OOAK Table Tennis Forum

After losing some recent matches to much lower-rated players that I should have beaten, as well as generally being inconsistent on my more difficult pennant evening, I'm getting the feeling that The Peter Principle applies in table tennis!

That is, after progressing through two long seasons and not giving many losses away in those particular pennants, I've been promoted to my level of incompetence.

I know some of what I need to do (generally: raise the playing level at which my incompetence outweighs my competence; specifically: replace "old" pendulum serve with "new"; nail down looping technique; correct the BH topspin so that I don't reflexively play it the same way against different spins; etc), but at the moment it's a bit discouraging. It has been some weeks since I've practised with the robot – this is probably one of the habits that helped my consistency and confidence before, so I'll start with that and gradually get past the jinx.

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"Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone's problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor." –Doctor Impossible

Yeah the rate of improvement just peters out.

Some people go up through the divisions / grades and reach their level for a while then slowly decline.

Some people go up then alternate between 2 divisions / grades, being too good for the lower one but not good enough for the higher one. This too will pass.

Some people are happy to just stay in the division / grade they start in and play.

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

Aren't you just talking about a "plateau"? Everyone has that in their development. You learn a new technique or get more confident at playing a certain kind of shot, and you rise rapidly. Then you "plateau" a bit, before you start to master another technique and rise another level, etc.

I'm at the point now where I have the shots but the only way I can improve is by becoming more consistent. That's tricky! And it can feel demoralising because one bad game where my mind isn't fully "in the zone" and I feel like I've regressed.

Need to just knuckle down and keep on practising. You can only say you've reached your potential when you can genuinely, hand on heart, say you're training as hard as you can with a good partner. Until that point, you're not "as good as you can get", you're just as good as you can be in your current environment.

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Getting back into practice (with a robot or other) does not only get your consistancy back, it also gives you back your confidence, which can be a huge factor in winning matches.

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