OOAK Table Tennis Forum

A very very good article ladies and gentlemen.
This has shut a bit of my EJing self and reinforce the other side of me which told me to stay consistent with whatever I has in hand. I think most if not all success is acquired through sheer consistency. Enjoy.
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Don't Change a Thing - Two Minute Table Tennis Tip
By Greg Letts, About.com Guide January 20, 2012

I just recently wrote a two minute table tennis tip encouraging players to make a change to their game in order to get out of a rut and see some improvement. Now I'm going to contradict myself and tell you not to change anything in order to improve.
Sounds crazy?

Not really. In my previous two minute table tennis tip, I was advocating making changes to your techniques, tactics, or physical or mental capabilities. A change in any of these factors, when diligently practiced for 3-6 months, will almost always result in a change for the better, provided the change was the result of an intelligent and well thought out decision making process. All too many players get stuck in a rut and refuse to change anything about their game, leading to a playing level plateau.

On the other hand, there is a certain type of player who just can't resist making changes to their table tennis game, sometimes almost on a daily basis. This is what is commonly known as the equipment junkie - a player who is constantly searching for the perfect blade and rubber combination for their game. They are always trying something new, hoping for another 1% improvement.

Of course, one problem that they find is that every combination of blades and rubbers acts a little differently to each other (and some are very different indeed!). And it's pretty rare that any particular combination is better than another mix of blades and rubbers in every facet of play. So depending on the player's style of play, and the opponents style of play, different rackets will be better or worse at any given time.

A second issue is that every time the player changes his rubbers and blades, it's natural for the player to pay much more attention to what he is doing, since he is very carefully monitoring what the racket feels like, so he can adjust for any differences in feel, power and spin. This intense focus almost always results in the player playing a little better, and the player decides that the latest racket is "the one". Then, a few weeks later, the player feels comfortable with his new racket, and his concentration drops a little. Suddenly he isn't playing quite as well as before, and he decides he was mistaken about the racket and it must be time to try something new again. He tries a new combination of blade and rubbers, focuses intently once more, and the cycle repeats.

Breaking the Chain

If this sounds anything at all like you, then I strongly suggest you break the never-ending cycle of new equipment. The money you are spending would be much better put to use in some coaching sessions with a qualified coach, where you spend your time improving your technique. I guarantee for the same amount of money spent, a qualified coach will do more for your game than a new racket or two (or three!).
If you absolutely must try new rubbers and blades, I would recommend using two or three months in your off season to test one or two new blades and one or two new rubbers. Give each combination at least a month to give yourself the chance to get used to the new racket, with the exception that if a racket feels wrong right at the start, trust your instincts and stop using it straight away - it's unlikely to get better. If it feels like an improvement, then give it a month to get over the new racket concentration period, as well as the disillusionment period when you lower your concentration and play a little worse. After about a month you should have a reasonably accurate idea whether your new combination is a true improvement or not.

Once you have decided on a new racket, stick with it during your main season through thick and thin, unless you are having a complete shocker of a season due to the new racket (and make sure it is the racket, and not you!). If that is the case, go back to your racket from the previous season, and try some new combinations in the next off season. Don't start trying a number of new combinations in the middle of the year in the wild hope that you'll somehow strike paydirt - go back to something you used to play well with.

If you like to experiment with new blades and rubbers because you find it fun and like trying new things, then by all means please yourself. But if you are continually searching for the perfect racket in hopes of improving your table tennis, I'd say it's 99% likely that you'd be better off getting off the equipment treadmill and only trying a few combinations in the off season, and using the money you save for some coaching lessons.
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Source: http://tabletennis.about.com/b/2012/01/ ... is-tip.htm

Oh and I don't actually understand if it is allowed to write this article right away in here so admins or mods please tell me what to do if such thing is not allowed.
Thank you.

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GFoT |Blade : Timo Boll ALC • FH : DHS 3 Neo Provincial MAX • BH : Tenergy 64 MAX
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Remember, this is the guy who stubbornly chopped for years with an ill-equipped Timo Boll Spirit looping blade, then wished he would have tried a real chopping blade years before when he finally bought one.

http://tabletennis.about.com/od/blades/ ... ita_ps.htm

I guess all these people who say you should shackle yourself to whatever equipment you already own know more than Joo, who changes his pips relatively often and who I'll bet has tried everything. There are a lot of top players (especially pip players) who change their equipment regularly, such as Paul Pinkewich, or at least try the new pips that come out, like Pascal Troeger. Being informed about what is available and optimizing your equipment for your personal game is just being a smart player.

