OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hello! I've been a reader of the forums for some time and finally decided to register.

I'm a recreational player (I play at a local club about once a week), I don't have a rank yet.

I want to become good at chopping so I was wondering if I could get some advice.

Equipment used in the video:
Blade: Butterfly Joo Sae Hyuk
Backhand: Victas Curl P1V 1.0 (I understand this is the same as the old TSP Curl P1R)

And here's the video. It starts preeetty bad but I start returning them better after a bit (first day using the robot).


Any advice I would really appreciate! I'll keep all advice in mind next time I play/train, and upload another video after some more practice.

Thank you so much!

Although I'm no expert on form or technique, I think you need brush the ball faster with lighter contact, which will really help keep the ball down, as well as creating more backspin.
Start with the bat a little higher (or take a step back to take the ball lower), so that you can create faster bat speed before you make contact.

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Thank you! I'll give that a shot. I'm trying to think how to increase the speed of the bat while also lightening the contact, I'm guessing I need to loosen my grip even more to be able to achieve that?

I'm not an expert on chopping but I believe what you might want to do is go less "in" to the ball (horizontal) and more vertical (up to down) to lighten the stroke. That's where very good choppers that use sponge can vary the spin, sometimes they might go in to the ball more and sometimes they might brush more.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

The more the spin, the easier it is to chop with long pips. That robot you are using is not a high spin robot, so it may be difficult to chop with. Of course a good chopper adjusts to the speed and spin of the ball. I certainly agree with a faster stroke.

Against the type of ball in the video, you need to get to almost never missing that shot. It should always go on the table. The whole point of defense is putting the ball back on the table. Over and over and over again.

1) More bending of the knees;
2) Take the ball lower (this will go automatically if you bend your knees more);
3) Start your chopping movement higher. That way you'll accelerate your stroke and the spin will be increased;
4) To add even more rotation use your wrist. Only add this step once you get the hang of the first three;
5) Return back to the neutral stance after your chop so that becomes automatic;
6) Don't become an equipment junkie!

_________________
There's always stuff to improve!

My blog on being a LP defender beyond 2000 USATT and the pips discrimination that comes along with that

Thank you all for your responses!



Thanks, yes, you're right, when watching videos of good choppers they do go down more vertically than what I'm doing, I'll focus on that!



That's a very interesting point. Funnily enough, this robot gives more spin than most opponents do at the current level I'm playing at. I have noticed that I get to do some better chops when I go on matches with more advanced opponents.

I'll indeed focus on the faster stroke too, thanks!

Do you (or anyone in this forum, for that matter) have any tips for trying to chop against flat hitters? I notice that when I try to chop vs those my chops end up returning way too high, so instead I move more towards a blocking game.

And unfortunately most people at my level lean more towards flat hitting than towards topspin/loops.



Thank you for all the points!
1 and 2) Ah, that one I struggle with, especially after a long training session. My knees aren't in the greatest condition (I've had knee injuries in the past so right now I can't bend them too much anymore). But I'll try to bend as much as I can.
3) Sounds good, I'll pay more attention to chopping videos to focus on how high my hand should be at the start.
4) Will do.
5) Good idea, when doing "static" drills like this I end up using all my focus is on getting the movement right so I often forget about footwork, so I'll definitely try to remember it.
6) Haha, I was lucky enough to have purchased this blade used and relatively "cheap" some years ago when I was planning on getting back into table tennis. Then COVID started so those plans were halted, and now I'm finally getting to use it. I hope it lasts me many years cause the prices for that blade are crazy right now (although I'd like to think that, if at some point I need to switch blades, if my chopping technique becomes good enough, then any good quality defensive blade will do the trick, and I won't have to spend a fortune on getting another JSH one).

You're welcome!
If JSH blades are very expensive, then I'm having gold in my cupboard.

_________________
There's always stuff to improve!

My blog on being a LP defender beyond 2000 USATT and the pips discrimination that comes along with that

Chopping against flat hitters...
If you can figure out how to chop well against flat hitters, short pips hitters, LPers with OX LP you can teach us all. If you use sponge under your LP, the thicker the sponge the easier it is to chop vs flat or dead hits. Some players flip their racket and chop with inverted. If I cannot use my inverted to hit (more hit than loop) it back I chop with my LP with 1.2 sponge, but it is very hard.

Hello again!

Just wanted to say that I practiced with the robot again the other day and tried applying some of your suggestions:

- Brushing downwards
- Brushing faster (I definitely felt less control and ended up netting or missing the table more often, I guess I just gotta keep practicing to get a better feel)
- Starting the hand movement a bit higher
- Bend the knees a bit more

My next step will be to work on the footwork, going back to neutral stance after chop, and definitely to try and get it more consistent so that almost all balls end up on the table.

But based on this new video, any more suggestions? Should I start the movement even higher/faster?

Looks much better already! I've got one small suggestion because it happens to be something I'm working on too. Your finishing position for the racket is sideways (the racket edge is facing the camera). If you look at all the great choppers, you'll find you can see the full face if the bat. As with all strokes I always find the start and finish positions the most important. As far as the starting position, I saw a helpful lesson where a Korean chopper taught to use your left and to help position the racket near the left ear. This feels weird in the beginning but it can help cement a good/ high starting position. Hope this helps, keep choppin!

Do you have a link to the lesson if you don't mind?

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Blade: Victas Koji Matsushita Offensive FL
FH: Victas VS > 401 2.0
BH: Victas Spectol S1 1.5

Rating: Recreational Player

I agree it's already looking a lot better. I'm sure you're getting a lot more backspin on the ball too.
I do still think you need to start the bat a little higher, so that you'll get more bat speed on contact. Try taking one step back and taking the ball lower while still starting at the same height.

Read Lorre's post again (above), his advice sounds spot on!

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Optimally one should do a chop from the backhand side of the body rather than in front of the body (the front is the preferred for backhand topspin). Obviously some times you cannot get into position, but it is preferred.

Lots of good tips above and a you've made a nice improvement in the second video.

One thing that can make it easier to start the chop higher and get more racket speed is to keep the bat much higher in ready stance (between the balls). Try keeping your elbow around 90 degrees bend (in the video the arm is straight down). About the same height as in a handshake or even a bit higher. You would want to do that in a match anyway to be able to react to fast balls, but its easy to forget with robot training.

Another thing you can try is to wait longer to make the backswing part of the chop. This means your backswing have to be faster which I feel gives more speed to the chop itself.

A third thing that is harder to change than the tips above is to try to get more rotation in the body. You can try aiming your right shoulder/elbow towards the table. Think of it as if your left arm was pulled backwards. However I find that its difficult to practice this while simultaneously thinking of other technique changes so I wouldn't worry too much about it yet. If you take a look at Gionis below you can see that the right shoulder is pointing forwards, even if the feet are almost parallel with the table because his rotating the torso. Looking at beginner choppers they often have no rotation. I re-watched a video of myself 10 years ago and had the same problem (still do but to a lesser degree : ). If the opponent (or camera in this case) can see parts of your back when chopping you are doing it right. But as mentioned wouldn't worry too much about it before working on other things.

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

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