OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I've been a member of this forum for the past 7 years and have about put up 204 postings, that's about 29 postings a year or 2 postings a month Not very prolific, but my presence has always been in the background, this forum not only gave me information but encouragement, inspiration and a good laugh or two. Thanks to Haggisv for keeping up this forum and all the moderators and members for keeping it real.

Do women think differently from men? Yes. Do we have different physical capabilities? Of course. Are we more emotionally volatile? Not neccesarily.

Let me start this Blog with a bit of background. I discovered table tennis in high school. Played mostly with boys and one other girl. No formal coaching ever. I had to give up the sport as University and work interfered

Took it up again 8 years ago and now my life revolves around it. For the past 7 years I have been a member of the Victorian Veterans Table Tennis team. Currently I play in 2 table tennis clubs, I practice Wednesday with a group of people and occasionally with the Robopong to hone some shots.
My husband has a huge collection of table tennis videos and educational table tennis books. He's a better player than I am, and watching him play is very inspirational.

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BTY Timo Boll Spirit
FH: Tibhar Aurus 1.7mm
BH: Tibhar Aurus Soft 1.7mm

Good on you arlene!

A girl's perspective is very valuable to us, as we certainly want to attract more ladies to our sport!

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How exciting! I eagerly await more content!

Regarding female players, my observation, at least locally, is that there a more girls playing than boys in the junior sections, but this gives way to a significant majority of men in the adult game. I wonder why that is?

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Look forward to it Arelene. It'll be popular amoung the sporting nerds that are male table tennis players . The French exchange teacher that filled in at my club for two weeks 20 years ago still gets talked about quite often lool.

I especially look forward to any post you make immediately after playing Reb at a tournament. .

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Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

I admittedly am shocked at a female forum member for 7 years. I am not surprised that we have an occasional female visitor, but to be here 7 years??? It seems the male to female ratio is skewed in favor of males even more than the typical table tennis club!

But I will say I VALUE all the perspectives from all players. The greater the variety the better. I find it very interesting. Look forward to more posts on this (and other) blogs.

Yes, a much welcome blog! I've seen you (Arlene) in the heat of battle at several Vets' tournaments and you always give 101%. I especially like your attacking style and your ability to stay in the zone - at least it seems that way from a spectator's point of view. On top of all of this, you're always generous with a kind word and a big smile. You're a real asset to table tennis and this forum.

Now, don't be shy and share any thoughts you might have.

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Blog: A Naked Bear

Thanks Oskar for the kind words.
Someone once told me that once you are on the court, you should only focus on your opponent and your game. Any other extraneous stimuli, you should block out. Is there a group that is cheering for your opponent, ignore it. Is your opponent getting advice after EVERY game, ignore it. Is someone on the other court "cho...ing" too loudly, ignore it. Is your opponent taking too much "break time" after 6 points, breathe and visualize what your next strategy will be.

Savour the match, do not rush the game. Life is not about reaching the finish line, but enjoying the journey, so is table tennis, it's how you play each point, how you move to each ball and execute your stroke, did you land it short? long? did you place it well, to prevent a strong return?

The problem sometimes is the ability to sustain concentration and focus, hence if I lose at 2-0, then as Larry Hodges would say, it's all mental.

A lot of the women I meet in tournaments have the propensity to defend. Even if you serve long, most women would tend to push it back. For me, my first tendency is to attack anything that comes out long. Again there are times when I find myself just losing the points on the receive, so I read somewhere, I think it's from Samson Dubina's website, when do you NOT attack a serve? When your opponent is not going to be aggressive on the 3rd ball.... and it makes sense, why put pressure on yourself?

I first visited OOAK when I was thinking of using SP. Kees is a good resource on this. The notion of being able to hit the ball really fast has it's appeal, but then without the spin, the margin for error would be higher. I could not adjust my stroke motion, so decided to go back to inverted rubbers.

I do not like playing against pimple players or anti spin for that matter, but those rubbers is what gives table tennis variety. They may give the advantage of messing up with your timing, but if you know how it's supposed to act, then you should be able to handle it.

The problem is, not enough players in the club play with these kind of rubbers and in the group that I usually have a practice session with, there is only 1 guy who uses pimple, both sides. An older gentlemen who I always set a side a time for so I can practice hitting against a pimple. It's the only way to learn how to deal with these rubbers, a lot of people complain and blames the rubber when they lose, that's just being ignorant.

I just came home from playing at a club which is 5 minutes drive away from where I live. The first time I played against Vince I lost easy in straight games. He uses SP on FH and LP on BH.

My husband told me, get the length, try to land your shots long and wait for the ball to bounce above the net then stroke through, you do not have to lift. The motion has to be forward. It was a battle and I was 1-5 down in the decider, but I stuck to the plan. Served long and try to put the third ball away, getting the timing instead of going too much for the power. And I won 8 - 11 in the 7th game

Foam, I look forward to playing against Reb, unfortunately he does not enter a lot of tournaments. Last time I saw him was in Ballarat, he was looking a lot fitter and I imagine is playing better as he was waiting for his final match in Division 2. Which brings me to you, I don't think I've seen you this year! Have you given up playing the Veteran's circuit?

