OOAK Table Tennis Forum

very interesting topic to talk about

for a single-sided penholder, my forehand is pretty problematic. inconsistent, from ball placement to quality of the shot. so it is on the top of my priority list of aspects to fix on in my game. (i've even made a thread about it here to hopefully resolve the issue!!)

second on the list would be my mental strength. i have anger issues, so i find it pretty hard to stay relaxed in a game. my focus isnt on spot either, so i tend to miss loops one shouldnt be able to miss. however, ive come up with things to keep me relaxed in a game. deep and controlled breathing, humming a song under my breath, strive to only enjoy the fun of table tennis, etc. so far so good.

third on the list is that my service isnt good enough for a penholder. my backspin serve is barely threatening. i feel like ive becoming better in serves though, as ive been practicing daily at home and a few of the people i usually play with dropped the ball to the net (they can receive my serves without any problems in a match usually). im also trying out ma lin's ghost serve to learn more about imparting backspin on serves.

last and not least would be my footwork. i am pretty slow, but that is due to my hefty body and nothing else. the least of my priorities because i do not have the extra time to lose some pounds.

all in all i think most of my issues can be worked out by simply practicing more.

i used to have issues with the short game but it eventually became my strength.

I usually only play against players at my club, who I have played dozens or hundreds of times. With that kind of familiarity, I usually don't even think about tactics because I know from experience what their weaknesses are. Lack of fresh opponents causes my brain's table tennis strategy calculator to atrophy.

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No matter how good you are at something, there's always about a million people better than you.
Homer J. Simpson

It took me a while to think about this topic.

All players need to improve everything. The question for me is: what isn't good enough compared to the rest of your game?

For me:
Return of serve deep on my backhand.
Backhand looping isn't consistent enough.
Serves are reasonable but make too many errors still.
Reading other players (to improve 'reaction time')
Now there is always the wild card of me not having enough experience vs certain types of players.

Lots of backhand work to do. Serve work also. Then just experience, needing more experience all around.

1. Two years away from playing due to back problems, no practice and I lost the technique
2. During that two years I continued to coach and as I coach, it's frowned upon if I use SP's with beginners/intermediate child players. It can throw their development - the ball skids more and keeps flatter which can confuse them, affecting their timing and stroke production/development (yes I accept kids need to learn to think and pimples of any variety are great for making a kid have to think about what they are doing)
3. Having to learn to topspin off my backhand side with inverted actually added more variety to my game. I like the challenge of spinning the ball off my backhand - I can't loop from distance but I can now topspin closer to the table. SP's were great fun for hitting and blocking, and I could get by pushing but inverted gives more choice and spin is a great friend in increasing margin for error. Flat ball less margin, get an arc on the ball with spin and it's a safer shot to play.

I only get my SP's out now if I'm helping someone who will play a SP's player in a tournament, or to give kids an understanding of the different affect equipment can have on the ball, or if a player has a liking for and aptitude for SP's which will benefit their game.

Need to improve my forehand over-the-table play: Flicks, low pushes, kill shots when the ball pops up.

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-- Tim
Silicon Valley

Aside from ALL THE THINGS, I need to work on my short game. Specifically, keeping serve returns short (when I don’t attack) and then being ready to move back quickly to attack a long return. Also, the forehand flick and recovery.

I’m getting lessons from a coach once (sometimes twice) a week. In games at club Im trying to counter the service spin for receiving and catch the ball close to the bounce to keep my return short but still with good spin. This is instead of attacking everything that I can attack. Im also using a simple robot to practice the forehand flicks.

Next month it will be something else. Keeping confident shots during trouble spots in a match is an issue, but my coach isn’t a psychiatrist