OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Watching Chtchet again...he's "the Chtchet"...Just love his style. Anyway, here's a video from a tournament that has lots of great angles if you watch the other matches. But in this video...he plays or warms up with a guy who is definitely lower level than him, but it illustrates some of the chopping technique that he does. His FH chop as we all know is a sidespin FH chop. The thing that makes it particularly unique is that he moves his racket toward his center of the body, and takes the chop in front of his knee...almost opting for a higher angle to achieve this stroke. It really works well for him.


Full video of chop at 00:29s:
https://youtu.be/18Hw7h7S6C8?t=29s
You can see the intent of him waiting for it to drop towards his right knee...this is definitely on purpose. Very smooth and calm. Practiced a million times. It seems this is his go-to FH technique and not a reaction to lots of spin as some have suggested (sidespin as spin avoidance). Perhaps this started off as a way to deal with a lot of spin, but sort of evolved into his main technique...who knows.

Here's the full video, and worth watching because of the angle and distance. His chops are so well placed, as are his pushes.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

Here is another interesting technique...BH chop. He really smacks his hand into the side of his neck..almost uses it as a fulcrum to gain some whip.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

Wow, it's been nearly a month since I have made an entry. Life has been nuts. Too much work, too much school, too much family. Yes, the last one....there is such a thing. I love them more then life itself and would die for any of them, but sometimes they can drive me to drink.
That being said, i haven't had time to post much, but I have had time to play some.

We had our 2nd installment of the capital area league took place this last weekend. We faired okay, lost one...one one.

The match we won, I personally had a good game and a terrible game. The terrible game came against someone who I consider a nemesis. I have never managed to beat this guy, he's a double inverted chopper, plays soft, and...well...you know that's my achilles heel. The good news is, I took a game off of him, so I consider that a victory. He's only slightly higher than me ratings-wise, but I struggle with his style.

My next game I played far better. I played a double inverted looper/driver. He was good but my style paired very well against his. I won that match 3-1 and if my memory serves me correctly it was 10, -9, 6, 8.

The next match up we were dominated by a team who was very good, and all played material. One guy was a PH short pips/inverted hitter. The next was a LP/SP Penholder. Last was a LP blocker/Inverted looper. First I played the LP blocker/Inverted Looper. Typically, I do not do well vs. LP blockers, but I managed to win 3-1. He was a bit inconsistent vs. underspin, and I played classic D the whole time and frustrated the hell out of him. I was particularly proud of the fact that I was able to play my inverted style push (like Chtchet) with P-1R vs. his LP very consistently. That wasn't always the case. I also twiddled a lot, and managed to confuse him. In the 4th game I was up big 4-0 and I think he imploded psychologically at that point. Final numbers for the match were -12, 10, 9 5.

My next match was against the SP hitter. All of the games were close but I lost 1-3 at 10, -9, 11, 8. He was really good at cat and mousing me, until he had one to hit with his SP he also short blocked using angles very well. I really need to play vs. SP hitter/blockers more. I lose more often then I win vs. that style.

Equipment-wise, i have gone back to experimenting with thin inverted on the FH since switching to the VKM. I really like thin inverted on that bat, and I can't explain why it's better feeling to me than thin inverted on the Defplay. For this matchup, I had Reflectoid 1.0mm. I can't explain it, but for some reason my topspin game is better. I am definitely playing more of a drive/smash. I only loop slow balls. But my blocks are more consistent as well...and there is a slight bit of deception due to the thin sponge. The chops are deadly...and of course 90% of my FH strokes are pushes and chops.

This has been such a revalation, I'm going to Ej a bit on the FH and revisit the thin inverted (something I swore i'd never do again). But I'm far better with it. So, I took off the reflectoid and slapped the TSP Triple Spin chop....slightly thicker 1.2mm sponge. We'll see if my stroke with thin rubber continues to be fruitful. The added control for FH chops is worth it, and the fact that you can push and chop with virtually the same blade angle between it and the P-1R makes it very hard for opponents to tell if you twiddled or not.

