Losing pretty instead of winning ugly

[Brs]

There is another famous tennis book called The Inner Game of Tennis. In it losing pretty is called the game of Perfect-O.

 

[z0uLess]

Practice pretty and compete ugly

 

[jammmail]

I think being hard to beat is a better way to frame it.
Playing ugly, which by saying ugly I imagine that is meant by playing in a way you dont enjoy? is never going to be fun. But the biggest way to improve results is to cut out mistakes and cheap free point ,this will have a big impact.

 

[SofaChamp]

In my book, it's never ok to lose, you do whatever you have to do to get the W

Mr Gilbert, is that you?

 

[Gtsnake]

You've just described every long pips player. They can only win ugly because they can't win pretty so they have to resort to different tactics.

 

[Ghostzen]

You've just described every long pips player. They can only win ugly because they can't win pretty so they have to resort to different tactics.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder on these things.

For me there's little that's more exciting than seeing a good defender vs a good attacker.

Then again 2 guys pushing for hours... Not so exciting agree.

 

[NDH]

I think the "Ugly" terminology is getting a little lost in translation here.

Let's use Ma Long as an example.

Ma Long might be having a really off day with his attacking game - Loops are missing, footwork isn't quite there and he's just not dialled in.

Plan B might be to keep really steady -Block a lot, keep the ball on the table, mix it up with some different serves, more heavy pushes etc.....

I appreciate it's hard to picture Ma Long doing that, but I'm sure we can all relate to having those days.

"Winning Ugly", is just that, it's not playing your best game for whatever reason, but grinding out the win regardless.

I class it as a very good skill to be able to do that - A lot of Juniors can't.

Juniors have plan A (two winged attack), but no back up plan if that isn't working (and inevitably, they lose a lot because of it).

For me, in *any* competitive match, winning is what matters.

Pretty or Ugly (often more Ugly these days!), as long as you win, it's a good night for the team.

However, the only way you get to play pretty, is through practicing pretty.

In practice matches, this is where you want to play your A game, regardless of how well you are playing - Fight through the mistakes and keep going for it.

The hard work you put into practice, even when it's not going well for you, will dictate how pretty you play in matches.

 

[Lazer]

I think the "Ugly" terminology is getting a little lost in translation here.

Let's use Ma Long as an example.

Ma Long might be having a really off day with his attacking game - Loops are missing, footwork isn't quite there and he's just not dialled in.

Plan B might be to keep really steady -Block a lot, keep the ball on the table, mix it up with some different serves, more heavy pushes etc.....

I appreciate it's hard to picture Ma Long doing that, but I'm sure we can all relate to having those days.

"Winning Ugly", is just that, it's not playing your best game for whatever reason, but grinding out the win regardless.

I class it as a very good skill to be able to do that - A lot of Juniors can't.

Juniors have plan A (two winged attack), but no back up plan if that isn't working (and inevitably, they lose a lot because of it).

For me, in *any* competitive match, winning is what matters.

Pretty or Ugly (often more Ugly these days!), as long as you win, it's a good night for the team.

However, the only way you get to play pretty, is through practicing pretty.

In practice matches, this is where you want to play your A game, regardless of how well you are playing - Fight through the mistakes and keep going for it.

The hard work you put into practice, even when it's not going well for you, will dictate how pretty you play in matches.

That another ugly than I think of. I am seeing a player doing border line illegal thing to annoy the opponent. Stuff like taking extremely long time between balls, tying shoe laces etc…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[bobpuls]

I think this thread comes only foron last eurooean championships, where Truls wins it only by this ugly tactics which cones from Chinese league(imho) , where he participate last months... It is ugly but it is part of the sport and he didn't do anything wrong from point of jury ... I myself adopt this and maybe it is not even wrong to use it.. Because lots of players try to rush the game to much. Of course to be at point i mean the wait stop on start of serve. This can distract oponent like hell

 

[Der_Echte]

The mental performance aspect of table tennis has SO MANY parts and we cannot properly discuss and articulate even a small portion of the totality.

Where mental performance interfaces with shots, rallies, points, games, matches... RESULTS is how one can harness phycological power and transfer it to ACTION that leads to these things that heavily contribute to results.

It is no-shyt Sherlock territory to say the obvious that if one is not performing effective mentally it really negatively impacts how one plays.

Developing a stronger mental performance takes honesty and integrity with ones self. One must frankly examine oneself and see where they are and where they must go. One must have determination and dedication to change. This isn't easy as it is actually changing one's character.

Being able to stay emotionally controlled, aggressive, able to spot what is happening and adjust, have confidence that their tactics are right or their opponents adjusted and have confidence in the ability to effectively adapt... shot selection... having the courage to play the shot... and the RIGHT shot give one's objectives and abilities... the SELF-DISCIPLINE to stay within one's abilities in how they play... the calmness and even demeanor when things do not go to plan or weird unfortunate things happen.

These are only a fraction of what goes on... it is much like a mental and spiritual battle happening at the subconscious level.