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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 08 May 2017, 11:04 
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Dr. Chop-Blogger
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Blade: Butterfly Defense Alpha
FH: H3 Neo
BH: Cloud & Fog III OX
Reached a milestone this week - took my last double inverted setup: Joola Rossi Emotion + Xiom Vega Europe + Rakza 7) and made another combo paddle by putting XyYing 979 on BH, keeping Rakza on FH. I played with JRE till January of 2015, and was curious how carbon blade works with pips. XyYing 979 is supposedly one of the slowest pips, so I figured it would be an interesting experiment.

First 15 min or so were awesome - forgot how powerful FH can be :P, and pips on that thing were pretty awesome too. Errors started to creep in during the match, so I set it aside, but want to revisit it, once I give up FH defense altogether and turn into Gionis clone or something.

Played a guy from California (visiting) on Saturday - penholder with awesome loop/drive. I was getting 8-9 points or so, and got to deuce once, but that was about it - he split matches with our best LP player 'J' (~2150), so obviously knew what he's doing. Took a look at his paddle (see picture below) - this is what blade of non-EJ looks like: :o
Attachment:
oldpaddle.jpeg
oldpaddle.jpeg [ 752.15 KiB | Viewed 1698 times ]


In case you are wondering - his grip basically rubbed away top wooden plies till it got to carbon layer. 20+ years of play will do that. He could not even tell me the name of the blade, except that it's obviously discontinued by now. As a bonus, I now know what carbon layers/weave look like in a blade :).

In general tried to focus on beefing up my LP shots - 'T' was teaching me his BH attacking shot he perfected with hardbat. Can be quite nasty.

Edit: originally was thinking about going to a small local tournament on Sunday, but did not play too well on Fri/Sat, so decided to practice instead. There is a non-sanctioned team tournament in a couple of weeks, so will aim for that instead.

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 02 Jun 2017, 12:04 
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Blade: Butterfly Defense Alpha
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Went to the club today for the first time after almost 4 week break, I think - got sick with a long lasting cold/flu that knocked me out for ~10 days. Still not at a 100%, but figured it's better than sitting on a couch.

Grabbed a Defplay/Dtecs OX/Marder combo and basically decided to play 'consistency game' - forget attacking, just push/chop/fish, may be smash an obvious ball. Worked pretty well, actually, after I adjusted to the speed o this setup, or lack of it, to be more precise.

Beat couple of people slightly below me level-wise, including LP pushblocker, both 3:0. Then played my nemesis, SP penhold blocker, and lost 2:3, but for a change it felt like he was forced to attack, since most of long rallies went my way, and it was his turn making mistakes (NB - he did not really like high balls to his BH :devil: ) .

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 08 Jun 2017, 11:03 
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Showed up for the league for the first time in 4 weeks. Still not 100%, it feels, but felt like playing. Ended up 2:2 and reasonably happy. Still was using Marder/Dtecs 'just be consistent' combo.

First match was against A, whom I played just over the weekend (I think it was 1:2 in matches, but he was not too serious, I think :) ). Lost 1:3, but pretty close - got more points than I expected from LP serve that looks like backspin/side spin, but does not have any, for obvious reasons. Quite a few people receive it as it would be from inverted, and send it off the table trying to compensate for non-existent spin.

Played XT next and lost 0:3, my strategy of 'just send ball back' failed here because I could not chop/block some of his loops with too much sidespin. Also, my pushes were too safe and not deep enough, I think, in general.

EQ, a junior with a coach was next - I only played her once before and won 3:1 then. Now it was much easier - I think she got 2, 2, 3 points. Still troubled by LP pushes, perhaps more by the ones coming from Dtecs. Also, her short serves to the middle gave me an excellent angle to her wide forehand on many occasions.

SK was last - he is smart these days not to attack LP pushes and prefers to send them back softly, mostly to my BH, and attacks loose balls pretty well (or may be I don't react/anticipate enough). Fell behind 1:2, but did not panic, and he got frustrated by few bad misses and kind of gave it away.

Want to try 'be patient' strategy with my main DG/Baracuda combo - if anything, I learned that playing safe shots and letting others make mistakes works reasonably well at least against some of my usual opponents.

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 15 Jun 2017, 11:14 
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Another league report: rare winning record of 3:2 :lol: .

Played DT first - have not seen him in 3+ months, looks like he was injured/away etc. Always a challenge for me as he plays soft, bringing ball back and pretty much never attacking (decent strategy at our level, especially against someone who tries to play defensively, that is me...). Got up to 2:0 lead, although I pretty much stole the second game, coming back with timely nets/edges. Then proceeded to lose next 2 badly by becoming careless and attacking balls I shouldn't have (so much for patience and consistency). Fell behind in 5th, but came back to win 11:9.

Quickly lost next match to D, who is 250 points above me in the league - at least this time he attacked a bit more. 0:3 but at least was getting close. Made too many serve receive mistakes against no-spin. Also lost 1:3 to N, my nemesis blocker - did not have a consistent strategy and paid for it.

Then won an unexpectedly easy 3:0 match against C, who was not at 100% that night (cold), I think. Finally played EQ again, junior with a coach - last week I had a very easy win, but this time she made plenty of adjustments: received with her short pips BH, pushed/rolled my dead LP balls back, and did more of flat hitting. I still won 3:0, but had to work for it. Will need new tricks and strategies in a month or two.

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Last edited by pgpg on 20 Jul 2017, 21:43, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 22 Jun 2017, 10:44 
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Made a short stop at the club on Sunday with a visiting friend who has not played TT in ages. Not surprisingly, initially most of his shots sailed long even with the loaner paddles we have lying around. After 30 min or so his FH got some consistency back so we had few decent rallies. As he told me afterwards over beer, he thought he'd do much better... :(

Went 3:2 in the league last night - probably could've been 4:1, but lost winnable match 2:3 to P, whom I've not played in ages - I thought he was one of 'non-competing' club members. Lefty penholder with decent serve and 3rd ball attack - it was close and while I technically lost on the edge for the match point, in reality it was more of missing too many short serves to my BH and long ones into my elbow (should've tried looping them more, perhaps).

Beat a junior A relatively easy 3:0 (but he's likely to get better soon). Played PW for the first time in the league (it was his 2nd visit I think) - we split first two games, but then I realized I'm better off targeting his BH (he's a lefty), especially wide one, and it was much easier after that.

Have not played ND in 2-3 months, and he gained at least 100 points in the league since then, getting over 2000 recently. He struggles with pips, though, trying to smash through backspin more than necessary. Did win a close one in 5 - i think it's my 4th win in a row against him (style match-ups do matter!).

Finally, lost in 3 to D, who correctly pointed out afterwards that I frequently do not have a purpose for my serves and don't know what to do with return. Yup.

Going to Westchester this weekend - can only play one rated event on Saturday, so trying to figure out whether to sign up for U3400 doubles (never played in competition) or their 'fun' event, which this time will be 'Puzzle Pong' - NYTimes puzzle editor/club owner/TT nut Will Shortz is going to sit next to the table and offer various puzzles, with correct answer being worth a point in a game to 21. Not sure if puzzles will be offered during the play or between points - makes a difference, I think, although against better players it's probably not going to help much. Decisions, decisions...

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 22 Jun 2017, 16:14 
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Idea: Attend the "puzzle" event with Will... but dress up as the "Riddler" from Batman...

TT is an entertainment business.

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 25 Jun 2017, 10:42 
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Dr. Chop-Blogger
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Der_Echte wrote:
Idea: Attend the "puzzle" event with Will... but dress up as the "Riddler" from Batman...

TT is an entertainment business.


Technically, Will should've been the one wearing the 'Riddler' costume. :P

Anyhoo - the day started pretty badly - lost out of the gate to C player in U2000. Old(er) dude was on fire today, his wrist-only backhand smash was landing all day, I think. Lost 0:3 and did not even know what hit me. Meanwhile D player upset B, C proceeded to beat B too, but lost to D, all while I was away playing PuzzlePong match (more on that later). So, once I got back, I did beat B (SP both sides) pretty easily 3:0 (it was 3:2 at the last tournament) and then realized that I still had a chance to advance, but only if I managed to beat D 3:0... He (junior with a chopper coach, sponged LP on BH), already beat B and C, so I was a bit nervous, but ended up winning easily 3:0, mostly by serving no spin to his BH all match, and playing short. Weird.

PuzzlePong experience: it turned out that rules were a bit more complex :?: than I anticipated:

* Right after serve Will would give a puzzle - simple multiplication problem, anagram, trivia etc.
* You can answer only while point is being played out, but don't have to
* Correct answer gives you an extra 'puzzle' point. Wrong answer gives it to the opponent.
* You can't win the TT point unless both of the players touched ball at least 3 times (serve counts). If it ended before that, no points count.
* Game to 21, 2 serves each.

So, there are up to two points in play for every serve. In retrospect you can probably game it a bit: if you don't like the puzzle, just dump return or 3rd ball into the net and nothing happens.

It was a SE format and I was matched against someone very close to me in level, both TT and puzzle solving - playing this was rather weird, since it forces you to think about something else while playing the point and trying to figure out what just happened and what to do next. Speed of answers matters, but you also need to make sure you are confident in your answer. Bottom line, I lost 19:21, but it was fun. Afterwards Will mentioned that his main issue with this event was that it tied him down to one table for 3+ hours :(

Got matched in 1/8 of U2000 to a junior I played 2 months ago (lost 2:3 then). Really good kid with a very positive attitude. Lost this time as well, 1:3 in a very close match - kid then proceeded to march to the final, losing there in 5, so should get nice rating adjustment.

Finally, U3400 doubles - which I have not played in ~30 years or so. I guess since I did not have a pre-arranged partner, I got matched with another player, a junior rated only at ~600 (but who played closer to 1000+ ), for what turned out to be the lowest rated team in the event. We both acknowledged from the start that we never did this before, so fun was the main objective. Our opponents were a clubmate of mine, about my level, and another junior who right now is somewhat below me, but not by that much. To be honest, I was mostly thinking how not to run into my partner, and we actually succeeded in that - never were in each other's way. Lost 0:3, getting something like 7-9 points in each game, but it was much more fun than I expected. Pretty sure we did a lot of things wrong from tactics perspective, but overall not bad for the first time.

3 more events with a much stronger field tomorrow. Should be fun.

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 27 Jun 2017, 12:04 
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Sunday was tough, as expected. I think I finished with 5-6 record.

U1900 got placed in to the group with the same junior who beat me on Saturday (C), another guy I played a couple of times before (B) and my club mate (D) - turned out I forgot to list my club and they did not separate us, oh well. Played junior first and it was another epic 5-game match which I lost again in 5th at deuce. Should've attacked more, and I guess my chops were rather toothless - too high and not deep enough. I beat my club mate easily, and then saw how junior fell apart against B player who has quite unorthodox play style. Interestingly enough I then beat B player very easily, mostly by playing short and serving no spin. Match-ups matter a LOT on our level... In SE bracket lost 0:3 to my opponent from PuzzlePong from Saturday - just could not threaten him enough, which was the story of the entire day.

U2200 got me 2150 SP penholder, 2000 two wing looper and ~1750 J-pen player. Lost to A player 1:3, where I could not do much against his FH. Won a game when I was more aggressive (another recurring theme for the day). I played B player once ~6 months ago and gave him a 2:3 scare, but this time it was not to be, with 0:3 loss. Finally against a D player got to a 2:0 lead, but then allowed him to equalize. In 5th game I got to 9:0 , and suddenly thoughts about when to give a 'charity point' appeared, which promptly lead to 9:1, 9:3 which then became 10:4. I finally closed it off at 11:8, but had to take a timeout. So - forget about giving away point to avoid 11:0. Not worth it.