If not I'll switch back to the Reflectoid as it was very good. Next, I'm itching to try the new Donic slice.

Feeling more like Chtchetinine with the thin inverted again.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

Holy Chtchet, I went to practice with the TSP Triple Spin after not having played it for months...and compared to the 1.0mm Reflectoid...GOOD LORD does it lack control by comparison. It's so damn slow for serves...I kept screwing that up all night. Lots of faults.

That being said, when I hit a chop perfectly, it was very deadly...very much reminded of why I liked it so much before. Pushes like a mofo!

Back to the Reflectoid for sure though, I do everything better with it. And the fact that it bottoms out on every shot makes it more consistent for topspin because you can keep the same bat angle for every stroke knowing that you are going to feel the wood. With the TSP, it would sometimes bottom out, and sometimes not...maddening.

That being said, I'm still going to EJ on the FH....Donic Slice CD coming up soon in 1.2mm. Then I think 999 is it? I forget.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

Another Challenger Chtchet video. This time he got swept 3-0...his opponent was very consistent and tactical. No doubt Evgueni let him win to garner more interest in the challenger series. People lose interest because he dominates it so much.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

VKM/P-1R 1.0mm/Reflectoid 1.0mm continues to be the best setup I've had in a while. I feel confident and secure: one can't ask for more. On reason is that pushing inverted style with P-1R then twiddling and pushing inverted with the Reflectoid allows me to virtually keep the stroke aesthetically the same (Same angle, same racket speed, same follow through), and it's fooling a LOT of people into netting or sending balls long when they either push or loop. This is a real weapon for me...which as a classical defender I really could use. The same can be said of BH chops with the Reflectoid, same aesthetics. Thankfully, I am far more comfortable chopping with inverted on the BH side now as well thanks to my double inverted chopping experiment. I do this far more often, making me far less predictable.

1mm Reflectoid (aka the 'Toid)
My attack is even more consistent with the 'toid...the 10% or so of the time that I do it. It's always a surprise, and people aren't expecting it. ONLY thing I'm having trouble with is generating enough speed for fast serves, or fast and long underspin serves. On chops, I don't even think about that the bat angle or speed or whatever, I just chop with reckless abandon...and I'm more deadly and consistent for it.
Yes, it bottoms out but the difference here is that when it does, it is predictable. I rarely get a surprise ball that goes into the net when I'm not expecting it, that's because it almost always bottoms out.... Loose grip will keep that from happening unless I'm blocking a smash. But the take home message here is that because always bottoms out, I can develop my stroke with that as the norm, and when I don't want it to bottom out, I'm in control. With TSP Trip-Chop, I didn't feel in control because when it bottomed out, it felt random.
So, I'm very happy with this change...and honestly don't see myself straying from this for a while, which is great because Reflectoid is hella cheap.

Bye Bye OX for good...probably
Yesterday I flirted with DG OX one last time, and I have to say, i think I'm done with OX for good. Warmed up with John Olsen a ~2000 player (great guy) and he really just felt like it was too harmless and predictable in chops....no variation. He wasn't even trying hard to loop them back....he gave the spin he wanted and got the spin back he wanted.

FH LP Chopping
I have decided to add another twist to my game. I've long thought about it, and never was able to make it work, and that's FH chopping with the LPs. Since twiddling is a strength of mine, I felt this was a viable idea.
One gaping whole in my game is dealing with spinny players that make VERY spinny balls, with little to no pace to my FH. That ball sometimes rainbows, sometimes doesn't, but always dips quickly off the table after the bounce making me have to move toward the table and try to do something with it. Almost always I have to lob, fish, or do one of those wiggly wobblers as NL called them. There is one player in particular who has a wicked loop with lots of spin who I cannot negotiate on the FH side with inverted. I have no problems on the LP side, of course. Last night I twiddled and FH LP chopped quite a bit. Worked well.
First, I chopped with inverted first to "calibrate my sights" so to speak. Then I changed to LPs to compare. First thing I noticed is, the balls tend to go toward my FH if I chopped them with the LPs. So to adjust, I have to chop toward opposite side of the table a bit (my BH) to get them to land where I wanted them. After getting comfortable I twiddled one inverted/one LP chop, or two and two. This worked well, and I was immediately to use it during a game. Not well, many of those chops landed.

