OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Thanks foam.

The Innershield is almost painfully slow with the soft-sponged Omega Elite and Super Spin pips Chop. It's such an amazing bat for short pushes and any kind of spin, but having read up about SPs on OOAK I'm starting to wonder if the super-soft sponge on the SSCS2 isn't right for the flexible soft blade of the Innershield. One thing I do know for sure is that T05 just doesn't feel right on this blade - it was almost useless in my opinion. This blade needs a soft sponge for inverted.

The DHS PG-7 is rated as an OFF- I believe but with the DHS H3 Neo it's actually a beautifully easy setup to control.

My fastest setup is the Joo Se-Hyuk blade with T05 and P1-R but quite honestly I don't have too many problems chopping with it. I find the technique for chopping with LPs *infinitely* easier than SPs (or, specifically, the SSCS2 SP).

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

Local league
After visiting the Cramlington club for the second time, I was harangued by the club and league secretary/treasurer to get involved with the Winter League. It’s a small world – this guy is my Grandma’s cousin, whom I’d heard of, but never met.

Having been fortunate enough to have a really positive first session at the club, I had no doubts about signing up, and I duly did.

I was to play in a team call the Cramlington Magpies, which suited me beautifully, as I’m an avid supporter of Newcastle United Football Club, whose long-standing nickname is The Magpies. I’m also a staff member of the Magpies house at all of the schools I work for, upon my request, so I figured it was fate..!

The Winter League consists of 5 divisions, from Premier down to Division 4. My club is a mainstay in the league with five teams in Division 4, four teams in Division 3, two teams in Division 2 and five teams in the Premier Division.

I don’t know how well this translates to AU/US ratings, but our best player in the Premier division currently has only 1 loss in Senior British League Division 3. The top 4 or 5 UK players play abroad, but the remaining top players play in the Premier division of our British League and I’d guess that Andrew is a solid D2 British League player, if not D1. Joanna Parker, once world #112 (and a double inverted chopper!) has a 75% ratio this season in SBL, though obviously she's competing with men.

Here’s a video of the UK’s number 5 player playing British League in the Premier division, against a player with a 65% ratio that year:


Our Premier division has, off the top of my head, around 8 players that play in the British League in various divisions.

All in all, as little as I know about table tennis, I think the top end of our league has some reasonable players. If anyone could estimate an AU/US rating for these guys I’d be really interested to see it.

I digress. The Magpies were to play in Division 4 this season, and I was to be playing alongside three youngsters and the aforementioned distant relative/club secretary. I feel sorry for the youngsters as our club rules state that under 18s aren’t allowed to attend sessions other than a Friday. As I think I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, we only have an absolute maximum of 10 tables available on Monday and Thursday, but usually it’s only 7 and 3 of those are dedicated to league games. As such, I believe the rule is there to give the more serious league players priority. I agree with the rule, but it has an adverse effect on some of our younger players, in my opinion.

In addition, until recently, there was no dedicated coaching setup at the club, so Fridays were often spent rotating around practice partners and playing almost-pointless games in a vain attempt to work out who’s the best. I believe the twins would occasionally hire out a table at local leisure centres to play against each other, but from what I know of them (and having seen them play doubles), I’d imagine it would mostly be to compete with each other rather than improving their technique.

This season has been a real trial by fire for the youngsters. The Magpies have played 18 games in total, with each player having the potential to play 54 matches. We opted for a rotation system, with myself playing exclusively singles and Aubrey playing the occasional game when not having to collect money on busy club days. The other slots were then filled by the youngsters, rotating between doubles and singles.

Each of the youngsters only managed to pick up 2 matches and Aubrey got 5 from a total of 85 matches. I had a slow start to the season but was fortunate to pick up 22 matches from 41. We didn’t fare particularly well in the doubles either, with only 2 matches being won. I played 5 doubles games in total and found it to be a totally different game – one that I’m not very good at!

The youngsters are slowly starting to come on now, but the thing I’m most proud of them for is not giving up – nor getting disheartened. One of the lads in particular, the non-twin, accompanied me to a lot of away games in difficult environments and came awfully close to winning more games. Hopefully this season will have given him the experience to deal with those tough situations and once his technique comes on it’ll just be a matter of time before he’s getting regular wins.

