OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I had an itch that wouldn't go away. It had been bugging me since Sunday, when I looked at the video of myself (which I'll edit and upload shortly).

My observation was that on the video it really didn't look to me like I was playing strokes on my FH that were particularly SP-specific, and in many cases, it just looked like I was trying to play an inverted shot with SP. I suspected that in some cases I could just substitute an inverted for my SP, without losing anything much, and gaining more spin on serves and other shots.

Then I discovered that a sheet of red triple spin chop 1.1-1.3 I had wasn't in as bad condition as I thought, so I glued it onto one of the hilooms, and determined to try it out at coaching tonight.

I didn't say anything, didn't tell Adam, and just turned up and played. On the whole it was indeed a drop in replacement. I'd say that on "drive" style shots, I had better control, and better aim. Hits were a little slower, but still penetrating. Against chop and push, I needed to exert less effort, and let the rubber do the work, which felt quite nice, but did need a little focus.

For blocking it felt great, and for pushing and chopping it was definitely better.

After training I played a few games with the top player (uk #75) just to get a sense of how it felt. Pretty nice, was the conclusion.

Now I'm feeling cross with myself. I have a match tomorrow. Do I risk it? Do I go back to the Degu, as it's familiar? Or should I take heart from the fact that I managed an hour session without much adjustment, and my coach didn't seem to even notice much difference (or at least he didn't say so!)

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

Definitely don't use it tomorrow - that's suicide, unless the players are significantly weaker than you.

Play your match tomorrow with SPs then try inverted. You won't feel any problems with the inverted in practice but as soon as you get a bit tense and someone hoys a topspin serve into your forehand, you'll put it off the end. Guarantee it!

_________________
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 made the same transition as you, albeit on backhand, and moved (indirectly) from spectol 1.8 to rakza soft 1.8. I understand fully what you're saying about transition and a lot of shots are pretty much interchangeable.

Whether to use it competitively depends somewhat how important the match is, both to you and the team!

In my case I had been recognising why sp did not suit me; I like to take a step off the table and trade forehands which is too far for an effective aggressive backhand. I made a snap decision on the Thursday to change, put the only spare (red) inverted rubber on backhand, squeezed in 30 mins practice and played the tournament at the weekend......

......the inevitable happened. I went in determined to play my shots and enjoy myself, which I did. I had one super win but lost in open and veteran's singles to spinny opponents, one off and one def. They weren't great suprise losses as both are good players ranked as high or higher than me and against who I have a mixed record.

Ultimately I didn't feel fully in control of the new material and neither will you short term. Some things will go well and some not so well. You know that my opinion is that you will be better off long term with an inverted forehand.

The biggest issue you will face is spin sensitivity. Ultimately if you want to change you will need to go through some pain to do so as you adapt.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

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

And there's a strong possibility that you will regress before you will improve. But my opinion is still strongly that in the long-run you will become a much better player if you can learn to deal with every ball on your forehand, and even better if you can learn to loop the majority.

_________________
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 really want to avoid fh rubber ej fest over the summer, but of the rubbers I have tried I must say what I really like about the current one is that it's super super controlled and linear. It's but fast. At all. But if if belt it it is. It's very very spinny, but the way it reacts to spin feels very different to eg Tenergy. It reacts but I can feel how it reacts.

For fh blocking and chopping it's definitely the best I've used.

For looping I expect it'll bottom out, but as it stands I can play a topspin and drive game with it, so it's a reasonable transition.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

I was in two minds when the match came around... on one hand, making a change on match night is very risky, but on the other, it's a good test. We went into the match favourites, and we were 2-0 up when it was my turn to play. I made the decision at the very last second, and grabbed the degu bat. 30 seconds into the knock up I knew I'd made the wrong decision. It felt all wrong, and it was clear that my brain had adjusted to the inverted last night, and switching back was too much to ask, so I grabbed the inverted setup instead, and played with that.

Tonight's team comprised TE - whom I've played twice this season, losing closely, both times. BG, whom I've also played twice, with a 1-1 record, and JA, whom I've beaten 3/3 times.

First match was against TE Last time I struggled with his illegal serve. Tonight I decided to place service returns into his BH, which worked well. I won the first two, and was up in the third, 5-1, but he pulled back and sneaked the third. He went on to win the fourth and the fifth 11-8. There wasn't room to record tonight, so I'm left with impressions... I'm not sure what I could have done differently. I wasn't unhappy with how I played, and I did play some very good shots. Smashes were potent enough, but I also placed some nice topspins.

Against BG, last time, I won by doing nothing, and I was in two minds tonight. Adam had explicitly told me to attack, regardless of the result, but our #1 player unexpected lost a match to JA, so I needed to win. So, I started with the do nothing approach. Unfortunately the first three points were nets and edges, the fourth fair-and-square, and 4-0 down against BG was going to be hard to come back from.

The second I played a bit more assertively, and won. The third was a catalogue of nearlies! There must have been ten or more shots where I'd attempted a long dead push with the LP, or a block, or a guide-type shot, all of which were a centimetre long. Very frustrating. The fourth started as the first, with two edges, but I fought on... playing some fine shots, but eventually losing. I played ok, but felt I made too many mistakes, and should probably have attacked more.

Last match against JA. I played very poorly. His tactics today were to serve short with no spin, and attack the next ball. Once I got my flick going I won a few points, but it wasn't great. The good point was he did also try no-spin balls into my backhand, but I went around the BH side and hit a few, and he gave up on that tactic, which was a bonus, In a scrappy affair, it got to 2 games each, but he seemed to lose the plot and I played better in the fifth, and I won it comfortably. Not a great performance, but a win all the same.

On the whole I didn't feel held back by the change. At times it did feel perhaps a little slow, but the flip side of that is that it's very easy to place the ball accurately.

I didn't feel like my serves were especially more nasty, but in the doubles I did play a few loop-like shots which were quite useful, and the odd push or chop with the FH which was pretty loaded.

The jury's out.

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

I've finished editing the video footage from last week. Here are the videos that have been published. Two more to follow shortly:

- FH topspin vs chop:
- Short push, FH topspin from BH corner, drive:
- BH push, FH drive:

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

Impressive.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

This video is of a random exercise using 3/4 of the table. The first half of the exercise has the FH 1/4 blocked off, and the second half has the BH 1/4 blocked off. The exercise is to serve, the received may return anyway, but the attacker must topspin the next ball, and then free.

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

And the last video of last week's session:



I didn't video this week's session as I was running late. Should be able to video Tuesday's match though!

Training today was good. Adam hadn't noticed that I'd switched to the triple spin chop on Wednesday because it sounds similar, and for most drills, it's a drop-in replacement, given the way I play my strokes.

Today the focus was on topspin against chop and push, in various guises, from multiball, and single ball exercises, and ending with him chopping hard with LP and inverted to my FH topspin and push.

In general the inverted is working out well. It generates a lot of spin, if I brush properly, which means I can topspin heavy chops without exerting myself. It's very nice for accuracy and short game, and blocks well. I didn't do any chopping today. It does give me "slow loop" options, but because it's a thin rubber on a fast blade, I can use it very much like SP for hitting a ball after a topspin, but I also have the option to roll the ball elsewhere, but with plenty of spin. So far, potentially a good move.

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

These drills look really good. All the work you are putting in shows. Would love to see the match if you are able to record it.

_________________
Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

Yoko Ono

Thanks, BRS!

Match should be interesting - against the top side in the league.

I'm averaging about 1/3 in the league at the moment, but the other two are often very close. A few tweaks and it'll be 2/3, which will be a great achievement.

Adam's view on this is that I have all the shots, I know the tactics, at the level where I am playing, I don't have any glaring weaknesses, and I have weapons which are more advanced that necessary. The gap is 100% mental - staying calm, focussed, determined, playing the right shots, watching the opponent, noticing when they make a change, and adapting.

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

The gap is experiencing playing at that level, it's never as easy as it may seem to close it. It's going to happen eventually but when it does is anyone's guess.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Federer said this today. Will try to remember it when our tournament season starts up in two weeks.

“I told myself to play free,” he said. "You play the ball, you don’t play the opponent. Be free in your head, be free in your shots, go for it. The brave will be rewarded here. I didn’t want to go down seeing forehands rain down on me from Rafa.”

_________________
Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

Yoko Ono

Wow ! Federer sure knows what it means to be at the very top of his sport and game! Great advice for all of us struggling players Play the ball and not the playa'

_________________
__________________________________________________________
Backup C-pen blades:

• TSP Black Balsa 7.0 :
  1. FH/BH-YRakza9/XOmegaVT
  2. FH/BH-TSP Spectol/Yinhe Qing OX
• 729 Bomb C-P : FH/BH-DHS H2 Orig/DHS H3 Orig
• TSP Versal :
  1. FH/BH-XOmegaVA/YJupiter-II
  2. FH/BH-*blank*

Fun blades:

• Yasaka Battle Balsa(ST) : FH/BH- DHS TG2Neo/Gewo HypeXT 47
• Dr. Neubauer
  High Technology
  Cypress-Carbon(ST)
  ***************************** : FH/BH-YRakza7/YRakza7

==========================================================