OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Played a tournament in Schaumburg today and came out with some disappointing results.

Got beat by a couple of 2200-2300 level players. That's not surprising.

Beat all of the players rated well below me, so it wasn't a total disaster.

The big disappointment was the 3 matches I played against guys rated within 50 points of me. Two were 20 points above me, one was almost 50 points below. And I lost all 3. Of the 11 games I played against them 7 of the games were decided by 2 points, and I lost 6 out of those 7. So, all of the matches were there for the taking and I couldn't get it done. Typically I pride myself on winning those. I think it was a combination of missed easy shots, tentative play (which was probably caused by the missed easy shots), and a little bad luck thrown in. Had I just won an extra point or two in each of those, I would be here talking about the great results I had today.

I took some videos, all of matches I ended up losing. It will be interesting to see where I most went wrong. I think the thing that I most need to work on is hitting with the pips. I feel like I've gotten too passive and let too many opportunities slip past. I need to regain one of the previous strengths of my game, which was the pips hit.

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"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Any chance you might post a video or two here? Would be great to see you play some (even if they are loses), after reading your blog of open a few weeks back (at least I don't recall seeing any vids of you playing). Either way, we all have bad days, so get em next time around .

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"Success is on the same road as failure; success is just a little farther down the road."

Donic Defplay Senso | Yasaka Mark V 2.0 | SL Dornenglanz OX

Donic Defplay Senso | Butterfly Sriver | Testing

Yeah, I will try to post some later. I watched some tonight but am too tired to wait for them to upload right now. After watching them, I really, really need to work on my backhand pushes. I dump WAY too many into the net right now. I think it's because the Talon is far more grippy than the Pogo and I haven't adjusted to that yet. But I probably lost a couple of matches because of the large number of balls I dumped into the net on simple pushes. Item number two was, indeed, being too passive. My backhand hit is a valuable weapon that I've gotten away from. I need to bring it back and keep improving on it. It really is a difference maker for me, and I've gotten far too tentative in using it.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

IMHO, you did not actually lose. You were in the process I adjusting to Talon from Pogo. It would have been the reverse if Pogo stayed as your weapon during the tournament.

Anyway, losing is no big deal. You can always turn the table next time you play the same people. Enjoy the game Dwruck, this is more important.

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Spin Lord First Strike: FH G Dtec ox, BH Golden Arch 8, 2.15mm

One video of losing a close match is worth 10 or more winning a close match. Analyze them all and you will benefit greatly from this experience-probably even more so than the US Open.

Vanjr, I've found that to be very true. I learn a lot more from the matches that I've lost, it shows me what my weaknesses are. Of course I'd like to win every match, but the losses really point out where my opportunities for improvement are. The good news, I believe, is that improving my backhand push should be relatively simple, and when I do, I think it will improve my level pretty quickly. That, and getting back to my pips hitting game a little more, and I feel like I could take a big jump. My next tournament isn't until mid-September, so I should have plenty of opportunity to work on those items.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

In the vids I watched you made a couple of nice pip hits. I think Talon has less power than Pogo, which makes it more open to a net dump too. I don't think you played too badly. Losses are all a part of getting to your next win!

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

That's the way I'm trying to look at it Reb. Taking things from this tournament will set me up perfectly to peak for our club's 4-star Badger Open in mid-September!

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Just remember 1 thing Doug. Jacek is becoming very good at playing against pip players. Don't blame yourself for that loss too bad. He played you very well. One thing you have to have against guys like Jacek is PATIENCE! Don't attack every chance you get. But, don't miss your attacks when you get them. He was playing you pretty far back. Do some drop shots. Bring him in then push him out. He has a good enough off the table game where you wont hit it by him too often. And don't do too much with your pips. The pips are not fast enough to hit it by him. And he knows how to get them back. I would stay more to his FH side because his BH side looks more powerful and consistent on his attacks. He was just smacking the ball on his FH side. He can get it back with his FH but I don't think it's strong as his BH.

Jacek is the guy I was playing back in 2008 when I finally blew out my shoulder. Rough weekend. Great guy. I really like him.

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Equipment:
Victas Koji Matsushita, Yasaka Rakza 7 2.0, TSP P1r Curl 1.5-1.7

USATT Rating: 1869

MOLON LABE!!!

Have you considered attacking those incoming backspin balls with your LP instead of pushing with your LP? You needn't have a tournament-ready roll stroke to pull that off.. the Dr Neubauer "mudflap" stroke -- while not pretty -- is brutally effective and quite easy to execute.

Thanks for the advice Joe, at the time I did not think about moving him in and out, but that makes total sense. If I play him, or a guy like him, in the future I will do that.

I used to hit and roll the ball a lot more than I do now. I think I need to get back to doing that more, it's almost always a winner when I do.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Well, the results are in, and as I expected, my rating fell to 1806. Not too bad, considering all of the close losses. I think I've played less in the time since the tournament than I have in a long time. Only once/week for the last two weeks. I'm going to enter the giant round robin in Schaumburg on September 10 and then the Badger Open September 17-18, and that might be it for tournaments for me the rest of the year. So, I need to end on a strong note. Maybe taking a little time off is what I need. When I had a hit with a friend earlier this week I was playing great until I tweaked my left knee a bit. I think I might go to a club tomorrow and continue working on my pips pushes and hits. I know I can do well in these upcoming two tournaments.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5