OOAK Table Tennis Forum

(okay I realize this one is ridiculously long. Will try to keep it shorter going forward)

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

Breakthrough


I had quite the revelation last night during club play where I can honestly say I was playing at least a couple hundred points higher than my standard rating and it got me excited. This was not flucky. I was not "in the zone". Those things come and go. This was tactical, easily repeatable and a thing of beauty.

Piggy backing off some success I had with playing a combination bat game of inverted/short pips from the Lincoln Open, I decided to up the up the ante in the deception game and replaced the short pips with a spare sheet of long pips I had laying around. What a difference.

I started out playing a doubles match where my partner and I were generally outclassed yet we won the match. After getting beat in the Lincoln Open 1-3 by a particular individual, I took the rematch 3-0 with this new setup. The theme continued throughout the night.

Playing the combination bat game with penhold has a nice perk I can see over the traditional shakehand. If a shakehander wants to hit an aggressive backhand, where his long pips might be, he might have to twiddle to his inverted and attack that ball. When you play a combination bat game with penhold, I could play an entire match hitting from both wings with my inverted rubber should I choose to. This is done by using the traditional penhold backhand which I have been using the majority of my life. This is my standard attacking game.

Of course utilizing the pips is where the deception comes in. From here I have a lot of options. I can always chop or block with the RPB long pips side should I need to. Lastly I could always twiddle opening up more options for the use of long pips while keeping in mind I still have an aggressive stroke in my bag of tricks as the inverted is now on the RPB side. The possibilities go on and on and can give your opponent a lot to think about.

Last night I was primarily using the long pips in service receive and on my service.

In service return the long pips really shine. The more advanced the serve the opponent tries to throw at me in regards to spin, the more he will face himself and i simply push block those balls right back to him. After some time I was beginning to find players dumbing down their serve so as to not have something as tricky to work with on their 3rd ball. Once this happens I now have the opportunity to again begin receiving with my inverted side and attacking if I can.

The long pips really added another element of deception to my service game. As long as I hid the the blade, either below the table or behind my body, until the moment of contact, I could force my opponent to take in a lot of factors quickly. Not only did they have to read my spin based on my motion, but also quickly determine if I was using the inverted or pips side. It proved largely successful.

Suddenly passive, safe pushes & blocks have the feel of an aggressive one. I feel like I am on the attack with these easy, defensive shots. The ball might drop short on them causing them to reach. It might wobble in the air throwing off their timing or the spin might be completely reversed causing them to mishit the ball in the net or several feet off the table. It makes me grin just watching their befuddlement.

Certainly I realize they will adjust in time and find ways to handle the long pips with different tactics. Furthermore, higher ranking players I play will not be fooled as easily. Having said that, while they will eventually adjust, so will I. I feel as though my long pip game is just in its infant stage. There is so much to grow. Better understanding of exactly what spin I am creating when I apply my strokes. Better technique on more aggressive offensive shots (see the videos below) vs simply sticking my paddle out there and hoping they make an error. More experience on playing long pips on my forehand side during entire points for variation to my game. It will be exciting to see where this progresses.

Because finding long pip penholders is fairly difficult, below is a small collection of a couple players who are my current inspiration. I'm probably looking to play more off of my inverted side than these players do but their style is a good start for what I am looking for.

If you know of others, feel free to share.

Wang Jian Jiang
(short pip black, long pip red) 1:19 he becomes facing the camera to best see what he is doing)



Shang Yuan Yuan
(long pip black, inverted red)

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

Best method for gluing hardbat rubbers


Today's topic will be more equipment review focused as I've been fumbling with equipment in gluing my OX long pips.

Recently I glued two OX long pip sheets onto my blades. I used Air glue sheets. they both looked great. But after playing with one of them one night, I realized that I had an air bubble form. It must have been from the friction of the hitting.

I attempted to pull the rubber off and reattach it squeezing out the air bubble. I quickly realized that the topsheet pulled of just fine or rather easy. The gluesheet however had a death-grip onto my blade. For the record, Air gluesheets do not indicate if one side is stickier than the other. If you use these, do a test feel and be sure to get the super sticky side on your rubber.

Knowing my blades had this issue going on bothered me enough to try to remove them. Thankfully I seal my blades which helped protect them in the removal process. I ended up using a hairdryer to heat the glue and using my fingers (later switched to erasers due to the raw fingers) to smudge it off.

The process was painfully slow. All in all it took me about a week to remove the gluesheets from both blades.



