OOAK Table Tennis Forum

How's your serve? It is an natural advantage of the penhold grip, and it would suit you if you like to think a lot during the match. Also it is something you could practice alone; even without the table, you can still practice spinning the ball and get the contact right for spin. And learn a good serve really is a shortcut to win in my opinion Because you have complete control when you serve, and it is much easier to anticipate the return and attack then when you are receiving the serve.

Secondly, I don't think age is a huge limitation in playing an offensive looping/hitting game. It's more about technique rather than actual strength and speed. It takes a bit of time to get the footwork right and the legs to do what the brain wants In addition, choppers tends to run a lot more than close-to-mid table attackers, so switching to defence may not be a quick way out. (On the other hand, you could become a close-to-the-table blocker which should require less movement, but you will need very good touch to keep your opponents' loop on the table)

Finally, I think it is important to play the style you like, which may not be the style that will lead to success the fastest. If you keep taking short cuts to win you may find yourself switching back and forth. Following you heart!

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Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive Cpen - Yasaka Shining Dragon - Yasaka Razka 9
Galaxy U2 Cpen - Galaxy Sun - Galaxy Moon

Day 1 Update:

I started playing shakehand defensive style today in the club.

Blade: Dawei R2
FH: Butterfly Flextra 1.9
BH: Donic Akkadi L2 on a Tulpe 35deg 0.5 sponge

First I tried to play chopping away from the table. My FH makes good chopping, a clubmate even commended me for it, but my BH is still hard to control, either it land on to the net or over the other side of the table. Probably because Akkadi is not good for chopping or my lack of skills.

Second, I tried playing as a blocker. This is where my set up shines the most. Everything lands on the table, especially the backhand push which can be done easily. i probably stick to this style for a while until I can improve my chopping skills and get a more defensive oriented set.

I defeated a clubmate who I previously cannot defeat. Probably because he's not used to my new style. Some of my clubmates also noticed the difference of my game, they said it suites me better than my penhold attacking style. But my FH drive is still a lot to be desired. I wasted several attacking chances by getting caught on the net but some landed sweetly.

Overall it feels better. Just more practice and training. I'm currently starting to improve first my footwork by doing some drills I found on pingskills (I can't afford a coach).

That's it for today, guys. Thanks! I'll update after several days. Cheers!

Akkadi L2 is supposed to be a pip that's slippery; blocking is definitely going to give your opponents a hard time ;D

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Blade: Victas Koji Matsushita Offensive FL
FH: Victas VS > 401 2.0
BH: Victas Spectol S1 1.5

Rating: Recreational Player

Maybe some of your club-mates are willing to do multiball practice with you for the topspin etc?

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

From my experience (and I think pgpg would agree) it takes a long time before we face a player that plays a kind of game that permits us to chop away from the table.

At the level you're playing at, blocking is going to be way more common and effective.

Learning to chop with lp is about positioning, timing, and form. It takes time. I've been training bh chopping with a world class lp chopper for more than 6 months, and I'm only just beginning to feel like I'm making progress.

Fwiw I think the most important thing is to be relaxed. Your wrist and hands must be almost floppy and the contact both fast but also delicate. If you chop with a big action and stiff hands/wrists/arms you'll never control the ball and it'll likely bounce off the bat very high and hard.


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Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

Update:

Day 2:

Blade: Dawei R2
FH: Xiom Omega IV Pro 1.8mm
BH: Donic Akkadi L2 OX

I replaced my Flextra on FH with Omega Pro because I find it a little slow for blocking. Omega performed way better very low throw and faster but not losing control. I can still perform chops and chop blocks. And obviously it's way better on attacking.

On my BH I remover the sponge on my Akkadi and tried it at OX. It's great at blocking and receiving serves but nothing else. I find it too slippery to produce any spin on chops or dummy loops. True, it has amazing deception effect that confuses my opponent but there's barely anything I can do with it other than block.

Overall my day was an improvent. I beat some good club mates. Also I had one session with the Robopong to help me with my FH drives. I don't know maybe be it's the new rubber or my drives are starting to get more and more consistent.

Day 3:

Blade: Dawei R2
FH: Xiom Omega IV Pro 1.8mm
BH: 729 802-40 1.5mm

Replaced my BH with 802-40. It's more consistent and controllable compared to the Akkadi. I can also attack with it on the table and chop from far away from the table. But the drawback is, it is more spin sensitive than the Akkadi, harder to return serves and almost no deceptio , but I favor control more over effects so I guess I'm keeping it for my "wall" (my set up).

Overall my game is better. One of our club star, a 12 yo kid , who used to beat me with scores such as 11-2, 11-3, 11-1. Trust me, I can't even get passed 5 points against that kid. Now, he still beat me but my scores have improved, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9. I think it's safe to say that I'm heading to the right direction.

Thanks to your inputs and comments, guys. I may not respond to your replies directly but I take all your suggestions into consideration.

I'll update again after several days. thanks again!

Great advise. You're right,it takes the right kind of opponent to chop away from the table. Also, I realized that our club is a bit small for such style. So I just focused on blocking.

I tried relaxing my grip, it was amazing. Not just for chopping but also for blocking. It has much better control and consistency. But sometimes I tend to forget this esecially when the heat of the game is on.