OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Another session tonight, at a club I rarely frequent. Objective? Carry on familiarising with the new rubber and be more positive with it. Mission accomplished!

I arrived nice and early due to the fact I was on a work training course so just me and the coach for the first 30 mins. This worked really well as he is recovering from surgery (ACL) and was happy, pleased even, to play backhand to backhand and I kept upping the power and the balls kept landing. Great!

I the played 5 (yes 5) best of fives against one of the club's league players. I don't know him and don't fully understand his level, but it was decent suffering mainly from a few wild backhands and occasional loose serves. I won 4-1 and tried to incorporate as much bh attack as early as possible regardless of outcome. Overall I am very pleased. Positives were the offense, attacking serves, lifting backspin, bh kills. Also I am leaning to impart more spin and add variation. Negative, strangely for me, was I missed more bh blocks than usual. Will be interesting to see if that is a one off or ongoing problem. We shall see.

On Monday I have a local league match, final one of the season and we have already won the title. I think I shall use the pimples as it will be a useful guage as to how well they are working at this early stage. I must not be disappointed if I lose (I would usually win all my singles vs this team).

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

A couple more sessions now behind me.

On Sunday morning I trained at my regular club and played three best of fives; two were against a county junior and one against a fellow forum member, andrewh13 . Every session is leading to some improvement. I won the practice matches (which shouldn't concern me at this stage but for some reason it does! - competitive male, can't help it!). Against the junior who is a conventional 2-winged looper it was a very similar story to usual, fairly comfy but dropping the odd set.

Andrewh13 is a combination bat player, using a Taichi with Rakza 7 soft and DTecs Ox; he does twiddle but mainly uses the dtecs on BH. I would say I generally come out on top but it is close, however on this occasion I had a quite easy win in 4 (he went hell for leather in the 3rd and landed everything). He likes to hit backspin with the DTecs, and when I use inverted on BH I find it difficult to put over float/light balls. With the Spectol it is easy to keep the spin off, and to hit the high ones, so a real plus there. I am looking forward to testing against other combination bats.

We also played a number of doubles which gave lots of opportunity for experimentation.

Then last night (Monday) I decided to use the bat in a real match. This is in the weakest league I play in, final game of the season with the title already won: so nothing at risk except averages and a little pride. The team we played against is currently 2nd but will probably finish 3rd. Their line-up included one player who generally gives me a very good game (I played him a fortnight previously and scraped through 11-9 in the 5th from 9-9 with him serving). He has a 70% win average at this level, an especially strong BH loop, tight serves and a decent forehand (so pretty good allround, maybe a little bit 'Hollywood' at times). He is also very good against combination bats.

I arrived late to see my doubles partner (Dr Evil OX and DTecs OX) going down in 4 to the aforementioned player in the first match of the night (9 singles + 1 doubles). I played next against a big hitting 'supervet' who has approx 44% wins. Being a little cold and with the new material I started poorly; suffering from long spinny serves into my BH pips that I returned defensively and not tight enough and were consequently getting killed outright. I also didn't get my serve and 3rd ball going and lost the end 11-7. I felt exposed without the inverted to send back heavy backspin and knew I needed to play more positively, so started to do so. Second end was a bit of a grind; 11-7 to me but tighter than it sounds as I won the last 3 or 4 points. I ran around to hit a few of the long serve winners and varied the pips returns. The topspin pip returns were low %. I started to play much better in the last two ends, worked out some serve combinations that caused him trouble and closed the match out 11-6 & 11-6, disappointed only with the pip hitting.

Match score 1-1. Main feedback from my teammates was that I had been trying to 'force' the attacks too much.

1-1 quickly became 4-1 as my teammates got into gear and then it was my turn again for match 6. Also an approx 45% win supervet this opponent is more controlled and has a very heavy dig on both sides, esp BH, a spinny sidespin loop and a BH punch. Not a player I generally have difficulty with (my serves trouble him) but he gets some good wins at times. Not today though; I played exceptionally well, rolling back almost everything sent long or short to my BH at what felt like 70% power and concentrating on landing the ball. My FH was on fire too and I barely missed anything, winning 11-3 11-2 11-5. In fact I discretely gave a point away at 7-0 up in the second. The rolled balls off the pips were nice and low and appeared quite spinny (he was getting his backspin back, in reverse!), causing him a lot of issues. I finished with a really powerful BH winner down the line, that's what I want to see more of! An expected win, but the nature of it very pleasing.

Match score 5-1. Main feedback from my teammates was that this was much, much better! - and that I was 'stroking' the ball really well. I found this an interesting phrase, maybe I had been snatching at the shots in the first? Food for thought. Maybe the way to go is to secure the consistency, and then build the power up?

We won the next games to move to 7-1 up, and now it was my turn to play their number 1. I was concentrating a lot harder for this one, so struggle to recall too many details! The first game was a marathon, which I should have lost after starting poorly with lots of unforced errors, trailing 10-5. Somehow I got back to 10-10 and I eventually secured it 19-17 after facing most of the game points! I didn't really have much BH offence going on in that end, and also struggled with deep loops to BH. I suspect that the first end was a big factor as this all improved very much over the next two which I won 11-2 11-6. I started playing more positively and got him more onto the back foot. In contrast, he seemed a little deflated.

We lost a close doubles and ended the night with an 8-2 win.

In summary
Working well (given the early stages of transition) - Serving, short game, chopping
Working well at times - Topspin / rolling.
Room for improvement - Blocking deep loops, starting games

I'm also starting to develop some variation between backspin and float on pushes, and between punchy and soft blocks. I can see lots of hard work ahead, probably a few bad reversals in matches, but also a lot of potential.

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

A quiet period over Easter which coincided with me being unwell, so I didn't pick up a bat until Sunday, an unheard of gap of nearly a week. Every time I pick up the bat it is becoming more natural; still playing the odd 'howler' of a shot but overall each session seems to be a step forward. Sunday was a good long session and the key lesson is that I have to avoid sitting back and being too passive, this just doesn't work with short pips and you don't have enough of your own spin to put up a 'shield'. I fell into this trap in one practice game and lost 3-2 to a player I had never lost to before. I played him a lot of games at the end of the session, adopting a more positive approach, and won all 10 ends, so there's a lesson for me to remember. Other than the one reverse results seem as good or better than usual and the offense is gaining in power and consistency, although not where I want it to be yet. I have another practice tonight and a match Thursday and intend now to exclusively use a SP setup unless I decide to abandon the experiment, zero switching between the two now.

I will make and put up video number two next week to see if any improvement is necessary.

In other news I have a sheet of Rakza X to try. This wasn't planned but a practice partner had bought to try and hasn't got on with it. It is max (I currently play with max 9). First impressions (not glued on the blade yet) are that it's a bit harder than 9 and very grippy. Will feedback but I've a feeling it won't be for me as I've grown to like a slightly softer (but not soft) FH rubber.

[Short pips] MANTRA FOR THE WEEK: "Be positive" (or maybe "Kill or be killed")

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

The latest addition to the 'Fleet'.... my 3rd Xiom Offensive S. Great little blades for the price (about £35 delivered). This one a little heavier than the others which are about 85g. I shall glue the rakza X to this with another sheet of 1.7-1.9 Spectol for testing. To be continued......

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

Wow, his man loves his Offensive S

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yeah. His enthusiasm for the blade almost makes me want to buy one.

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

My babies.

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

Last night's practice session was the best to date with SPs, by far. I think I was generally playing well anyway as my forehand was also really going well. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I had no inclination to use the Rakza X or the Spectol 21 that were on other setups. That will have to wait for another day.

There was a spare table at the club that I shared with 2 teammates for 2+ hours. Both are right handed and backhand dominant which can cause me difficulties. One in particular likes to initiate fast BH to BH rallies which he will often get the better of; not last night though as my SP drive was very consistent. As usual we played lots of practice games - not ideal training but it ensures fair table time. 5 best of fives plus a round of doubles when another player briefly showed, and I didn't drop an end, playing positively from start to finish. Far better on unforced errors, although still more than where I want to get to.

Opening up against serve was particularly good; both driving long and flicking the short. I could cover about 2/3 of the table flicking short serves (i.e. not those too wide to FH) and vary my return between elbow and wide BH, very effective. No huge power, but taking the ball nice and early gives the opponent little time. Long serves to BH were consistently driven and I could vary placement well.

Strangely enough I found it more difficult to open up if I got drawn into a few pushes, so next practice session I shall have a rule never to do 3 touches/pushes in a row, and instead to drive one. Maybe that should be 2, we shall see.

Blocking is also improving, a lot more consistent. When I block passively I am noticing that opponents often net their next shot. I am also learning to punch weaker topspins which works well.

Thursday I have another match and by then I shall no longer have a double inverted setup, having just ordered another sheet of standard Spectol to replace the VariSpin on 'Xiom 1'. This may come as a shock to my captain who hasn't seen me for a few weeks and has no idea of 'Project SP'. Hopefully I will not come to grief as we are in contention for that league title and every point is important.......

Watch this space!

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

Three sessions since my last post; A very easy match, a long Sunday morning session and today a few best-of-fives today at work. Highlights (maybe half the points?) embedded below from the first best-of-five only. Interested in your thoughts. I'm very passive on BH for the first half-dozen points or so but this improves (although not all balls land!). I think it is getting better, in comparison to the first video in this thread (same opponent).



I will add some more thoughts later when I have more time.

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

Ok, a bit more narrative. I decided to summarise just one of the best of fives (4 ends in this case) and include many points as it gives a more realistic sample of what's going on. This was the first, which I won 3-1 then we split two five setters. We know each other's games inside out! It was nice to hear though that he thought I am now handling the SPs far better and that they are now not the disadvantage to me that they were at first.

In other news, I currently no longer have a double inverted setup. I changed all the Xioms to Rakza 9 and Spectol. One is for later on (it has spectol speed) and the other two are a matched pair....167.2 and 168.3g total; nice. Now I have done this I cannot make an impulse switch back to double inverted.

My opp today isn't very conventional, but I am playing well against conventional players.

I think I need to most urgently work on;
- recovering to a more neutral position. Currently I think it is somewhat FH orientated.
-moving better to BH offensive shots.
-A single twiddle so I can serve inverted from BH and be ready for the next shot.

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

Another week has passed but only 2 sessions due to 1: A lack of practice partners and 2: my son being unwell.

Tuesday was a club practice night and again I was very pleased with how I played; very positive and the practice game results as good or better than the double inverted days. Fairly casual session though, even to the extent of going to have a beer after a couple of hours before returning for a final half dozen ends with the resident defender.

Thursday was a match night, in a league that we are leading with a few games to go, but only by a slender margin. We would expect to win this fixture heavily but have some good games (for example I beat one of them 3-2, 16-14 in the 5th last time out). This player was the first I had to face. He is a left handed veteran who is offensively orientated, usually hitting quite hard and flat but this time out playing some deep spinny loops that caused me trouble both in my inverted and pips and I lost the first end 11-9. At this point I foresaw another tough game but I handled it better from that point on, adjusting the blade angle on FH and punching/blocking nicely with the pips to take the next 3 ends 11.4 11.4 11.4 .

I also dropped the first end to the next player, who is quite a conventional allrounder. I was actually suprised how well he played, especially in blocking my loops into his FH. I took the next 3 again with each end a little easier as I worked out how to play him (certain serves and attacking with more spin in the middle and backhand).

Final singles match was against a type of player that is of interest on this forum; anti on bh and looks to push/block where possible (mainly BH) taking the ball early and playing some nice short and/or angled low balls. He is also pretty competent chopping if pushed away from the table. These sort of games always feel a bit scrappy and although I won in 3 I could/should have lost the 2nd end being 10-6 down. My teammates also won all their games and the doubles that I sat out, so 10-0 and hopefully another step towards the title as our rivals 'only' managed a 9-1 win.

In terms of pips play I was quite conservative on the night and still spent a lot of effort staying on my FH. This is because of the tense nature of the final few league games with a title at stake, and not wanting to take too many risks! Not how I intend to play moving forward.

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

Something I forgot in my last post; I experienced my first 'anti'pimples' prejudice! This was with a player who I had just beaten very comfortably. It was mild, and I'm sure I will get worse in time, but he commented that he "couldn't understand why anyone would want to use pimples as you can do so much more with inverted", how in his opinion players just use it to "cover weaknesses" etc. I feel like I've arrived!

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

I'm not sure you can take that line of comment after you've just lost

You won't get it too bad with SPs I don't think, but if you do, you know you're being effective with them.

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[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 would say "you can do more with inverted but I can't!"

Two matches and a practice session this week. Firstly a routine match where the opponents were a player short...a tiny bit irritating when you've driven 25 miles to get there (appreciating some of you go far further to get yout TT). It was a case of top (us) vs bottom (them) and we got the 10-0. Of note was that the venue was a real throwback to when I started TT, being an old church/village hall, wooden floorboards and a table that was old three decades ago. Slow, no spin. Player 1 gave me a fair game and had an awkward style to deal with, especially in those conditions. Thick sponged anti on BH and some decent serves, good with angles and dropping it short. He took and end off me when I was 2 up but I closed it out OK. My other singles was very easy and gave me the chance to try out a range of shots. The pleasing one was hitting through long flat/underspin serves to the BH with pips, best part of 100% success rate, albeit with no real pressure. That is the story at the moment, playing better in practice than matches due to being more relaxed with the unfamiliar equipment in practice.

Next day I practiced at work with my regular partner (in the earlier vids). I was shockingly bad. All around. In my defence I was shattered having had a late night, then slept poorly and had a tough day at work. I wrote it off. Incidently we split two best of fives, and I'm not sure I deserved my half.

Tonight was the second match, in a different league, and my team is challengimg for 2nd. Our rivals for 2nd were our opponents, and it is tight for points over the remaining 4 or so games. So this should have been a tense game with both teams having their best players out. Availability didn't work out that way, and I could only find 3 available players and the same applied to the other team. On paper I would say we looked quite evenly matched.

Let me spend a few words talking about the format of matches in this league. The Premier Division (that I play in) has 9 teams, and you play the other 8 three times each. Matches are 3 v 3, squads up to 10. First two times around it is 3 singles each and 1 doubles making 10 games/points per match. Third time around it is 2 singles each, 3 doubles (2 each) making 9 points. This was a 3rd time around match.

So, as the away team I could declare my team second, and must confess to being a little tactical. Not to try to get a good result, but I wanted to play singles against a specific opponent who is renowned for having some of the best serves in the league! So I took a quick glance at the card, and made it so......

To be continued........

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