After that process I am done with gluesheets. The good news is that I've found a replacement method that works great based on this demonstration below.



Couple tips this video doesn't fully hit on that I found helped me a lot.
- You must use a lot of glue or certainly enough to cover your blade or rubber in one dosage.
What you want to avoid is putting some on, spreading it around only to find you need more. By the time you put more on and begin spreading, your first layer might have begun to form or coagulate and you will not get a smooth layer.

- Wetting your foam brush with just a little water helps make the glue a pinch thinner and easier to spread.
The great thing about putting on the OX rubber while it's still wet is that you get the opportunity to fine tune it's placement and really squeeze out any bubbles.

You can't go wrong with this method. I recommend it.

FYI - I was able to buy a 6 oz bottle of Tear Mender from Walmart.com for just under $7. Great price.

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

Club Play from 3/31: Doubles Match 1

Here is some footage of a doubles match I was in this last Sunday. I'm the penholder in the white shirt.

This is my first video I've published with my new favorite setup. The Cpen, inverted/Long pip twiddle game.

After watching this video I'm realizing that I still utilize my long pips primarily in the service return game while neglecting it in some other useful ways I've found. Something to work on.

While I like having it for variety or to use against very good, spiny servers, I need to mix in and practice returning server with my inverted more often.

1- It keeps your opponent off balance in not knowing what to expect.
2- It keeps your return skills & push game sharp.
(something that is easy to get lazy on if you use the long pips as a crutch too much)

I will post match 2 in the next couple of days.

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

Over the table loop with traditional penhold backhand? Match analysis.


Over the previous several posts, I've discussed how much I enjoy using long pips to return serve. That still holds true.

However a week ago, on a whim, I began to ponder if an over the table loop is possible for players who primarily use the traditional penhold backhand like myself.

Why would I want to do this? Because in case you haven't noticed, the over the table loop has taken over in modern table tennis. It allows you take the first aggressive stroke right off the bat.

Simply watch Zhang Jike or Fan Zhendong return service and they will seemingly use this shot on 80% of short serves. Furthermore, these players will stretch around their forehand in order to perform this backhand return.

What about single sided Jpen users? What are their options?

Watch any of the classic single sided penhold players from back in the 80s & 90s and you will often seem them push these short serves. It works but what if they also want to attack? As a penholder you can expect to see plenty of serves to your backhand. Furthermore, as a lefty, I have to protect the open forehand side of the court opening my backhand to serves even more so.

Is this stoke possible with a single sided penhold? I think it is. It might turn out to be more of the flip variety (particularly vs pure backspin) but nonetheless, I'm looking to take the aggression right off the bat.

Here is a match where I am playing another penholder named Yi.
(who is far better than I am by the way)

In this match I am largely focusing on trying to over the table loop or flip short serves. I want to test this concept as well as try to take the aggression first vs Yi because if you don't, he will and that's not a good thing.



Backhand over the table loop notes:
(click on the timed links below to go directly to the shot) - Sorry this is available only on my blog.)
http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

Game 1
0:06 - Serve: side/topspin - Didn't need to be over the table as the serve was long but the stroke was what I am practicing.
0:32 - Serve: side/topspin - Miss. Face of the paddle too open on contact.
0:54 - Serve: topspin - Good return.
1:46 - Serve: side/topspin - Miss.

Game 2
2:31 - Serve: backspin - Miss. Put it in the net. Needed to read the spin better & open the face of the blade.
2:54 - Not a flip but shows the beauty of playing certain points with the long pips.
3:00 - Serve: backspin - Miss. again too closed on the face. High bouncing serve. Should have hit that in.
3:57 - Again showing you how easy long pips is.
4:06 - Serve backspin - Complete mishit.

Game 3
5:25 - Serve: backspin - Finally hit this return in vs pure backspin. A little high for my liking but I'll take it.
5:46 - Serve: backspin - Hit it well long.

Game 4
6:49 - Serve: backspin - Took a little off this ball speed wise. But got it in play.
7:14 - Serve: backspin - This is just a nice example that the same method can be applied to the forehand.
7:22 - Serve: backspin - Again not really close.
7:50 - Serve: backspin - Again this method can be applied to the forehand.

Backhand flip attempts - 11
4 in
7 out

Need a lot of practice with this yet as it was realistically my first attempt at it. On an interesting note, watch Yi when I occasionally served to his backhand. It's not over the table but he's very good at this stroke.

