OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I wasn't going to post this before, but I decided to do so just to give my fellow TTEdge backhand loopers the kinds of things that are possible on serve return. I usually kill the serve wide to the backhand, but I play a guy who is very good with the backhand and has a wicked pendulum serve so I have to be able to loop his serve to the forehand side to have a chance against him. This is step 1 in building up that ability. You all have great swings so over time, experiment with contact points and timings and see what happens. And of course, you all ultimately have better mobility/footwork than I do so you may be able to defend the elbow and wide backhand better with practice (though I confess to having a pretty awesome wide backhand return to sender).

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Been working on my punch serve. The motion is still too large and needs more focus - waiting for some feedback from Brett before taking the next steps.

Left to me, I can shrink the motion pretty easily and I am 95% happy with my backspin - topspin needs work but I can see a few things that I couldn't before about this serve more clearly.

Since my shoulder is annoying me, this is my main project for this month.

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Do you think this will replace your reverse serve as the main way to serve thos spins, or just another thing to throw at somebody in case they haven't seen it?

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Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

Yoko Ono

I prefer this to the reverse serve because of the grip required to serve. Also, I never got my reverse serve to a very high level of deception. If I can get a good side top version of this serve, I will definitely use it more. I will also serve it more from the forehand side as well like William Henzell.

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

The serve is effective but I have lost the plot a little. Will shadow and floor serve tonight to work on getting whip with a smaller motion. It's funny but I notice now that sometimes the serve is hidden or almost so. Gotta be careful...

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

I think I know what was wrong now. Will go to work on fixing it later this.week, maybe tomorrow night.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

I am getting more whip but the video is only showing 30% of it and the backswing still looks a little stiff.

https://youtu.be/01tcQnnRohU
https://youtu.be/OsLyOgvhYsc

May resume on Friday. Or possibly tomorrow. The search for easy whip continues.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

So I am going to work on my reverse serve. Some of the comments will be on the TTEdge ETTS thread but I will post some here as well. But what I will do is post some punch serve practice.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

I, NextLevel, master of Lumberjack TT, have trained for 5 years in order to look like a respectable table tennis player. After working with my first coach for four years, he gave up on me, saying that no matter how hard I tried, I could not look like a true or good table tennis player. So I joined TTEdge and worked with Brett Clarke.

Brett gave me the sad news yesterday - my form was irreparably bad, and that my inability to bend my knees had his colleagues wondering why he was wasting his precious time coaching me. So henceforth, he told me that I will no longer be appearing in TTEdge videos. This was pretty much the nail in the coffin. My dream of breaking 2500 was done.

Then it all hit me - why do people glorify all this knee bending? All this technical trash? I shall take my brand of Lumberjack TT over to the dark side. I have resolved to use pips for the rest of my TT playing career. Yes, no more inverted, just pips. Janitors shall no longer have to wonder about hiding the ugliness and dirtiness of my game from young people - the pips shall tell it all.

So I decided to go into training. Here are some of my training hours. I am re-energized. I think with my pips, my new goal is the 2020 Olympics. Bring it on!





I also played some matches. I am undefeated with the pips! I am not even undefeated with inverted. This is going to be a piece of cake. Lumberjack TT is taking over with the wood! David Zhuang, watch out! I'm coming for you!

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

And today's date is...

NL, you are a riot. Why set you off? It wasn't the Goon Squad, we know you can handle a pair of those chaps one eye closed.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Just want to meet the Aussie and European time zones - the American came a little later.

I planned this for a while and actually gave people fair warning on the TTEdge thread.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

So I switched equipment recently. Big deal, you might say, NL, you are an EJ. Yes, but I am more philosphically anti-EJ than EJ. I had planned to stay with my prior set up (OVA+Vega Pro Blade) for the rest of the year. I actually had a bet with BRS that whoever changed rubber first would buy the other a sheet or two of what the other person liked.

What changed was that I tried out an SPW + Hexer and made shots that I don't remember ever making before. Here was the very first one:

https://youtu.be/vE677g9AcN8?t=382

Then I played a few more matches and I realized that it wasn't an illusion. I just naturally felt the urge to loop more with my current setup. So I sent BRS the sheet of Tenergy without even telling him I had changed. I realized there was no way I was going to stick with my OVA setup if I was looping this well with Hexer.

I hit a lot of shots this weekend and played the PA States Championship. I had one good win and one disappointing loss to someone I usually beat. I block too much on the forehand rather than counterloop because I usually don't believe that my rubber has the ability to handle the stress handling incoming topspin and I lack the practice and technique. No longer - I am realizing more and more that when you use a rubber like Hexer, you try to loop EVERYTHING. Yes, EVERYTHING.

Here are a sample of shots, some in both good and bad form, that I have made since switching to Hexer - again, I don't remember ever feeling a comfortable making such shots with anything else. I know these shots may not impress some of you, but for me, it's a whole different level of shot making. Some of the best ones, I unfortunately do not have on tape.

https://youtu.be/9izZ2EMv184?t=589
https://youtu.be/9izZ2EMv184?t=768
https://youtu.be/ONNy9D0ivSQ?t=203
https://youtu.be/ONNy9D0ivSQ?t=334
https://youtu.be/ONNy9D0ivSQ?t=511
https://youtu.be/WYDuygmxW-M?t=362
https://youtu.be/TmMDqIut3R4?t=567
https://youtu.be/RM1SdKZe-bg?t=2308
https://youtu.be/RM1SdKZe-bg?t=2366
https://youtu.be/RM1SdKZe-bg?t=2492

Now I have to do this in tournaments consistently without getting injured or tired...

Now I just need to make another bet with BRS...

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Hexer, hexer, hexer, all i hear down here is Hexer. Now you too NL. Couldn't bear to get a sheet of Hexer when i last changed rubber. Happy with the Baracuda (dont tell anyone its a Hexer equivalent).

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Donic Waldner Senso V1,FH Baracuda Big Slam 2.0mm ,BH Victas Triple Regular 2.0mm

Baracuda is slower and has a harder topsheet because of the pip configuration. Spinnier in some ways, but too much effort for how I like to play ideally.

The shots don't lie - maybe I just become a shot maker overnight. Hexer is also slightly lighter than Baracuda and I like that. So yes, believe the hype.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus