says
Spin and more spin.
says
Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
Der_Echte's assessment of my play is actually fairly accurate. There is one flaw in it. At the time we played last, I played exactly as he said, against guys who were good. People who are better hit the ball where they want more and the spin on the ball is much more predictable. So I would play higher against guys who actually were good. Then I would play someone 1200-1400 and a lot of the time they try to hit the ball to one place and it goes somewhere else, they try to get heavy topspin and the ball ends up dead. And at the time I would mess up on that stuff over and over again. So I was actually playing at about 1500 at that time because if you lose to someone 1400 and beat someone 1700 that is about where you are.
Right now I am playing pretty evenly with most people who are in the 1800-1900 range. I really did have to relearn my forehand. And Edmund really did break it down and help me change it. The guy is not really a table tennis coach. But he is a great teacher and really got me to understand what I needed to do to change it.
So, I hang around with Edmund because he has taught me more than anyone else and he is seriously generous with his time. Not because I can challenge him in a match. hahaha. And he is another one whose technique is better than his overall level.
So for 2 years I just did not play matches almost at all because I did not want the old, bad habits to reassert themselves. Now they are gone. About 4 months ago I started working on game skills and me level has really jumped. It is a lot closer to the level of the technique of my strokes now. Not all the way there. But closer. Like, if I am past the first 3 balls and and in an open rally with someone who is 2000 I can hold my own and am about 50/50 in those rallies where I can get to mid-distance. However, a player who is 2000 sees my weaknesses easily and exploits them and does not let me get to mid-distance. hahaha.
When my over the table skills match my mid-distance skills, I will be a better player. But I am happy.
You see the thing is, when you don't work on game skills, even when your strokes are pretty good, your game skills go out the window. So, before I fixed my forehand my rating was 1650 but I was pretty much at the ceiling of what the old technique would allow without me changing to a pips racket. And all I really care about is technique getting better and spinning the hell out of the ball because that is what makes me enjoy playing. So when I changed my forehand technique, I probably dropped to about 1400.
When Der_Echte and I played last time my technique was starting to be solid. A few months after I started working on game skills and match play again. And in the last 2 months things started going up. So now my actually level is closer to the level of my strokes. But not there yet.
Also, knowing how to loop over the table which is different from looping from mid-distance is a really valuable skill and knowing how to come over the table to flip also needs to be be developed side by side with over the table loops. Those things are starting to get better. And in working on them, somehow my countering of flips has really improved. In match play, at this point, I am happy to let my opponent flip on me5, because unless their flip is very good, they better be ready for what comes back. Hahaha.
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