How do you attract more women to the sport? We don't have enough role models and table tennis never gets the publicity. In the US, there are 2 women I know who not only plays the sport very well, but looks good as well. Biba Golic and Soo Yeon Lee. That is why, I am quite happy to see that most women in the Veteran tournaments (here in Victoria) are wearing skorts.

It will be nice to see more women at the Elite level wear "girl clothes" instead of shorts and looking like boys. But not too extreme, it has to be sporty and appropriate. I have seen some promotional videos of Liu Shiwen and Ding Ning decked out like "party girls" playing table tennis and it does not do the sport any good or women's dignity for that matter.

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BTY Timo Boll Spirit
FH: Tibhar Aurus 1.7mm
BH: Tibhar Aurus Soft 1.7mm

It's refreshing to read your blog and your insights about the game Arlene.

I have already learned few things and looking forward for more! Cheers.

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Enjoy the game. It is a never ending learning experience once you play and keep the ball on that 45 sq ft of space or should I say half of that space.

Just want to echo Red_Lion's comments. Great blog Arlene and look forward to more.

It is an interesting phenomenon that pretty much any forum I visit and participate in (doesn't matter - table tennis, model airplanes, photography) seems to be overwhelmingly male-dominated. Not sure why this is the case, and I wish it weren't so.

Iskandar

Try a gardening forum, Isandar.

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Yeah, or Netball or amigurumi. But you still wonder why table tennis and photography forums are so male-dominated. Is discussing plastic balls and the latest dSLRs so uninteresting to women?

Iskandar

Considering that not a lot of women play table tennis to begin with, I doubt that a number of them will actively participate in table tennis forums.
On Monday night, there's only 2 of us women (out of 18) in my grade. On Tuesday night there's also 2 women (out of 14). So really, a male dominated sport.
Nurses in the hospital complain that it is so hard to meet guys, I tell them to take up table tennis!

Doubles Play
Finding a doubles partner is pretty much like finding a spouse. The qualities you look for is geared towards compatibility. Temperament wise, you want someone of the same disposition.

For me, an ideal partner is someone who has your back. Gives 100% to the match. Supportive, encouraging, has a positive attitude. Able to step back and see the big picture and able to have a sense of humour.

Ideally your style of play should be similar to each other or if he/she prefers to defend, he/she should be able to counter and get into a rally. The same thing for an offensive player, he/she should be able to defend and keep the ball on the table.

We cannot be “in the zone” all the time, there are times when we are not playing our best, being affected by stress, work, worry, problems or physical ailments. Being able to support each other and offer encouragement and just getting to challenge the opponent might be good enough. It’s not always about the win.

Off the court, I expect my doubles partner to have my back as well. To take my side and if I happen to err on judgement or have a difference of opinion, then I expect him/her to talk to me about it and not stab me behind my back. I don’t give second chances for disloyalty.

I am still on the look-out for the perfect doubles partner. Currently I occasionally play with JJ, I consider her a good friend on and off the court. When I open up and the opponent attacks, she’s not afraid to counter. She’s steady and keeps the ball on the table. I would prefer that she be more aggressive and initiate to open up, but that’s not her style. And being a woman, she’s a bit more emotionally labile. I know enough to adjust my expectations when she’s troubled, goodness knows I get in a funky mood myself every now and then.

Occasionally I get asked to fill in and I will be playing doubles with someone just for that night. One of my pet peeves is when a player does not pay attention to hygiene.

If you smoke, please chew on a mint or brush your teeth before playing doubles. Also please apply some deodorant before coming to play. One time I filled in and the smell coming from this guy is enough to make me gag. I reckon he cannot smell himself, but it really affected my doubles play, as I can’t concentrate while being annoyed at this smell.

For now, I am prepared for such event, I bought a small bottle of eucalyptus oil and I apply it in between the nostril and upper lip area. Same trick applied when I was a medical student doing dissection in anatomy.

Movement is another thing. You do not move IN FRONT of your partner AFTER making your shot. You move side-then-back- then-front again. It’s like a dance, it’s beautiful to watch when you’re in sync, but a collision disaster when you don’t pay attention to that component of the game.

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BTY Timo Boll Spirit
FH: Tibhar Aurus 1.7mm
BH: Tibhar Aurus Soft 1.7mm

We have the same point of view when dealing with hygiene.

I believe that most of the place where you play is relatively cool or air conditioned. I am used to play in relatively high temperature and uses 1 shirt per game to avoid being smelly . That's why I love playing in Baguio. A shirt will last for 3 to 5 games.
I love your analysis on doubles. There should be a continuation of your strategy once your partner make his/her move.

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Enjoy the game. It is a never ending learning experience once you play and keep the ball on that 45 sq ft of space or should I say half of that space.

Het Arlene, anyone who has been a part of the TT forums for more than a couple years has known you. Good idea for blog.

You are not the only female on this planet crazy about TT. MiLe is the lady in this vid getting married and she is a regular on the TT scene.

Two of my Uni friends who study in Korea just got married and they got a wedding vid.

The first few minutes have a series of pics where they are both in TT uniforms in TT club in Korea haha. The lady plays Mens Div 4 level regional.

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