Obviously there is a time to experiment and a time to concentrate on your "A" game, but I think EJers are stuck with a bad rap.

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

Yes he is Sir MMNB, I have followed his stories for quite some time, maybe his 'stuborness' is gone now?
I don't know but at least I get something from his writing

I think the article itself won't stop me from changing my equipment. But now at least I will know when I should change my pips, and how.
Probably Joo knew that he had to get back to his old spin manipulation game rather than relying only on heavy underspin, maybe that's why he changed his equipment.
In this context when I am good enough I will switch to a more advanced pips such as P1r because it is what I need for my game rather than what I want.

I won't say anything about the experiment and being smart and informed thru trials of pips for it is true

Its also true that one has to concentrate on his/her A game.
But the mistake people made is that they constantly change their equipment on their A game. This is probably the problem and was my problem (I change my MAIN equipment way too much).

I guess from now on I would like to buy one allround blade and use it as an experiment blade hehe

Thanks for the reply Sir its always nice to see another point of view.

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GFoT |Blade : Timo Boll ALC • FH : DHS 3 Neo Provincial MAX • BH : Tenergy 64 MAX
Crossover to Takeover!

I think I pretty much covered it all in the article, but it just struck me that wouldn't it be funny if Joo was suddenly playing better because he went back to his TSP Curl P-1r after messing around with all those other rubbers and playing not as well for the last few years?

And remember that Joo probably plays 20-40 hours a week, plenty of time to get used to new equipment fast. For the player who plays twice a week, how long would it take to get the same amount of time with the new equipment? Oh yeah, about 5-10 weeks, which is roughly what I wrote.

As far as me using the TBS blade for chopping, I did actually have a defensive blade before that that I used, but coming back to the sport after a long break I decided to be an attacker and use a faster blade. Then when I started to chop again I really liked the TBS, so I didn't want to change, when I obviously should have. I did change my rubbers a few times in that period, it just took me a while to consider changing the blade. As I've written elsewhere, sometimes I'm a slow learner and a bit stubborn.

Interestingly, I think Paul Pinkewich is still using his original Stiga blade of over 30 years, so I guess using Paul as an example cuts both ways.

And finally, if you are improving while changing equipment regularly, you don't have a problem. The article specifically said in the opening paragraph that it was talking about players who are changing rubbers/blades often and stuck in a rut. Hopefully mynamenotbob is one of the former, not the latter.

I've made plenty of mistakes during my table tennis career, and I've never been shy about sharing them with my readers and others. I've done my share of EJ'ing back when I was young, and it never did a damn thing for me apart from racking up a lot of expenses. So I'll just repeat that if you are an EJ and your game hasn't improved in the last year, I'd recommend that you stop trying new equipment and spend the money on improving your technique with some coaching - you will be much better off in my humble opinion. Joo and mynamenotbob might disagree though.

Cheers,

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Perth Table Tennis Club

EJing has its uses without doubt. You have to experience different feeling equipment to get an idea of what suits you and works for you. But there comes a point where you have to settle into something that feels suitable and then work with it to improve your game on a solid foundation. It may not be (and probably won't be) the perfect equipment you settle on, unless you happen to have lucked out in your EJ search. Learning the really fine intracacies of the equipment you settled on and how it responds to every angle, hand movement, etc is then the way you can hone the equipment into your techniques. Small changes in equipment, like trying a different Ox LP or a different Inverted sponge hardness can result in slightly more suited equipment to your base. Or you may step back to what you had knowing the change didn't help.

The washup of this is there is a relationship between EJing, learning technique and fine tuning your equipment that all goes hand in hand. I think Greg's article tries to communicate that equipment is not the ONLY thing that is going to improve your game. To me Greg, you are saying once you find something you can work with, give it 3-6 months to see what you can really get from it. The only thing I would suggest differently to this is, if you really think its suitable, then 2 or 3 or more years with it will really be where you start to become intimate enough with the equipment to really get the best out of it.

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I'm about to do a mid season change, while playing really well. Not all that radical though - I am about to change only my blade, from Donic Waldner Allplay to Stiga Classic Allround. Need a thicker handle as I'm getting tennis elbow from the skinny handle on the donic. I agree with Greg on the futlity of change for changes sake, but as someone whose level has recently risen partly as a result of equipment change (combined also with systematic training) after many years at a plateau, I wouldn't write off the importance of appropriate equipment. The change that worked for me was to go from an offensive blade to an all round blade, allied with reasonably zippy rubbers. I reckon this on its own was worth somewhere around 5 points per match to me, based on by improved control and stability, and I lost almost nothing in overall effectiveness on my attacking game

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Tibhar Stratus Power Defence
TSP Curl P4, 0.5 sponge
Stiga Calibra LT Sound
and my chickening out setup..
Donic Waldner Allplay
Stiga Boost TC 2.0 forehand
Stiga Boost TC 1.8 backhand

Something which has always surprised me and which I'm sure there would be a good demand for are "custom fitting days" for table tennis players where a player could go to a supplier and be custom fitted for their equipment. It happens a lot in golf and table tennis seems similarly obsessed with varieties in equipment. There has to be a gap in the market there for someone. Condense all the EJ into one day and get your choice right.

There have been a couple of occasions when I've taken either all my blades or inverted rubber sheets down to a practice session for people to try out and they've found it very useful and surprising about the differences between combinations of equipment. That's a case of trying lots of rubbers and bat combination in one session - ie undiluted EJ'ism without financial cost to those concerned.

Personally, I've tried lot's of rubbers and blades, partly out of fun, partly to learn about other equipment and what it feels like to use and that has helped my understanding and appreciation of the game. One of the best examples is that I used to be told LP's were for people who couldn't control spin and were destroying the game because they were "dumbing" it down - the old "I lost to the LP rubber not the person using it". After trying LP's I soon realised it's not easy using LP's effectively - what it is is a different skill set - emphasis on "skill". It may not have helped my actual playing in terms of technique but I got a feel of what they were and weren't suited to, especially after talking to someone who used them very effectively. Now you won't here me blaming a defeat on the equipment the other person uses. And that kind of brings me on to "the person using it". Equipment doesn't win you points or matches. If you don't believe me, leave your bat on the table, let your opponent serve in a match and see how many balls that bat manages to get back on it's own. The key factor in table tennis IS the person who holds that bat and what THEY do with it. And what they do with it is down to technique. It may not always be the fastest way to better results but working on your technique, mental approach and physical conditioning is in my opinion more important than constantly changing equipment - if winning and improving your standard is what motivates you. But, it can't be denied that equipment should also be chosen to suit a style, your style. I doubt Gregg Letts would tell someone who wants to play a two winged looping style but is using LP's forehand and backhand not to try using inverted rubber instead.

So for you not to need to make a change and to be able to concentrate on your technique you need to be at least roughly in the right area of style matching equipment.

As for the time you should change ie off season. To a large degree I agree. I recently played a league match (we are mid season), my first with Pluto on my backhand. I lost all 3 matches. Why, two reasons. One my opponents played better than me, found a weakness in my technique I couldn't counter and deserved to win and two because I had no confidence in MY ability to use the pluto because I hadn't given myself time to learn how to use it. This is probably due to MY arrogance in thinking I've used many short pimples and a couple of medium pimples in the past so how hard can it be to learn how to use the pluto (I had just a couple of practice sessions - as Gregg Letts rightly points out those two sessions spanned 2 weeks - I don't have the luxury of practicing every day). In terms of winning changing equipment midseason was a BIG MISTAKE and my team captain told me so. The next night at a social session I tried the setup again (it's in my signature) and still made mistakes off my backhand side, mistakes I wouldn't expect to make, so I took the pluto off and put the spectol back on. Wow did the spectol feel bouncy and lively, almost uncontrollable and this was the same rubber I'd used for a full season. It now felt so different to how I remembered and I'd gone from being comfortable with one to being totally uncomfortable with both in just a couple of weeks. I took the spectol off again after just one game and put the Pluto back on. Why not go back to the spectol, well the Pluto gave me more of a direct feel a bit like a hard bat rubber in someways, like Dr Evil with a bit of sponge and I like that feel - it's a fun feel for me and I'm willing now to invest time in improving my technique to use it.

Now if I'd never changed my equipment I'd never have had that feeling of ball on bat that Pluto gives me, nor would I have found Rakza which I've been using for about a year and which I won't be changing from.

Ultimately though I agree with Greg Letts. If changing equipment regularly = success I'd been playinig for England now. Instead I started playing in division 2 of our league and now I play division one and have had only half a season in our premier league. My lesson, YOU are the biggest factor in how a rubber performs. So if you want to improve your game, improve yourself and give yourself some consistency in what you use to achieve that. And it's these type of people that I think Gregg's article was aimed at - people who want to improve and develop. There is no magic rubber which will do it all, spin, speed, control - not even Tenergy. It's you who is the biggest factor in determing how well YOU play. But if you want to experience what it's like to use other equipment, then do it, but do it in the knowledge that constant change could damage your development and may give you a false sense of confidence in judging what rubbers can and cannot do.

Excellent post there Debater!

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If I was playing in a league or a tournament where the matches meant something, I'm sure I would concentrate more on my 'A' game. But, table tennis life in the U.S. is pretty different from the rest of the world. In most places there are no leagues and USATT tournaments are far and few between, so basically we go to the club every week and play more or less the same people over and over and over, which can get boring. Basically we play for bragging rights.

Testing different equipment in this scenario can liven up these normally uneventful weekly matches. It especially adds an interesting new dynamic when you play opponents who normally would have no chance to beat you.

Secondly, I played at my highest level with friction-reduced long pips, which are OK for club play but now can't be used in USATT competition. Of course, the ITTF ban of these rubbers (and follow-up ban of the best replacements) has forced me to reinvent my game from the ground up, so I've experimented with all kinds of styles using different LPs, antis, short pips, etc. It took me a long time to find a new style I can enjoy and can compete with at a more or less equal level. This journey necessarily required a lot of EJing.

Sure I could have bought a double-inverted setup and taken lessons, etc. But that's just not me because I have too much fun playing a unique, unorthodox and disruptive game.

So now in my bag I usually have my 'A' bat that I use for serious matches, an identical 'B' bat where I might be testing different LPs, and I might bring an experimental setup to check out something I'm curious about (like Joola Timeless). Oh, and if I ever need to reassert my bragging rights, I have my old Super Block bat in there too.

I'll always try out new blocking LPs because I like to know what's going on. But I'm pretty much set on my blade and forehand rubber. I just hope this new bigger plastic ball doesn't screw everything up.

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

I do some custom fitting for newer players, ex players and current players. Where I get them to try different forehand and backhand rubbers on each side against a robot, then we talk about what they used to used , what kind of game they want to play compared to what they do play (some peoples own decription of thier styles can be so different to what they do play like lol) I then give them some tips, have some rallies with them, tell them where the closest local club to thier house, offer them a free 15-20 min lesson next time they are around, we carefully select a blade that they like the feel of (shape,weight,speed etc) , see if the blade and rubbers fit into thier budget, fit thier chosen rubbers on, maybe they want a hit when the bats finished or they want to use the robot bla bla bla.....
Anyhow a ex player that I spent an hour with 4-5 months ago saw me at a club and said he didn't like the $15.00NZ Chinese rubber he had, but he did like the Euro rubber, and he wanted to know why he could now not use the Chinese rubber and said he bought it only from my recommendation and the sky was falling in and it was all my fault
I wrote My story because even with custom fitting some customers never take any responsibility and even though they are 94% happy with the new setup (his first after not playing for 25 years) he still hunted me out just to complain lol

On another issue if coaches were cheaper and offered more adult coaching then more players would consider adding some lessons into thier TT year

About Ejaying Ive seen players buy a new rubber try for 5 mins and then discard , this really amazes me that some don'y even try for at least a week lol

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We get this sort of thing from Rob's Affordable table tennis shop in Sunbury. It's great to try different set-ups on his table and to have discussions with him to refine choices. I changed my bat after a year and because of the distances involved, it feels like a pilgrimage to a holy place of Table Tennis! Well worth it.

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EJing can definitely be a useful exercise for players. Although, when you are playing competitively and looking to improve there comes a time where you need to work out what suits you best, stick with it and learn how to play your best and refine your technique with that equipment. I'm sure a lot of social and semi-competitive players like to change around their equipment just to add something to the game for them and get a bit of excitement from the different types of equipment, but in the long run, if you are constantly adjusting to different rubbers every other week, then you will have difficulty refining technique and increasing your skill.

I went through an EJ phase at the end of last year, in the space of 2 months I tried about 3 different blades and 4 different rubbers. The end of the year is the off-season for me, so this was the perfect time to be trying out different equipment and working out what is best for me. I have now settled on my blade and rubbers, which I will be training with and using throughout the competitive season this year. At this stage I can't see myself swapping around my equipment and doing any sort of EJing for the foreseeable future, but it was definitely an essential part of finding the right equipment.

I think it can be difficult for a lot of players to find the right equipment, especially as you develop in the early stages. It can also be very hard to gather accurate information on what is best suited to a particular person, a lot of people rely on information from others at their club who don't always have the best answers. This can lead some players to EJing as they are lead in different directions from different opinions and just don't have the right information to make an appropriate choice. One of the biggest problems I see is offensive players using equipment which is far too fast for their level of skill (I'm guilty of the same thing when I was a Junior). There are a number of players around my club who are still very much in the developing stages who miss more shots then they get on as they simply can't control it.

It would be great if there were more qualified people around to guide players through the equipment selection process and give them plenty of things to try out along the way.

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Main: Butterfly Timo Boll Spirit ST | FH: Andro Hexer HD 2.1mm | BH: Donic Bluefire MAX

Yes, vg post Debater.

I have posted this quote by Alois from pingskills before and its on point here:

"A trap that a lot of club players fall into is that they think that the equipment will do everything for them. This is far from the truth. It is very much more important how much you train and how well you train. Equipment is very much over rated.
I know a better player will beat me whether they are playing with a ZLC or an ALC blade."

I have seen so many EJ's (both live and on forum videos) who spend so much time and money fussing about equipment and they can barely play. It's truly bizarre. Also, judging by their games (and even the games of many stronger EJ's), they appear to have spent very little time undertaking quality practice.

I'm sure most EJ's up to at least 2000 standard would be amazed how much they would improve simply by enhancing their ball-control/consistency via some focused practice sessions. Moreover, I am confident that, for most at least, as the strength of their game increases their belief in the importance of equipment will correspondingly decrease.

Well, I'm not sure what qualifies one as an EJ. I agree that if a player tries a different setup every week they will never get anywhere. However, in the real world I think for most people these EJ phases come in short spurts that are months apart.

Over the past four years, I have tried dozens of blades and probably over one hundred rubbers due to various equipment bans, but now I am very secure that I am finally using the optimal legal equipment for my game. I still maintain my 'A' setup and anything new that I try on my identical 'B' testing blade is strictly on a short term probationary basis.

These days I will try out new products more out of curiosity than anything else. For example, there are some new Dr. Neubauer pips coming out in February. When I was still searching for equipment that fit my game the best, I was more of an early adopter. Now I'll wait to read reviews on forums before taking a plunge.

I don't think it hurts my game to try different LPs on occasion on a short term basis during practice matches. In fact, over the last month I have literally been crushing players whom I previously went 50/50 with after making a change to a slightly more grippy pip (which happened quite by accident). I feel at the moment I'm only playing at about a 25% comfort level and a 50% efficiency with this new LP so it's certainly worth further exploration and I already consider this to be my 'A' setup. I'm very excited to see where this "breakthrough" will go.

Also I would say long pips players tend to change their pips side more often than inverted, short pips or anti players change their rubbers, so maybe it's a long pips thing.

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

Thanks everyone for the reply!
Its great to see a diverse point of view

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GFoT |Blade : Timo Boll ALC • FH : DHS 3 Neo Provincial MAX • BH : Tenergy 64 MAX
Crossover to Takeover!