OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I feel you re: the back injury. I ended up doing a few months of PT after my mishap at Westchester (and my subsequent foolishness getting back at the table too quickly).

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Seeking joy and fitness in recreational modern defense.
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Quick update - back pain subsided over the week, so I went to the club twice on the weekend. Was a bit cautious on Saturday, and more relaxed on Sunday, but so far it looks like I'm back to normal (phew! ).

Playing tournament this coming weekend - considering playing up on Sunday in higher events to get a bit more exposure to stronger players in preparation for World Veterans in June. Not that it will make a huge difference, but still, one could hope...

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USATT: 1795| League: 2045

Thanks goodness. ...nothing worse than back pain to throw your game.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝ Rating: 1615

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

Yes - and the most disturbing part of it how sudden and unexpected it was. One moment you are playing decent TT and not doing anything unusual, and the next you are afraid to make a step because it might hurt and then can't even sit straight without pain. Just proves how used we are to 'normal state of the body' and don't appreciate enough how much good health matters.

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USATT: 1795| League: 2045

Had another decent league night, finishing 3:2. Stole a match from a higher-rated guy who was goofing around a bit until it was too late - one more reason why league ratings are somewhat inflated.

One of the stronger players pointed out during warm up that I tend to drop my racket too low during backswing on FH counter-drives, which promotes upward motion and hurts consistency. It sure does, now just need to ingrain the fix into muscle memory...

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USATT: 1795| League: 2045

Too low... affects consistency?

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[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, Butterfly Joo Saehyuk, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 2.1), TSP Spectol Speed (1.3), TSP Super Spinpips Chop Sponge 2 (0.5, 1.3)
LPs: Butterfly Feint Long II (1), Butterfly Feint Long III (0.5, 1.3), Tibhar Grass D.TecS (OX), TSP Curl P1-R (0.5, 1, 1.3), TSP Curl P4 (1.3)
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He's looping here, not doing the 'warm up drive' strokes, and the same guy told me that loop is different (duh!). Sorry, I should've been more clear in my post.

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USATT: 1795| League: 2045

EDIT MISREAD LIKE AN IDIOT

Ok that makes sense then yeah, definitely no need to drop the racket on a counter-hit.

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[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, Butterfly Joo Saehyuk, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 2.1), TSP Spectol Speed (1.3), TSP Super Spinpips Chop Sponge 2 (0.5, 1.3)
LPs: Butterfly Feint Long II (1), Butterfly Feint Long III (0.5, 1.3), Tibhar Grass D.TecS (OX), TSP Curl P1-R (0.5, 1, 1.3), TSP Curl P4 (1.3)
Full list (PM me for price): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xNLwjz5uZq_FcCowBgZ4zk1NwU83xVyCRoo0zhphu3w/edit?usp=sharing
==================================================================================================================================================
My blog: "Learning to play: as a modern defender": http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=22254
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtazeX ... oICGS9bqNg

Had interesting experience at the club today: lost 0:3 to a guy (yet to beat him, I think, the closest I ever got to was 2:3), but all games went to deuce, something like 14:16, 11:13, 10:12. Don't think it ever happened to me before.

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USATT: 1795| League: 2045

Going back a few posts, I have realized a lot of my lower back issues I had were from...

1) Not doing morning Calisthenics... like I did for 30 yrs

2) Sitting at work for an occupation (and not getting up every 3-5 minutes)

3) Wrong mattress (Ironically, the $3000 mattress is killing me and my $150 for the guest room is like back therapy)

My back got weakened from next to no balanced general exercises, older age and poorer blood circulation, bad mattress and sleep position, and too much sitting at work. When I DID do stuff, it was TT and when I played once a week, there was too much explosive moving and hitting going on for my back to hold up.

I kept getting all kinds of grade one tears and tweeks.

Once I fixed what I could (get up every few minutes, do some general stuff (like squats) and sleep on the right bed, the baddies went away. It probably hurt me that I had cracked 100kg and was on the rise. I have since dropped to 96 and hopefully still on the drop.

Playing at the club for extended time can be strange. You get used to opponents, but they get used to you. Still, vs the ones you never win against, it is good to mess around with what could work if you have the ability to do it with any consistency.

Often, the ones who give me troubles, in general are just better players with way better touch that I cannot read well enough, plus they are more consistent. If I could get half of what they do, it would go a long way for me.

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Going by your list of risk factors:

1. Calisthenics or lack thereof: check - don't do much exercise outside TT
2. Sitting too much: check - I sit all day in front of computer, most likely with a shitty posture too.
3. Mattress: who knows, I don't do A/B tests on them.

Oh yeah, the weight has been creeping up in the last few years too, but I started to watch what I eat a bit more carefully, so managed to reverse the trend lately. Hopefully it helps with TT a little.

+1 on consistency argument, if I could slow down and go easy on some of the hero shots, wins would follow, I'm sure.

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USATT: 1795| League: 2045

I have a standing desk at work. It's a life saver, and highly recommended.

Core strengthening is a must.

Have you actually done some imaging to make sure you don't have any neurological or structural issues in the lower back?

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝ Rating: 1615

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

Just got back from the weekend tournament - lost a bunch of points, but feel pretty good (huh?!).

Most of annoying losses came against material players: anti, lower level chopper, higher level push-blocker. I guess there is an unspoken message here, but let's leave it aside for a moment. Lost 4 matches in 5 sets again, vast majority against ~2000 players. Took games against 2100 players and even one against 2500 one - but I'm going to discount that one somewhat, as he did not really try hard .

Did not go that far on Saturday, losing in SF in U1800 O40 one (lost in 5, would've easily won the final) and in QF of U2000 ( that's where I played another finalist of previous event in 1/8th and won comfortably 3:0) only to run into crafty pushblocker in the QF. Which just shows that style match-ups matter a lot at my level: I beat my 1/8th opponent easily, but he took care of an anti player without a problem, who in turn demolished me earlier in the day

Sunday was mostly an exercise of building tolerance for losing, since I signed up for events quite above my level: U2500, U2350, U2200 with rather predictable results (1-9 record), but also 3 close losses in 5 game-matches. Quite a few players and their coaches told me that I played well, but they did so after beating me

Still, not disappointed - had fun and made a couple new friends. Also, played a doubles event - by pure coincidence was matched up with a guy who used to play at our club before moving to NYC couple of years ago. We only got to play one match but it was much more fun than I expected - lost, but it was very close and enjoyable game. Should give doubles another try before World Veterans Championship in June...

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USATT: 1795| League: 2045

Had one of those rare TT days in the club today, when everything seemed easy and almost every shot landed

Went undefeated, and I don't think I even lost a single game, including couple of matches against difficult opponents. Probably was more aggressive than usual - including recent experimentation with hitting off the bounce, I think I got 5-6 outright winners just from that, without missing once, IIRC.

Wonder how long it will last...

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USATT: 1795| League: 2045

Hitting off the bounce with LPs?

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝ Rating: 1615

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions