What drills to do to reach solid 1500 USATT?

[piligrim]

I didn't know he's 60. I have a better way to beat 1500.

Use SP on forehand and LP on BH. I'm not even joking or exaggerating. You will not believe how many 1500's will struggle to perform against LP if they haven't practiced against it.

You wrong. I used SP and LP. Not same time as you suggested but still ... Not because wanted to improve my rating. Just liked to use pips. You won't believe but almost nobody had problem with my pips.

 

[TensorBackhand]

You wrong. I used SP and LP. Not same time as you suggested but still ... Not because wanted to improve my rating. Just liked to use pips. You won't believe but almost nobody had problem with my pips.

That doesnt make me wrong. Your experience is just different from my experience.

In my experience, many players have problems with pips. Thats the reason people choose LP, for their reversal.

OP can also freely consider your experience and advice

 

[piligrim]

In my experience, many players have problems with pips. Thats the reason people choose LP, for their reversal

No. Its not reason why people choose pips. Peope choose LP because first, they have bad BH and second, they like to use LP

 

[TensorBackhand]

No. Its not reason why people choose pips. Peope choose LP because first, they have bad BH and second, they like to use LP

There could be many reasons people choose LP.

Bad backhand may be one immediate reason to choose LP. But the reason LP works to correct their bad backhand is because LP provides reversal and helps buy points for them without having a strong attacking bh. If LP didn't provide reversal, a bad BH player switching to LP would find no benefit.

I'm sure there are many different people who have all sorts of their own reasons for choosing LP.

 

[blahness]

I second TensorBackhand's suggestion - just use pips. Inverted is just damn hard and physical in terms of playstyle. Just for eg the motion of FH looping a heavy underspin ball without 'cheating' (for eg by opening racket angle a lot) cant be done by a lot of seniors due to the knee and hip bend required. What I see is that they give up and push the ball back or do some kinda weird shot. But the senior folk with LP or SP they can just hit through those heavy underspin balls like they are nothing.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

finally from a tactical standpoint- you need to understand the reason you lose points. and then work on turning those match situations into points you are winning. If people exploit a weak backhand, you need to improve your backhand blocking to where they aren't going for it every point. or if you know your forehand is your best shot, how are you using your serves to set you up for your forehand shots.

correct

train based on what your weakness are.
changing equipment is the last thing you should do now

I have been helping an adult beginner lately, she has a coach she sees twice a week, for total 3 hours.
she visits from another country to me, and first trip we had 12 hours session over 5 days straight, and then 5 hours over 2 days straight. Working on her weaknesses.

both trips, she has learnt something new and the weaknesses are no longer bothering her.

who said 1500 you don't need forehand drive.....
with forehand drive, and backhand drive against underspin or topspin balls, 1500 is no problem. you can jump to even higher level with those basics.

a south african coach would tell students there is only 4 shots in table tennis you must master. FH and BH top spin, and then FH and BH push/chop

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

What are the drills that I need to focus on to be a solid 1500 USATT level player?

Falkenberg

What are the drills that I need to focus on to be a solid 2,000 USATT level player?

Falkenberg

What are the drills that I need to focus on to be a solid 2,500 USATT level player?

Falkenberg

 

[WingTT]

Falkenberg

Falkenberg

Falkenberg

At 60 years old, Falkenberg might simply do him in. Time to put on those Sith robes.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I second TensorBackhand's suggestion - just use pips. Inverted is just damn hard and physical in terms of playstyle. Just for eg the motion of FH looping a heavy underspin ball without 'cheating' (for eg by opening racket angle a lot) cant be done by a lot of seniors due to the knee and hip bend required. What I see is that they give up and push the ball back or do some kinda weird shot. But the senior folk with LP or SP they can just hit through those heavy underspin balls like they are nothing.

Have you ever seen movie Moneyball? The baseball team manager has a revelation that the real goal us not to get the best players, the real goal is to buy the most runs at the lowest cost.

Using LP is similar. You wont look good, and you wont win every point. But its a kinda shortcut to attempt to "buy" points. You want to win 52% of points. Over the long term, buying just 2% of points will result in many match wins.

 

[piligrim]

Have you ever seen movie Moneyball? The baseball team manager has a revelation that the real goal us not to get the best players, the real goal is to buy the most runs at the lowest cost.

Using LP is similar. You wont look good, and you wont win every point. But its a kinda shortcut to attempt to "buy" points. You want to win 52% of points. Over the long term, buying just 2% of points will result in many match wins.

There is much more people who get points by using inverted rubbers. I lost many games to people who use inverted rubbers.

 

[SleepyMaster]

It’s style dependent also. If pips suits you - or you are interested in them - why not to try. I really don’t understand when I’m suggested one of my friends to use some sort of pips (his mostly pushing and blocking close to the table) as a solution for his desire to win more matches with unfrequented training schedule - he is getting upset every time. But if you rarely attacking (almost never) - why not to?

