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Had a much better performance than the last few times I was in Schaumburg. It was a giant round robin format with 8 players per group. I was the #6 seed, but there was only about 80 ratings points between the top player and the bottom player. Many of these players are people I've played multiple times in recent tournaments where I've struggled.

Overall, it was a positive day for me. I went 4-3 in my 7 matches. Beat the top seed in 5, and beat the 2nd seed as well. The #2 seed was another long pips player who used the Dragon Talon, but differently than I do. He takes everything close to the table, right off the bounce, and pushes people around at very short, wide angles. As in most cases against other pips players, I was able to win many pips to pips rallies, especially early in the match. First game I won 11-5, second 11-7. In the third he adjusted to my fast pushes and hits and whipped me 11-4. In the fourth he was up by 3 and I made an adjustment to start serving fast into his body, then looping to various spots so he couldn't set up his block. That turned the match around and I won 11-9! It turns out that I was the only person to beat him on the day! After losing my first match, I'd won 4 in a row and sat at 4-1. Then, I lost my last two matches, both in 5 games. I could have easily been 6-1. But I'll take 4-3 in that group. Last time, I was 2-5 and felt like I should have been 4-3. This time I was 4-3 and felt like I could have been 6-1.

I made far less silly mistakes, especially pushing with the pips. I also got back to hitting a lot more with the pips, which added that extra dimension back into my game. I was very happy about my play with the pips. The difference in the matches was how effective my use of the Thor's on the forehand was. I'd only played with it for about 3 weeks and the inconsistency showed. In the matches that I won, I was consistent with looping and getting winners and having good control. In the matches that I lost, I was over-hitting with the hard sponge and flying the ball long, then being far too tentative in subsequent shots. It was definitely a benefit on serves, and was effective in looping, especially sidespin into the body. So, I know in the long term it will be a very good change for me. It's just that right now, at times, I lose control and confidence in it. Hopefully today's experience will help me at the Badger Open next week.

No videos this time. Wanted to concentrate only on playing and not recording. Maybe I'll take it to the Badger Open next weekend.

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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

Nice result, congrats. How many playing days were on your sheet of Thors prior to this tourny? I've heard other Thors users say it takes six full days of playing for it to break in and reveal its low end.

I ask because I have a sheet on order myself and am not looking forward to the break-in period.

Good to hear about the consistancy. Being able to land it, even the can't miss shots makes a huge difference. Sometimes those things help you play a full level better that moment.

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Well done dwruck!

Have you been practicing with the pips a lot more than your FH? I get into that bad habit sometimes... spend all my time on the pips, and then I face someone who keep putting wide on my forehand, and then I notice the lack on consistancy on my FH

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How did you feel about Thors vs your old macro era?

Good tourney. Lots of 5 game matches is a good thing IMO!

I think I've had about 5 sessions with the Thor's, about 2 hours each. So, I don't think it's a case of it not being broken in. I think that the sponge makes it so much faster that I'm not used to it quite yet. Even though it says the Macro ERA was 47.5 degree and Thor's is 54, it feels like the difference is a lot more. Comparing my performance with it vs. how I played with the Macro ERA, there's a definite trade-off. On the good side, I get significantly more spin on my inverted serves. Mixing the pips serves with really spinny inverted serves gives me a diverse set of weapons that make my service game even more effective. That's a huge plus for me. Another plus is that it has a higher throw than Macro ERA, which I considered to have quite a low throw. I'd probably call the throw of Thor's medium. The higher throw helps me to loop against backspin, and helps me to loop from mid to long distance, more consistently. The biggest problems that I probably have right now are against topspin. Even against slower balls with topspin, when I go to counter it shoots long on me. I think I need to take less of a swing, or a more controlled swing, to keep it in play more often. I'm still taking too aggressive of a stroke at it. Overall I think it's a benefit, and that the mistakes are fixable with more practice. I don't think I've been practicing a lot more with the pips vs. with the forehand, it's just a case of, with the pips, getting back to more of a hitting game, which I used to have but stopped using. Hitting with the pips makes a huge difference in my game and either gives me a winner right away or sets me up for a follow-up attack. For the first time in the last few tournaments, I felt like I was consistently dictating the pace of the games and had other guys playing my type of game. I can't wait to see if I can do even better at the Badger Open next weekend. It might be my last tournament for the year, so I'm hoping for some good results. There are a lot of good players entering the Over-40 event this year, so defending my title will be tough.

_________________
"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