OOAK Table Tennis Forum

That dude (Owner) is 2300 level and myself, I play at a higher level than my current rating, but not 300 points like the owner hehe. There are a few U2000 who can defeat me, it's not like I am murdering the entire U2000 field. With another tourney or two, the rating should climb to my playing level close enough.

Unless you have troubles with a few under-rated or wierd matchup stuff, you should do well at that tourney in U1800.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Too bad there is no U-1800.

Frustrating training session today, guys. I've realized that I have a problem with my FH loop against block, as my finishing position is not correct. I am finishing with the tip of the rubber facing directly vertical towards the ceiling. Imagine the classic "prayer" position with both palms and fingers together in front of your face - that's my finishing position. Originally I thought it had to do with my neutral/slight fh oriented grip, but I don't think so. Contacting the ball on the side and visualizing the correct finishing position helped greatly, and my fh loop felt much more consistent.

As for the BH, I seem unable to generate spin out of a shorter stroke. Oh well.

I feel I am getting very close to the point where I will just try to focus entirely on serve and serve return for a while. My technique probably is not going to get much better without very high level coaching, so I think i'm about finally ready to focus on scoring points. Lots of serve practice, flick and dropshot practice from both sides, reading spin, better ball placement, more random multiball, etc.

At some point I just have to bite the bullet, accept my technique for what it is, and learn to score points.

Table tennis is a game of information. Post video so we can have the information to help you.

I mean, look at how many years I played with a technically inferior forehand. I lacked the information to fix it.

Don't complain about missing strokes. There is a reason I always record what I do. It may not always be worth reviewing, but sometimes, I learn the most from reviewing things I never planned to initially. And with Brett around, you shouldn't have to fix these things alone as long as you record the sessions and share them.

For the record, my current forehand sometimes finishes with the tip towards the ceiling. What matters is where you contact the ball and that can be affected by your grip.

For the backhand, maybe the stroke is too short. Maybe you need to make it larger. The most important thing is to slowly and regularly push it with random and footwork drills.

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

I am confused a little by you saying the problem with your FH is the finishing position. That seems like you are jumping to the cause without saying the problem. Like if you finish "wrong" but you are blasting consistent, spinny FHs anyway, then who cares where your racket tip pointed?

So what was wrong with the balls you hit that way? They went long, or sprayed around, or not enough pace?

I do that when my stroke is really tense, I have loads of video of it. The bat jerks straight up after contact. So maybe you are muscling the ball instead of free swinging? But I'd still like to know what about the result bothered you.

And you sound depressed about switching to almost all serve/receive training, but that truly will win you more points than any other way to invest your time. So it may not be all a bad thing. I respect your desire to perfect your stroke technique, but winning is fun too. Just find a way to get over to MDTTC for league every so often so you can experience the rewards for your efforts.

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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

By the way, BRS is another guy whose forehand good or bad finishes with his racket head up. Look at the LTT series on TTEdge if you doubt me. I find my loop tends to be better when I use the racket head up rather than the racket folded over hook. But I probably do both unconsciously. I switched to racket head up finish when I noticed that it gave me more placement options with fewer foot work adjustments. It also made my forehand topspin flick over the table better as I currently suck at flicking flat. People who consistently finish with the racket folded over tend to have poor forehand flicks unless they practice making the required grip adjustment.

As a general rule though, it helps over time to be able to adjust your wrist to make different shots with different contacts. Just saying. For attacking high balls, you saw Brett demonstrate the hook, the fade and the early counter. And all are loops that can be used in general play.

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Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Serve and serve return practice are critical once you break 1600. That's where a lot of the game is won or lost as you approach 2000 and at every level beyond that.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Ah....correct, but while he learned how to do it, at what level did he learn it? How long would it have taken him to learn how to defeat his old conventional bike riding self in a race, with turns, starts and stops? In TT, we are COMPETING. We are not just trying to learn how to do it at an elementary level. We want to be able to use these newly corrected strokes vs. other players...this is vastly different. Of course it's doable, and that's why we train hard! That's the challenge!

I don't bring that up to suggest you, Next, or anyone one of us can't defeat ingrained habits, I'm just shedding light on why it's so difficult. I remember how complex these neuropathways and take a second to give myself a break when I don't "Get" soemthing right away. Keep in mind, micro-movements specificlaly with finger and hand dexterity are among the most complicated areas to change because they are so complex. This is why there are hand Occupational Therapists as a specialty...

People can accomplish anything given time and dedication.

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Blog: "Holy Chtchet!" ⇝

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Thanks for the feedback guys. I have been sick lately and running a fever (I think maybe NL gave it to me!), but when I get back I'll take some video of my FH loop and maybe you guys can help me figure out exactly why I'm finishing in this position, and whether or not it matters. I was under the false impression that finishing with a vertical racket was a no-no, although I'm not sure why. I was initially worried because my FH seemed to lack consistency and my shots tended to stray towards the middle of the table. When I started to finish in the "hook" position, the shot felt more natural, my shots were directed right at the corner, and the consistency went up quite a bit.

As NL mentioned earlier, video is the only way. But playing in crammed basements with virtually no room makes getting the necessary angles a little challenging.

The usual culprits -

1) contact point on the ball/racket angle.
2) (not) stroking in the direction of the shot.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

Watch Brett's pivot video and see how his finish position compares to yours.

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

Yoko Ono

Will do! Here's a video of my FH loop from today. I'm not sure if maybe my T- rex arms are playing tricks on me or not, but it looks like I may need to move my elbow out a little farther from my body. This is one of the first times I've looked at my FH from the front.

https://youtu.be/peGM9Y6LIZk

Yes you may, but you just might have short arms. It is a very competent loop and looks good to me. A few views from the right side and the back to see what your balance is like and what your feet are doing would help as well. The real gains might come from being able to use your arm over a longer range (higher finish) with a larger body turn when necessary, but that might just be a result of the visual with your arm.

This is the dynamic I sometimes use (or something like it but slower) to give the loop more corkscrew/dwell time. It comes around the right side of the ball more and wraps over it to the finish position over the head. Along with a straighter arm and improved finishing position, it's generally what I teach to people who have loop driving disease and need to slow their loops down while retaining control of a somewhat larger stroke.

http://d5f8dr1gz94y6.cloudfront.net/wp- ... 798a9a.mp4

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

I see what you are talking about and the ones that kind of shoot up look exactly like what I do -- except more consistent and with better dip.

IMO that is all down to tension in your arm and probably everywhere else. Instead of just saying "RELAX!!" like coaches do, try this. Do the same loop against block but try to make the sound much softer/lighter, if you know what I mean. Those loops had a hard smack kind of sound, try to get a silent loop. Then try to get the sort of pop sound from just the rubber. Then move it around from silent to loud and all in between on demand. (My experience of contact sounds is all based on Tenergy, so if you use dif rubbers adjust your audio accordingly. )

It looks like you are trying to swing fast, or hard. Don't try. Just swing easy. If you release the tension then your hand and paddle will just keep going on the same path as the swing. I say this as someone who tries to do that, not usually with success.

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

Yoko Ono

BRS is likely on to something. I thought the loops were hard but I tend to make hard contact myself. That said, looping should be a relaxed motion. And you should be able to brush to different degrees and with different amounts of contact pressure, similar to what I told you on the backhand. In fact, my forehand loop actually has more variation than my backhand loop which is something I need to fix.

In any case, don't loop so hard as to seek the kind of timing and stroke that elevates the quality of your loop
Remember that to generate spin, you need to give your rubber a chance to catch the ball and along it back out. Sometimes, going too hard can defeat this, though if the ball is easy and the stroke well directed, the speed can compensate. But when the ball is low, getting that dip is a priority. Always have an idea of how hard you can swing without losing that dip.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus