OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hello all,
Before I introduce myself, I wanted to give a big thanks to everyone on this forum. I stumbled upon this forum while looking for reviews of blades/rubbers and I guess I never left. To say that I have learned a lot from all the advice on this forum would probably be an understatement. With that, I will stop rambling..

I originally played TT in college with the short pips no sponge bats that come with the table about 22 years back. I wasn't any good at it back then. I then played, about 4 years later, a couple of times at a place I was working with borrowed paddles where a few of the players have me some tips on how to return serve (don't be too passive on the return is the only thing that stuck with me). Fast forward 17 years and, at my wife's nudging to take up a hobby, I started playing TT. I then purchased my first paddle (a premade Gambler paddle) and began my journey. I lucked out that I didn't purchase something too fast for me. Since then I have changed my paddle to something a bit faster and put rubbers based on your recommendations as well as based on reviews on other sites on the web. I have tried not to EJ but found that it's not easy to resist the urge to change bats/rubbers.

It has been about a year since I started playing. I play a couple of times (approx 6 hours) a week at a nearby place (not a full-time club since they roll out the tables every time before play starts and then roll them back into storage once our time is done). I play inverted on both sides and loop on both wings. I used to lose to all the players at the place I joined but have slowly improved to where I manage to beat some of the weaker players and sometimes get a game or two from some of the top players. I do not have a coach yet (don't have the facility at the place I play) and use YouTube as my source of learning and sometimes record my games to analyze them and find my flaws. My wife helps out as well in identifying when I'm playing a bit stiff and not relaxed.

I figure a blog will be a good way to look back in future and track my progress in this sport. Once again, I appreciate all of your helpful comments and suggestions.

Thanks!

_________________
Thanks!
LTT

Paddles
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Primary: Sanwei Fextra, Sanwei Target National on FH, Palio AK47 red on BH
Backup: Sanwei Fextra, Palio HK1997 Gold on FH, Sanwei T88-Taiji on BH
Motto: Always Learnin'

I have finally decided to take part in a USATT ratings tournament. It's a one-star tournament hosted by the Rhode Island Table Tennis Association. Based on my play against the top players at my club, who were rated a couple of years back, I figure I'm rated between 900-1100 and will be taking part in the U1000 and U1200 events. Let me know if someone else on the forum is planning to take place in this tournament and we can meet and get to know each other.

_________________
Thanks!
LTT

Paddles
---------
Primary: Sanwei Fextra, Sanwei Target National on FH, Palio AK47 red on BH
Backup: Sanwei Fextra, Palio HK1997 Gold on FH, Sanwei T88-Taiji on BH
Motto: Always Learnin'

Welcome and good luck on your TT journey!

Instagram: rokphishtt

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instagram: rokphishtt

Greetings,

I have been extremely busy the past few weeks and didn't get a chance to update my blog.

The tournament went as expected - I lost all my games. What I also realized is that I didn't play to my potential and got a very low rating (< 600). Here is my assessment of the matches (best of 5 format).

For U-1000:
1. Played against a 700-800 rated player but he told me he hadn't played in a ratings tournament in a while. Turns out he was underrated since he ended with a 1100+ rating. Anyway, I lost in 3 games but was happy that I took him to 16-14 in one game.
2. Played a small kid (<10 years probably) but he had a 600+ rating if I remember correctly. Lost to him in 5 close games.

That was it for the U-1000 since there were only 3 people in my group.

For U-1200:

1. First match was against a member of my club. He had an old rating of 1000+ and ended up winning the U-1200. I took the first game and gave him a scare. He took the next 3 games but they were close if I remember correctly.
2. Played against a 700+ player and lost in 4 games. In speaking to him later he told me that I probably had more winners than he did. My problem is also that I lost too many points by my mistakes.
3. Played a young kid with a 600+ rating that I should have beaten if I had played well. Lost in 4 games.

One thing I realized is that the ratings after the first tournament are not necessarily accurate. One of my club mates who normally beats me was in another group and, if I remember correctly, won at least one match ended up with a lower rating than me probably due to strength of opposition.

All in all, I would say I'm glad that I played in the tournament and realized that the kind of mistakes I made were due to me being tense and can be corrected. I'll do better next time I play in a tournament.

Cheers!

_________________
Thanks!
LTT

Paddles
---------
Primary: Sanwei Fextra, Sanwei Target National on FH, Palio AK47 red on BH
Backup: Sanwei Fextra, Palio HK1997 Gold on FH, Sanwei T88-Taiji on BH
Motto: Always Learnin'

I follow the blog of UK coach Tom Lodziak and he recently posted this article.

https://www.tabletenniscoach.me.uk/less ... ttersbach/

I thought the UK would have a better TT infrastructure than the US but, reading through that blog post, I realized that my club situation (limited time in a rented space) is more the norm than the exception. I'll be better able to appreciate my situation (at least I have a club nearby) now.

Cheers!

_________________
Thanks!
LTT

Paddles
---------
Primary: Sanwei Fextra, Sanwei Target National on FH, Palio AK47 red on BH
Backup: Sanwei Fextra, Palio HK1997 Gold on FH, Sanwei T88-Taiji on BH
Motto: Always Learnin'

Rhythm and Tempo
================
After playing and watching TT for a while, I have learned that the outcome of every match relies on what I call rhythm and tempo. This is especially important in TT due to the speed of the game compared to other racket sports (e.g. badminton, tennis). In TT, you have no time to think during a rally and you simply react to the situation based on your training.

Rhythm
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After playing TT for a while, I have realized that I play my best when I have "rhythm". You know you have it when, during warm-up, you seem to be getting into good long rallies. Later, during the match, the shots you hit land on the table and you win/nearly win against higher-ranked players. I would call this as being in rhythm.

Tempo
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My definition for this is how fast/slow the match is being played and what to expect from the next shot played by your opponent. I realize now, after all this time, why it is so difficult to play against a chopper/modern defender. Every time you hit a shot, your opponent returns the ball to the table by chopping it. You get used to a slower tempo for the match. At the opportune time (when you hit a weak shot), they attack and this changes the tempo. This is also why, looking at modern defenders like Ma Te and Ruwen Filus, they can rarely win the point if the opponent returns the ball when they attack and they get into a looping rally with their opponent. The tempo of the game is suddenly something that the opponent relishes whereas this is a different tempo from what the defenders are normally used to. This is also why the modern defenders normally get the point when they suddenly attack. This changes the tempo of the game for the opponent making it harder to return the ball.

In case you think I'm suggesting being a chopper/modern defender is easy; that is not the case. The difficulty for the chopper/modern defender is to cover a greater distance (they're farther from the table) while also trying to ensure that their return is low enough over the net not to allow their opponent to attack it. Being a chopper also requires a certain temperament to have patience and not get frustrated when you are not able to control the rally and have to wait for the opponent to make a mistake. Not everyone can be successful at this.

I play a looping game on both sides but just wanted to share my views on this topic as a TT enthusiast. What do you think? Feel free to comment.

_________________
Thanks!
LTT

Paddles
---------
Primary: Sanwei Fextra, Sanwei Target National on FH, Palio AK47 red on BH
Backup: Sanwei Fextra, Palio HK1997 Gold on FH, Sanwei T88-Taiji on BH
Motto: Always Learnin'