OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi there...

Have just been up to the mates place tonight, and his XuShaoFa Robot had just turned up...we had it set up in 15 - 20 minutes ....but subsequent setting up would be much faster...

I quickly worked out what the buttons did, and we tried 3 of the program routine cards...(there are 300 routines..on 10 cards..) and the robot can shoot out any spin balls including side spin and no spin in any direction and at any speed and frequency...and on the last card...The machine does random placements and random speeds and random all types of spins...it is like playing a real person...i was wrapped in it ...and was particularly pleased because I had talked him int that machine..

A card is a dongle that connects to the brain box via a printer type connector.

I thought the spins at the lower settings were realistic as were the speed and placement...any advancement of the settings makes it more difficult and at the moment, out of my skill level ...I will fill in some details later...

There is a minus, and that is its nearly impossible to tell if the spin is chopspin or topspin by looking at the head...the head does not rotate...however after 10 minutes I was able to return any ball with a similar looking shot...and it would be great to incorporate those shots into a game.

fosss

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SETUP
Blade: HM Balsa.
FH = Transcend SP on a MAX Big Slam sponge.
BH = Bomb Talent OX

You might get dependent on reading the way the ball comes out of the robot which may not have a practical application in a real game. For this reason, practicing the truly random spin from the robot is not only hard, but may be even counter-productive.

However, the pre-programmed routines where you know the spin sequence, i think would be helpful for training footwork and strokes transition. But then again if you know what spin comes next, you will be preparing for that specific shot too much ahead of time than in a real game.

I think somebody should invent a robot with a tv screen behind it showing an animation of a player performing the stroke that the robot is shooting, with the correct stroke for the spin and direction. That would be the ultimate robot. Well, at least, short of a humanoid robot that actually wields a paddle.

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Galaxy K-4/ Xiom Vega Pro/ Xiom Vega Pro

And that we call him/her a coach,whom you have to pay for every session.

Your right tat and they don't take quarters.

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Shakehand, left handed.
Blade, Yinhe, W-1
Forhand, H-3 National
Backhand, Sriver FX Max

Hookshot, you are still here? I thought you might be in China by now to greet your lovely bride who also plays tt.

Think about that, a lovely wife who also plays table tennis, I bet she is good too. You two can play mix doubles, what a dream!

I didn't know you can order one! I want one too...

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instagram: rokphishtt

Here untill February. (She says she is not good at ping pong,,,Will porbably kick my butt! LOL)
Hi rokphish,
This one is not a mail order. LOL Working on this for 18 months with no certainty. I am learning Chinese. She knows enough English that we can talk. (slowly) So far, it has been a Great adventure and promises to get better.

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Shakehand, left handed.
Blade, Yinhe, W-1
Forhand, H-3 National
Backhand, Sriver FX Max

I am not so sure about that..if you can hit back all any spin balls from the robot, you may well be able to do the same thing in game play...cant discount that yet...but as I said...its only the last card out of 10 cards that mixes the spin...

Probably best to not pass judgment unless you have tried it and tested to see how hitting multi spin balls affects or interacts with game play...

fosss

_________________
==========================================
SETUP
Blade: HM Balsa.
FH = Transcend SP on a MAX Big Slam sponge.
BH = Bomb Talent OX

surely if the ball is spinning at least medium/medium-heavy you could tell the difference between top and bottom by the flight of the ball though right?

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I would have thought so JSK, but its not noticeably apparent...This machine is the only one where you can have side spin without major hassles of setting up, and that includes the Amicus 3000 ...You can make the side spin from mild to unrealistically vicious...however it is very easy after a while to get these shots back...and that was something I learned last night after only 10 mins play...the main trouble I had was the ball kept hitting my finger, so the sidespin was changing the ball direction after bouncing, and I was not allowing for it properly...

The funniest thing to see was the weird flight path of my return when I used my backhand frictionless rubber...weird wobbles etc..

The machine is incredibly easy to set up and use...there is no complicated programming needed to get an amazing practice mate who can hit random balls to any position / length on the table and any spin and any speed and any realistic frequency......the beauty of which is that it does not care while you practice a certain returning shot...and it does not care that you are hitting the ball off the table...

The spins we were using on the machine last night were realistic, because I went straight from there to playing a friendly singles practice game...and there was no adjustment that needed to be made...the beauty of this machine is that ball speed is independent of spin...ie you can have a very fast no spin ball...and that is courtesy of the head which has as they say, 4 motors in it...

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SETUP
Blade: HM Balsa.
FH = Transcend SP on a MAX Big Slam sponge.
BH = Bomb Talent OX

Fossil, I find it invaluable to learn reading the spin just looking at the ball.And all the footwork..........I wish I had a robot too.........

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Samsonov Force Pro
FH:H3/NProv/D05 BH:light and fast

Sounds like a great machine, Fosss, how much did it cost?

I have a 2040 at home but I have not use it for almost a month because I have friends here every morning. Just didn't have a chance and I would rather play with a human being than a machine.

Hi Tat,

It cost 1850 AUD with 200 balls...which is expensive as things that are imported tend to be in Australia......but any other machine such as the Amicus 3000 which does not do as much is more expensive...there are other twin wheel machines around that are cheap...but not programmable and there is also a programmable single wheel, but spin can't be separate from speed...ie high speed=high spin...whereas the X can have any speed with any spin and any position on the table...

I don't see any reason to continually practice 100 forehand shots in a row, even mixing them with backhands, because there is no way to incorporate the 100 FH shots mixed with backhand and static footwork mixed into the standard game and its very easy to practice an error, however when the robot spits out random balls you have to have sharp reflexes and good footwork...and apart from that, talking from experience I had when I owned a ball machine some time back, I got bored quickly with repetition...and I also found it did not help my footwork or "in Game" play......my machine was a single wheel machine and to get any speed the spin was too severe, and when I went to comp, I would hit the ball off the end of the table...that does not happen with the X...You can have a reasonable spin when you select the correct card and when the robot spits out random balls you have to have sharp reflexes and good footwork.

I realise that differing ball machines have differing characteristics...so its hard to make a comment comparing machines...

I like to play with my practice mates as well... but I can play against the machine in a less inhibited manner because it does not matter if I don't get the ball on the table when I am learning a shot...

fosss

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==========================================
SETUP
Blade: HM Balsa.
FH = Transcend SP on a MAX Big Slam sponge.
BH = Bomb Talent OX

I would like to have a robot too but don't have space.

anyway the club where i play is great because they provide free balls for use in the club. In fact there are so many balls all over the place that you don't have to chase your ball you just need to pick up the nearest ball on the floor. In one session you are almost guaranteed to step on and squash 1 or 2 balls.

You may be wondering at this point what this has to do with the topic...

well, because there are so many balls, my partner and i just pick 5 to 6 balls in our free hand, then we take turns being the robot to the other without being careful to keep the ball on the table or to give a returnable shot. We can practice 3rd ball attacks with placement and without inhibitions really effectively this way. And then when we run out of balls after 10 to 12 "points" then we just pick up another set of balls again.

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Galaxy K-4/ Xiom Vega Pro/ Xiom Vega Pro

Yes we do that as well...however I don't have the space or money at the moment for a table or robot, so I am very fortunate that I have a practice mate who has both...

fosss

_________________
==========================================
SETUP
Blade: HM Balsa.
FH = Transcend SP on a MAX Big Slam sponge.
BH = Bomb Talent OX