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

First impressions of T80FX

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com

Sidelined by Injury, Short pips and the Poly Ball


It's been a while since my last post.

Since that time I've played in one tournament where I took 3rd in my singles division and in doubles, my partner and I generally under performed when I know we can play better. All in all it was an okay day.

However my results in that event mean far less to me than what happened at the end of the day simply hitting with my partner. I went to pick up a ball, bent over and felt a painful twinge in my right knee. From that point on, I was done for the day.


This has been a reoccurring injury that has snuck up on me over the last couple of years. Turns out, I have a small tear in my meniscus. Unfortunately, because blood supply doesn't get to this area of the knee, it never heals on its own and can only be fixed through surgery.

In the meantime, I've been able to walk and play (somewhat) at table tennis club. Because at this time I cannot play a, stand off off the table looping/athletic game, I've been hitting with my short pips camping close to the table doing the best I can. It's an easier style to play when your mobility is limited.

I'm actually finding the hitting with short pips really enjoyable. Just like any rubber, there are pluses and minuses. Can I spin & loop like inverted? Of course not. But can I smash any ball that's a pinch to high with deadly speed? Absolutely! And it's fantastic. I've been playing with RITC 802 in 2.0 sponge (35 degrees). Your classic short pip rubber.

I think my friend Thomas, who plays a short pip hardbat game, describes pips best when he said "What they allow you to do is have a wider arrange of gears." I tend to agree. Can I reach the high levels of spin & speed as inverted players can? Not quite. But I can play short, soft, touch shots much, much easier. Dropping a ball just over the net making your opponent rush in to try to get that ball is a satisfactory experience. Furthermore, the control you get with short pips is great. My directional blocking as never been better.

I don't have a date scheduled just yet for my surgery but that time should be coming soon. When I do get back, I think I will stick with the short pip game for a little while to see how it develops. I have a theory with the new poly ball just around the corner which is rumored to be slightly less spiny, a tad higher bouncing and promoting a longer rally style, that short pips will make a bit of a comeback. I'm excited about that possibility as duel inverted, spin game dominates table tennis today. Don't get me wrong, that style still will after the poly ball is here. But a little more variety in the game I think is healthy for the sport.

If you're interested, from what I've seen so far, it looks like megaspin.net will be the first US supplier to offer the poly ball being Joola's version. Orders ship July 15th.

Click here to check it out.
http://www.megaspin.net/store/default.a ... uper-p-3-6

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

Poly Ball First Impressions

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

The LTTA purchased and tested out two ITTF approved Poly balls the other day.

JOOLA Super-P 3-Star Poly Ball and Donic 40+ 3-Star Poly Ball. Both balls are with seams.

The balls were purchased from megaspin.net with the Joola balls being on sale bringing them within the price range of the Donic balls. Of every club member asked, they could not tell the difference between the two balls making the cheaper Donic ball appear to be a winner. I can tell you personally that while I could tell slight differences in the poly ball compared to the celluloid ball, more on that in a minute, I could not tell a single difference between the two balls. They are that similar.

POLY VS CELLULOID

I have recorded practice play, matches & club member interviews that I will be posting on this blog within the next couple of days to see how the new ball behaves. Seeing is believing correct?

In the meantime, here is the gist of popular opinions from the club members if you can't wait until that point.

The new balls is indeed harder.
This was the biggest difference I saw the entire night between the new poly ball and the celluloid balls. It takes a substantial amount of more pressure to squeeze the ball with your thumb enough to make the ball flex or give. Does this mean a truer flight path and bounce? Possibly. Does this mean the ball is more susceptible to breaking because it has less give to it? Perhaps. However in 3+ hours of play with virtually every club member hitting and playing games with the new balls, we did not have a single broken ball.

The spin appears to be slightly down
Some of our heavier spin players noticed where they had shots that would normally land, tended to go just off the table. This opinion seems consistent with popular belief that the new ball is indeed less spiny than the current celluloid ball. Having said that, to a man all our spin based players felt the ball wasn't that bad and they just needed a little time to adjust.

From a personal observation, in watching my spin based doubles partner Ben play, later in the night he was landing the same shots I typically see him land during normal play. I, as a short pips player, did not notice much a change in spin at all. I did however feel as though hitting hard for speed and smashing was slightly easier with the new ball. The speed on those shots was very good.

Blocking is easier
I personally can attest to this. Not to say that I cannot, or will not, have blocks where my inverted opponent out spins me and I block it long anymore. That still can happen and did last night. It is simply to say the percentage of times where that will happen has gone slightly to moderately down. Several club members agreed that blocking is easier.

That's it for now for the opinions that were universally shared among the players.

MY PERSONAL OPINION ON THE NEW POLY BALL.

A lot of fuss has been made over nothing. The differences between this ball and the old celluloid ball are very small. This is like the guy who gets his hair cut once a week to keep things in line. There's something slightly different there but you're not quite sure what it is.

Is the ball different? Yes. There is something about the feel of it that is hard to point point. However with a new ball, how could this not be expected. Having said that, the feel different is so minuscule, that after a month of playing with the ball, perhaps even shorter, I doubt I would be able to remember what the old ball felt like at all. I think that new poly ball will become the new normal in no time flat once players begging playing with it exclusively.

Check back here soon for video of their full impressions and play.

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

Get More Spin Into Your Loop

I had a great training session with my club mate the other night where I can definitively say I was hitting with more spin than I ever had before.

Was it my blade? Was it the rubber? I don't think so. Certainly these are important factors but remember that good technique always trumps all.

We were practicing looping each standing about 4 feet off the table rallying back and forth. We dedicated the time to really think about our strokes, the contact point, our swing, etc, the results were impressive. It's a hard thing to quantify in a blog post. All I can say is that we were simply focusing more on making good, thin, grazing, vs solid, contact over everything else.

Lets look at a visual demonstration to make sense of this.

Here is a view of topspin with the ball traveling from left to right.


A big factor we were focusing on was making thin contact to maximize spin. Given the way the ball is spinning, contacting the ball on the back would be thick, flat, little to no spin. Conversely, hitting the ball on the top, going completely against the rotation spin of the ball, will give thin, grazing, a lot of spin back.



While that point might seem fairly obvious, the trickier task is closing your blade this much while still generating enough upward motion in your swing to keep from hitting that ball directly into the net or worse yet, into the floor. After all, look at where that paddle is pointing in the "A Lot of Spin" diagram above. It's aiming almost directly at the floor. Luckily some of the incoming topspin will aid you in picking that ball up over the net. However, given that angle pictured above, it's still a tall task.

Here's a little trick we found to achieve this same, thin contact without as much risk for aiming that ball directly toward the floor... Take a page out of world ranked #1 Xu Xin's book and do something he is known for. Hit the side of the ball.

Here Xu Xin, who is left handed, hits the left outside top part of the ball. His thin contact and fast racket speed generates an unbelievable amount of spin that Timo Boll is unable to handle.


When you contact the more of the side of the ball your paddle is not pointing towards the floor, and in my opinion, is easier to keep a low speed loop on the table. It is important to be able to change pace from power loops to slow speed loops without sacrificing the amount of spin on the ball.

Another perk about contacting the side of the ball is your loops will have a nasty hook on them after they bounce which is nice for a change up on your opponent. Practice mixing up your standard top spin loop and your side spin loop.

The key in this whole post is to focus on your contact with the ball so that your blade does not hit the ball flat. Skim that ball like you're peeling a potato. Either hit the top or side very, very thin, what have you, and enjoy the results.

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

Just About Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About A Long Pip Penhold Twiddle Game

I was excited to see that a new youtube channel I recently started following (Table Tennis Teaching Teaching) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiQf_u ... Tej1eaSMyQ) published a great video series from one of my favorite players, Wang Jian Jiang.

Previously this series could be found on youku.com but I find youtube more accessible and easier to share online. Primarily because it's in English.

Wang Jian Jiang is a masterful Long Pip, Short Pip, twiddle penhold player. This is exactly the set up I'm currently playing with now which is why I enjoy learning from him so much. Short pips are relatively easy to learn. The tricky thing is knowing what strokes you should and can do vs various spins with long pips. Once you've mastered that, begin to enjoy the look of befuddlement on your opponents faces as they're not sure what just happened.

- Have an opponent who likes to serve it short with backspin thinking that'll be hard to attack? Give them the swipe.
- Have an opponent who is strong in topspin rallies? Don't play their game. Slow it down and continue that spin back at them with a chop block.

Those are just two the main strokes I believe you must have down pat to play a close to the table long pips game but there are many more shown below.

If you want to learn this style, I recommend watching this and trying to pick up what you can. I will also be adding my own comments where I can, at certain time intervals, to help you better understand what he is doing and how he is doing it.

For the record, the black is short pips. The red is long pips.

WANG JIAN JIANG

Part 1

3:46
A set up point based on the push game. He serves backspin with short pips, opponent pushes, he pushes the 3rd ball, except with long pips, which continues spin (gives them topspin), opponent makes the mistake of pushing that ball. Put away.

Any time the opponent ever falls asleep and tries to push because they saw you with a push stroke, but didn't take into account that you did it with the long pips, twiddle and attack that pop up.

9:06
Demonstrating the ever important, and easy to do, swipe vs backspin. In this point, after the opponent pushes to Wang giving him backspin, perform the swipe with long pips. Face of the blade is flat, your paddle goes up and slightly to the side but mainly forward. That's important. Without the forward action, that ball will go into the net because OX long pips do not have much for power and the topspin returned will arc the ball downward.

Little tip, if your opponents ever catch onto this expecting topspin, you can still push this ball to them giving them a slow deadish ball.


Part 2

4:53
Demonstrating the swipe performed with the forehand. Same concept. Flat to ever so slightly open blade face. Stroke is up and towards the side. Blade also coming forward. Gives topspin. The server hits the next ball long.


Part 3

10:19
Showing vs topspin you don't always have to chop block and reverse spin. Here Wang is going topspin to topspin with the long pips. All be it his topspins will be of very light spin, which can also be troubling at times for players.


Part 4

7:59
Showing a heavy chop block giving a tough ball to continue to loop back. Chop block motions can be subtle, as the ball will reverse naturally with the long pips, or you can show your hand and mimic a heavier chop like Wang does here daring them to try to lift it.

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

Full Disclosure: I never knew how TT's scoring system read

Until now.

The 2014 US Nationals just wrapped up not that long ago and I was checking out the results of the men's final.
http://register.usatt.org/tournaments/r ... p?evtphs=2

The scoring system format shown there is the same you'll find on ratingscentral.com. This is important to understand because if you've ever played in a tournament and wanted to look back on your past matches, you need to understand what things like −8 7 7 −10 8 means in order to know what exactly happened in your games.


−8 7 7 −10 8
?Does that say 7 to 10? #Confused
This was me.

Google table tennis scoring system and you'll get a slew of links talking about playing to 11, changing serve every 2 points, etc., but very little on how to read these score sheets. This issue is probably more of a me thing than anything else and I fully admit is an egg on face moment.




However if there is one person who reads this and is in the same predicament as I was in not understanding that system, then I'll own this and it'll be worth it.

Here's How It Works.

Take the final between Jim Butler and Kunal Chodri.

If you check the results link I posted above, you will see that Jim won and the scoresheet was...
9,-7,4,-4,13,-6,8

Thankfully the full match can be viewed here.



If you watch the match you will understand the following.

The score shown always represents the loser of that game.
- If the number is positive, the person who won the match won the game.
- If the number is negative, the person who won the match lost the game.

So lets recap that final one more time.

9,-7,4,-4,13,-6,8

means...

Game 1:
Jim won 11 to 9

Game 2:
Jim lost 7 to 11

Game 3:
Jim won 11 to 4

Game 4:
Jim lost 4 to 11

Game 5:
Jim won 15 to 13

Game 6:
Jim lost 6 to 11

Game 7:
Jim won 11 to 8

Bada bing bada boom!

Hopes this has helped.

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

Dear Steve,

your blog has been a great help - especially your clip on the penholdgrip and how to curl (or not to) the fingers on the backside. I've found the clip on the tube a few month ago - without knowing about the connection to this forum. The difficulties of how to hold the bat just start to fade away a bit. By the way: did you start playin' with SPs right at the beginning of your tt? Or did you switch to them later?
I'm just givin' inverted rubbers a try, because most people at my club say that it will be easier at the beginning. Right now (after 4 month of playin' and startin' TT in general with SPs) playin' with inverted feels just difficult in a diffrent way

Yours,
D.

_________________
Spinlord Ultra Allround cpen
729 FX super soft red 1.5 mm
'Fun is a serious matter.'

Sorry for the slow reply. I simply missed this post.

That makes me happy that you've enjoyed the video. I still do find the curled finger approach better for traditional backhand and particularly for twiddling. With extended fingers, twiddling quickly is nearly impossible. But with curled fingers, it can be very fast.

