Hello everyone,
I have been reading this forum for a year now and I have found many useful posts. I have finally gathered the courage to write my first post here
. I apologize to everyone for my poor English; I will try to use an online translator. Hopefully, it will be somewhat understandable
. I also apologize to forum member @Def-attack for writing such a lengthy description in his blog, but I believe there's no need to start a new topic since my idea and intention are exactly the same as his. Thanks to this blog, I've learned a lot and I admire the dedication with which he approaches training. Deep respect
Let me start by describing myself a bit... I am 57 years old, 177cm tall, and currently weigh 104kg
. I live and work in Serbia. I played table tennis actively in a club from 1982 to 1991. Back then, I played with the old and good equipment that was common for many offensive players: Butterfly Gergely blade + FH and BH Sriver L rubbers. My playing style was classic offensive, although my backhand was always much weaker than my forehand. My entire game and movement were based on a strong forehand spin and chasing the ball in a 9m² area on the forehand side
. My coach always told me I would never become a complete player because I tried to solve everything with a forehand shot. He was right
I never managed to effectively use the backhand. At that time, I compensated for it with my youth (16-24 years old), my speed, and my weight of only 60 kg
. I could never learn proper footwork, especially the repeated strong BH spins, before transitioning to the FH. But that's in the past...
After that, from 1991 to 2015, I took a 24-year break from playing completely! I got married, had a son, looked for a job, etc., etc. - life's usual things. The desire to train slowly faded and eventually disappeared until 2015.
Then I started training again and after a year, I joined a local club. After such a long break, I encountered entirely new things like playing sets to 11 points and using water-based glue for rubbers, tensor rubbers, etc., etc. I couldn't find my old equipment anymore. I bought, as is customary for total beginners, a fast blade and 2 Tenergy 05 max rubbers
. I forgot that I was almost 50 years old and weighed around 90 kg at that time
. Soon, I switched to slower equipment. In about a year, I somehow managed to regain a minimal rhythm for playing, and I even joined a team that played league matches. This was the period from 2016 to 2019; we played in the 5th division in our country. My love for this sport was reignited
.
In 2019, during a training session with a young player who was in the team (rank 2) in our country, I injured my shoulder. I couldn't play at all anymore due to immense pain. At the suggestion of a friend from the club, I started using various SP and LP rubbers on my BH and tried practicing pushing and chopping with those rubbers during training. Given my health situation with the shoulder injury, I could only play BH like that. I hadn't played forehand for over a year. The shoulder injury slowly subsided. Then the pandemic hit, and like everywhere else in the world, training and gatherings were restricted. I tried to make use of that time and learn to play BH with LP and some SP rubbers, but it didn't go well. Simply put, I wasn't persistent enough, and probably both LP and SP rubbers require a completely different hand and wrist setup when playing close to the table. I just couldn't learn that. I had more harm than benefit from LP and SP rubbers. I have tried various rubbers, such as Grass D.TecS 0.5, Grass D.TecS OX, Dr.Neubauer Aggressor, Dr.Neubauer KO, Dr.Neubauer Killer, Spinlord Degu, Spinlord Waran, Dawei 388d-1 OX... However, I always found myself returning to inverted rubbers after a certain period. My intention to slow down the pace of play on the BH side, creating a suitable situation with a few shots to transition to the FH side and score a point with an FH loop, couldn't materialize. This was mostly because I wasn't persistent enough, and probably because LP and SP rubbers require quite a different hand and wrist position when playing close to the table. I just couldn't learn it.
I never had any experience with anti-spin rubbers. But I had a desire to try them. Unfortunately, there is not a single player in my club who plays with anti-spin rubbers. Watching some video clips recommended in this blog, I got the impression that I might be able to start practicing with an anti-spin rubber on my BH side. I am simply amazed by Marcus's style of play in this video and these parts:
https://youtu.be/MHHcggrxoeM?t=81https://youtu.be/MHHcggrxoeM?t=113https://youtu.be/ViqmByIIRmQ?t=33The way his hand and wrist position for blocking and "chopping" with anti-spin rubber resembles how it is with inverted rubbers. I'm fairly confident that with persistence, I might be able to learn at least a bit. My goal isn't a massive reverse right now; I mainly want to have a dynamic aggressive pushing and "chopping", even if with empty balls. And then have the opportunity to execute a strong attack with FH from the table. I know it won't be easy, but now I have a strong desire to learn this style of play. I'm only playing recreationally now, not in league matches, so I have all the time in the world
. Therefore, I would like to slow down the game a bit, make better use of my BH, and then create a proper setup for a FH attack. I want to bring my game closer to the table as much as possible. The way I currently play with 2 inverted rubbers it makes me tired, and I lose rhythm quickly.
My inspiration for learning (at least somewhat
) anti-spin rubber is as follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHHcggrxoeMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViqmByIIRmQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCrBuF_Gui4 (thanks @Def-attack)
I only have a few older videos of myself and just one from this year; they all feature inverted rubbers. Unfortunately, I don't have footage of any official league matches or any attempts with LP and SP rubbers. I haven't uploaded full sets, only characteristic points where you can see and assess the situation. Apologies for the long videos
. I am in the first video wearing a black jersey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLUJEkoAxpwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJpRSvbZAUUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8wCX8PNgjchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkdLlF5TDf4What advice do you have for me?
My idea is as follows:
To start with simpler anti-spin rubbers for a few months, such as Spinlord Gigant, Spinlord Gigant 2, Spinlord Sandwind, Barna Original Original Anti, Der Materialspezialist Anti-Speed, etc.,.. (So... one of these rubbers)
and then transition to more advanced ones like Barna Original Super Glanti, Barna Original Super Glanti Attack, Der Materialspezialist Storkraft, Dr.Neubauer A-B-S, etc...
Is this a good idea or not?
Also, do you advise me to buy a blade that works better with anti-spin rubbers?
For example: Dr.Neubauer Matador Texa, Dr.Neubauer Matador, etc... The blade should also be great for FH spin.
You can see the list of blades I have in my signature. I'm currently using Nittaku Miyabi.
Thank you all for your suggestions and advice