It actually went better than I thought mainly thanks to Ox LP.
Style (ugly):
* Penhold block/bump/moving them around, RPB if I see a ball to put away. I also side-swipe occasionally on serve receive to surprise people. 90% backhand...my FH hits are not reliable at all against tourney-level opponents.
* Only twiddle on serves. I can twiddle at other times too but haven't found a plan that works, and my FH sucks.
In group stage we had only 4 guys because one guy didn't show up. I beat a 1156 little kid 3-0. The last two games tho I basically had no real advantage (he got told how LP works) and won by 2. One of them he had game points after deuce. I was just a bit more calm and tricky as an adult in critical points. (He played very well against a 1800 player, and later beat a 1400 and lost to a 1430, so I think his level is about 1400.)
I then advanced to Division 3 based on the 1 win/2 losses and 1 win by default. I was placed into the strongest group out of the 3 groups, unfortunately. My only win was a small 3-1 upset against a modern defender little kid (see the pattern?
). He's rated 1533, later beat a 1640, eventually ended up in 3rd place in Division 3 after losing narrowly to a 1632. Another unrated player in my group was the runner-up and probably around 1700. Then another 1600-level guy...
Anyway about the upset, I think he also has LP (or SP?) on BH for chopping. Some other guys had trouble when he moved/chopped well especially at nervous times. I just played it very safe and kept the ball in play no-spin style, and moving him left and right, either really deep or short...he wasn't as comfortable just bumping the ball around not chopping, so he would miss more. When he attacked with his quite aggressive FH, he still missed more than I'd think. One thing young kids lack is definitely composure and adaptability. He's so used to people looping at him all day.
Also in this match, my RPB loop kills down the line had a high success rate. Definitely due to the no-spin and my patience to only do it at the right time. I felt a sense of accomplishment somewhat akin to players I see in videos... when I suddenly blasted the ball past him.. I basically beat a defender with his own style. He had a pretty famous coach in this area and I wonder what he said to the kid. I've heard the coach give him very good advice to help him come back in other matches. (For some reason, I imagine he didn't teach him much against me, because he'd probably never run into another LP penholder...)
So he's probably around 1600, but I don't have a chance against a 1600 looper. The other 5 matches didn't have much worth mentioning. Strong players' loops spell doom for me...(from 1600-2000 guys)
I also had a leg cramp in the second to last match, trying too hard to RPB a short ball at 3-10...didn't affect play much tho because I rarely move.
Main takeaways:
* People always have issues with LP in the first game (won 2, and nearly 3 times in lost matches), even if they seem to understand how to play against it.
* From game 2 on, they usually figure out my play...the good players destroy me; the not-as-good ones I use a bit of variation (RPB push, sideswipe, net balls etc.) to stay alive/win.
* Technically, the #1 problem is spinny loops. I believe I'll need to add the downward motion like the pro LP penholders do to chop-block them. Practice a bit today to good effect. Or move the paddle back at contact. Seems only a human (not robot) can do these loops right (robot is either too fast or not enough spin)
* My half-long TBH serves get absolutely destroyed by 2000+ players. And 1700+ also to a large degree. So, they are kinda deceptive in that they seem to work well against guys below a certain level
* I love people serving regular short backspins - I bump to their body or wide FH. My weakness is fast FH serves
Also, what do you guys think my rating will be, and how do I check or get notified?
Recently I suspected I was a 1300, but it seems a bit higher now.
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USATT 1502.
Long pips pushblocker, inverted RPB.
Blog (Ramblings of an ordinary penholder...):
http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=32694