NL & USDC: I'm downgrading...

[UpSideDownCarl]

Ask those guys who have been telling you to notch things down if the Speed 90 is enough of a downgrade. It will be fine to go with what they say.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I was busy experiencing the Gozo Effect that I have forgotten about the winning part. Maybe now I come back focus on winning instead. Notice I used the term 'gaming experience' earlier on, perhaps going forward I will aim winning experience.

USDC, even with DS90 already I feel the need to spin to win. Cannot go full HULK SMASH with 9mm. It is just not the same.

God, I do miss the power of 10.5mm with super-duper trampolinish ESN rubber. Darn it: Must resist, must resist.

the game of table tennis for smashing was 38mm day

today it is more around spin.
I hope you can learn how to generate heavy top spin shots, as that is the, "fun", today

 

[IB66]

1. Some of the veteran players at my club coerced me to use a less powerful set-up for better gaming experience.

2. I don't have any major tourney at the moment. Next big one is at the end of Sep-23.

3. It is time for EJ'ing again! Yay!

If you are EJ'ing, then get 2 or 3 blades, a defensive blade, an all round blade and a off/ off- blade.
you may already have a blade or 2 that may be suitable??
If you can, load all of them with the same rubber (new), if you do 1 side of each blade, then you only have to get 3 rubbers.
It's the only real way to get a realistic idea of what the speed difference of the blades are.
Give them all a good run out over a number of weeks, see if the difference in speed really makes any difference to whether you win or loose, are rallies longer etc

For close to the table rallies, when both players are close the speed difference will be small, As you move away from the table the speed difference will be more noticeable. It's the distance the ball travels that make the speed seem a lot faster or slower.
Ask yourself - how often do I get into a FH loop to loop rally with both players 4+ meters away from the table?? at our level, maybe 0.5% of the time. How often do rallies happen when both are 2m back from the table?? maybe 30% of the time?? Rallies close to the table, both players 1m back maybe 69.05% of the time, Perhaps I'm being conservative here???

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Ask those guys who have been telling you to notch things down if the Speed 90 is enough of a downgrade. It will be fine to go with what they say.

I'll start with the noodle guy. But I am in the mood for some story telling so here goes:

This noodle guy moved his business to where I work ( a stone throw away ) early of this year. I tried his dumpling noodle and I became hooked on it. He is a well known figure in the local TT scene; winning three year back to back veteran MS champion is no easy feat ( that was just before Covid pandemic struck ). I do not know him well enough prior but as I became his regular noodle customer it became easier to strike chat with him.

He is also a Hinoki user, J-Pen style with only single side rubber ( Tenergy / Dignics 05 ). He told me he had used Darker Speed 90, BTY G-Max and all the other BTY J-Pen One Ply Hinoki variation. He has been playing TT since elementary school and my guess is that he has more than 40 years TT experience. He has also played with the legendary BTY Kim Taek Soo 10.5mm as well but he commented BTY-KTS was too bouncy and hard to control even for himself. Currently he uses one of the BTY J-Pen Cypress variation ( not sure which one as he switches around between them ).

Coming back to USDC question, yes! He is the one who told me to use DS90 and not my 10.5mm custom blade. He was the one who told me all out attack is nice but in actual game, you need to strike a balance between offense and defense and he said for me to use DS90 as he was also a prior user before, so he knows what he is talking about, I guess.

Like I said before, winning was not my priority previously as I was more of a hobby player who is more interested in attaining those high feeling. i.e., those HULK SMASH moments. But it has become boring so now I seek some other form of feeling; perhaps feeling of winning going forward?

Now on to the second very senior veteran pips player. He uses C-Pen balsa wood with short pips ( very He Zhiwen'ish ) . He too says to use a more control set-up and play with rally in mind and less one shot one kill if I want to move higher up the rank. It is easy to one shot one kill those lower rank player, but it is a diminishing return strategy as I move higher up the rank.

So here it is, end of my story telling session.

