OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Retriever how far do you generally find yourself backing off the table? And do you find many places have less room than you'd ideally like to have?

There are 3 or 4 retrievers in my division at my club and there is one in particular that would love an extra 5 or 6 feet onto the 15 feet they already have.

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Hi Roadrunner,

Yeah we did a lot better together than our individual technique/skills/level would indicate. I hope to be back playing with you at next year's Aust Vets, all things being equal.

The most memorable match I remember playing with you was when we were in a tournament A grade doubles final, I think down in Wollongong. We were up against the favourites, who both had the odd illegal serve, mostly through not being thrown high enough. This did not bother me too much as I waited longer to take the ball, but for you it was murder as you often hit it on the bounce, or at any rate a lot earlier. After losing the first game to under 10 (to 21), and listening to your half heard mumblings about the <expletive deleted> oppositions' often illegal serves, at beginning of the 2nd game I requested the umpire (either an international umpire or referee) to enforce the service rule. I was dumbfounded that I had to do this, as the match was the final of A grade, not preliminary rounds of a novice event. He stood up out of the chair and made a formal announcement that the service rule was to be enforced. He called both opposition players, & also Roadrunner once, but not me . We won the 2nd game. The 3rd game we lost, but that was more or less on its merits. I think at the time you were graded B & I was graded C and we were up against genuine A graders.

Hi Reb,

Yes I often find myself almost against the back barrier, but have never crashed into it. I seem to have quite good spatial awareness for that. However i find it worse when the court is narrow. I am often returning from over the side barrier. At one particular venue (Willoughby Youth Club I'm glaring at you), we play immediately in front of a stage and the steps for it are in one corner of the court, facing away from the table. The amount of space we have there is fairly generous, however it seems that the home players take good? advantage of the local lay of the land and attempt to smash the ball into the stairs when we (all 3 of our team being defenders of some sort) play there.

Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)

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Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Next installment, a double and then we're caught up.

Playing at home against Hornsby RSL. Their captain won last year's district championships, so when he walked in I had an idea that this night was not going to end well, and when my team mate, the defensive non-chopper mentioned that he shouldn't have been playing ...

We asked the captain who was playing and he said not he, but 2 guys just up from Division 2, well that gave us a glimmer of hope. I played first against an older? guy who looped me off in the first game. I managed to win the 2nd game with my usual guile & return at all costs method. He was starting to miss what had been certain shots. However he won the 3rd gamne by knuckling down, but I won the 4th game. we came out for the 5th game and it was back to him being tentative while I played my own game for a win.

My non-chopping team mate played the younger guy, who was quite a strong forehand looper. He was not moving well and I think lost 0-3 (this is 2 weeks ago).

I then played the younger guy who wiped the floor with me in the 1st game. When I adjusted to his style, I made him doubt his shots with my variation in spin pace & placement. Most successful was the ball curving into the body on the forehand, where he only swayed to play his shot, not move the feet to get into position. Also, as I told him at the end of the evening, he was fooled by shots thayt looked like chops but only had very light or no backspin. Anywau I turned it around to win 3-1. A couple of times during the match the captain told me I was doing very well to keep up with the young guys, but I was having none of that psychout, thank you very much.

Them my non-chopping team mate played the guy I played first up. He still wasn't moving very well and lost.

Then for the doubles. We did a little better than I was expecting and my team mate was moving almost normally, but we lost 1-3. We went down 2-3 on the night.


Last week against Willoughby at our home

We have played these guys for at least a decade, so we all knew what to expect. I played their stronger player first, a penholder. the first game I lost 8-11, then lost the next 2 fairly forgettably.

My chopping team mate played next and lost fairly comfortably to their #2 player.

She then played their #1 player and predictably did the same again.

I then played their #2 player. He told me that he had been downgraded from Div 1 based on 6 singles matches the previous comp. we agreed that this was pretty poor, as he probably played all the top players and none of the weaker ones. I used to beat this guy fairly consistently, but more recently have struggled to get more than a game from him. Well this was a tight 5 setter with will to win shining through. He was not happy with his shots, while I could acknowledge when he forced me to make an error. Any way, it was a win to me.

Tonight we start playing the second round, this time being at home against the 1st team we played, Hornsby PCYC. I wonder who the state coaching director will choose to send against us ...

Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)

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Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Next installment - last Friday at home against Hornsby PCYC

Well the Hornsby captain sent the O/40 NSW A player, the CG rep (in mufti looking like she was going out clubbing) and a 3rd guy looking like he was going to play.

My chopper teammate played the 3rd guy, a penhold looper and managed to beat him. He couldn't lift the inverted chops that he tried to loop and popped up the pimple chops just a little bit.

Next I played the O/40 NSW A guy, the lefty looper. As usual his hitup is more of a hitout, however i was getting a few more back so was not just walking around picking up the ball. In the game proper also felt that I was playing better than the 1st round, pinning him in his backhand a little better, however the same result obtained. Oh well.

Then my chopper team mate played the O/40 NSW A guy and lost the same as last time.

Then I played the penhold looper. Reality was introduced to Retriever, and Retriever came off 2nd best. I suppose that I made the mistake of looking at the score and thinking that a win for me would leave us 2-2 with the doubles to come & also that my chopper teammate had beaten him, and a faint hope of winning the night. I lost the 1st game fairly easily. The usual pushes come chops into the body were being summarily dispatched as if they were in his sweet hitting spot. The swirling sidespins didn't even make him blink. The 2nd game went much the same way. He seemed to have pretty good footwork, and picked the right ball to hit more often than not. I asked my chopper teammate captain for advice after the 2nd game and she gave it to me. I remember putting it into practice maybe once to win the point. Unfortunately I just played the rest the way I played the 1st 2 games. The other guy was just too good, and I didn't do enough to unsettle his rhythm.

For the doubles, the CG rep went and changed so we played her and the O/40 NSW A player. We won a couple of points by playing aggressively (no doubt the surprise value) but ended up losing 0-3. This time we lost the night 1-4, which was an improvement on the 0-5 from the 1st round.

We play Ararat at (not Mount ) Ararat tonight, so another instalment soon.

Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)

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Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Went to Ararat last night, not knowing what to expect.

We played against a former state top 10 player. 19 years ago he may have been number 4, then he had 17 years off and has been back for 2 years. I thought he might have remembered Retriever, but I suppose I may have been just another spear carrier in his epic movie.

The other opponent was a double winged looper who blamed Retriever for wrecking his shoulder a couple of years (5?) ago. It was purely self inflicted I tell you. It's not Retriever's fault if he tried to smash the logo off the ball when it was too high. Numerous times ...

First up my chopper teammate played the ex top 10 player. He was much too good, hitting the ball too hard, too consistently, and with too much spin. Some of his shots, including serves were eerily silky smooth from the sideline. She did take him to deuce in one game, however.

Next I played the double wing looper. For the first 2 games I had it all over him. He was misjudging his shots, firing some off the end of the table and some into the net. At one point he said to me that I had him beaten all over the place, and it sounded genuine, not an attempted psychout. After the 2nd game he took some advice from his teammate, and steadied down. He stayed in the point more, and I may have relaxed a little in the 3rd game. The 4th game he won 11-2. The tide had definitely turned. I was the one becoming tentative and going for shots that either were not there, or missed ones that were there by a large margin. In the deciding 5th game, he turned ahead and kept on going to win.

The double winged looper stayed on to play my chooper teammate. Again he just had too much power, consistency and spin, and won 3-0.

The final singles was retriever against the ex top 10 player. He was just too good all around. In one game he won 11-1, and the 1 was an edge that I, and fortunately the umpire saw .

Finally the doubles. Somehow we squeaked out an 11-9 in the first game including a couple of points where we defenders took the initiative offensively. Second game the bad guys won a little more comfortably. The 3rd game was pretty much a repeat of the first. I rather suspect that that sequence suited us, being Retriever, ex top 10, chopper team mate, double winged looper. The 4th game, seeing the possibility of a win, we managed to get ahead and stay ahead, closing it out to win 3-1. Funny how the 2 losers in singles could combine to beat the 2 winners in singles, in doubles.

On Wednesday night we play a catch up match against the same team, at the Australian Juniors venue, Hurstville. (We'll try not to steal too much of the limelight ). We will have the same team, our 3rd player being Referee there so can't play, and my chopper teammate being chief organiser and NPC for one of the NSW junior teams, so could only play if it was held there.

Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)

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Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Good win there Retriever! My 2 man team partner on Thursday nights has been with me for over 2 years (or 9 seasons to be exact) and for the last 5 of those seasons we played/stayed in the 2nd division of the Thursday comp for exactly what you described in the doubles here. Our singles records were nothing to write home about, but our doubles was almost unbeaten each season. Sadly, he has to now stay home on a Thursday to take care of his kids. So I have to "break-in" a new doubles partner!

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Hi Reb,

Agreed. My old partner, Roadrunner and I definitely used to "punch above our weight". As referred to earlier, we came runners up in an A grade doubles event in a tournament when we were B & C grade. Too bad he moved to Cairns and we're only playing together annually in O/40 & more recently O/50 men's doubles at the Australian Vets Champs. Unfortunately Real Life (tm) has intruded on that last year and this year, although, it is to be hoped, it may be resurrected next year, all things being equal.

Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)

_________________
Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Last night we played the catchup match against the same team we played on Monday night.

I left almost straight from work and got stuck in traffic so arrived 20 minutes late. The match hadn't started yet, so that was OK. My chopper team mate had been at the venue for 12 hours already, so we were both far from in ideal condition. Roadrunner was there and watched our match for a while, but had to go take his junior team back to their digs.

When I walked in, I was almost immediately in the umpire's chair as even though we were playing at the other end of town from home, we were the home team. My chopper team mate played a lefty expat Japanese guy with an unusual attacking style. Unfortunately he was too strong for her so he won 3-0 I think.

Next up I played the 2 winged looper I lost to on Monday night 2-3. Tonight he was on from the start, and i was blocking his loops off and not troubling him with my spin variation. i lost 0-3.

Then my chopper team mate played the 2 wing looper and took a game off him, but ultimately lost 1-3.

Now it was me and the lefty expat Japanese guy. I usually go close against him, and even got a game against him, but again felt that my blocking let me down. For some reason I wasn't picking the amount of loop on the ball and was not closing the bat enough. I too went down 1-3.

The doubles was no repeat of Monday night either. Both of us were making what seemed like unforced errors, which is deadly if you are a defensive player. I think we went down in a screaming heap 0-3 for a 0-5 overall loss on the night.

After that I wandered around the Aust Juniors and ran into Sharad Pandit. The reason he won't be going to the Aust Vets in Adelaide is that he is going to an AWD event in Europe at the same time. I also spoke with Pinky - I may be getting new rubbers on Saturday - the current ones are 2 years old, mind you I can't blame them for not playing well I'm not too sure what I'll get - max thickness but what? Currently using Joola Tango Extreme on an old Nittaku carbon bat.

Retriever (sometimes golden, but currently leaden )

_________________
Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Bad night at the office. We all have those!

As for rubbers...don't know what Pinky sells. Does he sell Andro at all? If he does try Hexer+. Very well behaved rubber.

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Yeah, it happens, but I am very glad to be back playing even if not as well as I could (more leaden than golden).

As i may have mentioned previously here or in the Introduce yourself topic, I had been playing reasonably continuously from 1982 until just before Easter last year. Not playing for around 15 months has seen these changes:

A little bit more weight around the middle

Deterioration in eyesight. Over the 15 months I had gradually found reading to be fuzzier and fuzzier, so much so that I now have a pair of reading glasses. My theory is that watching a little 38 or 40 (40.5 now?) mm white or orange ball from 10 metres away right up to the bat kept the eyes in working order, at least that is what I tell my wife . A junior state player who later became an optometrist told me that his playing meant that he did not have to do eye exercises when he was growing up.

Less patience during the points now that I am back. Got to work on that one.

Off to umpire at the Aust Juniors individual finals tomorrow morning. Hopefully I will be able to see OK there

_________________
Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Wow, that is interesting! Guess I should watch the ball onto the bat more. My eyesight has deteriorated a little as well, but it has its days. The lights in the TT stadium are so bright I find it takes a while to adjust when I come in from outside. I am still yet to get glasses, but I reckon they are no more than a year away I think. Not so much for reading for me, but for distance. I'm just a little short-sighted according to the optometrist.

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Umpiring at the Australian Juniors Finals Day - last Saturday

I arrived in all my state umpire official uniform glory (black shoes, grey slacks (my 14 year old son's), eggshell blue business shirt, canary yellow tie with tie pin, bowls jacket with ATTU badge instead of some bowls badge, nondescript socks etc) after dropping off newpapers for my daughter's paper run in said uniform.

Gave my blade sans rubbers to Pinky to put new rubbers on, but he went to warm up Kane Townsend, the NSW hope for the U/18 Mens title, as he was playing the Korean chopper in a semifinal.

First up assisted in the U/13 Girls semi final where a NSW chopper won quite easily against a Victorian girl.

Then umpired U/15 Boys semi where NSW's Erny Tsao defeated a Victorian, Scott Gilmore in a closely contested "my loop is bigger than yours" sort of a game.

Next was assisting U/18 Girls where another Korean chopper won out.

In between appointments I tried to consult about what rubbers to get, but the blade was mislaid, and the (small) joke was that Pinky had sold it to someone while I was umpiring.

Next up was the doubles finals where I umpired U/13 Girls, assisted U/15 Girls and again umpired the U/18 girls. Whoever says that there is more variation in the women's / girls game is absolutely spot on.

I then assisted in the U/13 Girls singles final, where the NSW chopper won quite well against an attacker.

Following this I umpired the U/15 Girls singles final which was between 2 Korean girls, one an attacker, the other a chopper. It was quite a delight to watch from "the best seat in the house.

Last of all I assisted with the U/18 Girls singles final, again an all Korean affair, this time between 2 sisters, and they did muck around a little bit. At the time there was a lot more interest in the U/18 Men's singles final between a Korean chopper (who had disposed of Kane Townsend in the semi) and Heming Hu.

All up choppers did very well at this Australian Juniors, somewhat helped by the strong Korean contingent.

In the meantime Pinky found my blade, and advised me to buy Yasaka (thanks PRW) Extend 2.0 on my forehand and Friendship 729 Geospin Tackiness max thickness on the backhand for extra spin. He put the rubbers on as part of the deal.

Also saw Roadrunner (took a look at his eponymous lapel badge) & PRW (Hi P, what a surprise, glad you still have nightmares about my game a coupla years on), and someone recently referred to here, BB.


A quick hit with the new rubbers

I went along to a club last night to have at least a little hit with the new rubber. The Yasaka (again PRW) Extend suited my forehand almost down to the ground, while the Geospin Tackiness I felt died getting to the net off my backhand. I tried picking the ball up with the Geospin and yep it did that. I didn't time how long it stayed there but I probably will tonight. I hope the Geospin has a factory layer on it that wears off quickly.

_________________
Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

Greetings Retriever, it was good to catch up again....

By "Stiga Extend" on the forehand, do you mean Yasaka Xtend? In which case, that would be the same as my FH rubber.. you could even loop if you wanted to!

Scott Gilmore is from my club Retriever. He plays in the grade up from me. Very good young talent. And his loop as you observed is very big! Well, not a big as it is fast I think I've seen Scott destroy some very good players looping balls by them that most people would struggle to return. He did have a season in our A1, but his team ended bottom and got sent back to A2. I'm sure he will be back up to A1 again soon. Your young Erny did well to beat Scott. I'd say if they traded similar loops it would have been quite an explosive match.

His Dad plays in the grade below me (same grade as me until this season where we got put up). He isn't what I'd call a TT slouch either, but nowhere near his son's prowess. He has another son Adam, who is younger and is learning the ropes as well. I wondered where Scott and his Dad were last night, missing in action!

I have played Scott a couple of times in season break handicap comps. He's hard to rein in. Have to keep the ball short to him or his loop is whipped away on you before you blink. Were there any other Vic juniors there that you got names on? We have quite a few other juniors at Dandy. Scott isn't our best, although he isn't a long way off it either I'd say.

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

PRW,

Thanks for the correction. I edited my post for the 2nd time as a result of not having the bat here at work and a bad memory (over Extend ed?). I think you are right about the Extend. I was trading forehand counters with a penholder and it did feel pretty good. Normally my forehand is a bit spotty at best, and this was totally new rubber to me. Now about the backhand ...

Reb,

I last saw Scott I think 2 years ago at the Aust Juniors in Adelaide. I didn't think him a slouch then either. Losing semifinalist at the national juniors is certainly no reason for disrespect.

I think I already mentioned Heming Hu. As I may have mentioned I was umpiring or assisting pretty much the whole time, so only really got to see a quarter of the singles semifinals (they had 4 tables at once) & half of the doubles and singles finals (2 tables going at once, male and female finals for the age group).

_________________
Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74