As with any hobby, if I feel like I’m not having fun, stagnant, or regressing, I tend to want to change something. I tend to go through a molting phase around the new year where I want to shed my old skin and start fresh in some way. I do this professionally and in life in as well. So…here I go…yet again!
Full disclosure: I have to admit something, I have grown bored with chopping and defense lately.
Don’t mistake this for depression, I’m not down, I’m just in a phase where I need to infuse something into this sport. I also have the challenge of time. If you’ve read any of my recent posts, I have some family health challenges that really impedes on my TT time. As a result, I have really been trying a zen approach to this hobby. Reflecting on what I want to get out of this sport.
First, and foremost, it must be fun. TT is something I do to get away from it all; to forget about problems and stress. If it ceases to be fun, then it will likely be something I won’t want to continue. Lately, defense has become less “fun” for me, and I can’t explain why.
Second, usually TT is a meditative experience for me. It centers me. If anyone is into mindfulness meditation, I liken my mindset and focus to how I get when I meditate. This carries over to other facets in your life, and is of great benefit. But lately that has flickered on and off for me, and I haven’t been able to focus on the moment.
Third, I can’t get too concerned with level, and rating, and improving. Given my time restraints, if I place all my eggs in the improvement basket, I will likely become disenchanted. That being said, I still must have an upward trend in level, but I cannot use conventional measuring sticks to determine improvement. Especially ratings.
So, based on that criteria, I have decided to forgo defense for a short while…just as I have in the past. I’ll probably be right back on the horse chopping in a few months, especially if I’m playing for something that matters (Team league or tourney), but for now I will be concentrating on playing in a different way.
Therefore, this is what styles I’ve been toying with:
Jpen I first gravitated back to my Jpen blade, and it has been great fun. I love Jpen, and I love the style. My Japanese mother played that way, and that’s how I played growing up and when I came back to TT 4 years ago. Back then, I had a 5 ply TSP, the old Birmingham77 model. My mom played with a single ply hinoki, although I didn’t know it at the time. So there is great nostalgia for me, regarding this tyle. However, I quickly became enamored with chopping and changed to a shakehand chopper with long pips. Since then I haven’t really played Jpen except to goof around. Because of my TT “Reset”, I have lately been playing Jpen a lot. Let me tell you, I am SO BAD at jpen. Probably somewhere between 1100-1300. Played a league with it and split games with a basement player (Although that basement seemiller player DID take second in the league). All of that muscle memory has been lost, but it has been coming back to me little by little. I forgot about TPB smashes, and sidespin blocks, timing, etc. I also forgot how closed the racket feels to achieve the same trajectory on either wing. My forehand is far better however, and that came back to me instantly (as noted by my training partner). I largely suspect my bad Shakehand forehand is largely due to some wired-in muscle memory after having played penhold so long, with which the forehand was/is far more intuitive for me. My BH block was way better back in the day, and that is coming back a bit but this is why I play at such a low level with this style. One bummer about Jpen is that nobody around here plays it. There are no coaches anywhere. That being said, I have befriended someone on FB, a higher level player from Chile who I would estimate to be 2400ish. He has been kind of virtually coaching me and giving me tips online sharing videos and doing some demonstrations on technique and strategy. So there is some support there, albeit very little. PROS: Nostalgia, Cultural ties to the style, Most fun to play, Least common style, far better forehand, best pendulum serves. CONS: Currently worst level, least support or coaching, TPB is hard, footwork intensive and might be harder the older I get, everyone telling me TPB Jpen is a dead style.
Shakehand Short Pips I have also been playing shakehand with double inverted and short pips. The short pips experiment is not going well. I am just not dialing in those strokes. My intent was to play with them on the FH after experiencing the wrath of a 11 year old junior who had them on her forehand. Forehand shortpips has been a disaster. I guess since my Shakehand forehand is weaker than my backhand, I felt like that was the logical place to try them. I am far more attuned to SPs on the backhand, so have been playing with them in that position. I estimate I am at a 1400-1450 level with this style. The advantage here is I would have no TBP to deal with. I also have the benefit of some other SP backhand players at the club…all of them do well. At NOVATTC, the owners daughter (2088) and the manager (1980) both play BH SPs. Also, the best SP layer there is Hiep Tran around 2200 as high as 2294 in the past. So, for that style there are people to reference and learn from. Also, the head coach and owner is well-attuned to coaching is daughter with that style. The bad thing is, my weak forehand is still there, and I would need to really work on that. I have been trying to do that for 4 years…with coaching. Still isn’t good. I estimate I’m around 1300 solidly with this style, having never been coached. PROS: Least amount of footwork, less common style, probably best style for aging players, and lots of support and coaching potential. CONS: Weak SH forehand is still an issue, pip prejudice.
Last, and certainly not least, double inverted shakehand. I know what most of OOAK is thinking “booooooo….borrring.” But as an alternative style to LP chopping, I play double inverted at the highest level…around 1400 …maybe 1500 if I get the right opponents. I have tried out switching to this in the past, and did okay, without any coaching. Fairly intuitive. Forehand did improve but still an issue. Strangely, my backhand is my best shot using shakehand. When I toyed with double inverted in the past, I tended to be allround, still chopped a lot, fished and lobbed a lot, and even learned to do a BH flick pretty well. Not much to say here except while there is great potential, I would be just like everyone else style-wise, which is good and bad. There is great simplicity in this style. And given the lack of time to train or get coaching, this is probably the most logical road to improving level, but again, that’s not my main motivator. But of course, as you all know, coaches and support galore….there is help everywhere. PROS: Less footwork, good style for aging players, highest current playing level of 3 styles, lots of coaching and support CONS: Weak SH forehand is still an issue, not really unique
With all 3 of these styles what I lack is serve return experience on the backhand (no pips anymore), attacker-oriented servers (all my serves are geared toward defense), and a general lack of tactics for attacking. I’d be returning to basics so that’s not a bad thing. Of course, I can train things to improve all of these weaknesses, and continue to try to improve my shakehand forehand.
And every time I’ve done this in the past, I’ve gotten something out of it when I returned to defense (if I return). I remember in the past chatting with Bogeyhunter about footwork and said when he trained Jpen that was when he got his biggest gains in that regard. So_Devo told me his switch to SPs really improved his inverted backhand when he switched back. So, there is evidence of something to be gained by changing things up.
Wish me luck, interested to hear your thoughts. Likely I’ll revert back to chopping in 3 months when I am satisfied I have fully molted. But no promises.
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Last edited by Japsican on 29 Dec 2017, 01:52, edited 2 times in total.
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