OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Fighting back from losses

In the first 2 pennant nights, I have lost all my singles games bar one. I am being carried by the other team members. Have not had as many opportunities to drill and even coaching had a week off due to Anzac day.

Finally pulled myself out of despondency and was thinking about what Haggis said about not needing to hit forwards with our fast rubbers, because they are fast enough, but to generate more spin. I was quite amazed by the furious spin Haggis could put on the ball and impressed with the result.

Back to robot sessions aiming to improve my topspin and emphasising brushing/top-spin especially against various levels of backspin.

Then got a chance to have a drill session with J and it went well. Starting to topspin return even very heavy backspin long serves quite consistently.

Our pennant grade is full of pushers/chiselers, who are very good at doing the same thing year after year, they only attack very loose balls and my weak pips blocks. I have trained and drilled in more aggressive techniques generally, and by regressing into a chiseling game recently I only give them the advantage.

So now I will practice practice practice topspinning the ball as much as possible from all sorts of spin and bring this into the matches. Not necessarily all out attack on every ball, but to spin it up into a topspin rally.

_________________
Blade: Andro Kinetic Supreme Zylon/Kiso Hinoki OFF-
FH: Hexer HD 1.7 mm sponge
BH: CTT National Pogo OX
Style: FH counterhitter, BH disruptor

Good on you Malleus, I'm sure that will pay off. You'll not only win more points off your loops, but the balls they return will also carry more spin, which is where your pips are much more effective.

_________________
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

Thanks for that Haggis! I didn't even think about the double benefit with my pips. Anyway, here is a little practice video; settings 8 backspin 0 topspin on my "Supermaster" 2 wheeled robot pushing the balls out downwards to bounce twice before I hit it.

_________________
Blade: Andro Kinetic Supreme Zylon/Kiso Hinoki OFF-
FH: Hexer HD 1.7 mm sponge
BH: CTT National Pogo OX
Style: FH counterhitter, BH disruptor

It's great when you realise what else you can potentially bring to your own game. It's like hiking and climbing in the wild unknown looking for those new experiences that bring greater skills by facing new challenges. Invariably, there are many moments when you get a little lost and just sit on a rock and wonder if this is all it is, thinking that it's incredibly beautiful - yes - but recalling all those fantastic tales from other hikers and climbers while you can only shake your head. (At this stage I hope I'm not drawing this analogy too thin). Anyway, along comes a confident and more experienced adventurer who gives you clues to new, unexplored vistas. It gets the heart racing again and, although you question whether you have the strength to go on, the spirit of the hike/climb is what spurs you on. It means having to go back to your wrinkled maps, your foggy compass and, maybe, reorganising the weight and stock of your trusty pack. But you give it a go and quickly realise how much stronger and how much more beautiful the environment has become. It's not going to be easy, but we know where easy things lead ...

It's been a real nuisance that we haven't had concerted drilling sessions lately. I think we just have to be more opportunistic and bide our time for when we can.

_________________

Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

Oskar, I think what you are trying to say is you like it when you find a new horizon!

Malleus, try those backspin robot drills to your pips and see what you can do with them.

_________________
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.

To be honest, Reb, with my pips I tend to just block heavy backspin, or punch block, hopefully with some positioning to their weaker side. What sort of shots with the pips do you do against this? Any ideas of what to practise? Alternating long and short?

_________________
Blade: Andro Kinetic Supreme Zylon/Kiso Hinoki OFF-
FH: Hexer HD 1.7 mm sponge
BH: CTT National Pogo OX
Style: FH counterhitter, BH disruptor

Against backspin a block or punch block will produce something of a dead ball, which can be nasty, but opponents can get used to it to.
For some variation you want to try rolling your wrist and bat over the ball with some lift as you do it so that it turns the backspin into topspin and clears the net. If you don't lift (have to judge each ball's need based on height), the ball is likely to dive into the net from the backspin. But once you get it to clear the net, the reversal from the pips (with the right wrist action) will bring it down in something akin to a loop. Give it a try and see.

_________________
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.

Thanks! I will try that. The group I am playing with don't mind dead balls much it seems. I know I will have to practise the wrist roll technique a lot before incorporating it into my game, but if I can get it down it will give them hell. Good thing I have a robot that doesn't tire of feeding me multiball!

_________________
Blade: Andro Kinetic Supreme Zylon/Kiso Hinoki OFF-
FH: Hexer HD 1.7 mm sponge
BH: CTT National Pogo OX
Style: FH counterhitter, BH disruptor

Practice pays off!

Whilst I haven't been blogging for a while, I have been practicing. A lot. I have vowed to practice every single day, even if I have to drag my bleeding body to the robot late at night. I have had a few golden opportunities to practice and drill against real people too.

I had an excellent coaching session a couple of weeks ago where Alois helped me to learn to topspin against backspin. I have been madly practicing on the robot but unfortunately it is very hard to make it do both light and long backspin, so the irony is that if I have a heavy long backspin ball I am more likely to be able to loop it back but if it is light I am more likely to send it too long! It is not high percentage enough to use it in pennant games, where I tend to choke a little.

Then last week I had an opportunity to practice for 2 and a half hours straight with no breaks against the Number One player in our Ballarat club! It was TT heaven, and I only stopped from fatigue. He flips short balls very well, so one challenge was to serve it short and backspinny enough to stop his flips.

I have also gone to the OX side and with that have been able to refine and practice the roll technique to topspin the backspin ball from my pips as you suggested Reb. Thank you so much Reb; I have now adequately weaponised my backhand pips by much practice (and the robot does good short and light backspin) and it is becoming my main weapon in games.

Anyway, it all came together last night in the pennant comp and I won all my matches. I also reset my attitude to avoid choking and decided to try not to look at the scoreboard at all. I was actually surprised half the time to find I had won the set because I wasn't looking! I also concentrated on actually playing friendly games in the warm up period.

Next week will be a challenge; I will have to play all my matches in a row at the start as I have to bring my kids to the pennant and they need to be back home and tucked in by 9.00. I will concentrate on endurance this week.

_________________
Blade: Andro Kinetic Supreme Zylon/Kiso Hinoki OFF-
FH: Hexer HD 1.7 mm sponge
BH: CTT National Pogo OX
Style: FH counterhitter, BH disruptor

Are you playing this weekend? Sounds like you are ready for action !

_________________
Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

Would love to Foam, but unfortunately cannot. I think my next Vets will be the Ballarat vets. Only Oskar and his brother will be at MSAC.

_________________
Blade: Andro Kinetic Supreme Zylon/Kiso Hinoki OFF-
FH: Hexer HD 1.7 mm sponge
BH: CTT National Pogo OX
Style: FH counterhitter, BH disruptor

Glad to hear the Pogo Ox BH attack is starting to work for you Malleus. I know very well of the light vs heavy backspin you speak of. I send a few light BS balls long myself off the pips trying to hit them too hard. I generally can tell when they are lighter and I brush the ball more which results in a weak return which can have 2, perhaps 3 possible outcomes. 1 is the opponent recognises whats coming and lifts it back. 2 is they misjudge the (lack of) power on it and try to rely on the power for their return which nets it for them. And 3 is if they have a strong FH they belt the ball back down the line. I have been working on going over the ball more and directing it to the BH side more against opponents where I know this last one is a can of worms. I find it harder to do the shot down the BH side as you are no longer brushing so much and the ball doesn't get to "slide" off the pips. I get varied results with it, but the funny thing is when I feel just right with it I can get more power going that way - sometime enough to blow through them.

_________________
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.

I'm really getting my groove with the Pogo OX in a way I never did with the sponged, and only after 2-3 weeks of having it it is already far superior for my game. The sponge was just too lively; I'm pretty unco-ordinated and the sponge was amplifying this. I can now consistently start doing all the LP techniques that you and others have discussed and integrate it into a game situation. I do love the hard LP hits when they come off, I am gradually working on increasing the power; almost like a classic inverted backhand stroke against topspin except you are doing it against short backspin, which often surprises and blows away the opponent.

_________________
Blade: Andro Kinetic Supreme Zylon/Kiso Hinoki OFF-
FH: Hexer HD 1.7 mm sponge
BH: CTT National Pogo OX
Style: FH counterhitter, BH disruptor