OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I did a quick search and there wasn'tt anything so I'm going to go with it...

Inspired by foam I didn't realize how superstitious I had become with regard to matches.

Here are some of mine.

Listening to a certain song or tune in the car while driving to the club.
Getting to the front door at the club just before my opponent does while she sees me, did that last year.
Wearing the same clothes that I won in.
getting to the club at my usual time and not rushing.
Keeping the same bat in the same cover.
Taking my usual tote bag and wearing it like kasumi ishikawa, teeny bopper style.
Blogging just before I leave the house.

So guys what are your superstitions and rituals? Hope you got some weird ones...

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A big bag full of blades and long pimples, donuts and coffee!

Humm... I prefer read the maps just at the Tournament place, maybe for play the ball, not the player...

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1) Cutlass - TS Chop - NBA
2) Toccata - Spectol - NBA (testing 802, 802-1, 563)

Boy your venue must be fairly large if you need a map to get around.

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A big bag full of blades and long pimples, donuts and coffee!

I don't think I have any... not that I'm aware of anyway

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the Tournament map not the City map

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1) Cutlass - TS Chop - NBA
2) Toccata - Spectol - NBA (testing 802, 802-1, 563)

I have a few, most of them are performed during the matches though. Without writing an essay and going in to the specifics some of them are:

Placing down my towel in the exact right way
Using the towel before drinking water during set breaks
Blowing on the ball and bouncing it on the table while wiping my hand on my shorts before serving
Twiddling my paddle just before my opponent serves
Wiping hand on the table after missing an easy put away
Breathing on and wiping my rubber in set breaks (I'm doing this a lot between points as well)
Closing and wiping of the water bottle and placing it closer to my opponent compared to the towel

I could make the list a lot longer but these are the ones that are borderline OCD-ish, if I don't perform these rituals it will drive me crazy and I can't focuse on the game at all. For example if I don't place down the towel in the right way and then try to ignore it I will just think about the towel being in the wrong position during points and won't be able to focus until I fix it.

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Read about my adventures to perfect my style and the ever-present battle against the evil EJ virus!

A lot of those are more of a routine than superstitions auzcar. Psychologists suggest that routine is incredibly important in sport, especially sports like table tennis. Helps you to deal with nerves and other emotions (anger etc).

I do a few of those as part of my routine but they're not what I'd call superstition. For me, superstition is doing something which won't really impact upon your game but you do it anyway because when you've done it previously you've been successful in your following matches.

Placing your towel in a specific way is superstitious potentially - bouncing the ball before serve is routine.

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What did I say to inspire you?. Some anti OCD speech no doubt Lol. Its a real mental illness. Most people have it, at least in a mild form. Problem is the higher intelligence you are and less distracted you are the worse its likely to develop. High level sportsmen are usually badly effected. Imho Nadal has it bad enough to effect his quality of life and needs help for example. Some pass it off as superstition.

If you pay attention you can spot straight lines like someone's shoes, aligned items within chaos on a desk or even see people mentally counting. Even very young kids can be seen refusing to step on joiner lines in the in footpath.

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Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

I have to wear something purple, either a bit on my shirt, a bracelet, a scrunchie. Most recently my husband got me one of those Timex Sportswatch and it's purple

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BTY Timo Boll Spirit
FH: Tibhar Aurus 1.7mm
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Drink a glass bottle of Coke.

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Nittaku Kamkit w/ Air Panamera OX
Tatco Hornet w/ ATP Leland Era

Totally agree, tastes better. Also like ketchup from a glass bottle but not during houseleague

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A big bag full of blades and long pimples, donuts and coffee!

We Filipinos are superstitious in general. But I don't apply it in matches. I would say I prefer to use a particular shoes ( especially if I won with it in the last tournament ). Not because of superstition but because I felt that it gave me better performance in terms of movement.
I practice my top spin to get my timing right before my first official game. I think TT players are not that superstitious

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Setup 1 : Bty Mizutani Jun FH : Tenergy 80 Max BH : Acuda Blue P3

Yes I agree RL...some rituals are practical and serve a technical purpose like you getting the timing of your top spins...I found using the robot helpful but too difficult just before going to the club which involves driving and packing your stuff...but in terms of rituals that dont serve any useful purpose I find that my psyche enjoys the fact that I match my underwear with my shorts, shirts and shoes...so if you are in my neck of the woods (and there are many Filipinos in my club) and you see me in blue, there's a good chance that I'm wearing blue underneath too

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A big bag full of blades and long pimples, donuts and coffee!

Is there a specific reason for this timeout?

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Setup 1 : Bty Mizutani Jun FH : Tenergy 80 Max BH : Acuda Blue P3

to some degree...+1

I even prefer my socks color (even if its hidden in the shoe with just white outer) to blend in lol.

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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!
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