OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Good luck mate, hope you can get through it quickly

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Sorry to say that sounds like an AI marketting post. Great at repeating what I have said in the past. And adding the link is dead set obvious.

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Apart from the first day of zero booze, each day after I had an average of 5 standard drinks... oh well its still a hell of a lot less than before. I am meant to taper this off but finding the taste of beer is so good so much better than before when I drank way more.

Still on the pills.... they aren't noticable as in they don't make feel anything... it's more that they seem to cut away some of the vagueness I usually get when I am withdrawing... They basically stop me from going into a dreamier/kind of confused state.... So I guess they help me feel normal.

Anyhow I am sticking to not buying more than a 4 pack and just having nothing in the house is key.

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I have been way more stable the last two times I played. I beat Eric and Shaun in best of 3 matches on Thursday, and beat Ryan a guy that beat me the first and last time I played him in matches. Tonight I beat him at least 3x best of 5s but easier to just say he only got a few games off me.

So yeah, I feel my game head is more screwed on. Basically, I try to remind myself, actually say it in my head before each point:

"I am here to enjoy myself, and so is my opponent, so expect to rally."

And this seems to put me in the right frame of mind to play the right shots at the right time. Neither defence or offense, just whatever when it is the right thing to do.

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Last Sunday, played Warren and (think his wife's name is) Claire. Interesting alternating against SP and LP between both of the players on FH or BH ....

Still got the better of both of them. Warren was tougher but I think it was clear over many matches I got him... Having said that I believe I can lose to either of them on their good nights...

TT is always a performance that disregards the past or future.

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Similarly today I put more space between me and Shaun, Gehardt and Michael. The first two can be so consistant. Shaun and I in particular had insanely long rallies. Honestly, just because I beat him way more, he has still raised his game insanely. I think he has improved a lot but so have I.

I didn't play games against Eric but I reckon I had his number in exchanges.

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Everything in my game has really been improving. Regardless of whether I report 'wins' I know my strokes are cementing into the grooves of muscle memory and the muscles are developing around it.

Sure I can airswing but that's my eyes and the fact that everyone has a different speed to spin ratio etc.

Overall, I feel my shots are dialled in as good as they get.

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Interesting that today I swapped bats with Michael because he wanted to try my hurricane slowness and spininess. Dam the speed of tensors on a faster blade was ridiculously noticable instantly. I can just do nothing and the ball kicks so far forward. With my h3s and my wood blade I have to work so hard, and it just surprises me how much I have gotten used to it being so slow. Yet I unleash attacks more than most people I play.

Nothing slow about my FH or BH when I get the right ball. The truth is after an attack of full power or two I tend to do slow short shot to mix the pace and draw the player back in close before unleashing another full power shot. That I can't do with high power equipment...

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I love having extreme gears. And Claire mentioned that when she was explaining my game, that I can slow the game down a lot.

I just smile. Everyone can create speed above the net height. I guess I love the fact that I can kill it from much lower than the net and even below table height. That is the power of an extreme spin to speed ratio.

HARD WORK BUT UNMATCHABLE with faster (springier) equipment.

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I think the secret to my FH really waking up is the very long loose FH grip I have now settled into. So much racket head speed snap from the wrist. And I think the flatness of the Yasaka Sweden really sits lovely. I can feel the end corner of the handle flat on the bottom of my palm. 10 years ago I experimented with this but I never settled on it, instead I strangled the top of the handle which is better for consistant solid shots but not for ultimate spin and power.

I lose control a bit when peeps go my elbow but I have developed a lot of new side spin chopping shots that are finding a place in my game style.

My backhand is a bit weaker... but once I step back a metre from the table in a rally match I can swith to grips quickly without a problem...

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Last couple of sessions have been up and down in performance.

To be expected.

One thing that hasn't changed recently is that my bat has been feeling a bit heavy, a bit slower than I want. Kind of laborious.

I am still nursing this dam injury with the a really sore muscle near top of my forearm near the elbow. I think it is from constantly having to bigger active shots... but see no solution except again trying to find a springier lighter rubber for my bh.

Maybe a thinner tacky springier sponge on both sides? I picked up a training bat at the club with some chinese rubber I wish I wrote down... the bat felt light and it seemed good... (didnt play with it though) maybe something like G888 it looked cheap but maybe something good.

dunno

Maybe its time to retry my old sheet of mxp on bh again....

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Arm still feels like tennis elbow. Feels like serving my spinniest serves, which have quite of jerkiness and backhand looping which often twist a bit for various sidespinny version aggravates the most.

I took my near brand new fx-s to glue on at the club but never did. For some reason, I just thought I'd play with my defenders bat with LP and H3 till someone got the better of me and made me give it up.

Funnily, nobody did, and my twiddling, chopping game, overall defending, fishing, backhand punching, a few FH smashes with the LP really felt natural as hell. I felt a great deal of control. I only made a small amount of mistakes I would relate to not being used to using it.

The other thing was that with my sore elbow I just said stuff it, I am going to mostly stick LP on the BH and dam that made my fh stronger. And my receive of serves was good.

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I wonder how long I will stick with it.... usually its till someone beats me who I believe shouldnt.

Anyways, LP on one side solves the weight issue and give my elbow a bit of rest from continuously looping. And at the end of the day, my serious return to competition seems like it isn't coming any time soon. And if I enjoy the longer rallies then call me back into the dark side club.

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I remember when I first tried LPs... after I got the hang of it, my level didn't really drop much... it seemed that the number of points I lost due to the mistakes with the LP, was roughly equal to the points lost by the opponent from their mistakes. I might have lost to a few people that I normally didn't lose to, but also beat some people I didn't normally beat. A pretty good outcome, and since I enjoyed playing with LP as a change, and it opening up some new strategies, I stuck with it.

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Agree and have had many similar experiences Hagg,
I am most interested in the opening strategy that you mention. It is indeed another skill set too. Today I did try a few new things but in particular try to get them to pop the ball up and be ready for a LP FH smash. So much easier with LP and a thin sponge to just bash a straight line against the types of weird spin returns of my very spinny side spin serves. With H3 you got to deal with all the spin coming back sooooooooo much more.

There no question that double inverted players probably beat themselves more often than LP players. There is just that more pressure to attack since you got the attacking rubbers... generally attack shots tend to be a bit wilder.

I stuck with the LP today for top of table.

Notably lost to Tom only one game though but haven't barely ever much in the past, but I clearly beat Ken who beat me mostly last week in longer session of games. I did lose probably slightly more overall today but again there are number of factors here.

1. I am not just using LP but also changing back down to my defenders blade (extra factor in lengths)... For me the LPs have never played better on any other bat. I need the slowness to defend when I don't have topspin to bring the ball down...

2. The H3 is pretty dam old and that coupled with a sore elbow... I just can't spin up as hard as I would on serves or loops... so it's got nothing to do with the LP affecting my performance.

3. I need a lot more time to expose myself to the whole gamut of stuff that will come to me...

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I really enjoyed defending long rallies from a distance. ( I am not that much of a chopper as compared to a fisher back with knuckle zero spin balls...)

The defender bat is stayer if I use LP but the H3 can be dam hard work from far back for fishing. H3 is great at pushing and the contrast I get on heavy backspin and push chopping with LP is a great variety of spins. I just wonder againnnnnnnnn if I stick with this if a bit more spring under a tacky topsheet would better....

Its a hard call because in the last two sessions with this bat I have felt really confident to just get the ball back on the table. I don't have a feeling of urgency, I feel I can just block soooooo much more. I can softly loop block with the H3 against whatever they give me and also just LP block the same when I am feeling lazier.... I can stand at the table and just keep it low, or if I really want to win when I make an error than I can run back to make sure I get a chance to either chop or loop the hell out of it.

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Dunno... I am tempted to get a ferrari rubber for one side if I am using $5 LP on one side.... But I also feel like H3 is like a girl friend I have made a commitment to.

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I know I am not at my dangerous with LP but it is serving its purpose. Forcing me to block and do less elbow twisting shots keeps me playing.

I still hate playing other low spin players when I use LP... I just hate both us doing low spin stuff. Feels to plonky...

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Had 3 hours just with Shaun today. I reckon I lost about 30%, but the truth was I was experimenting a hell of a lot assessing equipment and trying out things. (and I still can't rip to hard on serves and loops)

The cool thing today was I swapped around 3 bats constantly.

My defenders, my normal double H3 and a blade I came across that belongs to the club.

I was most excited about the club bat because it had two sheets of Rozena on it that I reckon were in pretty dam good nick.

The Rozena reminded me of an improved Tenergy 05 FX and it was on all wood blade.

I went through gamut of emotions using it.

1. Loved the sound
2. Loved the nostalgic experience of playing with tenergy.

3. While I was fresher and looping everything and in particular counter looping everything I was killing Shaun... Then after a while it evened out. His blocking was giving me a lot more work to do and faster than before between shots. Fast shots means they come back faster once they get used to it... and I reckon more peeps are used to it.

That's why I kept swapping around. To make sure there was something special about this rubber.

4. I also remember hands down why my Chinese rubbers are superior in some ways.
a. a lot of shots went long with the rozena
b. I bottomed out a lot, on FH in particular, but I was alright adjusting to it mostly. So I reckon only ever BH.
c. the chinese are dam hard work but they catch every ball without any slippage. (yes even these non tacky tenergy types slip a touch more than chinese)

At the end of the session I found it hard to qualify but I reckon I still caused most problems for Shaun with my defenders bat with LP.

I just missed a lot less, mixed it up more. I used my "normal bat" way less just because of the pain to swing it with the extra weight, but it spinnier with more gears. Just harder to work than the rozena which felt one dimensional ferrari style.

It was dam fun though... I just looked up the BA price $67? What the hell, what? I was expecting double that.

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On the topic of not bottoming out, I never bottom out the H3 41, but dam its heavy. I wonder how low degrees wise I can go before bottoming out becomes a problem again? I know I used hurricane 3 38 for a while on my FH and I reckon I could get used to it. 37 is fine at the table but doubt count looping will work since graze looping might not make it back to the table from a couple of metres back where the 41 shines.

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Hadn't played for a while due to crazy amounts of work...

Today I finally found my Versal blade (thought it got stolen) wanted to revisit since I am struggling with tennis elbow.

It had a fast chinese 729 full thickness sp on it so thought I'd start off with it and I glued on an oldish h3 which crazy boosted still.

Bloody hell the versal is fast and light.

SP was so good at just blocking in the usual warm up rally. It was also pretty good at pushing deep with minimal effort but it didn't take long for me to rip it off. not my thing especially when I took a step back. Maybe its just on this fast blade that I found it too unpredictable.... might be nice on the defenders bat.

After a while I slapped on the h3 red 38 on the opposite side of the versal. Much better. Flicking is its strength because of the weight.

But to be honest apart from the perfectly contacted shots, the versal is so much less forgiving. So little feedback, Again... I found my FH in particular deteriorate really fast because I was not getting any feedback. It was much better for fishing obviously.

I thought that the h3 38 would be better on it but it was much worse than the 41 because the 41 is hard and I believe it just matched the angles better matching the harder feeling instant bounciness.

I was messing around with 3 blades my sweden a bit... and also my defenders set up.

The yasaka sweden is like the perfect range for speed with forgiveness still landing on the end of the table for a poor shot.

The defenders blade feels like I can't miss the table whatever error I make. It just is so slow everything lands no matter what.

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I was about 50 50 with Shadi (but I reckon I was a bit ahead)
Killed Gavin who is an old mate from the old days when we were in A grade fixtures. (he is super rusty)

Few others I played not much to report but that I felt I had tons of control when needed which ever bat I used. I changed around constantly.

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I don't think it's worth trialling sp on the defenders blade really. I have developed the right angles for chopping and they only get better the long I stick with LP.

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Biggest question is would the versal have any rubber suit me using it...? It is so light and that is what I love about it when I swung I felt like I could recover and zip forward so easily.

But man I missed so many big shots with and I mean when I miss I miss catastrophically big misses.

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oh I also tried Gavins blades. and his blue fire on fh was easy to pick up instantly, so was his t05 fx on bh (obvious for me) but they arent as devestating as my hurricanes on the yasaka sweden which I was directly comparing swapping around with too.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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I love table tennis. I have had various activities totally encompass me in the past. I wonder if table tennis holds a more special place yet.

Composing music, making art, riding high powered electric bikes, skiing down big mountains, travelling the world, SEX, adventures into the mind, the cosmos, the nature of reality, theory, fiction, delving deep into history, building a picture of the future, going to the beach with my kid and watching her grow. I could probably keep listing super cool things to do.

Table tennis rocks and is just one of those ones that a lot of people don't get like I do. Peeps on this forum get it.

I mean I just hang to play after a week these days. I used to play daily over a decade ago.

Finish work and be the first one at the club. Go home and because the club was shut, I'd train on my robot. Learn about the physics and logic of spin, speed, the equipment, the game strategies. Come up with my own training routines that contained logic that I haven't heard others talk of.

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For my love of TT

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In some cases I come to the forum frustrated that I can't play. I think keeping a blog is good when I say something about something and then forget. I can go back and check my ideas.

Yet my own advice I rarely care about.

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Had a good session tonight with Shaun, Saive and a bit with a kid called JR (not bad).

I alternated the whole night with two bats. The versal with 2 x h3s and my defenders blade milky way LP and h3 twiddle.

Tennis elbow was getting real bad... Overall I still mostly beat everyone whatever I used. But the LP was better at playing defence...

My chopping and fishing with LP is really getting better. Even from back of court.

I still reckon I am more dangerous with double inverted but not when I can't loop my backhand without the pain I experience doing it.

I think I will give playing a bit more of a break to try and rest/heal a bit more.

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Did the same as last week but only with Bandu. We are very closely matched which is great for me. Teaches me a lot.

His strengths are blocking and just playing early wide on me... nobody else I play can just get the ball past me so fast these days by doing so little.

It was frustrating having him block my shots in particular when I was looping so well with the much faster Versal. Not always but he was more in a groove against the faster double inverted. The LP seemed to trouble him more at times.

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I feel like I am going crazy, sometimes I feel like the versal is too slow and I want it faster but I rallied so many balls off the end of the table that can't be the case.

Then I go back to the defenders bat and I love feeling the ball dwell again. Forgive me for poor shots. Block and keep it on the table.

I feel kind of stuck between both bats...

I wonder if I should try the LP on the yasaka sweden.... because thats seems to be in the middle.

I know tonight too that if I had to choose 1 H3 its the 41 degrees. It felt better on bh and fh after long trials both ways tonight.

Serves were so much better on the defenders blade too.

The versal was just good at smacking the ball.

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Much the same as the last posts...

Yesterday I chose not to enter the top of the table.. sick of playing 30% of players that are quite low.

Good session beat Ken and Bandu clearly mostly with any set up I chose.

Played again today. A bit of hit with Dennis (5050 but not games) clean killed Steven.

Main play was again with Bandu who only got a few games off me over the 2+ hours. I mostly used the versal, and in the last hour put mxp on the bh.

nah... not excited about it except if I choose to be more passive in my bh shots with it. if I try to do my full strokes as can be expected they go long.... dunno ...

I doubt I will stick with it, but its on the versal now and smaller strokes are good for my tennis elbow that is killing me right now.

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Played a few hours this morning. Just stayed with Versal h3 41 and mxp the whole time.

Only lost a game to Eric out of an hour or so... Also doubt I lost a game to the Naru boys, played 3 of them who are here training with Bruno for pacific games coming up soon.

It's taking a while to adjust the mxp but I am getting there. I was thinking by the end of the session I started getting into a groove with looping it but I reckon from what I remember I enjoyed the ease of use of the Rozena by far.

I am really tempted to buy my first buttefly product in a long time for bh. I reckon Rozena's price and the way it played is good enough for me. only a bit more exy than mxp. I find the Mxp just takes a bit more energy to dig into it than I have half the time. The Rozena was loopable constantly (even though it bottomed out at the high end... u got to choose one area to shine...)

Can anyone say if Hurricane blue sponge is really any better than the commercial one? I have been working a lot and am cashed up for some rewards for mwa.

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