What is the most important area to jump from 1900 to 2100?

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Serve receive is not a multiball drill lol

If you dont like repetition you dont like table tennis training

If you don’t like repetition you don’t like any kind of serious training at all in any discipline

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

If you don’t like repetition you don’t like any kind of serious training at all in any discipline

the replies is just getting deeper and deeper
haha

 

[Tyce]

I did about 200 balls of receives today. After that I decided to try a new drill to work on counterloop. I just had my friend loop a ball out of his hand. After the set of counterloops, I tried a drill where I did 1 push first and then a counterloop. I didn't get a good video angle today because I didn't have my tripod with me.

Not sure if this is posted for feedback, but here goes:
You are trying to apply a lot of power, but it's coming from your arm and shoulder mostly.
You hit the ball too close to your body, which is not leaning forward, and your legs are too square to the table. As a result you're kind of pushing through the ball instead of swinging it. This reduces your spin and power immensely, like insane levels of difference.

If you hit the ball with the same speed, but with more of a swing and better posture, the result will be a lot safer, and have much more quality.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I know most people said first 3 shots should be the focus, and I agree, but after playing some test matches I feel that my overall fitness is also a big issue right now.

I haven't played or exercised in 6 months, so my fitness is quite a bit below par. And even when I was practicing more 6 months ago, I wasn't exactly in the best condition either.

I notice that when I get tired, I make a lot more errors. And I'm late to balls and my timing is off. And its harder to do 3 or 4 loops in a row. So a base level of fitness is not a small point either.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I know most people said first 3 shots should be the focus, and I agree, but after playing some test matches I feel that my overall fitness is also a big issue right now.

I haven't played or exercised in 6 months, so my fitness is quite a bit below par. And even when I was practicing more 6 months ago, I wasn't exactly in the best condition either.

I notice that when I get tired, I make a lot more errors. And I'm late to balls and my timing is off. And its harder to do 3 or 4 loops in a row. So a base level of fitness is not a small point either.

playing 1 ~ 5 matches, versus playing 5~10 matches over 8 hours is also very different
that is why I say, go play sanctioned tournaments and you can experience real matches, versus real opponent and most importantly, different opponents.

 

[pingpongpaddy]

In this thread the theme seems to be the need to attack more effectively.

It's important to realise that every kind of shot can be used for attack, but the most important are the earliest shots in the rally.

If you wait for the opportunity to play power and topspin in order to attack then you need to rethink. Pushes are used for receive because your opponents serve forces it. So learn to attack with your push. How ? by effective placement, surprising yr opponent and testing his footwork which will in give opportunities for drive balls
So train your pushes and blocks to be more effective by means of disguise and variation so that you can setup your big shots better.
Be attack minded so that even your softest shots are effective tools of your strategy,
Like Tony suggests Multiball with a feeder who can provide placement of all kinds of shots is so useful that its amazing that more non coaches don't try to learn to FEED multi ball patterns so that they can train more effectively together

 

[Tyce]

If you haven't played in 6 months, your only focus should be to play. Get table time on a regular basis. The rest is less important until you rebuild rhythm

 

[ThePongCommenter]

In this thread the theme seems to be the need to attack more effectively.

It's important to realise that every kind of shot can be used for attack, but the most important are the earliest shots in the rally.

If you wait for the opportunity to play power and topspin in order to attack then you need to rethink. Pushes are used for receive because your opponents serve forces it. So learn to attack with your push. How ? by effective placement, surprising yr opponent and testing his footwork which will in give opportunities for drive balls
So train your pushes and blocks to be more effective by means of disguise and variation so that you can setup your big shots better.
Be attack minded so that even your softest shots are effective tools of your strategy,
Like Tony suggests Multiball with a feeder who can provide placement of all kinds of shots is so useful that its amazing that more non coaches don't try to learn to FEED multi ball patterns so that they can train more effectively together

The theme seems to be TB listening to all the suggestions he gets and then informing everyone that he ignored those suggestions and went with his own ideas after all anyways lol

 

[TensorBackhand]

The theme seems to be TB listening to all the suggestions he gets and then informing everyone that he ignored those suggestions and went with his own ideas after all anyways lol

Do you ever use your brain when you type?

I literally just said I have been practicing the first 3 shots (serve, receive) for the past couple weeks based on the answers from this thread.

However, upon doing so, I found that I was not able to physically keep up with the demands. So for me personally in my current condition, physical stamina is also a key issue. So I need to work on all of these issues

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Do you ever use your brain when you type?

I literally just said I have been practicing the first 3 shots (serve, receive) for the past couple weeks based on the answers from this thread.

However, upon doing so, I found that I was not able to physically keep up with the demands. So for me personally in my current condition, physical stamina is also a key issue. So I need to work on all of these issues

I do, which is why I remember that a few weeks ago you came back with a video about counterloop practice after the near consensus was to focus on the first few balls and not worry about counterlooping at your 1700-1800 level. And the near consensus is that fitness doesn't matter and now you come back and say it does. If you are so out of shape that you are too tired after literally hitting 3 balls in a rally that is probably a serious health issue. And how I also remember that you said just yesterday that you "haven't played or exercised in 6 months" and now you claim you "have been practicing the first 3 shots for the past couple weeks". How can both of those things be true? Use your brain when you type.

Maybe you just need to use some hybrid rubbers and change your stance though and it'll fix your fitness. Seems like an obvious solution.

I haven't played or exercised in 6 months, so my fitness is quite a bit below par.

I literally just said I have been practicing the first 3 shots (serve, receive) for the past couple weeks based on the answers from this thread.

Do you ever use your brain when you type?

 

[songdavid98]

I know most people said first 3 shots should be the focus, and I agree, but after playing some test matches I feel that my overall fitness is also a big issue right now.

I haven't played or exercised in 6 months, so my fitness is quite a bit below par. And even when I was practicing more 6 months ago, I wasn't exactly in the best condition either.

I notice that when I get tired, I make a lot more errors. And I'm late to balls and my timing is off. And its harder to do 3 or 4 loops in a row. So a base level of fitness is not a small point either.

Why are you doing 3 or 4 loops in a row?

 

[TensorBackhand]

Why are you doing 3 or 4 loops in a row?

I mean in a game rally, when somebody is blocking me and they block 3 or 4 loops in a row, so I keep trying to attack them. But I find that in my current condition, I start making a lot of errors and feel late or slow to the ball

 

[TensorBackhand]

I do, which is why I remember that a few weeks ago you came back with a video about counterloop practice after the near consensus was to focus on the first few balls and not worry about counterlooping at your 1700-1800 level. And the near consensus is that fitness doesn't matter and now you come back and say it does. If you are so out of shape that you are too tired after literally hitting 3 balls in a rally that is probably a serious health issue. And how I also remember that you said just yesterday that you "haven't played or exercised in 6 months" and now you claim you "have been practicing the first 3 shots for the past couple weeks". How can both of those things be true? Use your brain when you type.



Maybe you just need to use some hybrid rubbers and change your stance though and it'll fix your fitness. Seems like an obvious solution.

I'm not going to respond to you going forward because clearly we are not speaking the same language. That is fine, we don't have to be best friends with every person.

However, multiple things can be true at the same time. You seem to have a hard time understanding why 2 things can be true at the same time. On May 5th, it was rainy. On May 5th, it was sunny. Can you understand why those 2 statements could be true?

1) I didn't play for 6 months up until 2 weeks ago. Because of that, I got really out of condition
2) I started playing 2 weeks ago to try to comeback to the game. While generally true that I didn't play for 6 months, I literally started playing again 2 weeks ago.
3) I asked for a main focus, and people said first 3 shots. So for 2 weeks, I have mostly been following their advice and focusing on first 3 shots.
4) Despite focusing on first 3 shots, I took a break and tried doing some counter-loop and posted a short clip.
5) In addition to following their advice, I found that my physical stamina wasn't enough to execute the techniques well

 

[ThePongCommenter]

As has already been stated multiple times on this thread by people who are either over 2100 or have shared their experiences with players who are over 2100, fitness is hardly a factor at that level and even less so at your level, and almost certainly is not the reason that you can't loop more than 3 balls in a row in a rally. But if you think that is the reason go ahead and work on your stamina and see if you can suddenly start consistently looping more balls in a row than you can now. If you had more exposure to higher level amateur play you would see that there is little correlation between being able to loop consistently and stamina - I know complete slobs who can loop on end and marathon runners who can't string together more than two loops in a row.

The issue that is causing you to be unable to consistently loop more than 3 balls is almost certainly rooted in technique, likely your recovery after looping or lack of it (which I mentioned before) or footwork issues, which means you will be late or unable to get into position for the next shot. Being slow to the ball is almost always a technique issue not a fitness issue. Take it or leave it though!

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Your topspin game is not an 8/10 - you don't recover at all after the first topspin, possibly because when you loop you are shifting your entire weight vertically rather than forwards and directing it into the ball, even against topspin. Could be other reasons for it too. You see this at 00:27 where he basically lobs the ball back and yet you are still late and miss the next shot. Even the point at 0:08 which you probably consider a highlight, if the opponent had returned that even softly you likely would have missed the next ball. On the counterloop attempt at 00:20 you are given a slow high topspin to the forehand and you wait late on the ball and then swing way upwards - basically the exact opposite of what you want to do there.

In regards to a video that was recorded I assume before your 6 week break further depleted your fitness. These are big reasons that you are late to the ball which will then become reasons you can't loop several balls in a row consistently. Technique issues, not fitness.

 

[songdavid98]

I mean in a game rally, when somebody is blocking me and they block 3 or 4 loops in a row, so I keep trying to attack them. But I find that in my current condition, I start making a lot of errors and feel late or slow to the ball

In a game, even pros can miss the third or fourth loop.

Just make sure they can’t block the first or second one.

You can loop really fast right away.
Or you can do a super spinny loop first, and do a fast loop later.

I encourage down-the-line loops. They usually win the point in 1 loop.

 

[lightspin]

If I were your coach, I would work on your technique and not your fitness. Furthermore if you didn't play for six months, I would wonder how committed you are to going from whatever your level is to whatever level you want to go to. I would also comment that any time in the gym is wasted and you should be spending that time on the table practicing. After you are playing 5+ hours a day, 6 days a week, then you can worry about the gym.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I've been talking about tb's lack of technique for the past few years.
he could be so fit, and still be late and still make errors.

and it isn't just his lack of technique, his training partner/s lack of technique, giving him low quality training too.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

It's a common problem with a lot of intermediate players - they might be able to identify the problem with what causes them to miss or be inconsistent but don't realize the underlying problem is the technique not the end result. For example they know they are late to the ball but don't correctly identify why - in this case because they keep their hand extended out in front for a full 2 seconds after completing a stroke, and instead think its because they are too slow naturally.

 

[joshmak10]

Eugene Wang is a prime example of technique over fitness: this guy looks like ur ordinary Chinese uncle at the TT club but can still somehow beat most players in the world due to great technique