OOAK Table Tennis Forum

You didn't spend New Year's Day editing matcg video to post? Dang!

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Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

Yoko Ono

OK - I've loaded the recorded games onto my computer - just need to edit them now. Quality isn't too bad, although sometimes camera angles could have been better.

Day 2 of the tournament was pretty decent - I was not unhappy with how I played, and I ended up runner-up in the "plate" event, winning a voucher - my best ever result in a tournament to date.

Had a practice at the weekend, unexpecetedly, and didn't have my Kitex with me, so used the slower blade (same rubbers). Definitely prefer my regular blade, so the Fibercomp Defense will be available for sale shortly.

League match today - 3/3 without any difficulty, and the team won 10-0, only dropping one leg.

Playing again tomorrow night.

Hopefully I'll have some time on wed/thu eve to edit one or two matches, and get them posted.

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Donic Li Ping Kitex | Wanted: Thin, Slow, Soft, Inverted | Dtecs 0.5

3/3 last night 3-0, 3-0, 3-1 -- shouldn't really have dropped the leg I dropped - just a lapse in concentration.

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Donic Li Ping Kitex | Wanted: Thin, Slow, Soft, Inverted | Dtecs 0.5

Overdue an update. So prior to lockdown, I was playing in four league competitons, plus British League, plus tournaments. I stopped playing in February, with a business trip, followed by lockdown in the UK. Before stopping, I was doing ok:

Local Competition One (playing as #1 in a promotion-chasing div 1 team) -- 83%
Local Competition Two (playing as #1 in a relegation-fighting lower-league team) -- 100%
Local Competition Three (playing as #3 in reigning champions top-local div team) -- 24%
Local Competition Four (playing as #1 in mid-table div 1 team) -- 55%
British League (playing at #4 in mid-table, bottom division team) - 25%

I had a few decent wins in competitions, and won my first ever "prize" as runner up in a consolation final.

In terms of equipment I started the season with inverted FH and OX LP on the BH (Andro Tensor / Curl P4) on a Balsa core blade, but I wasn't happy after the first few matches, and returned to SP/LP on a 7 ply OFF blade (651 and Dtecs then Dornenglanz).

Been able to play a bit now for the last few weeks, since I have a table, and have trained with a range of players - generally very happy with how I'm playing.

I was having a rummage around and came across my Avalox P700. I used this a few years ago, but at the time it wasn't right for me - especially on the BH. I've clearly changed since then, as I tried it out (as part of my cheap rubber experiment), and it's lovely, so current setup is 802/755/P700.

Next season (if it goes ahead!) I'm going to play with my brother in the bottom local league - he and his team mate are solid 2/3 players, but their number 3 struggles to get 1/3, so they never stand a chance of being promoted, which they really need to do, if they're to improve. I should be good for 3/3, so if they can get 1 or 2 each, we should win the league, which will be a great opportunity for them.

Amazingly this team is the team I started in back in 2012/13 - I scored 0% in my first season in this team! Now I'm going back to it!

I'll continue to play British League, and probably play in one other local league, at top-flight level, or there abouts.

Not yet sure how risk-averse I am feeling about tournaments... but I'm keen to be competing again.

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Donic Li Ping Kitex | Wanted: Thin, Slow, Soft, Inverted | Dtecs 0.5

For those of you longing for some video.... here are a few sets of me against my friend. Allowances made for conditions, lack of shoes, etc... but our club only opened yesterday, so my living room is the best we've had until now!



And here are some edited highlights of my best points:

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Donic Li Ping Kitex | Wanted: Thin, Slow, Soft, Inverted | Dtecs 0.5

Had a chance to practice with PG yesterday and today. PG I think is the very first or maybe second video I ever made of me playing:



Here's a video of me playing a conditional match - best of 5, PG has to serve every point, and if I play three LP shots in a row, PG gets the point. I won 3-0:

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Donic Li Ping Kitex | Wanted: Thin, Slow, Soft, Inverted | Dtecs 0.5

Hi,
I saw your first video (just for reference, this is my first time to see you playing). I want to give you some tips based on that video clip.

1. Try to not twiddle! (at least on practice matches). It's too early for you to twidle. You have to learn some basics first.
2. Learn proper forehand, include your legs and the body. Shorten the hand movement, for reference watch
Mattias Falck how he uses his forhand short pips .
3. Backhand (long pips) try to be more aggressive, play chop/chop block or aggressive push and also attack those higher balls when you are close table. Sideswipe is a good addition for service return too. When half/away you should chop.

Learn the proper strokes even you lose the next 20-30 matches.

Hope this helps .

Thought I'd check in - I read the forum from time to time.

I more or less gave up competitive TT at the start of the year. I felt I'd achieved some goals - played senior british league, won local league twice with two different teams. And I felt I was spending too much time indoors, travelling, etc. I wanted a break. I've turned out as a reserve a few times, but generally I'm just playing socially, mostly with the social Tuesday group.

Not caring about the result has been a weight off my shoulders - especially not worrying about letting the team down. It also means I am happy to experiment - and mess around. I've played a bit of jpen, which is fun, but I'm pretty settled with the tried and tested blade, dtecs 0.5 on the bh and anything on the FH - currently some PF4.

I doubt I'll get back into tournaments and league play, but I am still enjoying playing. I do still like to train, so might go to some camps in the winter.

As I write this I realise I started playing this time ten years ago... summer 2012... what a lot of time has passed!

Very best wishes to all forum members!

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Donic Li Ping Kitex | Wanted: Thin, Slow, Soft, Inverted | Dtecs 0.5

I've played a few times in the last week or two. The main change being I went back to a thinner FH rubber. I like the PF4, but as my main attacking weapon is a flat hit, I tend to find with my fast-ish blade that a thin and soft-sponged rubber is best. I'm also better at chopping with the thinner rubber. My go-to has typically been TSP Triple Spin Chop, but this isn't made any more, and the one I have is in grotty condition, so I may try a few others. On the "to try list" are:

- Spinlord Marder
- Secret Flow
- Tackiness Chop
- Andro Backside C (Tackiness Chop Clone?)
- Dr N Special Defence
- Donic Slice
- Tibhar Super Defence

The Spinlord and Secret Flow are the cheapest so may be where I start, but I'd be interested in anyone's experiences of any of the above.

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Donic Li Ping Kitex | Wanted: Thin, Slow, Soft, Inverted | Dtecs 0.5

I found TC rather too slow and the hard sponge does not help much to control the pips.Chops alright.Too pricey for my liking - for what it offers-

The great thing about Spinlord Marder is that it has a dampening effect on the pips.With Marder the pips will never get speedy.It very well chops ; has decent spin; blocks alright , tons of control but it is slow,your loops will be slow-you can't get everything,can you? .

Donic Slice chops very well ; has decent spin, blocks alright but it is slow as well ; because of the high price I prefer Marder.

Tibhar Super Defence chops superwell with great spin,blocks well .However,you will notice your pips will behave much more differently than with a soft sponge.TSD sponge is semihard and it does influence both the feeling and the control over the pips.On 0.5 you cannot loop, at least 1.5 to have a decent topspin.

Thanks - that's really useful. I was worried about the firmness of the TSD, so good to have that confirmed. I thought TC had a soft sponge, but I agree, it's pretty expensive. Marder seems like a no-brainer for now - so I will try that. I am intrigued by the Secret Flow - I know a decent VBL player who uses Secret Flow, and swears by it. The Dr N is also very expensive, and I'm skeptical of whether I could justify the extra cost.

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Donic Li Ping Kitex | Wanted: Thin, Slow, Soft, Inverted | Dtecs 0.5

Secret Flow has a tensor sponge and so does Nittaku Moristo Def . I have never played with SF but I guess it plays similar to NM Def,which is an excellent rubber.

Yes, I am sure SF will be a very good option too!!!