Not that it matters, but just a little pride, we’ve managed to finish not bottom, nor second bottom, but third from bottom. I’m personally quite happy with that, though sadly a full fifth of our points comes from a forfeit against one of the better teams

Playing in Division 3
In January I was asked to play for a friend’s team in a Division 3 game. I didn’t have high hopes, but somehow, came out with 3 match wins. It’s important to note at this point that the team I played against have won, in total, 14 matches out of 180, so they’re more likely a Division 4 team (and will be playing there next season), but I was happy all the same.

One of their players was a girl a few years younger than myself who played with ~1mm STIGA Destroyer LPs on her backhand. She was a modern defender of sorts, with a pushy/choppy action on both forehand and back, and the occasional pick-hit smash. At this time, this game was probably my proudest moment, as she managed to win a total of 12 points in 3 games. I used my (limited, but better than most D4 players!) knowledge of LPs, having played with them for a while, and served no spin and backspin to her pimples; heavy backspin and the occasional topspin down the line to her forehand. In the second game she caught me out by twiddling a few serve receives, at which pointed I started throwing fast, deep no spin serves to her backhand – I actually won two points because I caught her mid-twiddle and she physically couldn’t get her bat in the right position quick enough. Her difficulty with serve receive coupled with a difficulty in reading backspin, i.e. trying to smash through sometimes really quite heavy backspin, gave me a happily tactical win over a player that played for a long time as an “up and coming junior” in Scotland before taking a break from the game.

One of the other players in this lineup was my practice partner, a game I’ve discussed in previous posts. Terry has incredibly good reactions, great blocking and a good hitting game. Unfortunately he doesn’t seem to possess a loop so long backspin and no spin serves were the order of the day. I won a lot of points directly with my serves too as although we’d played with each other a lot I’d never really used my serves to their full potential – I don’t think there’s much point in winning practice games with lethal trick serves, other than to actually practice their usage.

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

Beat the Frog Man
As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m a VLE Manager. The brand of VLE we use is called “Frog”, and as such, I’m widely known amongst the students as “The Frog Man”.

For our Christmas Fair, the PE department asked if I’d be interested in hosting a table tennis competition. Students would be able to pay 10p to try and win a Best of 5 Points competition against myself – “Beat the Frog Man”.



I have to be honest, I had loads of fun. I probably should’ve let some of the students beat me, but I’m basically heartless, and I didn’t. I beat 97 students and 9 members of staff (the staff had to pay £1 and it was normal game rules) making the PE department just shy of £20. I didn’t lose to anyone, which was awesome practice for playing under pressure. One of my regular table tennis club-goers managed to get me to 2-2 twice, but both times (with a crowd – all of whom wanted to see me beaten ) I got the third point.

England vs. Spain, international table tennis
At the end of January, I got a rare opportunity to watch the England woman’s table tennis team playing locally. After a brief discussion, my apprentice and I opted to pay £25 for VIP tickets. In comparison to NUFC tickets, that’s still cheap – but the non-VIP tickets were only £1.

The match was hard for the girls, with Joanna Parker and Kelly Sibley both ranking around 120-130 in the world and newcomer Hannah Hicks ranking over 400th. The Spanish team had the advantage, with world number 6 Shen Yanfei, world 73 Sara Ramirez and world 130 Galia Dvorak completing their lineup.

Hannah Hicks was the lamb to slaughter against Shen Yanfei but both Sibley and Parker basically threw matches away against Dvorak and Ramirez respectively. Either way, I really enjoyed the games. If only there were more games of this level for me to watch locally.

The benefit of the VIP ticket was that we got to meet the girls after the game. That was really cool, and they were absolutely lovely, but I wish I had more of a chance to talk to them about table tennis!


Joanna Parker, me, Kelly Sibley, my apprentice, Hannah Hicks

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

Had a bit of gentle practice tonight, third week after my knee operation. I played for 3 hours on Monday too; knee was feeling fine...... didn't feel so fine afterwards. Silly mistake.





Got a bit of a random "knock" video too, but it's like 500mb and my upload speed is something ridiculous like 65kbps.

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

I was trying not to move too much so please excuse the funny short-arm sidespin strokes.

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

Cadets and Club Person of the Year
Every year, apparently, our club has a social evening at a local pub. The entire pub is hired out and there's live music and cheap alcoholic beverages.

I was repeatedly asked to attend by three or four different members, despite others telling me it'd be a total waste of time. I'm all for supporting the club so I dragged my girlfriend and her best friend along for a couple of hours.

My friend Joe - the guy that introduced me to table tennis at the club - asked me when I was leaving. I told him that I'd only be staying until 2030 as I'd booked a restaurant for 2100. He asked if there was any chance I could stay later, and I soon worked out that I was to be given some sort of award.

After numerous problems with the live music, the awards were eventually given out. I was delighted to receive Club Person of the Year. I hasten to add that's not for my table tennis skills, but because I've helped out with various bits n' bobs such as arriving the evening before an event to set up the hall, and taking our Cadets to national events.

The cadets, who I may have mentioned thus far, were originally Greg, Adam and Arran. I was apprehensive the first time I took them down to an event at Northfield school in Yorkshire, but as the day wore on I really enjoyed myself. There was also some excellent table tennis on display. Sadly, due to serious family problems, Greg had to be replaced with a less talented youngster called Alex. We'll not discuss Alex too much as the little tyk takes far too much pleasure from trying to wind me up - talking, literally non-stop, for the 2 hour car journey etc.

Arran (13) and Adam (14) play in the same team in my local league division. They've been playing for 4 years now, but it's only really this season that their ability has shone through. Arran is being coached on a weekly basis and Adam is a natural sportsman, being a great swimmer and hockey player. Arran and Adam ended the season with the highest number of match wins (placed first and second respectively) and a ratio of ~90% win to loss. Impressive stuff, especially against teams relegated from Division 3 the previous season.

I find the two really interesting. On his day, Arran is better - proven when he beat Adam 3-1 in a one-day school tournament. However, over the course of the season, Adam has the better ratio and fewer losses. Arran's downfall is his mental attitude - he has to win the game, and even then, often gets upset if he doesn't play to some magical superstar standard that he's put up for himself. In the local league closed junior tournament for instance, he had to play against a Premier player, and started crying after losing the first set (quite badly, but he got a few points). His coach (the same guy I hired for a few sessions, as mentioned in previous posts) regularly tells people that he's a "Division 1 standard player". I'm not sure giving him such high expectations is really helping - I'm of the opinion that Arran needs to concentrate on how well he plays, rather than the outcome. Losing is fine, if you're playing to the best of your ability - and to be honest, he won some phenomenal rallies against the aforementioned Premier division youngster.

Forehand rubbers
Throughout my early "career" in table tennis, I harboured reservations about my forehand rubbers. In one of my threads, the anti-EJ guru carbonman suggested that I didn't even need to think about getting a faster rubber, having only played for ~6 months or so. Truth be told, I knew he was right all along - but I also knew that if I didn't appease my stupidity, I'd carry on worrying about it.

Here's a quick list of the rubbers I've used, and how I found them:

Stiga Calibra LT (2.0mm sponge on Stiga Classic Carbon Offensive)
Far too quick for me at first, but I really enjoy looping with this rubber now. Its catapult effect on this blade is much more noticeable than the Tenergy 05 on either my JSH or my Innershield. Because of that, its "short game" is quite difficult, but its active blocking and counter-hitting excels, plus loops from pretty much any distance have pace and spin.

Stiga Chop n' Drive (1.5mm sponge on Stiga Classic Carbon Offensive)
I really don't rate this rubber. It's easy to control, and that's about it. Even then, it doesn't excel at it. Painfully slow with an average amount of spin - I'd take the cheaper H3 Neo over this every day of the week.

Xiom Omega IV Elite (1.8mm sponge on Butterfly Innershield ZLF)
On the contrary to the above, I really rate this rubber. On the Innershield blade it's the spinniest combination I've come across in table tennis to date. On serves, pushes, chops and topspins it is mind-blowingly spinny. It annihilates the Tenergy 05 in that respect, though it isn't anywhere near as quick. It's really easy to loop against backspin with, which I wasn't expecting from such a spinny rubber. It's comparable to the H3 Neo in every respect, but feels completely different. Where the H3N gets all of its pace from its hard sponge, the Elite gets its pace from its tensor. The tensor on the Elite is quite strange - it's certainly there if you compare it directly to a non-tensor rubber, but it doesn't serve to make the rubber difficult to control. This is the only tensor I'd (now) ever consider giving to a beginner.