No, I didn't start out with Short Pips. I'm and equipment junkie at heart and I've switched gear & style more times than I can count to my own detriment. But you know what? I'm starting to not care about that. I've been having a blast with it the entire time and I'm starting to see that's all that matters. See my latest blog post I'm about to post here.

Short pips - drive strokes feel more natural for me. Particularly on my clipper. However I've always found smashing lob balls difficult with SP. It's weird.

Inverted - For me I get more speed. I don't know why. I mean short pips they all say is fast but I've always felt like I can freely hit harder with inverted knowing the ball will go in.

That's just my two cents on it.

I can play with both but whatever i'm use to, when i switch, it takes at least a month before that starts to feel normal so I'd say try to stick with one.

_________________
Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

http://chroniclesofgossima.blogspot.com/

McEnroe Got Nothin On Me

Often times I use this blog for table tennis instruction & how to's. Today it's going to be a little different.

Today's post is more on the personal journal side of things and about a matter of prospective. A prospective that I need to remind myself that, as much as a part of my mind would like to think otherwise, I'm not a professional table tennis player and the point of playing this game is to have fun right?

I'll start from the top. Last Sunday at club night, (yes club night. Not even a tournament... Club night. Let that sink in) I pulled my best John McEnroe imitation and completely lost it after a series of losses and silly unforced errors that put me over the top. Oh John would have been proud. Where he smacked his orange juice with his racket, I kicked and broke, my water bottle. Where he berated the umpire, I... well we didn't have an umpire but I let out a loud F bomb just the same. It was and is embarrassing. I'm 36 and for me to be acting this way just makes me shake my head as I expect more from myself. Nothing wrong with being competitive. I'll never apologize for that. But at some point one has to pull it together and give a tip the cap to the other guy and say "good game". It is just a game after all. Not a measure of self worth.

So how did I get to this point? This is where the matter of prospective got skewed. Over the last month or so, I have twisted this idea in my head that my level needs to improve and I have to get better. Nothing wrong with wanting to play better. But that's different from feeling like I have to get better. I have gone from playing a twiddling short/long pip penhold game to duel inverted penhold in search for more power. I traded what I loved about having a fun, quirky style for what I deemed to be more likely to have me playing at a higher level. That much might even be true. The duel inverted route in time might actually get me to a higher level. It is the common style among professionals after all. But notice I said the first style was fun. I didn't say that about the second.

And that's the point of this. To have fun. Truth be told, with working 40 hours a week at my full time job, family obligations in having two wonderful young girls to look after, and playing once a week for just over 3 hours, how could I expect more? It only makes sense. For me to play at a significantly higher level, I would have to play multiple times a week and for at least twice, maybe three times as many playing hours per week. When I stop to think about what that would take I've come to the very real conclusion. That wouldn't be worth it to me. Not only could I not do that, I wouldn't want to. I love table tennis. It's the funnest sport I've ever player & will ever play. But given my circumstances, I'm good with keeping it recreational.

So lets make things right.

Step 1
Apologize to my great friend and training partner... Done. I did that, felt at peace with it and his response back to me meant more to me than he will ever know.

Step 2
Be a good role model going forward for what's good sportsmanship and overall someone people enjoy to play with... Will start that this Sunday.

Step 3
Finally have some fun. Play whatever style I want. Win or lose. Just have fun with it. That is the point of this game anyways... Remember this? This is what playing table tennis is about.




Now does anybody have a water bottle I can have?

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Stiga Clipper Classic
FH - TSP Spectol Red 2.0
BH - Dawei 388D-a 1.5

I commiserate with your lack of time to play while still expecting to improve.

For family reasons I have had to cut back from playing a league match every week, 2 vets teams matches a month, 4-5 tournaments a year plus occasional training, to running (& playing at) a social 2 hour spot once a week where 9 time out of 10 I am by far the best player, and often it is doubles with a wide range of abilities on the one table. I am trying to retain some level of form doing this, but I don't face consistent loopers, so have probably lost my knack there, and social matches are very different to those in league and tournaments.

I also knew a player who used to play league locally and he confided to me that he hated the way he had to play to win. My speculation was that he preferred to win than to enjoy playing his natural way. He no longer plays league. Enough said.

Play the way you enjoy. There are enough threads here about people realizing that using pimples means that they won't ever be world champions, but they play with pimples to have fun.

By the way, I play the way I enjoy, that being a double inverted retriever. I was told in my earlier days that I would have to develop a smash to get anywhere, but I made it to the top league for a few years without expressly doing that.

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