OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Had a pretty good tournament last week. Being the lowest ranked in the tournament there was little pressure and I played a few good matches. Shared some of the live streams on the OOAK discord server and uploaded clips from one of the other matches here:



Having looked at one of the matches i streamed vs a very safe player its clear what the problem is with my backhand chop on slow high bouncing loops. I'm not starting the chop high enough and don't get any racket speed before hitting the ball resulting in the chop going short and often high. Maybe I'll make a comparison video with a good defender just to see what I need to work on.

Another issue is getting too winded and high heart rate after long points. One time I had to take a timeout just to get my heart rate down. I need a more comfortable playing style , but I think that being better at breathing during the rallies can help. And also noted that getting pumped up (celebrating) after a big point makes the issue worse.

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Blade: Victas Yuto Muramatsu
Forehand: Dignics 09c 2.1
Backhand: Curl P1V 1mm

My blog

I think you're 100% accurate here Magnus

You're a far better player than me, but if you compare your stroke in that video to mine at 3m here:



You can definitely see there's more time between start of downswing and contact on my stroke - which means more racket head speed - which means more backspin.

This comparison would be even more extreme if you look at an actual top player - JSH for instance starts his backhand chops above his head.

However, against low incoming spin, this won't make much of a difference. Perhaps enough to cause issues. My recommendation would be - only occasionally - trying to play an inverted backhand chop. Put a bit of fear in your opponent about playing low-spin balls

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My blog: "Learning to play: as a modern defender": http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=22254
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtazeX ... oICGS9bqNg
Join the OOAK Discord!: https://discord.gg/Yw2hYUdz3g

[Other gear I've used]
Blades: Butterfly Defence 3, Butterfly Defence Pro, Butterfly Innerforce ZLC, Butterfly Innershield, DHS Power G7, Stiga Offensive Classic Carbon
SPs: Friendship 802 (1.5), TSP Spectol (1.3, 1.8, 2.1), TSP Spectol Speed (1.3), TSP Super Spinpips Chop Sponge 2 (0.5, 1.3)
LPs: Butterfly Feint Long II (1), Butterfly Feint Long III (0.5, 1.3), Tibhar Grass D.TecS (OX), TSP Curl P1-R (0.5, 1, 1.3), TSP Curl P4 (1.3)

Thanks! You have good racket speed on those chops when contacting the ball! With a bit more body rotation you would get even more "swing time". For some reason I can't get the racket above ear level, and often not over shoulder level. The problem is that it feels like I'm lifting the bat high when its not..

Interesting that you suggested the inverted chop. A coach and another player also suggested that, but haven't really tried it much thinking it would be difficult. One exception is when stuck with the pimples on the wrong side after twiddling, were i'm usually able to land a kind of chop block. Need to try this more.

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Blade: Victas Yuto Muramatsu
Forehand: Dignics 09c 2.1
Backhand: Curl P1V 1mm

My blog

Finally made the comparison video I've been planning forever (thanks for the inspiration Duncan).



The camera angle for the Filus clip is not the same as the others but you can see how the racket is at least head-level, maybe a bit higher and he gets lots of racket speed. With Kleinert the racket starts more behind the head, but he gets a lot of distance to accelerate the chop before hitting the ball.

With my own chop I notice that in addition to it being only ear-level (and the last chop that missed even lower) is that my arm is very close to the body, I've been told to create more distance to the ball so that the shot is not so cramped. I think Filus does this well.

Funny thing is my chop 10 years ago started higher . As you can see in the clip below (a video i shared when testing a prototype of the new plastic ball). At least I've improved from having zero body rotation : )

https://youtu.be/aw5sK9_xT1A?t=62

_________________
Blade: Victas Yuto Muramatsu
Forehand: Dignics 09c 2.1
Backhand: Curl P1V 1mm

My blog