DHS Hurricane 3 Neo (2.2mm sponge on DHS Power-G7)
Just wow. This rubber is hands-down the best value for money bit of gear I've come across in table tennis. It's spinny, it's reasonably-paced and its control is utterly sublime. Pushes and serves are just so heavy, it catches out every player at my level and even some of the better players. I'm considering putting it on my JSH for a time to see how I perform with it. One of the greatest benefits of this rubber, as opposed to the Tenergy 05, is that you have to really play your strokes to get speed out of the sponge - no laziness. In the long run, along side its beautifully spinny nature, I think it may be better for my game. I'd love to try a blue-sponged Provincial or National but I genuinely doubt they're worth the money.

Galaxy-YinHe Mars v2 (2.2mm sponge on DHS Power-G7)
Another good value for money rubber, the Mars v2 is allegedly a Tenergy 64 replica. Well, in short, it isn't. It's a good rubber but I've played with T64 and frankly they're not in the same league. Not the best control, not the best spin, but it is quite quick - for 11$ however, if you're looking for a fast budget setup, it comes highly recommended.

Butterfly Tenergy 05 (1.9mm sponge on Butterfly Joo Saehyuk)
After reading so much hype about the Tenergy rubbers, I had to give it a go. There definitely is something about Tenergy 05 that makes it good, but I can't really put my finger on it. It isn't the quickest, it isn't the spinniest and it certainly isn't the easiest to control, but when you get that first full-power loop off, it kicks like an absolute beast. My usual practice partner Terry noticed the difference immediately, without knowing I'd changed bats. "Have you just changed that?", "What is it?", "Ahhh...". However, I'm not sure I'll stick with 05 permanently - see my post on the H3N.

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

I've got quite a lot of stuff to catch up with on here, but tomorrow is my first game in our Winter League, and I've devised a little Word Document which I'll be printing off and hiding in my bag. The idea is that at the end of each set I take thirty seconds and just browse over the little fact-sheet to see if I can troubleshoot any problems.

Here it is in OOAK forum form!

---

General the vague parts of my game that I currently need to concentrate on

• Soft hands
• Bend your knees, keep low!
• Distance from table
• What rubbers is your opponent using?
• Focus on contact of bat and ball on serve

Troubleshooting

Serving

• Too many off end? Serve fewer heavy backspin serves, and hit long nospin serves less quickly
• Too many into net? Concentrate, keep stance stable, contact ball a little higher

Losing points from opponent's receive of serve

• Which side are they winning most of their points on? Switch if necessary
• Go wider, either side, if necessary
• Go long, flat and fast to playing elbow. Especially effective vs. combination bat player
• Remember to try variations including
• Pendulum - top, back, nospin, side only and side on combination and 'back like top' with after-flick
• Reverse pendulum - top to forehand, top kicker to backhand down line, short and long backspin
• Remember that trick serves won't always work, especially at a higher level. If they're not winning points frequently, go to short and no spin serves to encourage a pop-up, with a heavy backspin serve every fourth serve
• Remember to get into the ready position!

Receiving

• Attacking too infrequently? Try adapting stance so that bat is aligned with left edge of table
• Unable to read serves? Play a couple of dead bat points. If ball goes high, it's top. If ball goes low, it's back. If ball goes to your left, angle bat towards right side of table and vice versa. Pendulum serves from right-handlers generally go off the bat to your left. Backhand and tomahawk serves are the opposite.

Losing third ball

• Penned in on the backhand? Put more sidespin on pendulum serve, and less top/back, and once you've served, get into ready position with left leg to the far left ready to attack
• Opponent lacing ball past you with forehand? Step around more and hit to backhand corner or aim directly at opponent's playing elbow

In rally

• Are you facing too many smashes? Keep pushes heavy and deep, and angle them widely. Consider attacking earlier
• Are your fished strokes being smashed too easily? Try fishing with backspin instead of top
• Are you losing points from wide in the forehand? Try going narrow down the line, or get around the backhand more to go into the opponent's backhand

---

If I continue to do this, and update it to reflect my current game, it'll be interesting to see how my form changes in six or twelve months..

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

First coaching session with a new coach today. Really enjoyable, looking forward to next week already.

