OOAK Table Tennis Forum
https://ooakforum.com/

Learning to play: as a modern defender
https://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=22254		 Page 43 of 47
Author:  Ndragon [ 01 Oct 2021, 23:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
dunc wrote:
I've spent the afternoon thinking about going back to SPs.... ;(

I hate this game :D


Hahahaha

Well I hate to fuel the fire but the truth is I wouldn't mind seeing a video or 2 of you using them :oops:
Author:  dunc [ 01 Oct 2021, 23:30 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
You're a bad man!!!
Author:  Ndragon [ 01 Oct 2021, 23:38 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
Whack some shots for me with those SPs! Get me hyped up :lol:
Author:  dunc [ 01 Oct 2021, 23:49 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
If I go back to SPs, there won't be a ton of hitting.

Typically, in the past, I'll go to SPs to chop and occasionally bang a winner from my backhand side. But because I don't play with them for long enough, I miss those hits and revert exclusively to chopping...

... which I'm not very good at because it's really hard, so I go back to LPs :D
Author:  dunc [ 05 Oct 2021, 19:18 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
Start of the new league, 2021-22
Last night was the first match of the new Northumbria league season. My team, Cramlington Casuals, vs. Mount.

It... didn't go too well :D https://tabletennis365.com/Northumbria/ ... ard/370511

I won 1 against our resident classic defender (Innershield, T80, 0.5mm Curl P1-R so very similar to myself). It wasn't pretty, but he doesn't attack at all, so it's easy to control the game even when not playing brilliantly.

I then lost the other two games. For reference, this was the result last time I played against these two players: https://tabletennis365.com/Northumbria/ ... ard/320527

There were two defining factors of all three games last night: a) I was hideously nervous! and b) the Dignics 09C just doesn't work for me.

I haven't felt real nerves in a table tennis match for a number of years! I'm not too upset about that though, it's probably to be expected given that this was my first competitive match since about 3 months before the pandemic.

The Dignics made this way worse. Every forehand felt cramped and tense because the rubber is just way too quick for my forehand technique. I was half-hitting, hitting off the end regularly, making poor contact etc. I'm going to immediately revert to my T80FX... I just need to get it back off the lad I gave it away to :?:

The game against Jamie was "amusing". I was 7-5 up in the 5th end. I chopped a loop on my forehand with the LPs, it came off at a weird angle and I thought I'd missed by miles. I started saying "for f**k's sake" and then the ball went on and my opponent missed :D I gave him the point, then immediately after, he caught the edge in a rally... and that was me gone :D I'm usually quite good mentally but last night I literally just couldn't focus, and that was enough to completely b0rk my concentration.

Oh well... I live to fight another day!
Author:  peterpong [ 05 Oct 2021, 20:27 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
Hi mate.I sent you a pm before i saw your post.
My f/h was well off last night aswell as im using a new blade.
I take it the digs are going on e bay.they sell well.
Im sure with a few tweaks u will be back up there matey
Author:  Ndragon [ 05 Oct 2021, 22:06 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
Rough start but I bet it's good to be back.

Those nerves reminded me when I had a short short break then first league match playing without my brother and friend for a different club. My heart was pounding so hard and fast like a mini panic attack :sweat:

The fact that you went straight into it without playing for so long and without regular practice I take my hat off mate. And this is Div1 too
Author:  dunc [ 05 Oct 2021, 22:22 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
peterpong wrote:
Hi mate.I sent you a pm before i saw your post.
My f/h was well off last night aswell as im using a new blade.
I take it the digs are going on e bay.they sell well.
Im sure with a few tweaks u will be back up there matey

Aye, you asked if I enjoyed it... and to be fair, I still did. It was nice even just watching some live table tennis! Would've enjoyed it more if I'd won all three matches, but in a way I'm glad I didn't as it gives me a motivation to improve.

Dignics definitely going on eBay as soon as I pick the 80FX up, yeah.
Author:  dunc [ 05 Oct 2021, 22:24 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
Ndragon wrote:
The fact that you went straight into it without playing for so long and without regular practice I take my hat off mate. And this is Div1 too

Aye, thanks, and this is what I need to remember. I can't be too hard on myself. My teammates have been practising quite regularly since the minute UK COVID restrictions were lifted, whereas I've done about 3 hours total (and half of that whilst hobbling).

Good news is the knee held up, and as I said in my reply to PP, I'm motivated to play now and want to improve. I'm happiest in this mood, I love having something to look forward to.
Author:  Ndragon [ 05 Oct 2021, 22:40 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
dunc wrote:
Good news is the knee held up, and as I said in my reply to PP, I'm motivated to play now and want to improve. I'm happiest in this mood, I love having something to look forward to.


Really good to hear this. Having fun is most important but sometimes that means having a goal too for some people, like me right now I'm actually excited to play. Got a TT bug again :lol: although might not be good with my 2 day a week restrictions :headbang:
Author:  dunc [ 08 Oct 2021, 17:47 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
Last night I did two things: 1) I took the Dignics off my LP bat, and replaced it with my old 80FX. 2) I played the entire night with my ZLC, H3, Spectol setup.

I played against 3 players - my regular practice partner (control player/blocker), my teammate (big forehand) and one of the other lads at the club (immobile, spinny serves, super consistent spinny BH loop).

I was amazed at how easy I found the SPs to play with. Last time I tried to use them for chopping, I couldn't keep the ball on the table. This time, after a short adjustment period, I had very little difficulty chopping or returning serve. I found backspin harder to deal with than topspin.

I focused exclusively on playing a defensive SP chopping game all night. I kept my knees low and my bat high (great tip from magnus I think, in a different thread) and my defensive game was really, really solid. I won against all three players without hitting a single forehand. My forehand chop with H3 let me down early on, but I even got used to that after a few ends.

I think I might transition back to SP for a while, possibly even during the league this season. The dilemma is... can I afford to do it? Can my team afford for me to do it? They asked me at the start of the season if I could play a few matches against the tougher opponents to help them stay up. If I switch to SPs, my results would invariably take a dip before they got back to where they were. They'd also probably be different - e.g. I'd probably beat some players I previously couldn't, and lose to some players that I could beat with LPs.

I've been asked to play on Tuesday. Sensible decision would be to practice on Monday with my LPs again, then play Tuesday as normal... but I kinda don't want to :oops:
Author:  Ndragon [ 08 Oct 2021, 18:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
Oh gosh so sorry but I'm gonna have to disagree about what is sensible :lol:

I think you should stick with the SP bat and H3....

Think about it this way, you have had a long enough break to start sort of fresh with this new setup, while at the same time doing what you want to do right now. All of this while arguably having the better setup (dare I say it!) For your lvl of play especially. I believe you will adapt and conquer!

EDIT. Also it's ot always about winning (even though I'm pretty sure you will do about the same at this moment in time). Your team will appreciate you in there with them and as long as you're clearly trying your best they will be more than happy. Perfect time to do it tbh
Author:  dunc [ 13 Oct 2021, 01:16 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
I have some new footage...!



Will reply with more info later :)
Author:  dunc [ 13 Oct 2021, 18:32 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
Yeah, so the video above was the "best bits" (scraping the barrel :D ) of a knock I had with my teammate James on Monday night.

I spent the first 5 ends (which I lost 3-2) playing defence only - same backspin serve, no attacking. I didn't find this particularly enjoyable against James as he's happy to push indefinitely, so it got quite boring! It was good practice though, and as you can see from the video, my pushing technique still needs a lot of work.

I then spent a few ends doing "normal" play, e.g. the way I would usually play to try and beat James (mostly attack).

Finally I spent the last few sets playing all out attack with my FH. Here I was working on transferring my weight to my left side, which I felt I did quite well on some shots and not at all on others. This will take some practice and repetition, but at least I know I can do it.

My findings with the SP setup are...
  • Pushing is much easier than with LPs
  • I didn't struggle to return James' serves at all, even though some of them are really quite spinny for our standard of play
  • Chopping is absolutely fine when I'm away from the table. It's almost impossible to chop when I get stuck too close though, and blocking is way less effective than a "quarter-chop" (e.g. my opponents find the block easy to deal with)
  • I need to work hard on keeping low when pushing, and when looping against topspin
  • I hate the way I look when I play table tennis :D
Author:  Ndragon [ 13 Oct 2021, 23:31 ]
Post subject:  Re: Learning to play: as a modern defender
I thought you played really well tbh, it actually looks like you've played a while with SPs tbh.
I reckon in time you will develop into more all-round defender attacker and better off but we will see if I'm right or not.

As for getting caught closer to the table, at least you have more options now, sometimes if the block or active block is easier for you then it still means keeping it on the table and carrying on.

Well played mate, a lot of fun to watch tbh
Page 43 of 47 All times are UTC + 9:30 hours
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/