And the opposite - if you are already familiar with inverted, training regularly and attacking with topspin’s - there is no point to using pips to gain rating - you will get better growing with the setup that you are used to. Pips will just slow your progress down. Maybe there is some occasions like people who trained for 7-10 years and can’t develop a strong/stable backhand - then some experiments with pips could be useful.

So the overall advise is just to train more - analyzing games - making corrections over mistakes and 1500 shouldn’t be a problem

 

[FrenchFrog33]

Falkenberg

Falkenberg

Falkenberg

I did set up my robot to do some Falkenberg drills. I couldn't do it for too long, but definitely a good workout.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

At 60 years old, Falkenberg might simply do him in. Time to put on those Sith robes.

Oh, OP is a sixty year old gramp? Then I am sorry for suggesting Falkenberg. Instead, it is time to consider some naughty studded, sorry I mean pimpled rubber.

 

[greenbeanmachine]

I think the two biggest things which distinguish <1500 players from >1500 players is:

1. Varying placement. A lot of <1500 players only have one response to difficult balls. If you loop to their backhand, they will ALWAYS hit cross court. or they will ALWAYS block the ball short. This allows you to anticipate their balls and be ready for them. If you have solid technical skills and you can practice multiple responses to difficult balls, this will bring you above the 1500 threshold.

2. Aggression & dominance. Playing a very active game, and defining the terms of the game by not being afraid to attack. Looping all long balls. You dictate which style of game is being played, instead of letting your opponent do that.

 

[JJ Ng]

No shame in playing with long pips. My suggestion is to keep inverted in your forehand and use ox (no sponge) long pips on your backhand. Play with it for a few days and see if you enjoy it.

 

[NextLevel]

I think the two biggest things which distinguish <1500 players from >1500 players is:

1. Varying placement. A lot of <1500 players only have one response to difficult balls. If you loop to their backhand, they will ALWAYS hit cross court. or they will ALWAYS block the ball short. This allows you to anticipate their balls and be ready for them. If you have solid technical skills and you can practice multiple responses to difficult balls, this will bring you above the 1500 threshold.

2. Aggression & dominance. Playing a very active game, and defining the terms of the game by not being afraid to attack. Looping all long balls. You dictate which style of game is being played, instead of letting your opponent do that.

My conclusion watching pros and matches is that above the 1800 level, everyone is doing the same old stuff, they just do it better and faster and with higher ball quality. And when just about anything you do becomes overwhelming relative to the level you usually play at, if you can introduce it repeatedly as a weapon, it will give you points. So nothing anyone will suggest will be unique to a level. The issue ultimately is whether that skill is translating into winning points against the players you need to beat.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

No shame in playing with long pips. My suggestion is to keep inverted in your forehand and use ox (no sponge) long pips on your backhand. Play with it for a few days and see if you enjoy it.

there is no shame indeed
but pips require training and coaching.

now if OP isn't even getting a coach to work on inverted, do you really think putting on a pip on the bh will be the solution

tensor is assuming glue it on ,and by the defeat the points will come.

understanding of spin is required.
pip has spin understanding requirements too, as well as strategy.

if one can think of pip strategy and win points accordingly, then one could do the same with inverted.
I don't think I have seen the OP play (video), and I am assuming the rest of us here too, so until there is a good idea of how OP plays, it is difficult to really provide any equipment changes recommendations.

Else, I can use TB logic and say, just change to cpen, since its different to the opponent and can give you 2% more points with RPB.

 

[greenbeanmachine]

My conclusion watching pros and matches is that above the 1800 level, everyone is doing the same old stuff, they just do it better and faster and with higher ball quality. And when just about anything you do becomes overwhelming relative to the level you usually play at, if you can introduce it repeatedly as a weapon, it will give you points. So nothing anyone will suggest will be unique to a level. The issue ultimately is whether that skill is translating into winning points against the players you need to beat.

Yeah that's a fair assessment but I do think that
1. Being able to loop all long balls
2. Being able to respond to difficult balls in more than one way
are specific to the 1500 threshold.

 

[blahness]

To OP:

For inverted, i would say that until you understand (and memorise) how to push and loop against all 7 types of incoming spins (FH pendulum sideunder+sidetop, BH pendulum sideunder+sidetop, pure heavy underspin, no spin, topspin) easily on both wings with at least 80-90% success rates (assuming you know the incoming spin and placement). It needs to be physically easy because in real matches you need to move which will make it a lot harder.

This is the minimum requirement if you want to play at a reasonably competitive level with inverted. You can misread serves etc... but if you dont even know the correct method you would be screwed.

This is why the LP sideswipe etc.. receive is so badass - one simple stroke with minor modifications to receive all serves lol.

 

[NextLevel]

Yeah that's a fair assessment but I do think that
1. Being able to loop all long balls
2. Being able to respond to difficult balls in more than one way
are specific to the 1500 threshold.

Anyone who can loop all long balls is well beyond 1500. Same with responding to difficult balls in more than one way. In fact bringing back difficult balls is enough to get you 1500.