OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Now back home after a great weekend with my best mates at the Table Tennis camp run by Thomas Keinath and Ruwen Filus. It was great to receive coaching from two of the best players in the world and it was a lot of fun! Thomas gave me drills to do that Wang Xi does on a daily basis - Wang is Thomas' Fulda team mate in the German Bundesliga and Wang is also a modern defender like me and Wang is one of the best defenders in the world. We also got an hours one to one multi ball and coaching from Ruwen on Sunday which was excellent. It was a pretty intense course so I hardly got chance to film some of the camp, however I did get a short recording of the one chance I got to take Ruwen on in a match (Ruwen is the World number 21). The game was starting at 5-5 up to 11. I was over the moon that I managed to lose 11-8 and get 3 points! My counterparts didn't manage a single point (sorry lads haha) - notice I hesitated and netted some shots, Ruwen's chops were very spinny and well placed I ended up pulling out of shots as you can see in the video, he made me change my mind. After speaking extensively to Thomas and Ruwen they suggested I change pimples from the Feint Long 3 I was using to TSP Curl, as they said it's better suited to my game and it was confirmed I got much more spin on my shots with the Curl because Thomas netted a lot of my chops when he was looping at me and he said it had a lot more spin!
I also got Thomas and Ruwen to sign my shirt and blades it was a fantastic experience and I enjoyed it immensely. It was amazing to play against Ruwen and Thomas, not something your average player gets the opportunity to do!
We met some great people and had an awesome time in Germany. Thank you to Thomas for everything you did for us this weekend you are a legend!

Ruwen spoke to me about rubbers, things he finds difficult in the game, player's boosting and more!

I have to say I was rather proud of the first two points against Ruwen!

I'll have to admit.. when you stepped over that barrier in the beginning.. I was thinking "that's one tall guy".. I would have gone around, I'd have snagged my pants..

I'm curious about what Filus had to say about boosting. Who is boosting, and what were they boosting? Is EVERYONE boosting, or just Hurricane users?

Iskandar

Hahaha! Yes I am rather tall It was amazing to play Ruwen and the first two points were great from my point of view.

Basically Ruwen said that just about everyone uses booster. He doesn't, but he said many many players are boosting their rubbers. Thomas said you have to boost Hurricane otherwise it's unplayable, he uses 10x boosted Hurricane. All the Chinese players boost and apparently there are not many pros who don't boost. I asked if Timo Boll boosts and Thomas said he doesn't, but Butterfly boost the rubbers for him anyway pretty much.

brilliant m8-just reading now-more vids required

I suppose Tenergy comes "boosted" already, in any case.. I wonder if Boll's sheets come boosted to a greater degree then..

Iskandar

Ridderz, first off, this is AMAZING!! What a cool experience, and thanks for sharing.

Your play in the video against Ruwen was very impressive. I think I commented that I thought you were near my level, but I retract that, you are way above my level after watching more closely. I know it's one game, he's a defender, and he's probably taking it easy, but this is a world class player, and your FH is far superior to mine. Nice play!

Hopefully with Ruwen's advice you will finally end your search for the perfect LP!
(Dr. heal thyself as I am an EJ as well )

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From what I could gather, Butterfly do make special Tenergy for Boll, pre boosted. So he himself doesn't actually do it, but Butterfly do it for him.

Thank you Japsican! It was AMAZING!

Thank you I appreciate those comments. I guess that Ruwen took it easy, however I was very satisfied with how I played in such a limited time. 5 ALL in a game to 11 and I managed 3 points. My friends didn't manage a single point against him I am a decent player and I mix up my backhand chopping with powerful forehand attacks. Thomas said I was a similar player to Wang Xi and Panagiotis Gionis. The fact that I play further away from the table meant that the Feint Long 3 was not the right rubber for my game. Ruwen said it has great spin properties close to the table, but not so good defending from afar. So Ruwen told me to use Curl P1r and as soon as I changed I was getting loads more spin on my defence. It will just require a few weeks to adjust to it.

It's a shame I couldn't get more footage. I will have to record my play this coming season more.

That's strange given he uses it far from the table often! Haha!

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

Projects: Player Equipment Grid ⇝ Comprehensive Thin Inverted Chopping Rubbers Grid ⇝ Please send me corrections or new submissions

He said he plays 60/70% attack and 30/40% defence, and the FL3 gives good spin with shots over the table. He said the spin is not so good far from the table. He only defends away from the table when he is forced. But because he attacks more than he defends the FL3 is good for him because he's closer to the table.

When he chops, he usually chops rather close to the table if I remember correctly.

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Ridderz what a great experience to have,you look decent.
Strange that they say Feint 3 is not for further away from the table Butterflys description says that was what it was designed for:

Butterfly Feint Long III P.O. Table Tennis Rubber

Butterfly

A further development from Feint Long II. The softer sponge that is used helps keep the ball lower when defending and increases effect when blocking up at the table through extra spin reversal. Ideal for players with long distance defence.

And whilst I agree with that part of their description the extra spin reversal claim is untrue,you will only get a float ball when blocking even the heaviest topspin

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Tsp Black Balsa 3.0 Tenergy 05 1.9 388d ox black

Strange he's saying that. His percentages of his own game are way of, except when you read defense as classical defense and attack as modern defense.

You're a good player, but after the first two points you only got a third one by a lucky edge. Filus adapted to your game after two points. This makes him a pro. I wonder what he changed?

It might be interesting to enlighten us more about your conversation with Ruwen Filus.

It took Ruwen Filus and Thomas Keinath to convince you to go P1-R? You might as well followed the advice of the great and wise Joo Too.

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My blog on being a LP defender beyond 2000 USATT and the pips discrimination that comes along with that

I expect he's talking about defensive strokes (chops, blocks, pushes, lobs) vs. attacking strokes (topspin drives, loops, counter drives, flicks). Modern defense would have a high proportion of attacking strokes. The proportion probably varies greatly from day to day, and especially from opponent to opponent - he'd use a lot more defensive strokes against Ma Long, and more attacking strokes vs. another chopper. The 60/70 vs. 40/30 is what he feels it averages to overall.

Iskandar

Ruwen said to me that he attacks more than he defends, 60% attack. So he tends to try to be closer to the table, and he said the FL3 is good for spin in digs, pushes, chops and strokes over the table. He said that the spin is not so great further away from the table, but it is OK spin. He only goes back if forced he likes to try to be more attacking than defending, this is what he told me.
Yes, granted, I got a lucky point for my third point. But if I were to say what he changed after the first two points, it would be that he kept he chops shorter and I was then unable to attack them as comfortably, I ended up pulling out of attacking shots as his shots were landing shorter. I was still happy that I had two great points against a world class player. My friends got zero points against him haha!

My conversation with Ruwen was mostly the FL3 conversation and his game style. He also spoke to me about how the P1r was better suited for my game as I tend to go further back from the table and I would have much more spin on my defence with the P1r than the FL3, which was exactly right when I changed. Thomas started looping to me with the P1r and he netted a lot of my defence and he was impressed with the spin I made and he said it was a lot spinnier than the FL3. The conversations I had with Ruwen were mostly about his game, the FL3 rubber, my game and what I should do/change and then we also spoke about the boosting in professional table tennis. It was difficult to speak to him much as he was always busy coaching players.

The first two points I played against Ruwen, mixed in with some good chopping ability, is how I normally play. The last few points Ruwen showed his class and I ended up changing my mind on shots and not being so confident as in the first two points. This is what a pro player is able to do, he is a clever player. I wonder, going by my first couple of points and maybe a couple of the other better points which I lost, where I would rank in the OOAK ranking list?