What the H3LL did I get myself into this time....

[NextLevel]

You know guys, NL & Tony et al,

I can loop and spin the ball, at least during stroke / practice stage. When I am in high stress situation like playing in an actual point counting set, my old habit of flat hitting / counter-drive / smashes just kick-in automatically. It is like I am not in control anymore. It is when I ended the point, then my brain will tell me, " Gozo, you promise you would loop instead of smash "

You are not different from anyone else, there are many shots I can do in practice but which I would struggle to do or remember to do in a match, even Ma Long and. FAN Zhendong have things they can do in practice but which they cannot do under match pressure against each other or which they just do not deploy because it is not their real game.

Ultimately, a lot of improvement comes down to "why". For me. I had a coach who had developed an adult learner to USATT 2000 (the guy actually wrote a book about it) so I had that as a side goal. Then in the club, I was being coached next to two juniors who started out a little behind me, but later over took me and started beating me consistently. And some of the things I had to do to catch up to them was to stop driving too much on the forehand and to open with spin on the forehand and backhand. I never caught up to them but I had occasional wins and the improvement did help me beat other players and other juniors. When you played in a club like mine at the time, everyone would discuss your weaknesses so if you didn't fix them, they would beat you consistently by playing to them. I used to play just like you Gozo, just at a better level until I lost to a guy who limped 0-3, 0-11 in the 3rd game. I was despondent and when my coach and teammates told me I was losing because I refused to spin the ball, that was when I said enough is enough. I need to do this spin thing.

For me now/today, I see lots of players around me since I moved states from PA to TX who have no clue how good I used to be. So my motivation is to prove myself again from scratch and get my movement to a point where I can play 2000+ level table tennis again especially with countertopspins on the forehand which I think are the biggest gap in my game against equally strong players.

Long story short, nothing you are going through is special for an adult learners, the question is whether you have a strong enough "why" and a good enough development environment to support the why. Because my environment had lots of players and mentors and coaches and tournaments so I could always have an idea of where I stood and what I needed to work on. In fact. When I wad 1900 and lamenting that my game was too weak to get to 2000, my coach told me that I was already there but I just lacked confidence. So I just joined leagues at the closest clubs that had leagues and the leagues, where tou would play about 4 to 8 matches against opponents of competitive strength, made me understand my coaches POV and I got the official rating about 5 months later. Now contrast that with Dallas Texas where I am now where I can't even find a single league to play on a weekly basis. Don't get me wrong, there are strong players in Dallas but I don't think their environment is optimal based on what I have seen. But to be fair, I live far away from the main TT places so maybe stuff is happening that I don't get to see.

I go into this level of detail not to discourage you but to make you realize that this improvement thing, the motivation, the method/work, and the measurement are all important.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

You know guys, NL & Tony et al,

I can loop and spin the ball, at least during stroke / practice stage. When I am in high stress situation like playing in an actual point counting set, my old habit of flat hitting / counter-drive / smashes just kick-in automatically. It is like I am not in control anymore. It is when I ended the point, then my brain will tell me, " Gozo, you promise you would loop instead of smash "

well, if you having fun
the rest isn't important

but if you want to win, then you need to learn to win points and learn how to not loose points.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

well, if you having fun
the rest isn't important

but if you want to win, then you need to learn to win points and learn how to not loose points.

That's deep Tony, really deep...

 

[Haraold]

how about:"you need to make at least one if not two more points than your opponent per set!"
or : "you need to make one or at least two fewer mistakes than your opponent!"
And there is no fun if you don´t win!
Loosing is misery,etc...
Harry "Pat" Riley a.ka. "Herry" West.
Or maybe "The Mark ! Avenger Gozo is only given to those who loop before they smash,Only the bravest will be given the power of wielding such a weapon,that furthermore the Smasher will conquer himself and will become a Looper!" - Hara Old the 14th.

 

[latej]

well, if you having fun
the rest isn't important

but if you want to win, then you need to learn to win points and learn how to not loose points.

That's deep Tony, really deep...

I think Tony was afraid it can get philosophical real quick, so he just kept it at the lowest common denominator ;-)

So, common Gozo, you play for fun, and you know it. But what's the fun? What's the fun points for you??? Tell me... It almost looked like you're losing the sight of the fun points... But that can't be true... So, please enumerate ;-)

... to 42

 

[Haraold]

On a serious note,don´t let your shortcommings and Frustration ruin the experience.
Remember all Players deal with those,but loosing or mistakes pisses us all off.
Hope you find a way to transform that into motivation and contentment.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

I think Tony was afraid it can get philosophical real quick, so he just kept it at the lowest common denominator ;-)

So, common Gozo, you play for fun, and you know it. But what's the fun? What's the fun points for you??? Tell me... It almost looked like you're losing the sight of the fun points... But that can't be true... So, please enumerate ;-)

... to 42

This makes me happy:

Instead I do this:

and this:

I'm so ol'skool...

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

how about:"you need to make at least one if not two more points than your opponent per set!"
or : "you need to make one or at least two fewer mistakes than your opponent!"
And there is no fun if you don´t win!
Loosing is misery,etc...
Harry "Pat" Riley a.ka. "Herry" West.
Or maybe "The Mark ! Avenger Gozo is only given to those who loop before they smash,Only the bravest will be given the power of wielding such a weapon,that furthermore the Smasher will conquer himself and will become a Looper!" - Hara Old the 14th.

No idea what the H 3 L L you are talking mate' but it sounds like something you say after smokin' some serious S H 1 T. Nonetheless, it sounds philosophical enuf for to get a like from me.

 

[Novarac23]

Good luck 💪🙌

 

[Haraold]

No idea what the H 3 L L you are talking mate' but it sounds like something you say after smokin' some serious S H 1 T. Nonetheless, it sounds philosophical enuf for to get a like from me.

was just strolling in after my Mavericks from the Nba got one win against the Celtics.
So I tried to motivate you with some Old Basketball Coaches References,but we legalized here in Germany,you got me there
Thx again for your tip about Ariex.)

 

[Saiph]

Maybe try practicing under pressure, just to let your brain and muscles get used to the condition?

Tell your wife she looks like she gained weight or intentionally forget your anniversary date or something, then put your phone ring volume to the max but don't answer her calls. I bet the practice session would be quite different, hopefully more enlightening 😉

 

[longle]

some of the VN players coming to that tournament are my friends in the same club. Can you pls take a picture if you have a chance to face them in a match

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

some of the VN players coming to that tournament are my friends in the same club. Can you pls take a picture if you have a chance to face them in a match

I have just recheck the tourney draw table and my team is NOT in the same Group as the Vietnam group.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

few days ago I played against a very good vet
2 balls in a row, this happened

I served short to his (FH) fh side, underspin
he pushes wide long to my FH side.
I had to go reach that ball with cross over, and hit the ball without really able to look at the table.
I hit the ball "down the line", so into his body.

this happened 2 times in a row.
That made me happy
if it was recorded, I would of been even happier.

in an earlier rally, he sent me right - cross over, got the ball in, he counter to center of the table,
i came back to do a LH topspin, but then he counter to my body and I was out.
I just didn't adapt to change back to RH play and continue top spin
I lost the point, but that was fun too

 

[latej]

My big tourney is a just week away.
...
My question is, should I still force myself to change to become a two-wing looper? Or just grow my existing game?
...
Come on gaiz, give some luv to this confused brother-in-spin. Give me your guidance.

You're before a tournament, you should enjoy it amap. Now is not really a time for improvement...

But you are asking. So when you're back, there is one thing I'd cautiously suggest: Learn from your non-playing hand.

What I mean, is when playing FH topspin, be aware of the movement of your non-playing hand, especially where it is at the contact point. For me, the position of the non-playing hand at contact point is the best (and very easy to validate) proof, of whether (or not), the body work (and the stroke as a whole) has been done correctly. Imo, ideally, when the stroke starts, the non-playing hand is forced by body to move earlier (in advance) relative to the playing hand. And the playing hand starts to move with a delay (essentially when the body work has been done), and due to this delay, it will accelerate to make up for it (well, alegorically). It's easy to check with the non-playing hand.

Why do I say cautiously. Because there are big difference also in between the pros and super pros. It is not a blocker point, it is not super important. There are obvious huge diffs say in between ZJK and ML in this and yet both are stars. But still, you can get something from it...

In your case Gozo, you're more on the ZJK side with regard to the non-playing hand. You can try to experiment with it... well, after you enjoy the tournament, ofc.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

In your case Gozo, you're more on the ZJK side with regard to the non-playing hand. You can try to experiment with it... well, after you enjoy the tournament, ofc.

So I am ZJK side. What next? What must I do? Does it include a Buy a ZJL Super ZLC?

 

[Haraold]

few days ago I played against a very good vet
2 balls in a row, this happened

I served short to his (FH) fh side, underspin
he pushes wide long to my FH side.
I had to go reach that ball with cross over, and hit the ball without really able to look at the table.
I hit the ball "down the line", so into his body.

this happened 2 times in a row.
That made me happy
if it was recorded, I would of been even happier.

in an earlier rally, he sent me right - cross over, got the ball in, he counter to center of the table,
i came back to do a LH topspin, but then he counter to my body and I was out.
I just didn't adapt to change back to RH play and continue top spin
I lost the point, but that was fun too

Wombshots when the opponents are over 45 should get automatically replayed.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Wombshots when the opponents are over 45 should get automatically replayed.

he should stop sending the ball so far away from me. haha

the 2nd one he actually sent it way wider

 

[latej]

So I am ZJK side. What next? What must I do?

Explore ;-)

Edit: Edit: Sorry, I didn't want to sound cryptic. There is this "space", you could say in between ZJK and ML, and you can explore it. I'm not speaking about level, obviously. You can first see the differences, then you can understand them, and then you can experiment with it yourself... Watch them, and then watch yourself - where is the non-playing hand at the contact point... when does it feel right, when it doesn't feel that right, etc... That's what I mean with exploring that space...

 

[Haraold]

Explore ;-)

Or train wombshots,they have to burn so the oponnent will be limited in the next possesion!