OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Alright, perhaps a blog is the way to go for me. I have basically run out of things to say about equipment or tatics because of the level I'm at, which is not much, and my own ej closet which really doesnt contain too much either.

Anyways, I think I'll write about tactics and equipment as seen from my level of development. Again, FYI I'm over the hill in my forties, a 10 year basement tt vet and tennis retiree, playing in my first year of houseleague in one of main clubs in Toronto.

So to lead off, I've just come back from the club and I practiced with my main rival, whom I hold a stellar record of 2-1 against. We were one and one during the 10 week season, shortened due to lack of interest, and just last week I beat her in the playoff semis. My own team will play a well rested team, they had byes all the way through.

Anyways, she is a great penhold smasher and it sure feels that I'm always trailing her in every set but as they say all's fair in ping and pong, and I have pips on my side. During the practice she really got her revenge on me and gave a good butt kickin which has prompted me to reflect on my tatics, my strokes and my equipment. Gonna end it here until the next post.

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fomerly pippy and HITnRUN
Show Off Blade: Dr. Neubauer Firewall Plus
Dawei 2008 Super Power XP 1.8
Giant Dragon Talon OX LP without gluesheet
A Blade For All Seasons: Dawei R2+ black P1R OX without glue sheet + SST Cross 1.5
pippy's reviews

Good on you timeout! You've started off with a good blog title!

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Table Tennis Reviews / Articles | Table Guide | Robot Guide
Re-Impact Blades | Avalox Blade Overview | Table Tennis Robots
My setup: Blade: Re-Impact OOAK Dark Knight | BH: Dtecs OX red | FH: JUIC 999 Turbo 2.0mm blk
Check out my huge 'for sale' thread here | My OOAK Interview

Thank you haggisv.

Good title, hopefully good in substence.

And now the hard work begins...

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fomerly pippy and HITnRUN
Show Off Blade: Dr. Neubauer Firewall Plus
Dawei 2008 Super Power XP 1.8
Giant Dragon Talon OX LP without gluesheet
A Blade For All Seasons: Dawei R2+ black P1R OX without glue sheet + SST Cross 1.5
pippy's reviews

I just finished a practice session, no points, with the second best division two player at my club. I call her the penhold smasher because she hits through all my spins, back or top. All the Div 1's describe her as the lady " who cant be taken lightly". She doesnt have a threatening serve like He Zhi Wen andshe just pushes with her bh. Thats what makes her a Div2 I guess. Plus she's 70! Yes I am writing about how to deal with a 70 year old lady! Sad eh? But she's got game! And she's been playing 30 years or so, China trained of course, and club tested.

Well, the opponent has been laid out - she's not a Houseleague threat anymore (this year) because me and my pips were able to confuse her just enough in my semis with team D. I am on team B and will meet team A in our finals on Monday next week.

The problem is as such: THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO AGAINST HER DURING PRACTICE. Everytime I played her I had to do soemthing different. There wasnt anythig else left in my bag of tricks.

Game 1 with her in Feb I lost 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 12-14 as a chicken wing push blocker with no attacks with my Toxic3 with 388d-1 ox.
In March, I won game 2 7-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9 as a pushblocker with twiddling and serves and my new R2 with p1r ox.
In April I won 3-2, 11-7, 7-11, 5-11, 11-7,11-9 with my r2 and fh attacks during the last two games and long range chops.

Just last night we had our practice and it seems I'm faced with two decisions: either its use the same setup and work on new tactics OR two use a faster or slower blade with the same tactics.

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fomerly pippy and HITnRUN
Show Off Blade: Dr. Neubauer Firewall Plus
Dawei 2008 Super Power XP 1.8
Giant Dragon Talon OX LP without gluesheet
A Blade For All Seasons: Dawei R2+ black P1R OX without glue sheet + SST Cross 1.5
pippy's reviews

I believe she is at the back row 2nd table from the left at my club.

In the foreground you can see the conclusion to a match with last years div 2 champ in blue and a solid attacker in red. They are both div 1's at our club.

She is just having fun with another rec player/div 2 player.


Just a few comments about the player in blue - he's much better than he appears I think he just gave up. His brother runs in and out of the screen on the right side - he's one of the best choppers at our club. Also I didnt get their permission for showing the vid but its posted on Youtube so hope its kosher

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fomerly pippy and HITnRUN
Show Off Blade: Dr. Neubauer Firewall Plus
Dawei 2008 Super Power XP 1.8
Giant Dragon Talon OX LP without gluesheet
A Blade For All Seasons: Dawei R2+ black P1R OX without glue sheet + SST Cross 1.5
pippy's reviews

We'll it's almost bedtime and I just finished my nightly 10 minute workout with my newgy 540, 5 on back and 5 freq. Drills tonite: quick loops on fh inverted, hitting with the pips, and the reverse with pips on my fh. I find mini workouts to be ideal since I dont want to wake up the kids and its less sweaty no need for a second shower!