I think I will continue to incorporate LP chopping and twiddling on the FH side in practice and hopefully in the distant future it will be completely natural to me.

Practice practice.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

It's not about LP.

Your control of the ball(length & height) is what put you behind in the rallies. Fix that and any LP you use will be at least OK, if not very good.

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USE CODE "HAPPY15" FOR 15% discount at NexyUSA.com. Exp Nov 30th.
NexyUSA.com now carries Sauer & Tröger brand products
EASY P - http://nexyusa.com/collections/rubber/products/easy-p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6tyNTO7 ... ure=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0zkq9Ja3E8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dARovqP9tT0#t=64

Thanks. To which part are you referencing here? The LP on the FH side? Or the DG OX part?

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

The basic ones.
Pushing and swiping.

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http://www.NexyUSA.com
USE CODE "HAPPY15" FOR 15% discount at NexyUSA.com. Exp Nov 30th.
NexyUSA.com now carries Sauer & Tröger brand products
EASY P - http://nexyusa.com/collections/rubber/products/easy-p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6tyNTO7 ... ure=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0zkq9Ja3E8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dARovqP9tT0#t=64

So, aiming for 'low and deep' as much as possible?

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

Let's rewind the whole thing back a bit.

The main problem is, I have a small sample size so I might not see the whole picture, balls should always go low but you need to be able to make it short or long when you need it.

Go watch a match vs Wu Yue. When she served to my FH side and I swipe or just tap it - I wanted it to be low and short for her to push or slow loop to buy split second to go back to my "Home Zone".

But if she served long to my BH then I wanted it long and deep.

IMO....IMO..... You 2(Jap and pg) lack aggressiveness and still do not have an idea of why would I choose to hit this shot to this location - or some call it "controlling the game"

Jap - go watch our match. I barely had to move to loop - all came to the middle. You barely step around and loop = when situation go 60%+ your way I just need to put ball on BH side and "Reset" and situation come back to 50/50. But to be fair, I'd look like a 1200 too if I play 2700. But the point is you didn't try something new, place balls at different spot or different ball timing or different spin.
Watch you video - ask yourself why did you hit that shot to that location. I'm sure many ball - you'd feel like "I don't know. just put it on the table".

pg - I only watch few points - shot selection and technique to hit the shots still need improvement to be a better player.

lastly, it all take lots of practice....lots of time to master those technics.

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http://www.NexyUSA.com
USE CODE "HAPPY15" FOR 15% discount at NexyUSA.com. Exp Nov 30th.
NexyUSA.com now carries Sauer & Tröger brand products
EASY P - http://nexyusa.com/collections/rubber/products/easy-p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6tyNTO7 ... ure=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0zkq9Ja3E8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dARovqP9tT0#t=64

BH, thanks for detailed response. I don't really have a beef with this particular description - my game and technique most likely reflects my current rating pretty accurately, and Japsican can probably say the same. One likely reason I lack aggressiveness and don't exhibit good understanding of the placement, tactics etc. - I'm still not consistent and confident enough to make sure it lands somewhere on the table 90% of the time, never mind placing it at the optimal spot or doing some interesting spin variations. . I hope it improves with time - but it is what it is for now. These decisions need to work at subconscious level, if it makes sense.

Edit: I can get away with a LOT when playing folks close to my level. 2000+ players - different story, but I play them once a week at most. 2200+ : once in 2-3 months if so.

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

I would say what BH said here was very accurate. With your returns and serves, yes, 95% of the time I'm just trying to get the ball in play, because I'm having trouble just understanding the spin of the serve, or trying to get in to position to get the ball back. Asking me to place your ball is difficult.

