental human drives tied to goal achievement at various levels.

EJing is definitely a lot of fun and as i like to point out, it is cheaper than buying cars. You can also improve while EJing even if it might not be as quickly as someone who largely used the same equipment. EJing appeals to the human desire for quantity and variety. Such desires are parts of the reasons some people accumulate vast hoards of wealth or harems of partners so again, not a drive to sniff at.

As for improvement, Tyce is quite right, the more you skipped over the key phases of experiencing the right training environment in your youth, you have to find and dedicate similar time as an adult and that is not for everyone and some would argue impractical for people with other financial goals or families to support unless they make TT their primary hobby next to those things. The biggest thing is always coaching though or being exposed to players a bit above the levels you want to aspire to so you can acquire the skills to play like them. That, especially if it comes as a from of mentorship from someone who is genuinely interested in improving your game, tends to be the bulk of it.

 

[Tyce]

I can relate to this in a slightly different way. I started playing table tennis as an adult, and after almost two years I’m still very much a beginner. I’ve tried a ridiculous number of blades and rubbers along the way, because I genuinely enjoy the equipment side of the hobby — probably almost as much as playing itself.

100% agree. I loved discovering different sensations, blades that were wayyyy too fast, doesn't matter because I just really enjoyed the ride!

But I’ve gradually realized that I don’t really need to become “good” for table tennis to be worthwhile for me. I enjoy figuring things out: why one rubber feels completely different from another, what happens when I change my contact, why a particular blade makes a certain stroke easier, and so on. Sometimes I spend a whole session discovering one tiny thing that actually works for me.


And this exploration period has brought me a lot of fun. But I think I’m actually arriving at a conclusion now: I have found something I enjoy playing with more than ever before. I don’t know if it’s because it aligns better with my current skills, the kind of player I want to become, or simply because it feels more natural to me. Maybe it’s a bit of all three.


I’m still not very good, of course. 😄 But I feel like I’m getting somewhere. And that, in itself, is really enjoyable.


I also believe that, for most people, the exploration period eventually comes to an end — and when it does, you’ve hopefully found a setup that really appeals to you, one that you simply want to play with most of the time.


And to reach that point, I think we just need to be a little bit brave. In my case, I went back to a blade that I had previously ruled out as not fitting my style or feeling. I also started to use short pips - which was nothing I wanted to try - but I did it anyway - and I immediately liked it.

I was actually giving up on the Innerforce Layer ALC, but I'm still using right now. What turned it around for me was actually finding the right rubbers to fit my current playing level as well as allowing me some headroom to grow, and they are just working very well on this blade, much better than on the blade I had in mind.
There's still one blade to come, and time will tell if it's a blade I will be playing or just keeping.

Now, this focus on a single setup does also happen to be at the same time I promoted, and I feel the need to stop fiddling around, boss up and get better. Cutting out the equipment distraction is a big, quick win (well it's quick because I actually have something I like to play with, too, ofc) and it's no coincidence that I feel the urge to cut out unnecessary distractions and just focus on playing, tactics, ways to get something up on the opponents because I actually *have* to do that now.

Speaking of which, my one win on Monday means I've equaled my 2009 performance, 3 more wins and I will be equaling 2006, and anything over that will be my peak career performance