I have 5 more nights before the finals next Monday. And I'm glad to announce that I will take the high road and stick with my beloved r2 with sst and p1r. Practcing also allows me to experience flasbacks like what I did correctly against my adversary, the penhold smasher. Of course she wont be playing me but the top dude is also a penholder but due to circumstances beyond our control we never met during the regular season.

Anyways, the penold smasher will just have to sub for my opponents next week as a mental and technical preparation. If I could come up with a game plan to deal with her, its basically the same thing as working on my current weaknesses which just makes me a better player.

So with my trusty setup in hand what I will do is to add more "attacks" in my game. The smasher has gotten used to my chicken wing push blocks and my slow p1r chops and there lies my problem: what else can I do. The only way to break out of thisbacked-in-the-corner scenerio is to attack or at least pretend to attack. Thats what I did during the matches I won - I either twiddled and attacked with my bh side or I ran around my bh long pip side and directed my fh to her weaker penhold bh side.I hesitate to use the word attack though - it will be more of a change in pace and spin, topspin rather than the usual backspin. And the attacks will be indirect attacks because I believe the variety of spins especially from the inverted side is a must if you are going to cause the opponent problems. In a nutshell I simply just cant push with pips than twiddle to the inverted and push again and hope the other guy nets it. There has to be a few top spin style strokes, if I'm going to throw her off her fine-tuned smashing ability.

_________________
fomerly pippy and HITnRUN
Show Off Blade: Dr. Neubauer Firewall Plus
Dawei 2008 Super Power XP 1.8
Giant Dragon Talon OX LP without gluesheet
A Blade For All Seasons: Dawei R2+ black P1R OX without glue sheet + SST Cross 1.5
pippy's reviews

Some player are just hard to play against... or they love your style... I think there is always at least one at every club. It's good to have a strategy though...and I'm sure it will pay if if you mix it up well.

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Table Tennis Reviews / Articles | Table Guide | Robot Guide
Re-Impact Blades | Avalox Blade Overview | Table Tennis Robots
My setup: Blade: Re-Impact OOAK Dark Knight | BH: Dtecs OX red | FH: JUIC 999 Turbo 2.0mm blk
Check out my huge 'for sale' thread here | My OOAK Interview

Thanks for the encouraging words haggisv.

The fight countinues!

_________________
fomerly pippy and HITnRUN
Show Off Blade: Dr. Neubauer Firewall Plus
Dawei 2008 Super Power XP 1.8
Giant Dragon Talon OX LP without gluesheet
A Blade For All Seasons: Dawei R2+ black P1R OX without glue sheet + SST Cross 1.5
pippy's reviews

From what I hear, mixing it up is the essence of long pips.....

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Buying tenergy is just loopy behavior. On multiple levels.

Equipment changed! ( a few months ago )

Blade: Donic appelgren allplay
FH rubber: LKT (KTL?)rapid sound
BH rubber: Gambler reflectoid

Hey Gr:

There's mixing it up and there's messing them up. I prefer the second.

I'm sure most of you guys have been through this ordeal many times, where you think you've reached a plateau but only realize that its a glass floor that shatters...

This lady has got the quickest trgger finger than I've played against. Its was like that dude lp blocker who got whipped by the tall guy with the bh on a different thread but at a lower level.

Heres one of the scenerios that I can recall off the top of my brain: I serve bs, she pushes high and deep knowing that I will play it safe, I chop with the pips to her fh and move(spring!) back to await a flat drive to my fh in which case I will block or fish. Now 2 things will either happen, firstly she drives off the top of the bounce with unusual speed reflex-wise right to my fh side as I predicted but its so quickly hit that it hits the blade off centered OR I am able to get my fh on her drive and block the ball back high right back to her fh side where she is waiting and in proper rh penhold position, for a second smash/hit.

Now you guys might think that this is the norm...well I can tell you honestly some of the division 1's do not hit the ball as quickly off the bounce as she does. Normally, as you will soon see, I get my blade on most balls and I put the ball back on the table. That normally disturbs most of the better players at least for a little while...

Also she is very good at hitting through any kind of spin whether its a chop or a high fish ball.

_________________
fomerly pippy and HITnRUN
Show Off Blade: Dr. Neubauer Firewall Plus
Dawei 2008 Super Power XP 1.8
Giant Dragon Talon OX LP without gluesheet
A Blade For All Seasons: Dawei R2+ black P1R OX without glue sheet + SST Cross 1.5
pippy's reviews