OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi All,

I played and lost in a tournament last weekend. I lost to players I shouldn't lose to and won against players who played well.

I can't seem to pump myself up to bring out a better or my usual game. Playing against kids and unknown opponents kind of threw of my game and had no desire to win at the comp. I should've just dropped out and left since I was expecting to play in a specific division but was moved down due to some players joining later with higher RC.

I have consistently beaten (in socials and in weekly comp) players who were previously better than me or at the same skill level.

My rating has been up and down instead of continuously progressing. Any advice?

Make video of yourself in tournament conditions. Should cure from illusions of own skill superiority.

The 100+ point difference in RC should show that.

I beat the runner up in the division 3-0 and the two sets I lost to the winner of the division were deuces and I had set points there. Majority of other losses are 3-2 and deuces.

It's not a feeling of superiority. But it's ok if you think that way. I'm not a high rated player as well.

I guess I just have to find a way to pump myself up when I'm playing with somehow low energy.

Progress vs erratic rating example shown below.

I enjoy playing against higher rated players even if I lose. Those good players probably will beat the players that beat me. But I feel like I play better against the higher rated players than the lower rated players.

Play more tournaments. It does sound like you need to be mentally tougher in general (just to be able to shrug of a bad loss), and get a bit more experience with matches against unknown players.

The usual advice is "play the opponent, not their rating" - especially with kids, whose rating is super unreliable (they usually are better then their number). And then you have style match ups - perhaps you do well against conventional players, but struggle against blockers, lobbers, or pips players. Even with players you know well, you still might be surprised - the way they play you socially can be different from their tournament match.

So, not that unusual to have a tournament you described. Plus, rating does not have to go up all the time - sometimes we do play badly for whatever reason, and, well...

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

We all do - nothing to lose, so to speak. When you are down 0:2 to someone 200 points below you - now that's pressure!

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

Are those ratings USATT ones? If so one needs to recognize that the variation based on numbers of matches each player has played and how relatively little difference there is between a 1200 USATT player and a 1300 for example. The added variable is that tournament play is VERY different from club play or friendly matches. I think using numeric ratings give an impression that our playing levels have a value. Throw in a bad night sleep or too much to eat at lunch and rating easily vary 100 points or more for anyone rated from 800-1700 for example.

Some play predictably - Lose to higher rating and win against lower rating.

Compared to me, I sometimes struggle to put away lower rated players and miss easy shots or make too many mistakes.

No, it's not USATT. It's from ratings central.

People overestimate themselves because they often compare their strongest signature shots with the same ones from others. But in serious game smart player will play around your best shots. Are you sure that you can force your own comfortable game to your opponent and do not play in unknown enemy territory? If you cannot force your game you are actually underdog in the match. The best consistency is to win point fast. Are you strong and consistent with your 3rd ball attack?

Stronger players often play open rallies like in drills without fear to lose a match. And they may allow you to play your best shots to practice themselves.

Am just assessing based on rating.
Here's a theoretical example: players 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (in terms of rank/rating)
1 loses to 5
2 beats 5
3 beats 5
4 beats 5
1 beats 2
1 beats 3
1 loses to 4
2 beats 3
2 beats 4
3 loses to 4

What's wrong with player 1? He lost to weaker players that 2 and 3 could beat.

I think you are viewing ratings as absolute measure of strength AND expect results always to follow the relative ranking, while a) they are quite uncertain even on average (RC does quote this uncertainty, by the way), and b) even if they are 100% accurate, lower rated person should beat someone above them sometimes. I don't remember how RC ratings are calibrated, but I suspect probability of an upset with 100 point difference is NOT small, so nobody should be surprised too much when that happens.

Now, if Player 1 lost to Player 5 19 games out of 20, then it would be a different discussion ('these underrated juniors, am I right?', or "I can't play against pips!", or...).

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

There is a +/- in the ratings/RC.

But if a player has improved and is better than their RC, I would expect #5 to beat #1, #2 and others. It's not just #1 unexplicably losing to a lower rated player.

It's all good. Thanks everyone for their input.

I still need to solve the problem of going up in ratings and trying to be more consistent when I face lower rated players and having an expected result.

On any given day, a top player could lose to anyone. But you can see that everyone else with a higher rating will most likely beat that unexpected player. Unless they are completely on the rise in terms of skill level and definitely better than their rating.

Or maybe my skill has just reached a roadblock/deadend and this is the most I can go - forever inconsistent.

I lost again 3 singles matches in my weekly comp.

I was competitive but the guys I played all had higher RC and admittedly better than me.

The slump n RC continues.

I've finally figured it out. My consistency dropped when I used a faster bat setup. I thought I already had good control/consistency with my balsa carbon and super alc (2 new setups) playing socially for a few months before the comp. They're fast but too fast for me in competition.

I went back to my old Viscaria (also with slower rubbers) and I played better in handicap and finally won one.

That was a rather important bit of info to leave out of the original post...

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887