NB:

1. This DS90 set up is 27g lighter than my 10.5mm Full Gozo Set-up
2. It is lunch time here now, time for some dumpling noodle.

 

[NextLevel]

I'll start with the noodle guy. But I am in the mood for some story telling so here goes:

This noodle guy moved his business to where I work ( a stone throw away ) early of this year. I tried his dumpling noodle and I became hooked on it. He is a well known figure in the local TT scene; winning three year back to back veteran MS champion is no easy feat ( that was just before Covid pandemic struck ). I do not know him well enough prior but as I became his regular noodle customer it became easier to strike chat with him.

He is also a Hinoki user, J-Pen style with only single side rubber ( Tenergy / Dignics 05 ). He told me he had used Darker Speed 90, BTY G-Max and all the other BTY J-Pen One Ply Hinoki variation. He has been playing TT since elementary school and my guess is that he has more than 40 years TT experience. He has also played with the legendary BTY Kim Taek Soo 10.5mm as well but he commented BTY-KTS was too bouncy and hard to control even for himself. Currently he uses one of the BTY J-Pen Cypress variation ( not sure which one as he switches around between them ).

Coming back to USDC question, yes! He is the one who told me to use DS90 and not my 10.5mm custom blade. He was the one who told me all out attack is nice but in actual game, you need to strike a balance between offense and defense and he said for me to use DS90 as he was also a prior user before, so he knows what he is talking about, I guess.

Like I said before, winning was not my priority previously as I was more of a hobby player who is more interested in attaining those high feeling. i.e., those HULK SMASH moments. But it has become boring so now I seek some other form of feeling; perhaps feeling of winning going forward?

Now on to the second very senior veteran pips player. He uses C-Pen balsa wood with short pips ( very He Zhiwen'ish ) . He too says to use a more control set-up and play with rally in mind and less one shot one kill if I want to move higher up the rank. It is easy to one shot one kill those lower rank player, but it is a diminishing return strategy as I move higher up the rank.

So here it is, end of my story telling session.

NB:

1. This DS90 set up is 27g lighter than my 10.5mm Full Gozo Set-up
2. It is lunch time here now, time for some dumpling noodle.

Ah, life is interesting. Wise players everywhere think alike lol. But the very wise ones with good dumpling noodle prefer DS90. My brain has grown today.

But seriously thanks for the story. Let's hope the drop in speed is significant enough to make a difference

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Gozo,
you mentioned a while back that your coach said you can graduate, and that there isn't anything else he can teach you.

question
did you bombard him with EJ related questions whole day long?

 

[Gozo Aruna]

question
did you bombard him with EJ related questions whole day long?

No.

To prevent you being judgemental it was the noodle guy that goaded me to change my equipment.

 

[NextLevel]

No.

To prevent you being judgemental it was the noodle guy that goaded me to change my equipment.
View attachment 26134

The reason Tony is asking is that it is rare for a coach to graduate a student so early unless the coach feels the student is not responding to coaching.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

No.

To prevent you being judgemental it was the noodle guy that goaded me to change my equipment.
View attachment 26134

someone got

 

[Gozo Aruna]

The reason Tony is asking is that it is rare for a coach to graduate a student so early unless the coach feels the student is not responding to coaching.

I am not looking for those hardcore train six hours per day six days per week kind of coach. I am was looking for a coach to make me suxs less. Objective achieved.

 

[NextLevel]

I am not looking for those hardcore train six hours per day six days per week kind of coach. I am was looking for a coach to make me suxs less. Objective achieved.

When I got/gave coaching, it was usually once a week for just one hour, unless there was a training camp or something like that. That was how I sucked less, as well as playing matches. It was never train hardcore 6 hours a week, talk less of a day.

What would happen was that the coach or myself would notice something I could work on based on how I was losing points, and we would work on it for an hour every week. But I guess different coaches approach coaching differently, but even as an adult learner, if the coach just trained you to return serves, especially topspinning the long and half long ones consistently, over a period of a year, one hour a week adds up and raises your level a lot. Probably even more relevant with serve and third ball - eventually, it clicks.