OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi all

I'm looking for some advice!

I have most certainly hit a "plateau" in form/ability this season. I think that's a combination of a few things - a) my coach no longer does sessions near enough to where I live (e.g. within 20 miles) so I never see him, b) I started playing golf pretty seriously, especially over the summer and kinda burnt TT out in the process and c) I'm not getting much of an opportunity to do "focused practice".

I've also had some equipment issues this season. I started the season with H3/P1-R on a Defence Pro until I went to try and return a high smash, caught the blade in the club's net (divides the hall into match/practice) and it broke clean in half. Since then I've tried various blade/rubber combinations and couldn't settle at all. Finally I found my "perfect" forehand rubber (T64 on a Butterfly Innershield blade), only to find that when I put different pimples on my backhand, it transformed the properties of the forehand rubber and I could no longer control it. Soooo since then I've settled on a setup that I don't like but is effective - I can control it.

On Monday night I went to the club and played practice matches with 3 good players. One of them is a ~40% Premier (top division) player, one is ~55% and a teammate, the other is a ~80% player. I lost about 5 ends and won nearly 20. Chopping wasn't brilliant but I was looping really well.

Last night I went into a league match and won my first against a guy who I've never beaten - but in fairness, I haven't played him in about 3 years and he hasn't really been playing much.

Second match, against a player who I haven't lost against in 6 or 7 matches now... I got 3-0'd. Couldn't keep a forehand on the table. Every single one off the end. In the first end, that amounted to 6 points. I stopped counting after that, probably too busy raging at myself.

Third match, against a very good O60s SP/SP player, I lost 3-1. I wasn't particularly close in the first two ends but I felt like I'd worked him out a bit in the third - and beat him comprehensively. Then guess what happens in the fourth? I served off no less than 4 times. He won 11-9.

ASdnhasdfkjhaskdhasdhaskhdaskdhaskdsahkjdhasjkdfhasdkjdhask <-- that's a small representation of my frustrations

I hasten to add, there was no "expectations" issues here. I genuinely didn't *expect* to win but I did believe that I *could* win if I played well.

Here are my issues - long-running themes throughout my development.

• Basically anything with the pimples. I seem to mis-hit the ball a lot, even on pushes. I seem to catch the top or bottom of the rubber more often than the middle which kills all the pace off the ball and invariably goes into the net. It's rare that I miss a chop off the end of the table unless I'm caught out (e.g. stuck close to the table and opponent opens up unexpectedly)
• Forehand consistency. My forehand is my main weapon (because clearly I can't rely on my pimples). It can go from being absolutely immense to just giving my opponent point after point after point. I'm a pure looper, I don't flat-hit

I can chop all day against a decent looper... but when I come up against someone who serves with no spin, pushes and then "baby loops", I'm absolutely awful - presumably because I don't ever practice against players like that. In my experience, if I practice against a player like that, they tend not to play that way in practice! They'll give me spinnier serves etc. but then in a match they just give me floaty rubbish because they're suddenly scared of the pimples.

I'm starting to get frustrated because I feel like I can't do enough to improve. How do I become better against a style I can't practice against?

How do I become more consistent in both of these respects?

_________________
My blog: "Learning to play: as a modern defender": http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=22254
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtazeX ... oICGS9bqNg
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[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)

It sounds to me like you just need to get back into some practice session... which will improve your consistency and you'll get your confidence back, and things will fall back into place. No doubt you'll enjoy it more once you get back to some form too. If you keep playing without the practice sessions that you obviously used to rely on, you're just going to get more frustrated, and things will spiral downwards.
I certainly appreciate you're not happy with the equipment, but I suspect you'll adjust if you persist.... sorry, no magic bullets for you today.

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
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definitely not looking for magic bullets - I've grafted to get myself this far, I'm happy to continue grafting to improve. it's just difficult when I feel like I've gone backwards and can't find a way to start moving forwards again

the issue with practice isn't so much my choice. I'm still playing 3 evenings per week but my regular practice partner is missing a lot of the Friday sessions where we used to drill. when he does come along, he's not so interested in doing the drills - probably because they're hard work. nobody else at my club does multi-ball or drills, it's all just practices matches

... so what do I do?

_________________
My blog: "Learning to play: as a modern defender": http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=22254
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtazeX ... oICGS9bqNg
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[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)

I drive 40 minutes for my coach. For me, 20 miles seems not much distance at all!

I realise that you don't often come up against the style you are concerned about in practice matches, but even so I have these suggestions.

Turn "practice matches" into your opportunity to practice the shots you want to "drill". Don't just keep doing what you are comfortable with or what wins you points against those opponents. Don't obsess over who wins.

You mentioned not being happy with your pimples. Use them more or even exclusively in the matches and make the sort of shots that are giving you trouble. Hopefully this will give you more touch and confidence with them, and the shots you are currently unhappy with. Not being a pimples user I can't really advise much more.

Alternatively or in addition, work on your forehand consistency in a similar way. Is your loop going short or long or are you not reading the spin or not allowing enough leeway on the loop or ...? The answer to that question may tell you what you have to do in "practice matches".

What you call "floaty rubbish" is a tactic that you need to treat seriously. It is actually a tactic to deprive you of one of your weapons (I use it against some pimples players ). So you need to come up with a counter tactic.

I can't remember whether you twiddle, but if you do, then this might be the counter tactic to practise.

If you don't twiddle, how are you with the "floaty rubbish" on your forehand? If you are happy to deal with that sort of ball on your forehand, then you may need to step around to use it. Practise this in your "practice matches".

If neither twiddling nor stepping around are palatable, I suppose that you could try either placement or hitting with your pimples. Again practise these in "practice matches".

I am not a coach, nor play one on daytime TV, but I hope these ideas help. It is pretty much along the lines of "If all you get is lemons, use them to make lemonade".

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

I had a chat about this with my coach last night.

I'd watched him play last week against the reigning league champion, and win very easily indeed. In the whole match he maybe made one or two mistakes. Played one or two "winners". Everything else, and I mean everything, was change of pace and direction with LP, and precise, tactical placement.

We worked on this together. Keeping relaxed throughout the body, working on placement and consistency rather than extreme power and spin.

Then I played a practice match with one of the top players in my division, using the same ideas, and won. And not only won, but felt relaxed.

Not sure what applicable advice there is - other than to relax and make your focus more about getting the ball on the table first, somewhere difficult second, and worry about pace/spin last of all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
Yasaka Sweden Classic | 802 OX | C8 OX
Check out my blog - LordCope's Latest Learning Log - 10+ years of accumulate mistakes!

Genuinely, I don't worry about who wins. I know I (roughly) counted my ends on Monday night's practice but that was purely because I was playing well so I started mentally thinking to myself "wow you're winning a lot of ends here" and then I referenced it purely for context in comparison to my woeful showing on Tuesday.

I've tried lots to do this. I spend probably 50 or 60% of my practice matches playing "defence only". I will always continue to do this because I think it's a really important part of my development. However, I have 2 specific issues with it: 1) Against weaker opponents it often means I don't get any kind of game because they're unable to loop my pushes and 2) Against the vast majority of opponents it makes a fun practice session turn into a pushathon. #2 is definitely my own personal issue - I should really just focus on pushing in those situations, possibly even think about varying the spin (e.g. floating the ball over to entice the opponent into attacking) but more often than not I just end up getting bored and looping.


I 102012010210% agree with this. I definitely need to use them more, especially in matches. Here's what tends to happen in my brain during a match. Speechmarks indicate my thoughts:

"Right dunc, make sure you get a feeling for your pimples straight away in this game"
*Opponent serves, I receive*
*Opponent pushes, ball pops up*
"HIT IT!!!!!!!!" (which, to be fair, is probably the right thing to do)

or:

*Opponent serves, I receive*
*Because it's pimples, opponent has served float or backspin, and now attempts to lash the ball*
"Oh God, I can't let them do that every shot, I need to get in first"


This is one of the major problems I have - I rarely miss a loop in practice. I can honestly say it's nothing to do with reading spin but beyond that I couldn't tell you what the difference was.


Sorry, yes, I have no problem with float serves at all as a tactic. I only call it "rubbish" because these players only give me such serves in a matchplay environment - clearly they want to use their normal serves against me, like they do in practice, but are scared to do so in matches because they might lose points.


I do twiddle, and I do step around. Twiddling is tough because it's an extra variable to go wrong, especially if the game is tense. Stepping round is something I'm almost forced to do by a significant number of opponents and obviously that too has its pros and its cons.

Both of those are just a crutch though - I can't do them all the time. I need to get better with the pimples, otherwise I may as just well change to double inverted.

_________________
My blog: "Learning to play: as a modern defender": http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=22254
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtazeX ... oICGS9bqNg
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[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)

Sorry, it's not just distance, it's timing too. His sessions are at 5pm - I finish work at 4:30pm (earliest). Difficult to get 20 miles in 30 minutes at rush hour.

_________________
My blog: "Learning to play: as a modern defender": http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=22254
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtazeX ... oICGS9bqNg
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[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)

One Week Plan to recover performance

- Get 8-9+ hrs sleep at least 5 nights of the week

- Watch Benny Hill and Mr. Bean an hour a day

- Eat chicken, with garlic/onions and Spinach

- Get an eye exam and new glasses

- Watch your football team win

- go to the TT hall and fight.

Well, sometimes you just need to get good rest/nutrition and let a little time go by without worrying about anything.

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

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

I +1 this!

_________________
Blade: Victas Koji Matsushita Offensive FL
FH: Victas VS > 401 2.0
BH: Victas Spectol S1 1.5

Rating: Recreational Player

What happens if they lose?

Iskandar

They won't if your team is the REDS... FBC Bayern red at least, those jokers have a ridiculous win percentage in all comps.

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

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

FBC recently tore up a Bindesliga team 8 to freeking ZERO, and tore up the Gunners 5-1 in C.L. play TWICE back to back.

Switch to the DARK SIDE Der_Echte sez.

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

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Watching my football team win isn't really going to help. I'm a Newcastle United supporter

_________________
My blog: "Learning to play: as a modern defender": http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=22254
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtazeX ... oICGS9bqNg
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[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)

Well, maybe they have better luck VS Hamburg.

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

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter