OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Let me gently remind you of the dangers of discussing tactics in this thread.

_________________
Tactics Enthusiast

I think your approach is just as reasonable as his. Like I said he almost missed your serve at 9-2 and if he had, then maybe we are not discussing this match today. I usually like to mix in my trick serves earlier in the match though I have one backhand serve which is s major exception. I think serving surprises at match point only work if you are reasonably trained vs the myriad responses. I also think trick serves are psychologically better at match point than when down match point. But I think practice is king.

You also don't remember you serving any sidespin into his forehand. He is an experienced guy so I doubt he has major serve return holes but they are still worth testing. But some of this may have been worked out in earlier encounters. Table tennis encounters evolve if the players change.

_________________
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 don't think discussing hitting a forehand or a backhand is tactical. I would say it's more long term strategic to get your best weapon in play. Just like pushing a long serve short is less ideal than just attacking the long serve.

About the pivoting, the guy is rated 2050 and blocking is his game. I think if I pivoted he would have eaten me alive. He is also capable of serving short to the fh. So pivoting might have forced him to alter his serving strategy a bit. But receiving short serves to the fh is a worse option for me than playing bhs with him.

I didn't really revisit my gameplan because of the way the match played out.

The first set I got behind 1-5 and came back to win. Second set I led 9-2 then had a brainfart and lost 11-9. Still seems like my tactics are okay. Set three I fell behind 0-4 I think, with the hangover from set two. I got even at 7-7, but dropped four points So then I'm down 2-1 and my losses are at 9 and 7, and I have won 27 points to his 31. Do I need to change tactics or just play a tiny bit better? Two decent shots up 9-# in the second and I would have been 2-1 and leading on points.

_________________
Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

Yoko Ono

Depends on the nature of the match. I wanted to win, oh so badly I wanted to win. But in the end this is still a practice match, and in strategic terms I need to hit as many match backhands as I can get. So losing hitting bhs is fine for me. It's practice.

_________________
Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

Yoko Ono

Seems you are at peace with the match. For me, his 2397 peak is a bigger deal than his 2050 current rating. Doesn't mean he will travel back in time but it does mean he understands what is happening, even if his body can't always catch up. A real 2050, you can pivot and loop on and I would encourage it.

Note: I just noticed he used to regularly beat a 2500 player when he was much younger so the max rating I gave was probably from a later period in his life.

_________________
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 not upset about the loss, just sad to be reminded that nothing is fixed. It can be good for months or whatever and regress without warning. You have to do it every time, there is no fixed and forget.

_________________
Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

Yoko Ono

It's like taking two steps forward and then 1 & 15/16ths steps back.

_________________
Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

Yoko Ono

Honestly I think what happens when you play.a "true" 2050 player vs when you play a 2050 aged 2400 player is very different. I have played such older players and they pick up on a lot of your game. Energy levels are inconsistent too. But if they find a chink they crack it open.

Your game is not as defined as his. Still evolving. So I think your pessimism overstates the problem. You have to go about 200 pts over your whatever level you want to play in your sleep at to play in your sleep at that level. I don't think you should be berating yourself for being unable to play at 2050 when you get careless.

_________________
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 not going to shy away from the idea of pivoting all of those serves and giving a heavy middle of the table depth loop for him or anyone else to deal with. My hope would be that you end up with a passive block that allows for more attacking.

I honestly believe this is what almost all pros would do and we should be trying to get in our best shot all the time. I'll understand if you do a few and fail horribly to try something else. Heck you could just pivot half of the time even, but give a different look.

In my honest opinion he would have tried a different serve to mess up the pivot because he is an extremely crafty player and he will find a weakness but I don't think that means we should just accept our fate and not go for our best quality shots.

I saw a lot of subtle positives in the match. Ben, your backhand is slowly getting better and you'll be hard to beat if it continues to improve. Your overall level is improving.

It was interesting to read everyone's perspective on the match. I learned a lot about where people are at and how they see things.

I think if Ben had served short to the forehand, he probably would have won the match. Watch the point at 11:57. The opponent probably hasn't got an answer for this type of serve. He would have adapted during the match, but not enough to win. If he properly adapted, Ben could have served some more long ones to the backhand and he wouldn't have been there. Am I talking tactics here, or strategy?

Serving short to the forehand is just standard strategy. So is looping long nospin serves from a guy who literally doesn't serve short. His short serve attempts are long-half-long at best, though they probably feel short because he's mostly serving long and fast. The 3:15 point should have been almost every point. If the guy starts to block it back, fist pump that you are getting good training and follow up with consistent looping.

I've said this before, but it's worth saying again. Always consider how long your opponent has been playing for when evaluating where you are at. If the guy has been playing for 30 years and you've been playing for 5, at least think about this. Even if you have better shots etc, experience is a key factor in TT. Experience contributes to anticipation, understanding game flow, and spin reading. You can't buy experience and it can't be taught in some video.

I believe that Ben is doing really well. I can still see some technical things he needs to improve on however the holes are getting smaller.

_________________
Get your 3 wishes here today!
ttEDGE.com Professional online coaching

I basically agree with this. Just do the right thing. If he starts serving short (no chance), then you need to deal with that when/if it happens. In fact, if he does start serving short, that's good training because good players serve short. No one likes training with bad players.

If he served those serves to a pro, they'd need to replace the ball after every point, btw Russ.

_________________
Get your 3 wishes here today!
ttEDGE.com Professional online coaching

If you struggle with blocking high quality shots, consider taking a half of a step back. His shots probably kick further than you are used to, so there is a chance that you are bit too close.

_________________
Tactics Enthusiast

I think there were times when the opponent served to the middle of the table and BRS stepped in to use his backhand and missed. And there was a point when BRS stepped out and used his forehand and won the point outright. Although playing those serves with the FH may feel like a mini-pivot, it is a doable thing and better strategy in general IMHO.

_________________
Tactics Enthusiast

It's a shame that we never really see ourselves improve. For those who tend to be a bit negative, they never really get to acknowledge how well they've done.

_________________
Get your 3 wishes here today!
ttEDGE.com Professional online coaching