OOAK Table Tennis Forum

As I get older, I get wiser. I have more experience. I have a collection of ready made excuses to explain every defeat and loss, and just to cover my tracks I'll even occasionally admit I lost to the better player.

Typical excuses I've actually used are as follows:

1. Before playing a divisional semi-final in our league I let it be known to anyone who would listen that I'd come straight from work and was really tired. I even took to lying down on a bench so people could see I was trying to get some sleep. Reason - it was easier to prepare to lose than try my best and accept it wasn't "good enough".

2. Age. This is one that's creeping up on me with more regularlity particularly as more and more youngsters cross my path. Creeks and goans, sighs. Slow bending down to pick the ball up, then a whince and a glance over at the youngster on the other side of the net (by youngster that's anyone under the age of 40 so I've got most of my competition covered with this one) before shouting over, "you wait to you get to my age..." In reality, the biggest issue I find with age, isn't during the match, it's the recovery time - how stiff you feel the next day. But then, there's no tt players around to see you the next day so what a waste it would be not to bring forward the suffering you experience by 24hrs. Age. It's always a good excuse.

3. Injury. Every cloud has a silver lining. Recovering from L5S1 surgery has given me an excellent excuse. I struggle to move and twist. I have pain down my leg. An ache in my lower back. I can't move as fast. I need to be careful not to do more damage. The best "lies" always have an element of truth in. All those things on any given night are true to a lesser or greater extent. But they are also an opportunity to adapt and change my game, a new challenge. And of course quite often it's the psychological scars that take longest to heal - actually trusting my body that it can move like it use to. Injury - always good for the sympathy vote and comes with a degree of truth for added validation.

4. Conditions. That could be shine from the bright lights on my glasses. White ball, white background. Slippy floor. Too hot. Too cold. We play in a purpose built centre but the excuses still keep trotting out. Anyone remember playing in small church rooms where if you stood mid distance from the table you'd be playing from the car park.

5. Distractions. I come from a badminton background where we often played in leisure centre halls where there would be "dance music" blaring out from "body pump" classes, tannoy announcements, people moving behind opponents within your eyeline and the sin of all sins, someone actually daring to talk whilst you were playing.

6. Illegal serves. Oh what joy the illegal serve brings for the person who wants to abandon responsibility for a loss they've had. Imagine if everyone actually served legally. There would be an outcry to allow illegal serves again. I lost a game last week to a nice guy, but he's a left hander and serves flat straight out of his hand. He can whip it quickly wide across the table - out of my reach as I'm recovering from injury, did I mention that already Or straigtht down the line making me twist because now I'm older I can't move quick enough from side to side I know if you took that serve from him I'd win 100% guaranteed but hey, it's not the olympics so I let him serve illegally to keep him happy. And I let my team mates know it too. What a selfless caring person I am.

7. And lastly, the all time number one and one which I now make a conscious effort not to fall foul of. "How many more nets and edges are you going to get" followed by "I'm not taking that net home with me tonight" or "Get the taxi, I'm ready to go". Always a good excuse this. Le'ts face it, everyone has been there, everyone can empathise. And everyone is likely to agree because they know it's an excuse they'll turn to in a moment of crisis too. Bottom line though, you can't change nets and edges. Focusing on them is pointless, literally. You can control how you are playing and what your tactics are, so why waste time on nets and edges - because it's the easiest excuse to use. And we're all interested in an easier life.

It's time to come clean, to own up, to wash away your sins. What excuses have you consciously used to explain a loss, excuses which you know deep down had nothing to do with why you lost?

I blame it on the new blade and/or rubber I'm trying out...

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instagram: rokphishtt

I tend not to make excuses, as if I'm beaten its usually they played better than me, whether that be me off my game or them on theirs. Of course some of these in the list are always there, like age and injury. Then there are times other things crop up like excess luck on their side or lack of it on mine. And sometimes its just plain obvious they worked out my game and how to defeat it.

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

i usually say congratulations, i had no chance, if the opponent beat me hard, or congratulations, you played better today if i had a chance for winning...

i rarely make any excuses, then i could not make fun of people that do

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My TT blog
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

I am a net/edge victim by a 10x factor, but if anyone looks at my results where the ball was a seamed 40+ not named Nittaku Premium, I lost ratings points and matches big-time.

This weekend used BTY 40+ and I went 1-6 in my round robin. There were only 3 players around my level, so I didn't quite perform, competed, made many go to 5, but damn that 40+ seamed ball.

I don't remember anyone pulling out Hookshot's horse pistol magnum and pointing it my way to force me to enter the tourneys, so I deserve what I got.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

The most common excuse I both hear from others and use myself is "I played like garbage." But in reality it's more like I played average and the opponent played/is better than me. That used to kind of irk me when people said it after I won a match, because it ignores that I played well. But after a while I realized that, unless it is a total mismatch in either direction, most people don't really have much idea how well or badly their opponent played. We all focus too much on our own performance to notice.

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

Yoko Ono

Since I'm starting to play seriously now, I blame my ability to stay inconsistent on rallies , especially in real games, guys would say how come u were good in looping warm up just now haha, I just smile and stay quiet for a bit since within me I know its the lack of in game practice with serious partner has led me to be so.

Excuses I could use, but haven't at times:
Left handed
Didn't have coaching in formative years
Family
Work
Age
Old rubbers
New rubbers
Luck
Lack of practice against good players
Too much practice against lower players
Floor too slippery
Light bad
Net too loose
Not enough room
Ceiling too low.

The one that I do use:
The other player was too good on the day.

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Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Well done, you were too good but I'm looking forward to our next encounter & then shake their hand

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Setup 1: Blade: TSP Trinity Carbon | Joola Golden Tango black 1.8mm FH & Tibhar Grass D.TecS acid green OX BH
Setup 2: Setup 2: Blade: TSP Trinity Carbon | Joola Golden Tango PS black 2.00mm FH & Tibhar Grass D.TecS red OX BH
Setup 3: Blade: TSP Trinity Carbon | Joola Golden Tango black 1.8mm FH & Spinlord Gigant anti-spin red BH
See the ball, be the ball...

It's good to hear so many people crediting their opponents. That's rare from my experience.

Most put it down to themselves not playing well. One of my team mates who uses LP's beat a player who shook his hand and said "well played bat".

At the moment the biggest "excuse" is "no luck". It gets tiring after a while hearing that and players soon pick up on the fact that you're mentally weak by using that excuse and will exploit it in various ways.

Trust me BRS, if the opponent excelled in their performance I notice! I played 2 finals last week, and from the 3 players I got to play over those 2 nights, one player stood out at how well he played. The others were more a case of me not playing up to near my potential. Funnily enough, that one player, I played well against. He just played better. That was Monday. On Thursday I played 2 guys, and I didn't play as well.

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

A better player will always bring he best out of u,
A poorer player often takes u down deep into crapdom!!!

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Think, before you drink, before you write!

When I lose to someone who is rated below me, they are obviously underrated.

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

Last night, in a friendly way, after complimenting my opponent for playing better than me, I made the excuse that it was only the third time I have played with a plastic ball. It also didn't help that I went straight from playing with a celluloid to a Stag seamless last night. Months ago I had a 15-20 minute hit with a Stag seamless, last Monday night was with DHS seamed, and last night as I said was Stag seamless. Oh well, so much for no excuses.

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Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Well obviously its your fault for not playing enough to get up to speed with the poly balls. Don't get sick again, play more

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.