OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Speaking about my reverse, it took an absolutely gigantic effort to take it to its current condition. It was a very frustrating process and I am anxious to make any big changes. I think at this point I can write a novel about it. All I want to do with it is maybe add more body motion, improve topspin serve and variation/deception.

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Tactics Enthusiast

Sometimes those changes require gigantic efforts. I try to tell people at your rating level to not get too attached to any of their techniques or the way they currently play as that will usually change as they improve. It's hard to effectively deceive people with such a large follow through after contact but if you want to stick with it, feel free.

The way to rebuild a serve is to treat it as learning a new one. You can't fix your old serve it is just impossible.

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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

Change and improvement is table tennis at it's core. It's never easy and it never goes well right away.

I know winning feels important but the real goal of this thread is ball quality.

Personally I'm not interested in just winning. I want to win with quality shots.

I think it's fine to also just work on what you believe is your weakest part of your game. You'll return to that serve one day, tho.

I am afraid that changing the reverse serve is not just about winning/changing for the future thing. A major overhaul will put it on a shelf for one more year and completely destroy its utility in matches for that period of time. At least how it happened last time. I am not sure it is worth it. There should be ways to improve it with incremental changes.

I also do care about winning. But I don't care too much about ratings though.

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Tactics Enthusiast

I care about winning too. And that is not a top priority - you fix whatever you want to at your own pace. This is a hobby so it must be fun. All I am saying is that don't get too attached to anything in TT until you are playing at the level you dream of playing at. I have all kinds of strokes and serves that I was in love with when I was 1700 that I have not done in matches in over 2 years or more. I could point out that adding serious deception to your reverse will be difficult but the reverse is deceptive just by itself because people rarely play against it. You should be fine.

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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'm grinding away on the ttedge app right now before matches tonight for that very reason NL!

I am already playing table tennis I was always dreaming of. I can loop from both sides at the first (almost) opportunity in real matches and win with it. I can open up with backhand, I can pivot. In other words, I can play attacking table tennis. It is very satisfying. If I will eventually master the aggressive pivot I will almost be happy. I just want to get a bit better, little by little, mostly to see what my body and mind are ultimately capable of.

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Tactics Enthusiast

Good to hear. Some people have ratings goals that are tied to their satisfaction with their level of play so it is great to hear that you aren't one of them and that if so you have already completed yours.

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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

Wait, wait, what?! How can you play a competitive sport and not care about winning? We aren't playing the piano against each other, we're keeping score. I kind of get what you are saying but it is so far from how I feel and my motivation to train and play. I love winning, and that is what this thread is about for me.

On the fastmover NL discussion about falling in love with shots, I don't really get that either. Everything about my game is s***, serves, strokes, footwork, all of it. If I serve heavy backspin and an 1800 player pushes it into the net the serve was still too high and too slow. If I hit a fh loop down the line behind someone I still pulled myself off balance doing it, and if they could block I'd be dead. I'm not even mildly fond of any part of my game, love isn't in the picture at all.

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Yoko Ono

Great rallies and variety of exchanges is wat keeps a game interesting for me. if I am just getting service points the game is over in a flash and not my cup of tea. I do enjoy quality returns and prefer extended rallies. Its the games where I fight and the opponent fights back on equal footing that sticks in my mind most. Win or lose, it was a match well played.

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Well, if you compete, as you get better, this gets harder and harder to achieve as the quality of the first 4 balls often determines who win the point and rallies are rare and require you to survive the first four balls without a significant disadvantage. Even against opponents of the same level, it is by taking advantage of your serve consistently that the match tends to be even, though there are exceptions here and there (players with weaker serves and stronger returns for their level).

_________________
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 said I'm not interested in JUST winning. I'm interested in winning, much like you are. Wins and losses just can't be the focus of my TT anymore or I won't improve.

I played a guy tonight who was not doing well against my serve. I stopped the serve business and just gave him a short backspin serve which he returned rather well and I ended up losing a close match. It's just a local tourney and no USATT points or anything so it was a good time to work on a specific skill. I know I can beat that guy...but can I beat him with a 3rd ball attack vs a good push at deuce?

Historically I would beat these players with tricky serves and grind it out. This just created a nervous me that was afraid of having to do a 3rd ball attack. So my entire TT mindset has to change in order to really progress because better players will put the ball on the table and it'll be low and tricky.

Maybe everything in my game is s*** too...but long term I strive to really improve all aspects of my game. The wins will come with that. I think like fastmover I've hit my old modest TT goals at this point but want to continue to develop my game and I think I need this different mental approach to matches in general.

People clearly play for different reasons. I personally played worse when I was goal oriented and I was at my best when I was enjoying hitting the ball.

When players become obsessed with results and ratings, it eventually leads to stress and unhappiness. The inevitable long downswings take a serious toll on those who only play for the win. Trying to win is an important factor in sport, but it can't be everything or you'll always be one step away from quitting.

BRS, you like hitting the ball or else you wouldn't have made me train with your for 7 hours per day until your racket handles fell off.

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I saw some of this first and as did Big D, Makele and freeagent. BRS is a training machine. He would sweat so much that the handles of the Grubba Blade would come off even before he eventually smashed it because he Lost to someone he didn't feel he should have. And when everyone else was tired he would keep going... The Energizer Bunny has nothing on BRS.

I wrote this because some people will think Brett is exaggerating or joiking.

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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

It's hard to lose or feel bad when you are already satisfied with your current position. I'm happy for you.

I no longer play competitive Table Tennis. I may be the only person on this thread that doesn't compete. When I'm not injured (almost never), I'll occasionally challenge someone to a long match, just for 'fun'. I'm not playing for points, money, my country, club, reputation etc etc. I'm just playing to beat the opponent and use my skills. Some of the most enjoyable matches I've ever played occurred in retirement.

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