OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I made a comeback 8 months ago after 15 years of absence and have played with LP bh last 4 months. I have played some tournamenets quite successfully while I have increased in rating.

Current setup
Stiga Nostalgic allround
Spinlord Dornerglanz ox
Donic BF JP03 max

So far so good but… I feel so weak / easy to beat because for smart players because:

- My chops with my LP are often to short which makes it easy for the opponent to Power-loop / hard push
- I can't really do any LP-attack so sometimes there is non-spin chopping bh to bh
- I sometimes to mid-distance chopping and my current LP is way worse than Curl P1 which I used for the first 3 months

I have a v hard fh loop / flat hit and spinny serves.

Questions:
1. Should I get a off blade instead to increase the lenght of the DG chops? (both chops vs non spin chops and vs loop) or does my technique just suck?
2. Should i switch LP? I dont really do alot of close to the table blocking or chop blocks (a few) but quite some mid-distance chopping. Spinlord Agenda? Something els?


Best regards
LK

Some thoughts...

- Normal size ALL blades like Nostalgic aren't usually the best bet for chopping. That's why people use defensive blades - often in oversize.
- It could be that Nostalgic blade has a tendency for flight curve that is not best for chopping.
- Many good players chop with DG, so it's not a bad choice. I have played with Agenda 1.0, and it's very safe choice for chopping. Nearly everyone here is switching to Troublemaker ox, so that coud be a possibility...
- OFF blade might work for you, but propability is that for a chopper it just leads to more mistakes.

Your equipment is fine. If you're used to chopping with a grippier LP and are now using DG experiencing too short and high chops is quite normal as you're used to chopping with a grippy technique. To fix this problem is quite simple. First, make sure that when you are chopping, during ball contact move only your forearm. This is the most crucial part to keeping your chops consistent -- Only move your forearm part by extending your tricep. Rest of your arm is free to swing before and after contact but not during. Secondly, to increase lenght and to keep the ball lower adjust your blade angle quite significantly where it is more vertical in relation to the table. With your blade angle more vertical your chops will hit the ball more flat which is fine with Dornenglanz. You will still achieve sufficient spin but now with increased speed and a lower throw angle.

Stiga Nostalgic Allround is not designed for playing away from the table. Nostalgic has a high throw so it tends to popup chopped ball.

The reason I play Nostalgic with Dornenglanz that the combination is very good for LPs attacks near and even step back from the table. LPs pushes are spinnier then some defensive blades I played before.

Stiga Clipper is faster but better at chopping. I am not brave enough to play this fast blade for pushblocking yet.

Great news!



Others have commented on the blade, but personally I think it's fine. It's an allround blade. It can do anything. DG OX is a fine choice too - many excellent choppers use it. I don't see anything glaring there that would suggest an equipment mismatch.



...because they're smart and experienced players. That's kinda how it works. Be kind to yourself - in a year you could well be beating them. However, meanwhile:



In my experience, when my chops are or have been to high/short, it's because I'm not *guiding* the ball *forwards* -- I had a habit (largely broken) of letting the bat go out to the side when chopping. My coach worked on this with me - have the bat move *forwards* in the direction of where you want the ball to go, so there's no wasted energy. It would really help if you could film yourself chopping even for 10 seconds on a crappy smartphone, and upload it to youtube. You might be doing something else obviously wrong, but have a go at this.



I almost never attack with LP - occasionally flick a serve, but almost never. I'd concentrate on footwork, and attacking with your FH, from the BH side. Rule of thumb could be two LP shots in a row BH to BH - then you *must* go around the corner and attack. Otherwise people will pin you in the BH and you'll struggle. There is an option to twiddle and use inverted on BH but I would advise against trying to do this right now - you have enough to be dealing with. Develop and strong, consistent FH, good footwork and anticipation, and use the BH to set up the FH. When people see you can go around the corner and spin up or attack pushes and floats into your BH, they'll rethink.



That's possible, but I would't think it's the biggest variable. My personal experience is that you can pick a LP - literally any LP - and just get used to it. They all have their own idiosyncracies, strengths, and weaknesses. You can spend a lot of time and a lot of money searching for the perfect one, or you can just stick with one, and get to know it inside out. LP play is subtle and there's a lot of feeling and instinct involved. You harm your ability to develop that if you change your LP all the time. My only concern with DG is that it's been shown to be not very durable - that would be the main reason I would consider something else. But I'd then stick to the new thing. This "Troublemaker" seems to be well-regarded, but I think it's too new for us to know it's durability credentials. Personally I use Hellfire, and find it to be an excellent and durable allrounder. I have a spare sheet you can have for free, if you drop me your address.



Hard to tell if your technique sucks without seeing it. But it probably does! Same for most of us! But it can be improved. I'd stick with the current blade.



Honestly? Maybe yes. But for the reasons of durability, and in the light of the style you've described. Agenda would be an excellent choice. But if you change now, please don't change again for another year at least.

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

Thank you all for the replies! This really is a nice and friendly community.

Since my OP I have improved my technique and I do some close to the table blocking (not chop block) as well as close to the table attacks/pushes with my LP. I feel I can improve more if I just keep practising alot.


I have also improved my choping quite a bit, expecially the part when they play slow / non spin to by BH. When I dont twiddle or FH topspin in the BH-corner I do something with my LP that reminds a bit of the movement of a tennis "slice" but with quite a closed blade. It produces a semi hard and flat shot.


What worries me a bit is that two of you think the Nostalgic allround+ has to high throw for good LP play. I love the high throw with my FH attacks. Would you say its very dumb to keep play with that kind of blade or is it just a bit harder to get the LP chopping correct?

This blade makes LPs chops spinnier and faster for the cost of some control. The closer you chop the better effect.
If you usually chop far away the effect diminishes and control struggles.

I'm quite new to LP myself and what I've been working on a lot when it comes to chopping (with Tibhar Dtecs which isn't that different to Dornenglanz) is to be a bit more aggressive when chopping. This really increases the speed and length of the chop. Works great during drills but I still don't have that kind of confidence during real matches but I'm getting there. I guess that the same applies to you - just give it some more time. Learning to use a new LP will take time especially when coming from a complete different type of rubber like P1R.

I've just tried the agenda 1.0mm on an all-round blade. Combined with hallmark green power, the blade actually is donic burn all+. When I originally purchased agenda, I thought it was a very good rubber with potential. It is though rather lively and springy. This liveliness though can be an advantage when defending deep. I find only need a moderate back swing and it flies back low and deep with the right technique. Also very good for those "gets" when under pressure. You really can keep ball on table. It's soft flexible pips can also gererate decent variation including good backspin. The quality is excellent too. Don't necessarily need a fast blade. Def/all is ok. Remember defence play you need control with good counters and aggressive play to throw the opponent off their rhythum.