In U2050 I was a B player - lost promptly to A guy (~2000) in a decent match, beat D player easily and then had to play C player, a junior who has a rather unpleasant attitude (and this time even tried to cheat on a score :?: ). In the last encounter I beat him 3:2, but it was much easier this time, since he got frustrated early on and seemed to ask for coach advice every other play or so. In SE round ran into an older penholder (~1900) who beat me 3:0 in a pretty good match nevertheless.

So - rather weird tournament. I felt like I played at least 50 points below what I should've been capable of, and new rating will probably reflect this. It just felt like I was too passive and expected to win with defense, but it was not much of a problem for most of my opponents - I did not really challenge anyone above me, rating-wise, which is rather disappointing.

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 28 Jun 2017, 11:54 
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Did pretty well in the league tonight: 3:1 with probably my best win ever against ~2070 (league) player.

First played a new guy, no idea about his rating - penholder with pretty good FH loop and RPB, but also with a penchant for choing. Warm up looked pretty bleak for me, given his quality loop. Struggled against his serves in the first game, netting them even with pips, plus his 'cho's were getting under my skin a little. Won a second close game to make it 1:1, while discovering that a) bumps were very effective agains his serves and b) he did not really like short backspin serves to his FH either. As a result, last two games were very easy wins for me.

Was matched next against A, J-pen player who mostly crushes me when he's at 100%. Tonight his back was bothering him, though, so I won rather easily 3:0, but there should really be an asterisk next to this result.

Played L next, a lefty who loves to attack. Perhaps by chance I mostly served very short or half-long to his BH and tried to keep it over the table as much as possible. Was also uncharacteristically calm and actually stuck to this approach through the match - won quite easily 3:0, much to my surprise. Highlight of the night - never beat him before, I think.

Finally played my 'nemesis' blocker and lost 1:3, but had at least some strategy in mind and also some composure to stick with it, at least for the most of the match. Will get him eventually.

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 29 Jun 2017, 02:48 
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What's the 'bump' shot you mentioned - is it a punch? Or maybe a non-wristy push with the LPs?

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 29 Jun 2017, 04:17 
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kaesees wrote:
What's the 'bump' shot you mentioned - is it a punch? Or maybe a non-wristy push with the LPs?


More like a punch, I think, tends to be over the table and off the bounce or close to it. If you watch videos of Jian Li, he tends to do that a lot when receiving with LP (minus the ones he decided to chop, of course).

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 30 Jun 2017, 22:56 
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One of my clubmates broke 2000 at Westchester and I noticed he played you. Pretty powerful Looper off both sides and since he is from Philly, he understands pips. Hope you had fun.

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 30 Jun 2017, 23:36 
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NextLevel wrote:
One of my clubmates broke 2000 at Westchester and I noticed he played you. Pretty powerful Looper off both sides and since he is from Philly, he understands pips. Hope you had fun.


Ah, yes, PK - very nice guy, enjoyed playing him. Alas, I only made it interesting in the last game which I lost at 9 (and don't remember how...).

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 20 Jul 2017, 11:32 
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Was away from TT for ~3 weeks with travel/vacation. No visits to remote TT clubs this time. Got back on Sunday and made it to the Tuesday league, despite still suffering from a massive jet lag.

It was not busy at all, so I played pretty much non-stop, ending with 4:3 record. Losses were mostly due to being somewhat rusty on FH and not being disciplined with shot selection. Lost a bit of touch too, I think.

Tonight made a new bat to try out ;) : Butterfly Defense Alpha + Cloud & Fog III (OX) + TSP Triple Spin Chop (1.3). Got blade from LordCope, wanted to see how it plays. I suspect it will be a 'classic defense' combo. Feels very similar to Defplay so far, but did not hit with it yet.

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 Post subject: Re: Zen of chopping
PostPosted: 20 Jul 2017, 22:24 
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Pgpg, if you decide you don't like the Defense Alpha, I have dibs. ;)

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