OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I had a really good practice yesterday, not in the sense that I felt on top of my game and played super well but rather that I first found a "flaw" in my chopping technique that I think can help me quite a bit if I can fix it. I watched a video of Wang Xi that was shot from the side and it daunted on me that I worked very differently with my wrist and follow through compared to him and many other choppers. Basically I didn't come around and under the ball enough and got a very fat contact with the ball, it worked very well when I timed it right but if I was caught out of position and hit it a bit earlier or later in my swing the result was often the ball sailing long or it was short and high. I practised for about 3½ hours yesterday and had some of the most consistent chopping performances I've had, albeit in drills but still, it felt very good. I could apply the same technique and idea of ball contact in my chop-blocking, this is of course a harder stroke so I had some timing issues, as expected when making a big change in technique, but the result was very good when I timed it right. I'll be working on this more over the next few weeks and hopefully it continues to prove beneficial. Had I just videotaped myself I could've easily noticed this 4-5 years ago, it just goes to show how hard it is to analyze your own technique and feel what you're doing wrong.

The other thing, that I'll try not to talk to much about to keep the EJ bug at bay, was that I now think I've found the combo to grow with. Spinlord Ultra Carbon Def, Dornenglanz and H3. My FH felt better than it've done the whole season and I was very excited to be united with H3 again. This is definitely my favourite FH rubber but it doesn't work on every blade and sadly for me, I think Defplay is one of them. I was a bit skeptical about the combo before I tried it, just because the Ultra Carbon feels a bit numb already compared to what I'm used to but I'm very happy that I was wrong, it felt really really good. H3 is just so reliable and it's the rubber that I feel never lets me down. It's a big jump from the Blasa 2.5 that I've used for a couple of months but I think it's the right decision for my game. I have a bit of work to do before I feel 100% comfortable over the table with my BH but off the table everything feels nice and consistent.

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Sounds good!
Two thoughts:
A) start taping yourself playing!
B) go through your blog and see how many times you have said something similar about not EJ'ing

Let's face it, you (and I, and many more) get bored by using the same equipment for a long time (3 months can be a long time). You can always try to use the same rubbers and blade and so on, but eventually you are goint to want to try something else. Don't be too hard on yourself because of that, just try to not do it too much or too often - that will not help your game. But don't set up a goal to not try other equipment next season or similar. Me for example, will probably try Spinlord Keiler soon... just for the fun of it...

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Is that the original H3 that you've changed to auzcar?

There is a a lot of variation between sheets, so if you did not like it on other blade, it may have been a hard/softer sheet, which is why you didn't like it perhaps.

Anyway, great to hear you've found something you like.

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Yeah I know but I gotta try, and setting up a clear goal is the only way for me to even remotely accomplish it. In the past I've managed to have a keep my main setup intact and have other blades and setups on the side that I try for half an hour or so when I get bored, the last two years I've changed my main setup constantly and I 100% have to stop that if I am to progress at all.



It's the Neo. I've used H3 (both regular and Neo) with Defplay a lot in the past trying to make it work, so I've gone through a number of sheets, commercial, domestic, provincial and national. It's just the combination that doesn't do it 100% for me.

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I've not found significant variation between sheets of Hurricane or Skyline or PF4, all of which I've used great deal, and fitted for friends and clubmates. You do, however, have a much larger sample, I guess. I've generally found them to be absolutely reliably the same.

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While I do think that the variance is larger compared to European and Japanese rubbers I still feel they're similar enough if you buy the Domestic (or is it provincial) version which have the sponge hardness specified and labeled.

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Read about my adventures to perfect my style and the ever-present battle against the evil EJ virus!

Well, so much for the statement not to change equipment. I had a session yesterday and I felt completely disconnected with the pips. After three hours of frustration I took the decision that I've been contemplating for a while now, to go back to double inverted. I feel this is the only way for me to stop this destructive spiral that I'm in and it feels like a new exciting adventure as well. I've talked to a club mate and fellow EJ about this before and he was happy to buy all my pips from me for a reaonable price.

It might've been a rash decision but I feel it's the right one, I now sit here with a Boll ALC fitted with a H3 on FH and a Rakza 7 on BH, and that's pretty much what I own now in terms of usable table tennis equipment. It's been a nice run with the pips but I guess I'm back to being mainstream again.

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Cool! And strange, since I was actually thinking about the same. A few sessions ago I glued a Victas 401 2.0 to my Destroyer and I put a H3-50 on the other side. Just to compare throw angle and feel. Yesterday I pulled that out for a match and I actually beat my coach who I haven't been bearing the last 4 years or so. This was just one match with some warming up prior to it. I did not dare to use it more since I have a league match comming up tomorrow and that blade has 2 black rubbers. But the way I played I will most likely go further with a thin grippy inverted on BH, like Reflectoid. Did you try that rubber Auzcar?

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April Fools Day???

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my thought exactly!

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I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Nahh

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I have no idea what you're talking about, I can promise all day!

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Read about my adventures to perfect my style and the ever-present battle against the evil EJ virus!

All jokes aside, I played in Division 3 this weekend (two divisions lower than what I've been playing this year) to help one of our teams there win the league. I played four matches and had no problem winning them but it felt a bit shaky, like always when using a new setup I guess. It's something different to compete compared to practice, even if it's on a level that I know I'll win my matches anyway. I had problems on my BH, a lot of service returns went long and I missed a lot of chops, the FH felt pretty good. I have a lot to work to do this summer and I'm gonna try to start recording a few sessions as well, I think that could help me pretty much.

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Read about my adventures to perfect my style and the ever-present battle against the evil EJ virus!

Had a good session yesterday, felt really safe on my BH actually and I'm starting to feel more and more dialed in with the higher speed. When I have less time I still put a lot of shots long but the unforced errors were very few last night. I've been studying some choppers the last few day, especially Sun Jian Fei, and I think I've found a couple of things to work on to get a thinner and more consistent contact with the ball. This and my FH attack will be my focus during the summer if I can still drag myself to the practice when I get my vacation hehe.

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Read about my adventures to perfect my style and the ever-present battle against the evil EJ virus!

I'm thinking about implementing a LP hit in my game, nothing fancy but I feel that I need this to be able to seize more opportunities. If I get a high ball in my BH and don't have time to twiddle or step around I just chop it or try to bump it short, which is a major opportunity wasted. The other reason is the long wide serve out to my BH that a lot of people use frequently to get a chop, block or push to feast on. This isn't such a big problem if you're using a grippier LP with sponge since you can put more backspin on the ball but with OX the opponent gets a prime ball to attack hard on unless the placement is very good, and from the wide BH it's pretty hard to keep them from getting to their FH. Atm I try to bump these serves short but that's not an easy shot on a long, fast and spinny serve and if the return is just a bit too high or long they get an even better opportunity. The other option I use is of course to twiddle and attack or just to chop with the inverted and put a lot of backspin on the ball.

I don't really have the optimal setup for this and I've never really practiced the stroke before but I feel that this is a shot that I lack and that could open up my options a lot as well as keep my opponent guessing a bit more.

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Read about my adventures to perfect my style and the ever-present battle against the evil EJ virus!