Tomahawk Serve BLADE DAMAGE

[Ilia Minkin]

Here is how my blade looks like, gray stuff is epoxy. There was a really huge crack in the center.

 

[Der_Echte]

OP could tell the guys at tourney that he TomaHAWK'd intruders. Table Tennis should be an entertainment business.

 

[Shuki]

But the new blade will be made from a different piece of wood that come from a different tree, that grew in different conditions and has different age. What to do with that?

nope, same wood, I've emailed him about it quite a few times. even sent me a picture of where he cut out the shape of my blade on the wood with all thats left of it.

 

[thekleifheit13]

At $20 USD a blade, you sure could afford a new backup... Cole only charges a max of $5 USD for shipping in USA, damned difficult to beat that deal.

He charged me that whopping $5 a medium flat rate box when I was in Iraq and Korea... and he could pack a lot of stuff into one of those... and he tossed in extra stuff for Soldiers.

Backup blade with rubbers was on order as soon as I quit dropping mad profanity. Haha

 

[Der_Echte]

Inquiring minds want to know how the matches went.

 

[NextLevel]

After I finished cursing I worked on a shorter motion for the serve and it went fine. I do it Kenta Matsudaira style and just squatted too far down...

You seriously think you squatted further down than this?

 

[thekleifheit13]

Actually, it's very possible. I'm not much taller than him and as a competitive powerlifter I have the flexibility of hip, spine, and knee to touch my ausch on the ground without much stress.

 

[thekleifheit13]

Inquiring minds want to know how the matches went.

Appreciate the inquiry! I went 2-4 in the U1600 while taking the 1 and 3 seeds to 9-11 in the 5th. Got a 3-1 win on a guy that was 1370. I won the U1200 event and lost a total of 4 sets all day. Very pleased but I need much more work in tournament situations and with my strokes if I'm gonna be dangerous in U1600 and U1800 anytime soon.

 

[Der_Echte]

Still... winning your division is an outstanding result you cannot expect every time.

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[NextLevel]

Still... winning your division is an outstanding result you cannot expect every time.

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Why not, if you are the best player in your division?

 

[thekleifheit13]

@D_E and @NL I kinda take the middle road between you two on this. I was the third seeded player in that division but am a more complete player than the top 2. I went in knowing I had the best chance to win but also knowing that any of the top 5 could smear me if I let my guard down for a second. Knowing I had the best chance kept me calm and grounded, but knowing the others could kill me if I played soft or played their game kept me on my toes. My serves and my ability to push with varying spin, speed, and placement let were the biggest reason I pulled it off. I wasn't comfortable enough with my loops to rely on them to win so I relied on varying topspin and backspin shots while moving my opponents around. Looking forward, I need to learn to stay lower and generate more power to make my attacks dangerous and consistent enough to rely on. But for now, I'll enjoy a short break and my trophy

 

[Ilia Minkin]

Why not, if you are the best player in your division?

This rating range (I'd say <1500) is full of massively underrated kids lusting blood.

 

[Ilia Minkin]

Apart from kids, there are dudes that decided to make a comeback after N years of not playing, and they also often start with low rating events to test waters. There are also guys that deliberately drop their rating to enter those events and make fun of people. I once played a 700 (!!!) guy, who went through U1150 and U1300 winning all games like 11-1. Needless to say, he was ~1700 a few months afterwards. So you never know whom are you going to face.

 

[Der_Echte]

Agreed NL... but is that ever the case each time over a long time for a player trying their best to win?

If a player is ALWAYS the highest rated player in the division then something is wrong or it is a sparse turnout.

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[Der_Echte]

If I was ranked No. 1 or 2... I would expect to make it to the finals and at least be highly competitive.

In the region I live in, it is very common for players ranked in top 4 to not even make the SEMIS.

Edit: That is for 2000 level and below. At the 2200 to 2300 and above the higher ranked players generally play as expected with some exceptions.

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[thekleifheit13]

Apart from kids, there are also dudes that decided to make a comeback after N years of not playing, and they also often start with low rating events to try waters. There are also guys that deliberately drop their rating to enter those events and make fun of people. I once played a 700 (!!!) guy, who went through U1150 and U1300 winning all games like 11-1. Needless to say, he was ~1700 a few months afterwards. So you never know whom are you going to face.

Spot on here. I played a kid that was under 1000 that had a more consistent loop and flip than anyone I played in the U1600. If I didn't have my serves he probably woulda ripped through me.

 

[Ilia Minkin]

Spot on here. I played a kid that was under 1000 that had a more consistent loop and flip than anyone I played in the U1600. If I didn't have my serves he probably woulda ripped through me.

I face this kind of players all damn time.

 

[thekleifheit13]

This time there was a lot of talent in the tournament and his expectations of domination didn't go so well

 

[NextLevel]

Agreed NL... but is that ever the case each time over a long time for a player trying their best to win?

If a player is ALWAYS the highest rated player in the division then something is wrong or it is a sparse turnout.

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It depends. I am just saying that if he is the best player in the event, anyone who beats him has to out play him. IF you don't think this way, you will be always prone to thinking that there is someone out there to upset you. And it will become a form of paranoia. If you accept that even rapidly improving juniors have weaknesses, you will beat them too if your game is solid enough to beat them. I used to be a dead ball blocker when all those juniors were in love with topspin, which was how I got them consistently back in the day.

We are on the same page. Winning the event is a good thing as is not something that will always happen. But if you play your event with confidence, it will happen often enough.

 

[Ilia Minkin]

BTW, when I played July Open in WTTC in 2015, there was a whole junior team from Trinidad. Many of those players were in WTTC one year before, and played a tournament ang got their ratings. Then they went went home, trained hard, and came back a year after. Then imagine how many upsets those guys caused. Yes, I am paranoid