OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hey Ringer,

I've read this entire thread and I think your backhand has been close to perfect from the start. I especially like the shots in the embedded video here, but they are all good. You can stop chasing your tail to an extent.

Playing from the left hip is fine, especially if you are away from the table. The closer you are to the table, the more you'll need to play from in front of the body, but it's not a big deal.

If you want to get more height/dip on the ball, then aim higher and ask for more dip. With your solid technique, your brain will be able to make adjustments. Visualize the flight path of the ball and then ask for that result (high with dip) without making manual adjustments or thinking about the contact. Give yourself a few minutes to change. I know it sounds too good to be true, but give it a shot.

Cheers,
Brett

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Does this technique work with serves as well? I want to make my backspin serves look more like topspin and vice versa. I play this kid in my club who is now beating 2200 and 2300 players and he told me that the spin on my serves is too obvious from the flight path...

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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

This technique works with any skill in any sport, providing you have a solid foundation. If you play darts and you want the dart to go higher, start to visualize it going higher into that 3X20 rectangle and just keep throwing the dart. The brain understands this type of language (visualizing) very well and the brain is also very good at making subtle changes to your swing, throw, bowl or whatever without you even knowing it.

As for disguising different serves, that might be a different topic. I need more information. Which serve are you talking about? Pendulum or your backhand? Better yet, do you have footage?

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Thanks for dropping in, Brett! It's good to know that I'm at least heading in the right direction. I've spent many years playing my loops at the left hip (even whilst close to the table), so learning to play the shot right in front of my stomach will take some adjustment. I've found that as long as I keep my elbow out far enough laterally, then things work out pretty well. Thanks again.

So I haven't updated this blog in over a month, but that's mainly because there isn't much new to report. I am playing about twice a week on average, with one of those days dedicated to matches against my local buddies and one day devoted to serious training with multiball. I am going to try to increase this number to 4 times per week in 2016.

I am in the process of making two very fundamental changes to my game, which are:

1) Hitting forehands with the right foot behind the left, instead of with the feet parallel or with the right in front of left.

2) Keeping the elbow out farther laterally on the backhand, in an effort to more easily play down-the-line shots.

These two changes have affected every single shot in my repertoire, and it's going to be a painful process. But hopefully it will all be worth it in the end.

I am planning to play in the WV State Championships in March, and possibly in Colombia, MD in January. Anybody going to Colombia?

Merry Christmas, friends.

Columbia... Hmmmm 1.5 hrs with light traffic and need a helicopter during traffic...

What is going on in Columbia in January? Maybe I make it there, never been there before.

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

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Howard County Table Tennis Club tournament. I might make it. Can only play the open event.

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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

http://youtu.be/XbETrUXcWFE

http://youtu.be/piNJSI3Ir34

For the first time in probably 3 years, I spent an hour working on my regular pendulum serve. I'm curous to see if anyone can detect any of the changes I tried to make, and whether or not they are effective.

Typing from my phone so won't be able to write much until at least tomorrow.

I'd love to be able to do that, looks pretty impressive.

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Hey NL and Ringer, I signed up for U1900 and Open. Smash owners son got me in U2000 last tourney so I dropped to barely below 1900 haha.

See you all out there and Ringer, I'll help you with some serve stuff Sutanit "Joe" T helped me out with.

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

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

From camera angle, hard to see a lot of the stuff close up like your grip and first bounce. Does look like you are trying to land first serve a little closer to net, but hard to tell.

Two overall differences appear to be you are going for less sidespin and a much deeper second bounce closer to the endline. You new serve has a few more errors in getting it over the net and keeping second bounce on the table sometimes, but what the heck, no one changes up how they serve and are 100% consistent the first day. Your toss seems to move sideways a bit and move you right to the corner of table. You were going for a double bounce near teh corner on the first round of your serves and you didn't do that last vid.

It took me 4 months of 3-5 minutes practice every day just to get over 70% landing percentage on a short serve with any measurable spin, so I think you will have much more favorable progress than I experienced.

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

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

You basically nailed it my friend. In the second video, I was going for the following:

1. A closer bounce to my endline, almost like driving the ball down into the table.

2. A much faster serve in general. Some of the serves I was actually trying to make them go long, but I was surprised to see them double bounce.

3. A slightly more horizontal toss, and not the 100% clean, vertical toss I usually do.

4. A higher elbow position.

5. A wider stance and an attempt to keep the paddle out of view from the opponent for a longer amount of time.

BTW Der, there is no U-1900 event at the Columbia tournament as far as I know. I got an e-mail that said that they added an U-2000 event, but the website says it starts at the exact same time as the OPEN. So I'm not sure what's going on.

Both you or NL would have a good chance of winning the OPEN at Columbia I think.

If Richard D went instead of me, I would like Next Level's chances of winning the whole shebang.

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

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Yup, it is U2000 and Open. Must have written that before I drank my cappuccino.

If they need me to be at both U200 and Open tables at same time, I can always place an effigy of myself in the vicinity and allow players to pepper it with TT balls until I can make it.

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

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

To NL and Der,

it's almost 2am as I write this and im up with a 101 fever. It's not looking good for me for columbia this weekend. I think this is the last time I'll ever mention possibly going to a tournament publicaly, as it just never seems to work out for me. Sorry guys.

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