• Quick forehand topspin check 1:10
• Quick backhand chop check 2:55
• More backhand chopping, post-instruction 9:30
• Forehand topspin, with instruction 15:52
• Forehand topspin, 2 close to table then 2 away from table 20:36
• Three games vs. coach 25:48
• Learning to push, not swing! 36:37
• Chop 2, push 1 39:15
• Coach demo of forehand and backhand chops 45:11
• Learning the forehand chop 48:12
• Crazy German 52:37
• 2 forehand chops, 2 backhand chops... and some mental confusion on my part 52:54

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

SPs or LPs... I just can't decide
I've been playing with SPs for three or four months now. TSP Super SpinPips Chop Sponge 2, then Friendship 802.

On Wednesday my new coach was unwell, but I attended the session he runs anyway to have a knock with some good (local league Premiership standard) players. I had asked the lad deputising the running of the club if he'd be willing to do some multiball with me but he's a local league player too and I think that's his only practice night. He did however give me a good knock and gave me some tips on the contact I was making with my forehand (brushing too much on high balls) and then he gave me some chopping practice.

Our local league's best chopper was there too (Jimmy Scope, AKA Chopfloat who some may know from TTT) and Andrew asked him to give me some tips. Jimmy tried playing with my SPs and couldn't control them (totally different technique to LPs, after all). He and Andrew then asked to see me chop with my OX LP bat and both remarked on how much lower the ball was going, and how much more spin I was getting.

In my mind that's like comparing an inverted loop to a SP drive - they're basically different strokes. With the LPs, you get low and heavy chops but with the SPs you can literally put as much spin on the ball as you like. From my limited experience of playing with the top local league players, I suspect that SPs would actually win more points - up until a level where players can read the spin. However, still, it sewed the seed of doubt in my fickle mind.

I hadn't been using my Innershield at all because I don't like the Tour S rubber nor do I find Spectol as easy or enjoyable to chop with as the 802 on my JSH. I decided therefore to put my favourite LP back on - the Curl P1-R in 1.4mm. I then went to practice last week, knowing it was my turn to sit out of the local league game, and had a few nights' knock with my Innershield LP setup.

Annoyingly, I quite enjoyed it. Every time I played against someone with a bit of a loop, I loved the feeling of the LPs brushing the ball and putting really have backspin on.

Now I don't know where to go. Every time I chop and change between LP and SP it's affecting my "short game" because those strokes couldn't be more different (have to hit or step back from topspin serves to the SPs; can't attack backspin like you can with LPs, can smash topspin etc etc).

Thing is, when I play with SPs, the players around my level realise that they can just pin me into my backhand with repeated pushes which gives me three options:

• Push rally (urgh boring)
• Get far around my backhand side and attack with my forehand topspin
• Try to change things up a bit with the SP by trying to float a ball long instead of pushing or by weakly imitating an inverted topspin stroke

Up until recently option #2 was always my preferred approach, but now players are getting wise to it and simply hard-blocking to my wide forehand and I'm just not good enough to get back round in time and play a powerful follow-up. I've tried #3 which works every so often but just doesn't cut it as the standard approach.

When I play with LPs on the other hand, the reversal means that push rallies aren't an option - players will either hit for me to chop, or they'll pop the ball up for me to hit.

In addition, in games, I appear to be much more effective at chopping with the LPs - probably because when I'm out of position with the SPs and I don't get my stable base and full swing quick enough, I end up essentially not chopping the ball - it just goes back as a float or some of the opponent's topspin, and it tends to be high. There's few players even around my level that can't punish those balls regularly.

So I have no idea. What to do, what to do?!

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

Maybe you should just follow your heart: what you love the most and go from there.

I think you're wrong in the part I quoted. Reading SP chops is harder to do than LP chops starting from a certain level, mostly because youngsters in bigger clubs are being taught to play against LP pips these days (loop one, drive one, you know). However, against a very good SP chopper they play those tactics they utilize against a LP chopper, getting in trouble big time. LP gives you, however, the control to outlast them and to manipulate the spin a bit, if you play with sponge, enough to keep them on guard.

You're basically agreeing with what I said, Lorre, aren't you?

I'm sure that once you get to British League level / USATT 2200 or whatever the misreading of SP spin becomes less effective. However, of the seven or eight Premiership-level local league players I've had chopping practice from, none have been able to read the spin consistently - they just play their "against backspin" stroke and expect it to land.

As such, at my level (and the level I'd like to be at in a couple of years), SP chops would likely be a more effective point-winner (directly from misread, or pop-ups from pushes against floated balls) than LPs.

Problem with the heart thing is - and you're most certainly right - I don't know what my heart wants! I like the idea of being a SP chopper, but I find myself to be a much more effective chopper with LPs (at this level). I just can't bring my SP chop to bear as a weapon in the majority of games, which really frustrates me.

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

I don't think it gets less effective: just look at some international games with the likes of Hou Yingchao or Yuto Muramatsu. The opponents make a lot more errors against their backspin balls than those of e.g. Joo.

I think you do know what you're heart says and that's you being a SP chopper. That's what the sentence after that explanation mark says to me.

Being effective only comes after rigorous training and thinking about and executing strategies. Patience!

If you can't bring your SP chop as a weapon at your current level, then you need to use more attacking strategies (e.g. twiddling to your backhand, attacking with the SP - those don't need to be hard to be effective, only well placed). You can also try the boring thing: pushing until they attack. They are attackers, you're the defender. Eventually they can't hold themselves and start the thing you like them to do. Consistency and patience is needed to use that strategy.

Thanks pal You've convinced me to give the SPs another go tomorrow.

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

A humbling experience
Tonight I played my second local league game of the summer season against the team that will likely win our division. I won't lie, I didn't find it a particularly enjoyable experience!

My first match was against a gent using Tibhar Super Defence 40 on one side and Joola Timeless on the other. Now I've never played against anti-spin before but I didn't have as many problems as I expected. In truth, with it being my first game, I think I lost the game because I was unsettled and nervous. At 1 game all I was 10-8 up and proceeded to fluff a third ball attack then serve off to level the game. At that point I blatantly bottled it and lost the game 14-12, and the next set in fairly unfantastic style.

My second match was against a long pimple player. He too was using Super Defence 40 but the other side was OX Grass D.TecS - and it looked nothing like the sheet I have, so I guess it was the old version. It looked fairly worn. Not much to say about this match, other than to compliment Charlie's style - he was a chop-blocker and close to the table LP attacker, with a little bit of ability away from the table. He was well out of my league and made it impossible for me to get my usually-positive vs. backspin loop going. It wasn't like playing a chopper with plenty of time to move into position, I was being moved around every angle of the table with Charlie's returns being fast and low. I think in a less nervous environment I would've been able to profit from my attack more but in that match situation he outclassed me in every regard.

My final match was far and away the most frustrating of the evening. Firstly, this guy was the only player on their team to have lost a game so far. Youngster Adam on our team had beaten him 3-0 and made it look easy. As such, I'd gotten it into my head that I too should be able to beat him. First game was quite close, second game I won quite easily. Third game, somehow, I got 11-0'd. Yup, you read it here first - my first 11-0 defeat. It was demoralising, but it was the way in which I lost it that made it so frustrating - 4 times I served off and every serve he made I threw off the end of the table. He did two things which completely broke my game - topspin serves which I struggled to read and lost total confidence in attacking, and pinned me into my backhand with every serve receive and push.

I've never yet been so upset with a league game. Not the 11-0, although that's a bit embarrassing, and I KNOW these guys are much better than me, but my complete and utter failure to mentally rise to the occasion, coupled with each player quite quickly working out that I have no answer to pushes on my backhand made for a horrible, horrible evening.

So, SP players that aren't facing offensive loopers every day, how do you deal with opponents that simply push into your backhand repeatedly?

If there was one game I didn't need to keep me on track with SPs, it was this. I could've played double-inverted and won significantly more points.

Argghhhh!

_________________
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
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 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)

I see you have 802 as your short pip.

I was wondering if you considered using 802-40? I have used both, as you can see I use it in all 3 setups I am trying out. I am a short pips hitter, not a chopper - so maybe 802-40 isn't so good for chopping. But whenever people push to me, the rubber is spinney enough to topspin pretty hard wherever you want on the table.

Just a thought.

_________________
Offensive Setup: Blade: Tibhar Stratus Power Wood, BH Friendship 802-40 (black) 1.8, FH Friendship 802-40 (red) 2.15
Defensive Setup: Blade: Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk, FH Friendship 802-40 (red) 1.8, BH TSP P-1R (black) 0.5