OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Yeah, I can open it up where my thumb and index finger keep the face at more of a regular angle (like if it were shake). But, I have played it too long, and too old to change. American Basement Grip sounds good haha. I don't know if it will loop, as you said, I do a loop sometimes, but nothing regular. Sometimes I will use one on the left or right side to kick it out of reach against the opponent. It works real good! I may retire pretty soon, with my back as it is. We have a basement circuit, go to one another's house and have some great matches. Right now I'm rated #12 out of 35 players. It is a fun system, and don't have to worry about stupid rent $. Can't beat it. Does anybody else have a basement circuit? Now, we play in garages, basements, downstairs of houses, etc. There is a singles champ King of the Basement and doubles champions. I keep going cause I love to play, but when the back goes, it will probably be it. I've never won the King of the Basement title.

Paddle is in folks. It is a lot lighter than I thought, nice looking setup, might get me the basement title. The head of the paddle is big, and the long pips will be an adventure.

Bare blades feel SOOOOO light - yours will gain weight and feel more normal once you put rubbers on it but not too much since you're using 1.5 or 1.7mm sponge on one side and long pips (presumably without sponge) on the other. First order of business is to varnish the blade. Lots of instructions in the forum, but I like Keme's method - use oil based polyurethane, wipe on and wipe off with a paper towel. Get the varnish everywhere especially the edges and corners, just a very thin coat. Then allow to dry overnight. I'm assuming the blade and rubbers came unassembled, of course. But Zeropong would have likely done all of this if he's assembled the bat already.

Iskandar

New setup, especially with new material (pips) will take some time to get used to. Pips have weaknesses, especially against no spin, and I usually don't see a lot of spin in basement matches. So - don't be frustrated if you do not become the champ by next weekend.

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

pgpg you are correct. I don't think anyone plays spin on the circuit. Most flat hitters that play angles, or make cuts on drives. We have several hardbat players, I'm not sure if there is an official rule that says a hardbat can't play against regulation sandwich bats? We do have some sandpaper bat players, and I know sandpaper is illegal. It's a fun league though, we play it out and have about 35 to 40 players. From what I hear, that is a lot more than most organized state clubs? Anyways, it is fun. Haha, I doubt I'll ever be King of the Basement. That's okay though. Figured the long pips would help me some against fast shots.

Good luck in your quest!

Few comments:
* Hardbat is perfectly legal in USATT tournaments (dominated by 'sandwich' rubbers). I played a guy once and we have a couple of HB-only players in our club. Reverse is not true, though - you can only play with hardbat in hardbat tournaments (duh!). Not sure if sandpaper is in the same boat, probably it is illegal in USATT competitions.
* 35-40 players for a decent size club is not that much, but it really depends on the area. Typical tournament is in a ballpark of that number, but some of the larger ones easily draw 150+ or more. JOOLA Teams in DC over Thanksgiving will have 950+ players
* Slower blades/rubbers are what helps against fast shots, plus being in the right spot. LPs do help against spinny ones, though

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USATT: 1807 | League: 1887

Yeah, sandpaper is illegal in USATT and ITTF tournaments, and in all tournaments that adhere to ITTF rules. There ARE sandpaper only tournaments/leagues, however - there's a large one in Europe and another in China. And the game is played at a VERY high level (there are videos on YouTube). Also apparently they discovered that there has been organized sandpaper table tennis in the Phillipines for a many decades. Towards the end of his life Marty Reisman was promoting sandpaper table tennis.

Iskandar

There are sandpaper-only tournaments in the US, too - but I believe they are "just for fun", i.e. not sanctioned by USATT and thus no official rating.

No, sandpaper table tennis anywhere is not sanctioned or related in any way to ITTF or USATT (other than use of common rules). But the high level tournaments and leagues aren't "for fun", usually they're for substantial prize money! Sometimes they have rules which differ - the European version only allows identical bats provided by the tournament organizer. The Philippines one has different scoring (I think it goes to 20 or 22 points or something of the sort) and different service rules. I think the league or tournaments Reisman was promoting was playing to 21 points.

Iskandar