OOAK Table Tennis Forum

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Does anyone know if there are any one videos of Åkerström in the euros? Where can these videos be found. I never come up with anything when i search!

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offensive combination

stiga stellan bengtsson 1970/71 has a cracked handle now, so ....

donic jo coppa gold: 2.0mm black
yasaka phantom 007: ox red / donic akaddi l2 0.6mm red

The only two from the 2009 Euros I have seen are already posted in this thread:
Playing Dimitrij Ovtjarov: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JSQUTXN0
Playing Andrej Gacina: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ULIZ0PAS

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NITTAKU SEPTEAR cpen | FH: 729 802, 1.5, black | RPB: CORNILLEAU PILOT POWER, 2.0, red
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Thanks but i've seen those two. I just wondered about any more, no worries though.

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offensive combination

stiga stellan bengtsson 1970/71 has a cracked handle now, so ....

donic jo coppa gold: 2.0mm black
yasaka phantom 007: ox red / donic akaddi l2 0.6mm red

What seems strange to me is that I have heard almost nothing but negative reviews about Donic Akkadi L2, but when you watch Fabian chop block top spin and even more alarmingly push back spin if you did not know any better you would almost think that he is using Hallmark Original in this video. The fact that there is also sponge behind his LP adds to the strangeness of how he manages to send it back so loaded.

Whenever I have tried to block against 2000+ top spin loopers with friction over the last 14 months the ball for the most part has gone sailing over the other end of the table and there he is blocking it back loaded against a would be 2800+ player like there is no tomorrow. I find it hard to believe that his chop block is so good that it would make up the difference as it is hardly the most complex stroke. If I did not know any better I would say there is something funny going on there, but I know that this is an ITTF event and that they would be able to give the pips the official friction test if indeed there is such a thing?

Have you ever played against it? I have always stated on this forum that I find it the hardest LP to play against, (but I have never played against someone who had a DTec.)
I watched both matches and noticed that his returns are exactly what I would expect from Akkadi L2.

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FH: Joola Express Ultra Max, BH: Giant Dragon Talon OX , Blade: Nexy Hannibal
FH: Tibhar Sinus Alpha Max, BH: Tibhar Sinus Alpha Max , Blade: Nexy Hannibal

Hello and welcome to the forum, chickenwingmaster

I don't think there is anything strange about his play. I just think his style and technique allows him to extract the maximum out of the L2 for his intended game. The L2 is his best fit in terms of rubbers. Despite what other people think about its properties, it suits him very well and he can take advantage of it. I think your disbelief in Åkerström's ability stems from your comparing him to yourself and your own ability. I have no clue as to how good you are, but will try to explain why I think the difference between your abilities may be quite natural.

Åkerström is ranked around 200 in the world without much international play. He is only 21, but has played and trained with longpips BH for the last 8 years under excellent coaches; Swede Hans Thalin and Chinese Qiu Jianxin . He has had table tennis as a profession for the last 4 years and practises accordingly. To then achieve a level of control and skill that may seem unbelievable to mere mortals is natural, IMHO.

You say you have tried for 14 months to block against top spin loopers, but the ball sails off the table most of the time. Why does he get them on the table and you don't despite the two of you having practised for the same amount of time? Your belief is that something strange or hard to believe is going on, but a more likely explanation may be found in the quality of coaching, the amount of time spent practising and - to a degree - natural talent. Sure, as you say, the chop block may not be the most complex of strokes on the face of it, but Åkerström does have it down to a tee in accuracy, touch and timing. There is no magic, just long, hard, quality work and extreme determination, all of which results in consistency and control - the same things you seem to lack by your description above. My words may seem harsh, but please understand, I am not trying to offend you in any way (forgive me if I have), just trying to explain why there is no reason to doubt Åkerströms skill level compared to your own.

You do not have to have a big difference in ranking to see a marked difference in ability among top players. To be ranked number 15 in the world is bloody great, but it still doesn't mean that you have a realistic chance of competing consistently with the top 5. There may only be 12 ranking spots in between, but the very small advantage of touch, timing, and consistency of No3 compared to No15 will almost always result in a visibly and measurably superior performance.

In short, despite a seemingly narrow gap in ability, No3 plays on a different level compared to No15 and there is nothing to suggest that that is strange, it's just a result of a combination of his training and talent, IMHO.

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NITTAKU SEPTEAR cpen | FH: 729 802, 1.5, black | RPB: CORNILLEAU PILOT POWER, 2.0, red
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Thank you, I have actually been reading the comments on this forum for a number of months, but finally now decided to contribute.

The response to what you say is that I agree with everything you say, although I think that a lot of the reason as to why he is top 250 at age 21 is down to his forehand that is a model of perfection. Apart from the forehand I put the fact that I am poles apart from Fabian down to my lack of experience with the LP (I played 4 months with Super Special and then 14 months with Original before it was made illegal) as I too had a very good coach. A lot of the reasoning behind my post is that I was fishing for perhaps some positive reviews of this stuff as I am planning a return to the game after a 5 month hiatus and I am wondering what to play with as I can no longer play with my Original. The more I read the posts the more I realize that finding a something close to what I had is like chasing the end of the rainbow, which whilst that might give me something to do it is not going to get me anywhere

Apart from not wanting to get the H1N1 (a lot of kids are at the places where the game is played in my area) a lot of the reason whilst I stopped playing was because of the ITTF and their constant banning, first my Original followed by my Insider. I just recently started watching some table tennis on youtube and have a renewed interest in the sport, but before I return I have to find something to play with and stick with it. That is a lot easier said than done

Chop blocks existed decades before long pips did. Decent players can chop block using the liveliest inverted rubber. Just because lower level players need frictionless long pips to do it doesn't at all mean better players such as fabian require it.

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Equipment: Matsushita PowerDefence, Spin Art 1.9 black, Xiying 979 ox red
Style: American | US Rating: barely 2000

Completely wrong (with all respect).

He wasn't world's away from this when he used to play a 75% backhand pip blocking game. He was considered THE BEST frictionless blocker in the world. (If you think you knew how to use Original, download a Utube clip of Fabian using it!)

When the world's best pip blocker decides it's time to get his f/h fired up, and as a result- stick something simple on his b/h that will let him vary the spin from his chop blocks, don't think he doesn't know what he's doing with it.

Yes, Fabian is moving further up the rankings with his new f/h emphasis, but his b/h skill at pip chops and attacks put him on the map in the first place.

PS According to William Henzel (who played in the same German League team as Fabian and was his practice partner for 2 years), Fabian was switched to a frictionless pip blocking game by their coach of the day who "was amazingly talented at seeing undeveloped potential in people".

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Completely wrong (with all respect).

He wasn't world's away from this when he used to play a 75% backhand pip blocking game. He was considered THE BEST frictionless blocker in the world. (If you think you knew how to use Original, download a Utube clip of Fabian using it!)

This time 2 years ago when he was playing his 75% back hand pip blocking game he was in the top 450 in the world which is quite far off the top 250 so I beg to differ. As for "you think you knew how to use Original" lets not kid ourselves, there is no "knew" about it, as my former coach said with Original you could stand the paddle up on the table and go away and have some pina chiladas and let the Original do the work. This is why we are all bitching about it, we had a car with an automatic transmission and now we are forced to use a car with a manual transmission. The difference in the levels in the day of frictionless was down to the forehand.

Check out http://www.dttl.tv. They've got a new Fabian Akerstrom match against Timo Boll! (Borussia Düsseldorf - TTC Frickenhausen)

Boll killed him, but Fabian made some good pip blocks.

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Akerstrom-Boll full match: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PU81LIIH

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Urrk...pretty clean kill alright. But as you said, Fabian did play some nice balls too.

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NITTAKU SEPTEAR cpen | FH: 729 802, 1.5, black | RPB: CORNILLEAU PILOT POWER, 2.0, red
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Great find, thanks MNNB!

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