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PostPosted: 25 Jul 2015, 23:22 
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Most TT matches at the high levels have a paradoxically low shot average per point, usually less than 4. Yet most players trying to improve paradoxically spend most of their time on rally shots rather than serves, serve receives, first attack and counter attack. It's one of those facts that is easy to explain but still hard to completely rationalize.

However, one of the most underutilized tools for analyzing a match is to apply the 5 shots + rally framework to each point to see how the points evolved. If you do so, certain things become clearer.

So what is the framework? The framework is to take each of the first 5 shots of the the point and see how the patterns are evolving. In this way, you get a better read on what is happening in the match. This is even before you get to the rally.

The reason why this framework is not consciously used by people is that sometimes, the strengths/weaknesses that show up in the rally are very similar to the strengths and weaknesses that show up in the first 5 shots so some people just assume that a general strength is always a general strength (wow he has a good forehand) and a general weakness is always a general weakness (he has a bad backhand). However, a nuanced analysis of the first 5 points and the actual sequence of shots can lead to new ideas and opportunities if you take your time to look at them. This can help you figure out why you and/or your opponent are winning points and moves you from the land of ignorance to the land of awareness. Sometimes, your opponent may be doing things to you that you are not aware of and that is fine - there are subtle things that are not easy to spot. But as long as you add to your toolkit for understanding the game, you will always know what you need. Some of these will actually help you see that people may have weaknesses, but that they only show up in transition/footwork, and not on base strokes.

A common example is when someone is said to have a good backhand - what does that mean? Is the backhand good vs all shots? Is it good vs backspin or good vs topspin? Is it good at making the opening shot, good in a rally or both? I have played players with good backhands vs. backspin but poor backhands vs topspin, such that if you served backspin to their backhand, you would get killed, but if you served topspin, you would get a poor return. And there are players who can make a good first shot with their backhand, but if you survive that shot and return the ball back to the backhand, all you get are weak rally shots. The same logic can be applied to the forehand as well. Of course, having good opening shots is better than having good rally shots in the bigger scheme of things because a good opener has to be returned to get into the rally. But the distinction helps because it shows you want you have to survive to get into the point.

There are also players who have imbalanced games in specific ways. For example, I have played a lefty junior often in my TT career who struggled with fast balls to his forehand and slow balls to his backhand. Therefore, if you wanted to push or slow spin, you were better off going to the backhand, while if you wanted to attack hard, you were better off going to the forehand. On his backhand, he blocked well but could not loop underspin. On his forehand, he countered badly, but had a large and powerful opening stroke which he could use pretty well against slow blocks.

Sometimes, people with good strokes have strokes that fall apart when forced to move. Against another lefty junior, I was losing badly in a tournament match. He had been looping the ball off both sides with spin and power and my countering game was dreadful. I also couldn't do much with his serves and often missed them outright. In a moment of inspiration. I decided to serve short to his forehand (it's a usual strategy for me, but because he was a lefty, I was doing it wrongly initially), and when he pushed the ball back, I pushed into his backhand. The backhand loop he had been making all day prior to this began to fall apart as he missed loop after loop. Nothing his transition problems, I used this play and other in-and-out plays which forced him to move to get back into the match. Had I just accepted that he had a good backhand loop rather than seeing whether he could make that loop while moving to the ball, I would have lost that match easily. In other words, serving underspin directly to the backhand failed, but serving to the forehand, getting a return and pushing to backhand worked. Details do matter.

Such details help you see how your opponents score points against you. It might not just be serves to your forehand, but topspin serves to your forehand that you miss. OR your opponent might realize that if he serves you long to the backhand, you recover poorly to the forehand. OR your opponent might always attack the third ball crosscourt which you can use to your advantage if you realize this is what he does. OR he might always return the serve cross court as well, which you can use to anticipate the return and gain time setting up your third ball. Sometimes, the understanding lets you know what needs to be done or what needs to be practiced to beat a particular player.

I mentioned a few of the common points but there are many more dimensions as well. As you experience and stroke quality improves, many more ideas become possible and accessible. However, that will never change the need to think in terms of the first 5 shots of a point. Your goal should be to get an advantage in this initial battle as early as possible. There are too many possibilities for spin misreads beyond this that are too uncontrolled. Also, using this framework, you will become more aware of how many points are won after you play the first attack and this will inspire you to attack earlier. You may also appreciate more how often you lose when you don't play the first attack.

The first 5 shots tend to be relatively familiar territory for most people who practice. And if you can turn it into familiar territory for you but unfamiliar territory for your opponent, you have won half the battle!


=======================================================================================================================
So the 5 shots + rally framework is to look at both your serve points and your opponent's serve points and answer the following:

1. SERVE

The key thing here is that the serve must get a passive and/or predictable return from the returner. If the serve wins the point outright, that is good but not necessary. IF the receiver has too many options to confound the server, then serves must be adjusted to restrict those options based on what the receiver seems to not do well.

What spins are being serve? (spin)
Where are the serves being placed? (placement)
Are they high spin or low spin, fast or slow? (Speed/power)
Are the serves low or high? (bounce height)
Where are the serves being served with? (forehand or backhand side of racket)
Where are the serves being served from? (left or right court)
What is the server trying to do? (goal)
Who is winning the points or getting the advantage post receive?

2. RETURN

The most important general question here is whether the return permits third ball opportunities or puts the server under pressure by denying an attack or creating a quality ball that may win the point outright. The details of this are often based on looking at how a specific serve was returned.

What kinds of receive are being used? (spin)
Where are the received being placed? (placement)
Are they aggressive or passive? (speed/power)
Are the returns low or high(height)?
What side of the racket/stroke is being used? (forehand or backhand)
Does the receiver have to move and if so how? (movement/footwork)
What kind of placements are typical against a particular kind of shot (anticipation)?
What is the receiver trying to do? (goal)
Who is winning the points or getting the advantage post receive?

3. THIRD BALL
Is the server aggressive on his third ball opportunities? (goal/speed/power)
Where are the third ball opportunities being placed? (placement)
What kinds of strokes are being used? (spin)
What side of the racket/stroke is being used? (forehand/backhand)
Does the server have to move and if so how? (movement/footwork)
What kind of placements are typical against a particular kind of shot (anticipation)?
Who is winning the points at this stage?

4. FOURTH BALL
Is the return aggressive on his fourth ball opportunities? (goal/speed/power)
Where are the fourth ball opportunities being placed? (placement)
What kinds of strokes are being used? (spin)
What side of the racket/stroke is being used? (forehand/backhand)
Does the returner have to move and if so how? (movement/footwork)
What kind of placements are typical against a particular kind of shot (anticipation)?
Who is winning the points at this stage?

5. FIFTH BALL
Is the return aggressive on his fifth ball opportunities? (goal/speed/power)
Where are the fifth ball opportunities being placed? (placement)
What kinds of strokes are being used? (spin)
What side of the racket/stroke is being used? (forehand/backhand)
Does the server have to move and if so how? (movement/footwork)
Who is winning the points at this stage?
What kind of placements are typical against a particular kind of shot (anticipation)?

6. RALLY
Who is winning the rally points when the first five shots are over?
What kinds of shots are being used? (use all the dimensions in previous questions)
What kind of placements are typical against a particular kind of shot (anticipation)?

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PostPosted: 25 Jul 2015, 23:35 
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SERVE

So as a personal example, most of my serves are backspin serves, usually short to the forehand because most of my opponents at the club have good backhand openers so the short forehand is the only relative safety zone. I sometimes play fast to the long backhand as a surprise tactic (it gets punished if it is not surprising enough). I have a tricky pendulum side back and side top serve on both forehand and backhand and a reverse pendulum serve that I reserve for special situations. I can also serve backspin/no-spin combinations. I look for what is working and stick to it as much as I can as my imperfect serves are tricky for some people but easy for others.

SERVE RETURN

I usually either do heavy log pushes or do aggressive backhand loops on the backhand side. On the forehand side, I usually use my backhand as well, which I am trying to fix as it opens me up to transition manipulation against certain players. I can use my forehand when the ball is high but I trust my backhand strokes more to present the opponent with problems.

THIRD BALL

I loop the third ball on both sides. I sometimes push if jammed because my arthritis doesn't make me move confidently as I try to avoid pain. My preference is slow heavy spin. I usually spin my backhand directly at you unless you are a lefty (I hook it wide), though I am planning to go back to hooking the ball on my backhand as well. On my forehand, my opener is a forehand hook to the wide forehand if slow. If the ball is high or predictably weak, I alternative between going cross court and down the line to keep my opponent honest.

FOURTH BALL

I usually block - I am trying to build a counterloop. I sometimes punch slow spin if I get to it early.

FIFTH BALL

I am extremely aggressive on the 5th ball if my opponent does not do something to my third ball that is aggressive. If I pushed on third ball, I usually loop any pushes back as I have more time to get into position. If the opponent blocked my 3rd ball , I try to rip the 5th ball for a winner or place it down the line if I hooked the first ball cross court.

RALLY

I rally well for my level, but it is not where I want to be.

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PostPosted: 27 Jul 2015, 23:25 
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Great discussion.

For me I think of the rally as beginning with the 4th ball. I can think ahead to the 3rd ball but essentially I am at "rally" on the 4th ball. I probably am not smart enough to think through the 5th ball (except in rare occasions).

I also tend to be less analytical than this when I am getting destroyed. Instead of trying to vary things I panic, "They are killing me with the 3rd ball!!!"

Against a much better player (usually a big hitting junior or a 2000 rated player) I am almost always just trying to get their serve on the table.


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PostPosted: 27 Jul 2015, 23:41 
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vanjr wrote:
Great discussion.

For me I think of the rally as beginning with the 4th ball. I can think ahead to the 3rd ball but essentially I am at "rally" on the 4th ball. I probably am not smart enough to think through the 5th ball (except in rare occasions).

I also tend to be less analytical than this when I am getting destroyed. Instead of trying to vary things I panic, "They are killing me with the 3rd ball!!!"

Against a much better player (usually a big hitting junior or a 2000 rated player) I am almost always just trying to get their serve on the table.


The less technique you have, the more and more you need to look for ways to get people to play your game I played a kid who was murdering me everytime I pushed go the backhand by looping into my forehand hard. After losing two games (and he had played me close before but never beaten me), I forced myself to fake as if I was pushing to the backhand but then float/push to the forehand. From there, I could read his attacks much better. He also started missing more.

You aren't going to beat players who have better strokes than you by rallying with them on their terms. Of course, depending on how good you want to get, being too mental a player can slow down your growth as weaknesses to exploit get thinner and thinner as you get better. But even at the higher levels, sometimes you have to pick your poison. There is a reason why most Europeans do not get into power rallies with Ovtcharov or most CNT pin Timo Boll on the backhand.

Being unable to return someone's serve is a tactical nightmare. That is hard to fix with pure tactics if you are misreading the spin. But if you can work out what is on the ball, then sometimes, it is better to give a weak version of what they do not like than a strong version of what they do. Some people attack backspin better than topspin so it is better to flick weakly than to push well against such players.

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PostPosted: 28 Jul 2015, 06:54 
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Thanks, vanjr.

There were two points you brought up that I can discuss briefly.

1) serves
2) thinking of the fourth/fifth ball as rally

1) serves are a nightmare for most players trying to improve as adults. The hard part is transitioning from when people have non-deceptive serves and are doing readable things to the higher levels when people have harder to read serves. If I was training an adult from scratch, I would start them off with trying to have the right strokes to return serves. All serves should be returned with active spin strokes, whether you make a mistake or not. It is much harder to control spin with passive strokes as that places significant demands on your touch. And at higher levels, better players know what they put on the ball so if you don't do something with it, they know what they are attacking behind. Once you have the return, the next step is to read the serve. But you need the return first. That's a gap in many people's games - they haven't figured out or practiced the right return technique, so they both have to read the serve and do the right return. Too much work.

2) it is a mistake to think of the 4th/5th ball as rally shots and to some degree the 6th shot. In fact, one of the things you need to figure out quickly at the lower levels, even sometimes up to 2100 USATT is how aggressive your opponent is especially against backspin and then against topspin. That enables you to figure out what you want to serve and what you want to do with the third ball if you don't have a chance for a powerful attack
- If your opponent does not aggressively counterattack opening topspin shots, then you can play safe spinny openers. The block then sets up an easier ball for you to attack. You can also consider serving disguised topspin short if they do not have good flicks.
- IF your opponent does not attack backspin, but you can, then your goal is to give him a backspin ball when returning his serve or to start the point with a backspin serve and pick the right ball to attack. Some players are so used to playing players who play the proper way that they push any backspin serve back and wait for the opening topspin. The problem begins the ball gets pushed back to them but they are not ready to open and push again. Then it is a matter of picking the right ball to attack to the right location.

Again, none of these are substitutes for developing good technique, but they give you a better idea of what your arsenal is missing. It was through these that I realized that my biggest gap was service return on the short forehand. Also realize that if you haven't done this kind of assessment of your game, other players likely have. It is funny how I go somewhere and the first day, everyone is having trouble, but by the second time I go back, everyone has discussed how to play me so they now put the ball in safer places.

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One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
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"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus


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