OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Haha I would love to post some epic match for you guys to see... but I am what I am currently. And that's probably like an ~1800 player. A lot of my match videos are on the other forum, so if you haven't seen them, look up my threads there

NL understands where I am at with the stroke. But I think realistically it'll be more like 1-2 years before I can comfortably use them in matches. He gives me too much credit.

Both the BH dive I'm currently practicing, and the BH against underspin are new creations of mine since I started using a robot a few days ago. The dive came natural because it was close to my current backhand, except I'm passive with it, so there is no acceleration of the arm through the use of the body. Just the body bouncing up and down I guess. But using a robot like this is something that I've always wanted to do to try and learn how the top players use their body and how they're able to hit such amazing balls. I'd have zero chance to effectively use them at my current skill ability

But I have a plan, and I hope that if things pan out, sooner rather than later I'll be able to utilize them in actual match settings. The only hiccup in the plan is that I'll probably need to forfeit this beautiful training room once schools open up next week.

Today I moved the BH dive into the second part of the 1000 part plan. I set the robot to do one of three differently placed balls randomly to the backhand side, so at least I'd have to move while trying to maintain technique. I found it difficult to move my legs fast enough so I think most the time I was just shifting my weight to the left or right to get my body behind the ball. The speed was set to I think about 50 balls a minute. I enjoyed the practice and I plan to do it again the next time I go, too.

Backhand Dive Random Front View:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR-yHF0bJeE

I went to a table tennis workshop for kids a few months ago, and the coach there mentioned to just shift your weight when the ball comes to your backhand as long as it's within reach by shifting your weight only. He basically said there was no need to move. What do you guys think? I suspect the answer might have to do with time. I see FZD shift his weight without really moving his legs to get fast balls to his wide backhand, but I don't really remember seeing Ma Long do it as much. Should I try to train to do micro steps instead? And if I'm short for time, just shift my weight?

Now play Ma Long a match and let's see if it all works. You've had you 26 seconds of training.

Mick, if by some chance you are now posting to chuckle at the responses (including mine), you are now my hero. Either way, please keep the videos coming.

Mick, that didn't quite look as sweet as it did from the front view yesterday. There were a few towards the end that looked good though.

It's a bit unnatural for you to straighten the torso/thrust the hips. Keep using your camera until you get it right. I know, that you know, what to do.

I had a $50 wager riding on that Berg match. That is why I was pumped to win. The backhand was working and I didn't know better so rinse and repeat.

I know you have done this before so I took a page out of your book. We all forget how far we have come in our efforts to get better so it is good look at the video tape especially when we aren't winning matches (or in this case, playing them as much).

Not sure what would hammer someone like Mick? Maybe some comments on how bad his clothes look? OR that he needs a new haircut?

It's new and sometimes you don't look quite smooth (some look pretty good!) but learning this will aid you in whatever version of the shot you end up with. Perhaps it ends up being a much smaller motion in matches or maybe it makes your backhand loop vs backspin become slightly more consistent. Learning these body motions and how it can aid shot production is really useful. Now is a great time to experiment, right?


Doing the 2020 03 backhand (slightly wrong yes) has remarkably made my backhand block turn into a monster. It's likely I'm doing too much of the 04 when I'm trying to do the 03 but having the 04 is pretty awesome. Not much is getting past my backhand now and my re-direction is really improving too. It will be nice when I get a chance to try it against better players. The same old guys is all I get to see for a while. We play TT when it is still dark and return to isolation as the sun rises.

I've only ever had a drink as a wager for a match. That would explain the extra excitement and why Berg wasn't that pleased haha. I never win matches is my biggest problem. I'm really good at giving people much better than me a good game, but never actually winning.

I like my andro shirts. I love the simple designs ones. They also have flower-pattern designs, but they're not for me. I saw Adam Bobrow had some really cool Xiom shoes in his videos. I'm planning to get a pair...

Mark Berg is a "legend" of amateur American TT, partly for his play, largely for his expressiveness. The wager wasn't with him, it was actually with my coach (who died recently, may he rest in peace).



I was being really silly. Given what I wear when training and what I use it to do, I should be the last person to speak.

For EJs world over!

https://butterflyonline.com/butterfly-t ... gnics-09c/

Cool. They have finally worked how to copy Yinhe rubber for 10-20 times the price. Okay, maybe it's a bit faster, which makes it worse.

Turns out Ovtcharov now plays with Dignics 09C on his forehand and Dignics 05 on his backhand. So he's turned Chinese?

(No one else in the top 200 has switched to Dignics, at least not on this web site:)

https://tabletennis.guide/goods.php?sec ... popularity

Iskandar

In other news: Robots are great and every TT player should buy one.