OOAK Table Tennis Forum

TT conditions here at the camp are poor, but sure beat nothing. A Romanian Captain dropped in for a few days. We trained until 2 AM for three days straight. I won the fun of some nice training and lose some of my midsection training that long. Win-win. I don't get much of a chance to train here with anyone who can block or hit me loops. There are lots of Romanian soldiers here and there seem prety cool, just wish more of them play good table tennis.

This Captain was a nightmare for me as he hits slow topspin balls for just about everything - something that really throws off my timing on my attacks. He doesn't miss much if at all in a match - he keeps everything on the table with super control. He says no one trained him, but you don't get strokes like that being a chump - you get them through learning and practice, something I feel this guy had lots of. He is like a vampire - hard to kill. We did all kinds of nice training and he could give me the shots I need to hit against to improve. If I could train like this for a year, I would have a chance at becomming an advanced player.

here is a link to one of the drills. He does better against topspin, but his stroke and controll are great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV0VlM213RA

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

C'mon Der-Echte if this guy had serious training then you will be amaized to see real Romanian players

No offence to my captain and say to him : "Mult noroc si sanatate!"

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Xiom Strato , St
FH: DHS H3 prov, max
BH: Butterfly Tenergy 05FX, max

Alright Vali. Fair enough as I have not seen many Romaian advanced players to make that call. All I am saying is this CPT talks like he is a rec player and it is quite obvious he isn't. The way he keeps light to medium topspin on hte table would get him a 1700 rating in the USATT rating. That puts him a couple hundred points from being an advanced player.

BTW, he was here for only three days and left. I got a LOT of great practice and had fun.

_________________
Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Hi Der,

I thought you were going to say have a chance at beating Speedplay

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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.

Hi Der,,,
I consider his loop stroke a basement loop. He is hitting in front of him and that is why his blade comes in front of him at the end of the stroke. It is Exactly the stroke I have the hardest time trying to change in beginning players. Another clue is folding the bat over at the end of the stroke.

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Shakehand, left handed.
Blade, Yinhe, W-1
Forhand, H-3 National
Backhand, Sriver FX Max

Fair assessment Hookshot. Looping against bottomspin is the worst thing he does, so we trained some on it. (About all I get from decent rec players is bottomspin retuns - I get lots of practice hitting those, but zero on incoming topspin) In a few matches he was able to slow to medium loop everything that wasn't strong bottomspin. I have seen a lot of mid 1600 to 1700s players with the same game. BTW, he really liked Hammond X on the BTY VSG 1000 blade. He landed over 90 percent of his FH loops with that one.

Either way, he gave me a TON of practice hitting against what I rarely see here - topspin. My consistancy jumped form well under 50 to over 50 percent in the three days - too bad he couldn't stay longer. It was good physical training too. We hit hard for hours on end. Too bad you didn't join Haliburton/KBR for a 80,000 tax free job at this camp and hit me those suicide drills you do with your partners - I could get into the physical and the intensity of those.

_________________
Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Is that table the right height? What does it stand on?

Hi Der,,,
When I looked back on it some more, he turns his shoulder nice but then he leaves them there and just uses his arm.
There are certain things I watch for when trying to help people with loops. The very first thing I usually see is the bat coming across in front. That is caused by not waiting for the ball long enough or not moving in on the ball. If you watch close, you will see them fold the wrist back to get direction. This puts side spin on the ball and does nothing to get the ball back down. The ball should be taken almost next to you and the blade should be traveling directly over the ball in the direction you want it to go.
The other thing that is obvious in the vid is how he folds the blade over at the end of the stroke. These are found in almost every player that learned on his own. It is very hard to break these habits.
Your loops have improved alot since your first vid. You used to fall away when looping. Weight needs to shift back to front like you do most of the time now.
I have my own demons to work on and one of them is to shorten my stroke on counter loops. As I play better players, the game gets faster and since I stay close to the table, there is not time to take big backswings.
I would travel to alot of places to play ping pong but Iraq is not one of them. If you can get to China in 2009, we could have a go then. I have heard there are some good players there,,,LOL

_________________
Shakehand, left handed.
Blade, Yinhe, W-1
Forhand, H-3 National
Backhand, Sriver FX Max

Hi Hookshot,
One of my most successful shots is to do a loop that includes some sidespin as well as it often eludes the bat of the opponent as they don't expect it to move away. Are you saying this is technically an illegitimate shot?

_________________
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.

OK, managed to watch the vid and I see what you mean now Hookshot. I have a very different action to achieve my loop with the blade brushing almost directly up for a normal loop (unless I'm manufacturing a shot cos I'm caught out of position lol) and my wrist rolling slightly left for adding sidespin. Blade almost never would finish past my face and over to the left. Now I see what you mean by basement player.

_________________
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.

Hi RTTE,,,
No, the side on a loop can be a usefull thing,,,After you get the standard loop down. He said the guy had no power but lots of consistancy. That comes from not using the body, just the arm. On loops and drives, everything adds to the power. By not using the body and legs, his consistancy goes up as there are less things to control. Same as Not using your wrist on backhand. More consistancy but not as much power and spin.
If you hit a loop in front of you hard, you have a very small window to make the shot as the ball curves sideways more rather than down to the table. If you watch close, you will see they fold thier wrist back, it is the only way they can send it forwards and not off the side of the table as the blade is going across the table, not in line with where they want the ball to go. With Seemiller grip, I use this to make fading loops. With shakehands it is eaiser to make hooking loops, (where I got my name). But before you can use these to advantage, you have to have the mechanics of looping down pat.
Watch a Good looper and see where his stroke finishes. Watch and see if the blade angle changes "during" the stroke. (folding it over)
There are some players that have reached a decent level inspite of doing it wrong through persistance but I would bet they would be even better if they did it correct.
When I coach someone, I have them slow down to 50% speed so I can better see what they are doing. Bat position is the first thing I look for at the end of the stroke. It is a reliable indicator of where they are hitting the ball.

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Shakehand, left handed.
Blade, Yinhe, W-1
Forhand, H-3 National
Backhand, Sriver FX Max

Hi, Der Echte. Trust him, trust Hookshot, trust me, this guy never had serious practice and learning. He has a good "basement level", nothing more. BTW, nice TT room you managed to settle. Did you get that out of a supersized container or what ?
Keep well,
Cheers.

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Joola Rossi Emotion
T64 + Express one

RTTE, as Hookshot siad, he got his screen name making effective use of that shot.

Jolan - salut! OK. I can accept both your testimony as valid. I still got a lot of training against what I need playing with this CPT and got real better real quick, but have a marathon ahead of me.

_________________
Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Hi Der,,,
Glad you got alot of practice in with him. It is nice to have someone that can return more than one in a row.
I go to coach a guy in a couple hours and hitting in front of him is what we are working on. It has been about 4 weeks since I started to change his stroke. It is now just starting to prevail over his old habit. We start with multiball for 10 minutes untill the stroke is right and then switch to volleys. If his stroke reverts back to hitting in front, we go back to multiball.
The turning point for him came when he would realize when he did it wrong. When the stroke finished low and in front of him, he would know right away what he did. Now I hear him mutter under his breath when he does it and corrects it himself.

_________________
Shakehand, left handed.
Blade, Yinhe, W-1
Forhand, H-3 National
Backhand, Sriver FX Max