OOAK Table Tennis Forum

fun thread

• Can I catch the opponent out and win a point direct, or do I just need to get into the rally?
• What have they struggled with in the past?
• Which serve will allow me to get the point I want, e.g. short backspin to stop deadly attacks; long backspin to encourage chopping rally; variations of topspin to initiate a third-ball attack

• PANIC
• What serve is coming, how do I return it?
• If I can control the return, which to be fair I often can't, where can I best place the ball to stop my opponent from playing an attacking stroke that's too strong?
• If the time is right, attack - either side

• PANIC
• Get it long, get enough backspin on the ball... but most importantly these days, keep it on the table and over the net
• Get ready to move away from the table after push
• ... whilst simultaneously being ready to push again and be consistent/patient with pushing
• ... whilst simultaneously looking out for a ball that I can loop to win
• Push it where you want to dictate the next stroke, e.g. go wide to their forehand to encourage a forehand loop cross-court to my forehand

No thoughts here - I only ever block if I'm caught out of position

• Always just about "penetration", e.g. where can I place the ball that will give me the best chance of either winning the point or receiving a weaker block that can be killed
• Spin or speed, depending on the incoming ball
• Recover

• GET IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Recover

Usually my chops are good enough that if I get the ball on the table, even half-decent opponents won't be able to angle/lash the ball past me. It's getting the ball on the table that can prove difficult.

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My blog: "Learning to play: as a modern defender": http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=22254
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[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 2.1), TSP Spectol Speed (1.3), TSP Super Spinpips Chop Sponge 2 (0.5, 1.3)
LPs: Butterfly Feint Long II (1), Butterfly Feint Long III (0.5, 1.3), Tibhar Grass D.TecS (OX), TSP Curl P1-R (0.5, 1, 1.3), TSP Curl P4 (1.3)

When I'm playing any shot, this is always playing on loop in my head:

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

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

Nice footwork!

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

_________________
Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

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

What is going to be in my opponent's head when they play their next shot.

One of the ways that I play opponents is to wear them down mentally. They line up for their shot (say a loop) and they have missed a few. Will I miss this one? Does it have the same spin as last time? Does it have any spin on it? It's taking so long to get to my hitting zone I have too much time to think about it, or conversely oops it just skidded through so I have to rush my shot, or it's drifted in too close to do what I wanted to do or too far away so my shot is weaker...

Most of the time, I just play my shot. If I have to think too much about what I am about to do, I will probably miss, which is why I suck at putting away high balls in an orthodox manner - I miss a lot of such smashes. I much prefer to hit an "interesting" shot in that situation - chop smash if high enough, or drop shot or just sidespin crap out of it and leave the opponent to work out what to do, again.

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