OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Thanks both. My instincts from inverted BH training have led me to chop nowhere near vertically enough on this ball (goes off end table or floats high and invitingly for opponent) or go for a counter hit on the BH (still going in net as I need to hit flatter). I'll keep working on this.

I have a solid 1800-1900 inverted game but I am 40 and want to get better. The players who beat me are basically quicker inverted players who serve better than I can receive and get the first attack in before me. I am not sure I can get any faster at seeing the ball so need to drop off the table against better attackers (2000 plus) to stay in game. Trying a thinner inverted allround game and an allround pips game on BH to see if there is potential to mix it up against younger, faster attackers.

Fiveplyian wrote:



I recognize the problem! Getting older you don't get faster, generally. I certainly don't. So I changed from penholder pips out attack to a defending chopper/attacker; long pips on the backhand gave me, strangely enough, a similar feeling as blocking left with the penholder. I thought backing off of the table would help, but the fact is you need to be fast as a defender as well. And the footwork is much more complex, as you don't only move from side to side, but also in and out, and diagonally, and so on... You do have the feeling that you can see anything coming, because of the distance to the table, but that is partially misleading, for seeing the ball coming and getting to it are two different things altogether! At that, going from chopping to looping in the blink of an eye is not exactly easy either. All in all, and although chopping is great fun, I don't think turning to a chopping style is the right answer in dealing with problems concerning speed. You do have other options. Attacking with pips is one of them; with ordinary short pips you don't have to bother much about reading the serves just right, and you don't lose time in getting ready for the loop - you just hit out. Two-winged pips out attack is a fast style, but it is essentially simple and that is why it may compensate your (or my) slowing down. Johnny Huang was still very succesful in this style even while he was in his mid-forties! Another option is a combination bat with LP on your backhand (for blocking and hitting) and SP or maybe a more or less slow inverted on your forehand (for blocking and hitting), to use in a counter-attacking style. It's the same idea as two-winged SP attack, really, but executed at a slower pace, because you will be blocking the ball until you get the one to kill. But, whatever you may finally decide, do not think your chopping period will ever be a waste of time! Playing it for a while improves your vision of the game tremendously, because you are forced to think strategically - attackers seldom do that.

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Without opponent, no match.

The quickest way to get better at any age, but especially over 40, is to improve your serving and returning of serves. Every point has at least one of each. Radical changes in style are probably not the thing you should be doing yet, and I have never seen anyone become a chopper later in life and get better as a result. The slower you are, the closer to the table you need to play. Another thing is to improve your fitness level.

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Butterfly Viscaria Black tag
2.2 mm Nexy Karis M on FH and BH

Kees' suggestion of putting something quite a bit slower on your BH is a good one. A good reason for sometimes hitting really slow from that side is it gives you time to regain your balance and get back to a good ready position. That is why I changed to SP on my BH a number of years ago, after playing for a year or two with a very slow inverted, and before that, I was a crazy two wing looper. I still attack, primarily, from the BH side, from closer in, but the SP have many gears, and sometimes I can slow the ball a lot.

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Butterfly Viscaria Black tag
2.2 mm Nexy Karis M on FH and BH

I missed these responses somehow on my original post, thanks. My feet are quick enough (5 a side football, squash and badminton) but I don't 'see' disguised changes of direction that quickly close to the table. That said my average is still going up playing a close to the table FH loop / drive game with BH block / counters. I must be 1900 plus.

I can chop pretty well on FH; much better than on my BH. If I get away from the table I can chop well on BH but in the 2 to 3 pace back zone I can't control the ball and want to counter. I can FH chop at most distances if desperate largely because I cover 2/3 to 3/4 table with FH so my footwork is all designed around a standard attackers i.e. I step out to FH which is not good for BH chop style game.

I am going to stay 1 to 2 paces from table, continue to use FH a lot and continue to block / drive on BH. BH chopping definitely out but now trying a block / hit game with 1mm 755, 1.5 mm 563 and 1.7mm 652. I have also discovered how sensitive pips are to the blade they are on ....... very different effects with 755 on a Grubba vs Appelgren blade. Complicated.
I like the idea of being able to block short / chop block more easily.

This is all alongside my Coppa JO Silver 2mm experiments on BH. Very good rubber for BH block ....... my instinctive reaction blocks with this are working well (medium low trajectory); I can still spin up and loop drive but also get a flat block if I choose.