OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Tonight I played my first competition game with the new experimental set up. The idea is to use almost the cheapest custom set up possible to determine whether my results would be any different at my level. (900 RC, approx 1,200 to 1,500 US?)
As I reminder I was using Donic Appelgren Senso V1 with Baracuda and Yasaka Original Extra XHG. Now I'm using Galaxy N11 with Kokutaku 868 both sides.
My adjustment period was quite minimal with one hit with the robot and one practice night.
The division I'm playing this season is one less than what I should be with the majority of the players 200 pts below me. The reason I'm in this division is you got to pick your partner this season and my partner is somewhat weaker so as a team we are in the correct grade albiet likely the strongest team. There is one person in the grade who as beaten me in the last 2 years the others I've not dropped a game in a couple of years or at least rare.
Tonight was really frustrating using the new set up, some shots came off really good but others were just horrible making me feel out of sorts and unable to play the way I wanted. Was it the equipment or just not what I was used to yet, not sure.
Backhand and serving were ok but it was the forehand I was having trouble and thats my strength. If I did a slow spinny loop and got it right it was fine and when I did a flatter loop it was fine but it was the one in the middle where I didn't try hit it as hard and just spin it up and over that got me in trouble. The ball would just die into the net. I really had to keep the speed up and have good contact for the shot to come off. This had me either trying to belt the ball or just play a pretty passive shot, nothing in between.
Another thing didn't like was the sound of the N11, it gives a real woody sound on impact and is quite loud. I don't particularly like that sound. Would I not recommend this blade? Not at all, once again its just not what I'm used to others might like that sound, there's nothing wrong with the blade itself. Seemed consistent with plenty of control but also speed for smashes.
I won the first match in straight and in the second one I dropped the first but then won convincingly in the others, but at one point I felt I really wasn't enjoying it, I guess similar to a player who makes a comeback after a number of years or an older player that can't do what they used to, it can be a little frustrating.
Afterwards I made the comment to a mate that I might have to go back to the old set up but he reminded me that its all part of the experiment and I should see it through. I can't say that I'm prepared to lose and then when things don't go my way pack it in.
So at this stage I'll persist. In the end it might actually do me some good or at least I'll learn a bit but I'm just hoping that it doesn't detract from my enjoyment which sounds odd when your team wins 5-0 on the night.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

Yes, it is a little frustrating, very mildly spoken...

I do appreciate your effort very much and I am sure you'll adapt to the different material quite soon. Maybe your technique will improve also, becoming more clean.
Is it the first time ever you're using the 868? Is it less bouncy, somewhat dempening, compared to your usual setup (and maybe the CJ8000, too)?

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Red is blogging here >> http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=30522

Yes, I've never used the 868 and not used tacky Chinese for a couple of years since my improvement. The CJ8000 I really didn't use much, only a couple of hits, still virtually new.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

I've switched back a forth between tacky and non-tacky rubbers on my FH.
I've been using a tacky topsheet for over a year now and recently I used my friends racket ( because he wanted to try mine ) and he has Donic tensors on both sides so I had to use a non-tacky rubber on my FH for a few minutes.
It did feel totally different to me, even though I've used it before.

I've also somewhat recently switched from an Off+ carbon type blade to a 5 ply all wood blade(n11), and I know exactly what you're talking about about the half swing strokes dying into the net.

I've found the same thing.
My personal saying about this is "a half swing goes half way over the net".
And I use this to commit to making a full swing more often and during the times when I don't have time to make a full swing, I've worked on developing a compact swing that will still get the job done and I'm at least adding some spin and some pace to the ball instead of the 'tensor tap' that I would do before.

For me, this change in mindset ( aka SWING ) has brought about an improvement in my game.

So I hope if you decide to keep with the tacky rubber, that you get a positive gain from the decision.

Side note, I do boost my tacky FH rubber.
I really like a tacky topsheet, but like the feel of a softer sponge with a little bit of tension.

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Viscaria
FH: H3 Provincial Blue sponge
BH: Omega VII Pro

Thanks Red Roar. I'll stick with the N11 for now but will then sell it I think after this season. I'm likely to go back to my Baracuda after that. Next time I buy a rubber I'll likely get a tensor but not Baracuda. Despite looking it, there are too many others to try. Thinking of a tacky Victas or a Xiom.

Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

A good result tonight beating the player mentioned above that beat me last time. Was in 3 and after the first game did it pretty easy. Experiment back on track.

Backhand was pretty solid again and adjusting to the forehand. It's a different shot I'm playing though. More hitting through the ball with pace rather than slow and spinny. A bystander actually mentioned he noticed I was perhaps getting less spinn as the opponents were controlling pretty well. When I told him about the bat he said that made sense. Funny someone noticed.

Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

Must be me, but the only thing I understand is that the cheapo 868 setup did pretty well this time; feasible in competition with a small adjustment made to the forehand stroke.

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Red is blogging here >> http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=30522

I've made a couple spelling edits so might make more sense now but you sum it up well, though I'd probably go as far as say not just the 868, any reasonable bat.

Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

Have decided to cut my experiment a little short. This season is 8 rounds and there are 5 teams. I've decided to just play everyone once then will be switching to a bat near the other end of the scale for the remaining couple games of which I'll have to play the best player again. I'm still getting plenty of practice matches mid week up until then to know how the bat is affecting my play.

So two more weeks to go of the N11 then its likely up for sale.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

Following my 'cutting the experiment short' comment, I've now cut it really short. I've played 3 comp nights against slightly lower opposition and also 3 practice nights against my normal higher opposition and I've not noticed any difference in results. Sure its a short test but I think have played enough games to get a good idea. So it didn't take much adjustment to play at the same standard with a cheap chinese combo compared to an Allround Euro combo at my level.

What I did notice though is how hard it was in my own mind to adjust to the feel and therefore the overall enjoyment. For me the fun comes from playing the game I like playing, the way I want to play it and the N11 / 868 didn't entirely allow me to do this and at times made me frustrated when for example, a slow spinny loop was now being returned a bit easier, even though I'd perhaps put the next one away. When shots that would normally go over with just a little effort were now dying into the net.

So tonight I took the big step to sell the N11 / 868 combo to a player looking at buying a pre-made starter bat. Reality is I'm not going to get much more out of the experiment and just want to have fun playing with my other stuff. I'll not be going back to the N11 so thought I might as well get rid of it to someone who will bet a lot of life out of it. It will also give me a few bucks to put toward a new blade if I choose to do so.

In reading some commentary from Next Level and review of his Yasaka Sweden Extra I've decided to give my own Yasaka Extra a decent go at this stage rather than upgrade right away to a new OFF- blade. From the simple sound test, it is a bit higher toned than my Appelgren but still more of a 'donk' than a 'plink' so its no rocket either. There's still time this season to have a good go at this and then get something nice in the santa sack if I feel inclined, especially since I've now got a spare bat case.

Just need to choose what rubber to put on, whether to keep the Whale and Zalt (which is rather worn), or put my Baracuda and Original Extra XHD on though those rubbers are about 2mm to big for the blade and I really don't like swapping rubbers. Another option is to boost my old Victas V01 a bit more and put that on.

Oh, decisions, decisions....................

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

I put my old sheet of worn Victas V01 Limber on the Yasaka Extra and despite having a litre of olive oil in the sponge and sitting in the garage for the last few months, it seems to play OK. At least better than the N11. Just feels better overall. Although I didn't really like the Extra with whale on it, the softer sponge worked quite good and felt a lot better.

I've decided to keep using this set up for the rest of this season then will probably get some new rubbers to have a proper go next season.

Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

Made a video yesterday regarding the robot so thought I'd post a bit of a drill I did here. Certainly had me working with my heart rate around 140bpm by the end. My backhand has improved heaps in the last few months but my weakness is still when I'm moving so this kind of thing helps. I hope.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

Today I worked on something different. I've seen a few times lately people doing what has been called the backhand punch. I've seen a recent video on Brett's TT Edge section and also elsewhere. It seems be be the shot that many pros use when warming up.

I was hoping it might help me to return long fast no spin balls but after having a bit of a go at it, it appears as though it might be more suited to returning topspin and doing an aggressive block. Not sure, hoping you guys might be able to shed some light on it.

So here's my video including a few shadow swings in which I can see myself in a window behind the camera. The 1st and 3rd set have mild topspin, the 2nd and last set are no spin. The last set I'm trying to loop the balls rather than punch them as I was testing if this might be the better shot.

After seeing the video, I can see that most of my shots are not like my shadow swings. The feedback I'm after is whether these are the right balls to be playing this shot, whether my shadow swing looks correct and which balls on the robot am I doing the correct shot, if any.

Thanks for looking and any feedback.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

Cobalt, you have the wrong stroke. You can look at the pingskills video in how to handle a slow spinny topspin for the right stroke.

https://youtu.be/ORfCiNf8mWk?t=209

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

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

I think I have the right stroke but perhaps the wrong name. I may even have the wrong use of it as it might just be a block.

I'm a bit reluctant to post this as its off Bretts TT edge thread which I'm not a member but here's the stroke I'm meaning, the one on the left.

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm