OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Wow that kind of thing always happened to me whenever I play without shoes..
It will heal by itself, but until then your footwork might be hindered a little, true ?

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GFoT |Blade : Timo Boll ALC • FH : DHS 3 Neo Provincial MAX • BH : Tenergy 64 MAX
Crossover to Takeover!

Actually, now the hard skin has gone (courtesy of medical scissors) it isn't at all sore. It looks far worse than it is, and after a couple of days the foot now feels close to normal.

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Timo Boll ALC ST
FH Tibhar Evolution MX-P Max
BH Tibhar Evolution FX-S 1.8
185g

Well, I have been quite remiss in updating this blog, so let's get a few thoughts down.

The league season has started

Or at least that is how it should feel. I've been quite hampered by my arm/shoulder injury that has held back the amount I have been able to play / practice. That said, my results look quite similar to last season (P29 W23 L6) in the top divisions of the leagues I play.

After some early games, some wins and some losses, I was very unhappy with my backhand. I have spend a lot of time this summer working on offensive backhand strokes and it seemed the strokes that were previously strong: the chopping, the short game and especially the blocking : they just weren't working well. I guess I had just neglected to practice those aspects, and using a tacky rubber there was less room for error. So what to do? Change rubber of course !!!

Out went my trusty IQUL 2.0mm and in came a sheet of Mark V in 1.8mm. Instant transformation, and I played better from the moment it was put on my bat. I expected it to be quicker, as although I haven't played with it for years I remember MK V as a very quick rubber. I guess things have moved on: plus I used to have it in 2.0. I'm very pleased with it, I may have sacrificed a little short game spin but it seems to do everything pretty well and is far less reactive to the incoming spin.

My arm is finally getting better, after having been a problem on and off for about 12 weeks. I even went as far as to buy an ultra-light blade, a Donic Cayman at 60g , thinking I might have to resort to using that to help the arm heal. Clearly giving up playing is not an option. I did have a hit with it at a Sunday morning session and really quite liked it. The speed of the Cayman is often a matter of debate. FWIW, my opinion is that it is in the ALL+ / OFF- region (albeit that the blade I have is lighter than the quoted average of 70g). It is very nice at and over the table, not too bulky, stable for blocking and you can generate decent speed. Drift too far from the table and it becomes a little feeble.

So there we go, I'm back on the blog circuit, and will try to post regularly. We have a big game next week, so that should make a good write-up

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Timo Boll ALC ST
FH Tibhar Evolution MX-P Max
BH Tibhar Evolution FX-S 1.8
185g