What is the meaning of CONTROL in a game?

[Aizen]

Btw I didn’t say control is being passive or give any advice to OP. Just talked about subjective concept of control term.

Let say a player can’t hit a topspin with consistency or a specific ball, hitting slower or harder is not control.

If I would give advice about control,
simply our first aim to give ball back, so controlling or handling the balls speed, spin etc while returning, and making sure giving the ball back on table. Then next step is depends on the ball, making shot more offensive to finish point.

So learning how to handle different spins, different timing needs different strokes, angles etc, and also learning how to position, anticipate, footwork, body posture to different balls etc.

Of course, when you have an opportunity you need to perform more aggressive strokes than usual to win. It includes out positioning opponent, giving better spin (amount, directions etc), better placement etc.

TLDR:
Don’t need to stuck on any abstract term like control etc, just play as you want, if your aim is to be better, learning & practicing correct techniques is the real story.

 

[Sims]

To me it means controlling (as much as possible) what your opponent can and can't do by choosing and then properly executing the shots you play. Of course you need control of the ball for this but ultimately I'm looking for control of the match so control (to my mind at leas) also incorporates proper tactics.
So that means getting in first with the first effective shot and trying to move the opponent to create gaps and opportunities, or force a weak shot from them. If I play passively I find that most times I relinquish the initiative and give the advantage to my opponent.

 

[Kopp]

So I googled and saw this written:

The Controller​

Controllers are balanced, consistent offensive players who like to develop points in their favou, forcing mistakes and creating easy chances to win points.

Controllers are one of the hardest styles to counter because they will attack repeatedly in many different ways while missing very few shots in the process.

Strengths​

• Controllers are players who feel comfortable in open rallies and often win long points.
• Controllers miss few of their attacks.
• Controllers like attacking their opponents in many different ways which makes them very versatile.
• Controllers have efficient strokes and they attack in combinations.

Weaknesses​

• Controllers don’t take as many risks which means they miss out on some opportunities to attack.
• Controllers can sometimes find it hard to finish out points with sheer power.
• Their shots are safe but they can be easily countered.
• Controllers don’t win many points off of 3rd ball attacks.

Source: RacketInsight

 

[passifid]

Control is the ability for a rubber to support you to play the shots you want, in the manner you want.

For example T05 is uncontrolled because it has a bad short touch and soft block meaning the rubber kind of dictates what shots you can play reliably

This is why people say D09c is more controlled, its not just about speed but more about that the ball goes where you want it to instead of you having to make the stroke that the rubber demands to work.

 

[pingpongpaddy]

Hey, I need some help understanding control in a game.

When people talk about a "control" style, does it just mean playing passively with lots of blocking and placing? Doesn't that give the opponent all the initiative to attack?

So, how do you actually win playing a control style? What kind of equipment would suit a control player best? Are blades with carbon OK or just allwoods?

And what about rubbers? Are tensors a bad idea? Tacky or non-tacky?

Is control style more suited to beginners, kids, or maybe even older players? Or can anyone play like that at a high level?

Who are top players playing with this style? Is the style still applicable in the modern TT?

Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: Since I've misunderstood "control" to the playing style, please ignore the "style" (striked) and focus to the "control stroke" instead.

hi kopp
good question
I like your enquiring mind!
Excuse my inner Nerd inspires me to go to town a bit on this

Control is a very useful, flexible word.
For example:

I use my brain to Control my arms and legs and hands
Through my hand I Control my racket
with my racket I Control the ball to go where I want it to at the speed I want.
With this skill I Control my opponent to make it difficult for him/her to Control the ball
Control is something that beginners need to learn, and all players are trying to improve.

often when doing drills one player may push or block the ball to different parts of the table so that the partner may practice hi/her footwork . A player who is good at this pushing and blocking may be said to have 'good Contro' which would be useful in match play

With respect to buying rubbers for your racket
they are rated
for
spin
and
speed

control is also assessed
if they are highly rated for speed or spin, then the ball will
rebound faster - high speed rating
rotate faster - high spin rating
usually when these ratings are high, beginners find it hard to 'control' the ball - that hit the accurately so their perception would be that the control factor is lower. which might mean that beginners would find that racket 'difficult' to control. especially returning strong spin like serves or loops
on the other hand an advanced player needs racket with high spin and speed capability in order to Control their opponent through varying spin and speed of the ball



when speed is low and spin is low then beginners might return spin serves easier, but an advanced player might find that his ability to spin the ball would be less

An important principle for decision making in Table Tennis is "Easy for me difficult for the opponent" if you have good control in ALL the meanings of the word then you will have the advantage over your opponent.

 

[S-Pin]

Hey, I need some help understanding control in a game.

When people talk about a "control" style, does it just mean playing passively with lots of blocking and placing? Doesn't that give the opponent all the initiative to attack?

So, how do you actually win playing a control style? What kind of equipment would suit a control player best? Are blades with carbon OK or just allwoods?

And what about rubbers? Are tensors a bad idea? Tacky or non-tacky?

Is control style more suited to beginners, kids, or maybe even older players? Or can anyone play like that at a high level?

Control is not for beginners, kids or elders, it is essential to win matches at any level, regardless of your style.

There are 3 main aspects of control at the strong beginner/intermediate level: 1) strategy, 2) execution and 3) psychology. (There are some other factors, but we omit it for the sake of simplicity)

Strategically you control the game if you force your opponent to play the way you want, allowing you to get into positions where you can use your strongest qualities to win points. So control is not about a particular style, be it offensive, or defensive, or allround, it's about being able to effectively play your preferred style and win points. This starts with your serves. If you have a set of quality serves that allow you to play your 2nd ball the way you want, making your opponents' life uncomfortable, you are starting to control the point. Same when you receive: if your aim is to keep the ball on the table, you will never control the point. If you're able to control spin, speed and placement of your returns, you start to control the point. Some seemingly minor things let you take control: if you are able to return his short serves early, thus raising the tempo, you don't give your opponent much time and may force a weak shot, which allows you to take control and finish the point.
That's strategic control in very simple terms.

Your equipment is important to execute your preferred game in a controlled manner, i.e. with low percentage of unforced errors and low quality shots that allow your opponents to take initiative. Let's say you play in a club where most players are kinda intermediate, they play offensive and try to open it up asap, but they are quite erratic, sometimes miss it, and often return a weak topspin, which is a gift. Here, with your 2nd ball, you would'n mind feeding them with long heavy backspins, watching them suffer and allowing you to control the point. What's the best equipment for it? I'd say a softer (hinoki?) blade and grippy, tacky (hybrid?) rubbers, able to produce some nasty long/half-long shots with tons of backspin. I am far from implying that you should choose your equipment for just one particular shot, that would be silly, but I hope you catch my drift. If you are on the other side of this table, your opening topspins are solid on both sides, you back/forward movements are good, and you want to open aggressively asap and exchange fast topspins, you might want to go for some fast spinny tensors and crisp carbon blades.

Finally, psychology is vastly important, because while we are playing our opponents, our minds are playing their own games with us, that's why very often we tend to play worse against weaker opponents and sometime we raise our level against a somewhat stronger player. If the difference is not substantial, our levels tend to even up. Here the one who controls the game psychologically, most often wins. This is a big can of worms, tricks, experience, nerves, and confidence. But whatever your level, if you a) have a game plan and b) see that it may work, it helps a lot. So here we come back to a) strategy and b) execution.

So to sum it up: control means to be able to play the match the way you want it, effectively executing your game plan. It applies to any level, any age and any style of play.

Many a year ago my coach once told me: control is never in your hands, it is always in your head. He was a top coach, but I was very young and didn't get it. Later on I realised what he meant: anyone can learn solid technique, but you become a decent player only when you learn how to put yourself in a position where you can effectively use it. It's almost like poker: it's not about luck, it's about the ability to put yourself in a position where you may get lucky. OK, I started with control and ended with poker. But I hope you understand what I am talking about.

 

[Lazer]

Control is not for beginners, kids or elders, it is essential to win matches at any level, regardless of your style.

There are 3 main aspects of control at the strong beginner/intermediate level: 1) strategy, 2) execution and 3) psychology. (There are some other factors, but we omit it for the sake of simplicity)

Strategically you control the game if you force your opponent to play the way you want, allowing you to get into positions where you can use your strongest qualities to win points. So control is not about a particular style, be it offensive, or defensive, or allround, it's about being able to effectively play your preferred style and win points. This starts with your serves. If you have a set of quality serves that allow you to play your 2nd ball the way you want, making your opponents' life uncomfortable, you are starting to control the point. Same when you receive: if your aim is to keep the ball on the table, you will never control the point. If you're able to control spin, speed and placement of your returns, you start to control the point. Some seemingly minor things let you take control: if you are able to return his short serves early, thus raising the tempo, you don't give your opponent much time and may force a weak shot, which allows you to take control and finish the point.
That's strategic control in very simple terms.

Your equipment is important to execute your preferred game in a controlled manner, i.e. with low percentage of unforced errors and low quality shots that allow your opponents to take initiative. Let's say you play in a club where most players are kinda intermediate, they play offensive and try to open it up asap, but they are quite erratic, sometimes miss it, and often return a weak topspin, which is a gift. Here, with your 2nd ball, you would'n mind feeding them with long heavy backspins, watching them suffer and allowing you to control the point. What's the best equipment for it? I'd say a softer (hinoki?) blade and grippy, tacky (hybrid?) rubbers, able to produce some nasty long/half-long shots with tons of backspin. I am far from implying that you should choose your equipment for just one particular shot, that would be silly, but I hope you catch my drift. If you are on the other side of this table, your opening topspins are solid on both sides, you back/forward movements are good, and you want to open aggressively asap and exchange fast topspins, you might want to go for some fast spinny tensors and crisp carbon blades.

Finally, psychology is vastly important, because while we are playing our opponents, our minds are playing their own games with us, that's why very often we tend to play worse against weaker opponents and sometime we raise our level against a somewhat stronger player. If the difference is not substantial, our levels tend to even up. Here the one who controls the game psychologically, most often wins. This is a big can of worms, tricks, experience, nerves, and confidence. But whatever your level, if you a) have a game plan and b) see that it may work, it helps a lot. So here we come back to a) strategy and b) execution.

So to sum it up: control means to be able to play the match the way you want it, effectively executing your game plan. It applies to any level, any age and any style of play.

Many a year ago my coach once told me: control is never in your hands, it is always in your head. He was a top coach, but I was very young and didn't get it. Later on I realised what he meant: anyone can learn solid technique, but you become a decent player only when you learn how to put yourself in a position where you can effectively use it. It's almost like poker: it's not about luck, it's about the ability to put yourself in a position where you may get lucky. OK, I started with control and ended with poker. But I hope you understand what I am talking about.

Jesus crist, my head is 😵‍💫…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Kopp]

hi kopp
good question
I like your enquiring mind!
Excuse my inner Nerd inspires me to go to town a bit on this

Control is a very useful, flexible word.
For example:

I use my brain to Control my arms and legs and hands
Through my hand I Control my racket
with my racket I Control the ball to go where I want it to at the speed I want.
With this skill I Control my opponent to make it difficult for him/her to Control the ball
Control is something that beginners need to learn, and all players are trying to improve.

often when doing drills one player may push or block the ball to different parts of the table so that the partner may practice hi/her footwork . A player who is good at this pushing and blocking may be said to have 'good Contro' which would be useful in match play

With respect to buying rubbers for your racket
they are rated
for
spin
and
speed

control is also assessed
if they are highly rated for speed or spin, then the ball will
rebound faster - high speed rating
rotate faster - high spin rating
usually when these ratings are high, beginners find it hard to 'control' the ball - that hit the accurately so their perception would be that the control factor is lower. which might mean that beginners would find that racket 'difficult' to control. especially returning strong spin like serves or loops
on the other hand an advanced player needs racket with high spin and speed capability in order to Control their opponent through varying spin and speed of the ball



when speed is low and spin is low then beginners might return spin serves easier, but an advanced player might find that his ability to spin the ball would be less

An important principle for decision making in Table Tennis is "Easy for me difficult for the opponent" if you good control in ALL the meanings of the word then you will have the advantage over your opponent.

Good one! OK, let take me for an example. I'm facing a bit of a challenge with controlling the ball. My current Rozena rubber feels very bouncy, making it difficult for me to keep short returns consistent. While I haven't fully mastered it yet, I'm working on improving my techniques.

On the other hand, when I switch to my second blade with Chinese rubbers, I can comfortably push and keep the ball short. The problems, although I can attack and generate topspin but it lacks speed and power! I don't have enought strenght and stamina to consistently attack and generate topspin.

Can I say that I can't control the rubber because lacking of strenght and stamina?

For comparison, to get the same speed, I feel like only using 50-60% of my strength with Rozena but 90-100% with Chinese rubbers.

While I understand that training is key to improvement, I'm just a hobbyist player, not aiming for professional or even amateur levels.

So what is control in my case?

 

[NextLevel]

Lots of great stuff on this thread.

Kopp,

When someone tells you to play with more control, as a few have already said including yourself, what they mean is that you are probably taking too much risk with a focus on speed and power and losing your consistency and potentially placement. Moreover, depending on skill level, what passes for control varies from player to player but the key word usually tied to control is consistency. If you are put of control, you are not allowing yourself to be consistent. The person giving the advice is arguing (rightly or wrongly) that if you reduced the speed and power, you might be able to be more consistent especially across multiple shots. And maybe you might be giving your opponents more chances to make errors rather than making them all yourself.

For me a lot of this shows up in practice, it is pretty frustrating in warmup for me to become a serial ball picker for someone who wants to continue to hit shots off the table during warmup or who doesn't want to build up a good rhythm or tempo for the warmup by placing the ball where I can hit it when I am placing the ball where he can hit it. Good warmup usually begin with control shots and then build up to more powerful control shots and when those break down, some elements of open play but some players just want to whack the ball from the start and then wonder why I want to start a match immediately (they have made the warm up pointless for me).

 

[NextLevel]

Good one! OK, let take me for an example. I'm facing a bit of a challenge with controlling the ball. My current Rozena rubber feels very bouncy, making it difficult for me to keep short returns consistent. While I haven't fully mastered it yet, I'm working on improving my techniques.

On the other hand, when I switch to my second blade with Chinese rubbers, I can comfortably push and keep the ball short. The problems, although I can attack and generate topspin but it lacks speed and power! I don't have enought strenght and stamina to consistently attack and generate topspin.

Can I say that I can't control the rubber because lacking of strenght and stamina?

For comparison, to get the same speed, I feel like only using 50-60% of my strength with Rozena but 90-100% with Chinese rubbers.

While I understand that training is key to improvement, I'm just a hobbyist player, not aiming for professional or even amateur levels.

So what is control in my case?

It is a great question. As someone who started out using Japanese/European bouncy rubbers like Rozena and later ended up being more comfortable with Chinese sticky rubbers, I had to accept that all equipment has tradeoffs. Part of what I wrote about about controlling the ball is that you need to learn how to perform a wide range of strokes with your equipment. Some people know how to hit the ball hard and play at one speed but it is also important to learn to block in practice or push short or play topspins on low balls or play fast topspins on high balls all with the same rubber since you can't juat change the rubber when it suits you unless you twiddling and even then there are only two rubbers to choose from.

But ultimately, for me, one of the things that helped me a lot, apart from finding hours to train, was accepting that if I didn't train something sufficiently, it was okay not to be good at it. And if I was working on something, I needed to find time to train it. This made me focus less on the unreasonable expectations I was putting on myself and made me actually grateful that I could hit shots that I really didn't know why I made them ‐ I stopped pretending that my ability to hit an impossible shot in a random match or practice is how I should be hitting the ball all the time.

In my practice, I try to spread my shots as 10 % slow touch, 70% control, 20% power. So that I get multiple reps, have a specific feeling for my playing speed under pressure, and have a good feeling of how much risk I can take. If I had more time it might be different but for me, that is what works at the moment.

 

[Kopp]

.. what they mean is that you are probably taking too much risk with a focus on speed and power and losing your consistency and potentially placement.

Yes

.. Moreover, depending on skill level, what passes for control varies from player to player but the key word usually tied to control is consistency. If you are put of control, you are not allowing yourself to be consistent. The person giving the advice is arguing (rightly or wrongly) that if you reduced the speed and power, you might be able to be more consistent especially across multiple shots. And maybe you might be giving your opponents more chances to make errors rather than making them all yourself.

Great advice! TY

..

For me a lot of this shows up in practice, it is pretty frustrating in warmup for me to become a serial ball picker for someone who wants to continue to hit shots off the table during warmup or who doesn't want to build up a good rhythm or tempo for the warmup by placing the ball where I can hit it when I am placing the ball where he can hit it. Good warmup usually begin with control shots and then build up to more powerful control shots and when those break down, some elements of open play but some players just want to whack the ball from the start and then wonder why I want to start a match immediately (they have made the warm up pointless for me).

LOL 😂

 

[pingpongpaddy]

Good one! OK, let take me for an example. I'm facing a bit of a challenge with controlling the ball. My current Rozena rubber feels very bouncy, making it difficult for me to keep short returns consistent. While I haven't fully mastered it yet, I'm working on improving my techniques.

On the other hand, when I switch to my second blade with Chinese rubbers, I can comfortably push and keep the ball short. The problems, although I can attack and generate topspin but it lacks speed and power! I don't have enought strenght and stamina to consistently attack and generate topspin.

Can I say that I can't control the rubber because lacking of strenght and stamina?

You can look at it like that. But it's worth remembering that it is possible to achieve the same power with Chinese rubber as with Rozena, if you have good relaxed technique. An effective fh drive should be a loose relaxed swing that is driven by the legs. I would guess that it is counter productive to be switching between rubbers when trying to develop technique
If you think strength stamina is an issue then shadow strokes with a small weight- 1 kg x50 reps at the begiinning and end of ever session at your club
The key thing its have the ability to counter drive off the bounce 'Forever' from 2 random positions, grip soft arm whip like SYS weight transfer never too long or too short. The commonest mistake of enthusiastic improvers is overdoing body weight transfer and body rotation. The stroke should never be longer than necessary. Once the ball ileaves the racket should be recovering to ready position between BH and fh
Remember swing loose swing faster not bigger

For comparison, to get the same speed, I feel like only using 50-60% of my strength with Rozena but 90-100% with Chinese rubbers.

this will not be a problem if you you improve your technique can't be more specific without seeing you play

While I understand that training is key to improvement, I'm just a hobbyist player, not aiming for professional or even amateur levels.

Yes to Hobbyist but
IMHO things may become simpler if you admit that somebody with at least 2 rackets who thinks about control and writes good questions to forums is entitled to call yourself at least a 'Serious Hobbyist'.
To me that puts you in the same category and on the same journey as somebody llike myself.. The good news for you is that I am 75, and most of my story is behind me, for you, the fun things are all waiting for you just around the corner It doesnt matter what your current level is. It will improve as you continue to work on your technique.

So what is control in my case?

perhaps self-control of your desire to be successful with two different rubbers is applicable in your case
a compromise might be rozena on bh and Chinese on fh
good luck

 

[S-Pin]

Jesus crist, my head is 😵‍💫…

Cheers
L-zr

Oh, c'mon, it's just the most basic stuff, don't tell me you didn't know it

 

[Lazer]

Oh, c'mon, it's just the most basic stuff, don't tell me you didn't know it

No way, that’s a huge overdo…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Aizen]

Good one! OK, let take me for an example. I'm facing a bit of a challenge with controlling the ball. My current Rozena rubber feels very bouncy, making it difficult for me to keep short returns consistent. While I haven't fully mastered it yet, I'm working on improving my techniques.

On the other hand, when I switch to my second blade with Chinese rubbers, I can comfortably push and keep the ball short. The problems, although I can attack and generate topspin but it lacks speed and power! I don't have enought strenght and stamina to consistently attack and generate topspin.

Can I say that I can't control the rubber because lacking of strenght and stamina?

For comparison, to get the same speed, I feel like only using 50-60% of my strength with Rozena but 90-100% with Chinese rubbers.

While I understand that training is key to improvement, I'm just a hobbyist player, not aiming for professional or even amateur levels.

So what is control in my case?

Most likely your short receive is not developed yet, timing could be late, position and posture is not correct etc. So you can’t control that ball, slow rubber just tolerates your mistake.

 

[Loop Lob Smash]

Jesus crist, my head is 😵‍💫…

Cheers
L-zr

You seem to have identified a cause not yet identified in this thread

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/back-of-the-head-throb-after-training.34332/#post-465956

 

[Kopp]

Most likely your short receive is not developed yet, timing could be late, position and posture is not correct etc. So you can’t control that ball, slow rubber just tolerates your mistake.

Like mentioned .. I'm working on improving my techniques.

I also mentioned having trouble with my backhand loop. Tensor non-tacky rubbers actually make it worse – the ball jumps off the racket almost immediately, and my backhand can't control it. Slower, tacky (and cheaper) rubbers solve this problem for me, but they lack power and speed.

For now, at my level, I have to accept that this is the best I can "do". I focus on placing my returns in unexpected areas for my opponent, setting myself up for the next ball.

Perhaps this is my definition of control, and it may be different for others.

 

[SleepyMaster]

Jokes aside most likely what coaches is meaning by more controlled game style are not to try blindly copy professional players by trying to attack every ball (and miss the table by a high margin) - rather to seek more balance in game - few pushes, some blocks and topspin’s when you are in perfect position to execute or the ball is too high and easy to counter/smash. It takes time to find this balance and preferred style of play.

But I see a lot of guys that are in rush making mistake by mistake I call that state of mind “the man in hurry to lose”. Actually I’m catching myself on this too time to time 😁

 

[Aizen]

Like mentioned .. I'm working on improving my techniques.

I also mentioned having trouble with my backhand loop. Tensor non-tacky rubbers actually make it worse – the ball jumps off the racket almost immediately, and my backhand can't control it. Slower, tacky (and cheaper) rubbers solve this problem for me, but they lack power and speed.

For now, at my level, I have to accept that this is the best I can "do". I focus on placing my returns in unexpected areas for my opponent, setting myself up for the next ball.

Perhaps this is my definition of control, and it may be different for others.

Totally agree, definition of control is bit controversial.

Btw maybe you could wait a little bit more, because it sounds like ball bouncing very quickly, most likely you are hitting too early.

Pro’s often do that, but it’s hard to execute, error margin is too small. But by waiting a bit more, ball reaches highest point, loses some spin/speed, so you can control more easily. But of course there could be other things as well.

It’s just my opinion, there are far better players, coaches.

 

[SleepyMaster]

Like mentioned .. I'm working on improving my techniques.

I also mentioned having trouble with my backhand loop. Tensor non-tacky rubbers actually make it worse – the ball jumps off the racket almost immediately, and my backhand can't control it. Slower, tacky (and cheaper) rubbers solve this problem for me, but they lack power and speed.

For now, at my level, I have to accept that this is the best I can "do". I focus on placing my returns in unexpected areas for my opponent, setting myself up for the next ball.

Perhaps this is my definition of control, and it may be different for others.

Just don’t use your backhand as an ultimate weapon instead try to use it as a setup tool for a forehand or move you opponent around with it. Spiny controlled but not so fast of a backhand is not bad at all. Slowly but surely you will grow from that to more powerful backhand just take some time