Regarding aggression, my question would be to ask you how Chtchet or Asaf Azarsky get away with not attacking? Or by "aggressiveness" did you mean just changing up the pattern of my shots, regardless of whether or not the ball is an offensive or defensive shot? I hope it's the latter because I'm not very offensive even vs. people my level. I chop, chop, chop, try to place and vary. But vs. someone like you at your level, that tactic goes out the window. I can't place, I can't vary, because I'm more concerned with reading the spin, and just getting the ball on the table... (Just as Pgpg mentioned).

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

Okay, so it's been a billion years since my last update. Suffice it to say that my team had a fairly successful league season although we ended up in 3rd place out of 5 teams. We went up a division, but also changed the team, but kept the core members of me and my training partner. We are now between seasons, and It's safe to say I'm am in full experimentation mode, more so with my style than with my equipment necessarily, although one naturally follows the other.

I have a lumbar nerve issue going on in my lower back which limits my waist rotation and my over all mobility these days. Not just during play, but between plays. The more running and twisting I do, the worse I feel afterwards (and often during). The running and pounding is far more detrimental than the twisting.

As such, I've been trying to stay at-the-table more, but of course as a chopper that is a difficult (and not so great) way to make a living. I have been playing double inverted more and that has been pretty good...as I tend to feel better afterwards, but still tend to back up too much, play chop and retrieve. I also miss the LPs.

Therefore, I've been trying to find a solution to my problem, looking at different styles that might suit me. Looking to stay close to the table, but still be able to chop if backed up.

I have come across some chop blockers, aggressive pushers and have come up with some people who I might like to play like for at least 80% of my play. Been watching Pamela Song, Stefan Kostadinovic, Robert Shanazari, Jafar Shuja.

Equipment-wise because I have hate the lack of linearity of balsa, I've tied but again steered away form those types of blades. I may try to re-visit. But I really liked Ox pushing in the 309 chop blade, which is a slow but stiff 9ply of mostly ayous veneers. The softness doesn't seem to increase the trajectory too much, and if I chop block I get real good reversal (I hate that word).

So, I'm going to experiment with cheaper OX LPs...and on the FH, I'm going to see if a SP or MP would work for hit/smash/block. I think I can make any OX LP work, but it's the pips on the FH that I'm unsure about. Otherwise, i really like Regalis (Blue) so I may stick with that on the FH.

So...to start I'm going to dress 2 blades:
--Sword 309/Saviga V Ox/563 2.0mm (Emulate Pamela Song/Jafar Shuja style).
--Joola Rossi Emotion/Dtecs OX/Regalis Blue max (Emulate Kostadinovic and Shanazari)

I suspect I'll like the latter initially because of the inverted FH. But I want to give the Pam Song setup a shot....

Now then, the other issue is finding someone willing to hit with me. HAHA. This is a very disturbing setup and dudes that hate pips will likely never want to practice with me. LordCope, did you have this issue when you were double pip?

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

I want to update quickly. The SWORD 309 chop blade in the initial days of having Saviga V on the BH has been great. I really like that combo for chop blocking and push blocking. Just fast enough to bother opponents, just slow enough to keep the ball on the table. Low trajectory and little bat angle adjustments needed. Hits well, pushes well, and good reversal on passive blocks.

Some kind of braking effect in this combo, but I haven't faced any super powerful loopers yet...

I have managed to really get down Song's sideswipe/chopblock (It's a combination of the 2 strokes, with soft hands to take the pace off of bigger shots. Having trouble with the blade angle a bit as I tend to have my bat too open when taking it right off the bounce (a habit from chopping and chop blocking normal style).

I really like the feel with this. MPs should be in today...so I'll report how much of a horror story that will be on the FH. I gather it's not going to feel comfortable at all. 563 MPs.

Now, I will say that I did try to play with Pluto MPs on the FH and it took about 15 mintues for me to adjust...not too bad...but I wasn't in any hardcore game situations with it.

I think my biggest concern right now is that nobody will want to practice with me.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions