table tennis - how do you play?

Sep 27, 2008 at 2:17 AM Post #17 of 46
Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
okay, time for a tutorial: don't swing at the white ball: you will get no control. you have to swing through the ball to get control or swing and barely touch the ball for top spin (upward sweeping motion) or bottom spin (chop - downward sweeping motion).

now, we should all be ready for a tournament



LOL, OK I was oversimplifying my strategy a little bit!

I'm fairly decent when I'm playing against my friends; I can put some amount of spin on the ball with somewhat decent control. I generally mix some side spin with top spin; that gives me the best results. My spin and control are OK, but nothing spectacular. I also have a reputation of being able to return a lot of shots that my opponent doesn't expect me to be able to reach, but I can't really do much else with them other than return it to the other side of the table. My opponent will usually be set up for a pretty decent slam if they're prepared for it, but normally they're too surprised that I was able to get to it.

I normally play with a $10 set of paddles from Wal-Mart that are quite hard, so when you're all talking about different rubber and stuff like that, I get lost! I've tried playing with softer paddles but I don't have any feel for the ball that way. I'm accustomed to feeling the impact to know whether or not I'm striking it correctly. Other than that, no real preference as far as I know.

So yes, I am very much an amateur, but I don't entirely suck, lol! Most of you would probably beat me quite handily.
 
Sep 29, 2008 at 11:37 AM Post #18 of 46
Are you you guys good? From the looks of your equipment you guys really seem good.
Btw i'm in my school team too.
My equipments are pretty simple.
I use hard rubber for both forehand and backhand coz i could not afford a softer rubber for the backhand.
So forehand(red) double-happines sponge + 729 top sheet.
backhand ( black) same
And i use a peter korbel bat.
Occasionally i use the haifu speed glue before competitions. it's cheap and good try it!

anyway, are you club players or just for fun? any tourneys? do you have ranking in usa or norway?
I play for inter-school competition. My school only got top 8 in singapore which is quite easy.
I don't have a ranking too because i'm a permanent resident here and permanent resident's can't join the opens
frown.gif
 
Sep 30, 2008 at 3:57 PM Post #19 of 46
i played in a team in japan and when back in canada i sometimes play in a club but it is harder to find here. im not bad but i have little confidence.

our ace was the best in hokkaido and rated in top 10 in under 40 in japan so i had some good coaching.

speed glue: you should not be using that anymore mate! banned. i have started using just rubber cement: cheap and has a decent performance for a non-professional.

in canada i had a rating a year or so ago but it was horrid, i think under 800 or so. now im over 1000 but not sure how much. i can do well against my 1600 level friend but im sure i am not 1600. but that is just a north american rating system i think. in other countries ive been to they don't bother with that stuff unless you really are good.

i beat the former top 7 under 17 player in norway! yay!
 
Sep 30, 2008 at 4:18 PM Post #20 of 46
Hello Peoples,
Wow a Tabletennis thread on Head-fi.
The last bat I used was a Stiga Mark V. My father, who had a top 5 USA ranking and even went to the quarter finals of a world open in one tourney, was almost always a Butterfly bat user. MANY moons ago, back in the Dick Miles days since he played with and against him, played against the Chinese when they introduced sponge rubber bats now that goes way back.
 
Sep 30, 2008 at 5:00 PM Post #21 of 46
I used to play with one of those really light rackets with a rectangular(?) cork handle. Can't remember what make it was, but it wasn't pre-made. It's really been a while
tongue.gif
 
Sep 30, 2008 at 8:42 PM Post #22 of 46
my bro started playing pingpong about a year ago. now he plays for 2-3 hours every single day.
he just paid something like 250 bucks for a paddle. i said he was crazy for paying so much for a ping pong paddle. he pointed at my headphones and said "right back at ya".
 
Sep 30, 2008 at 10:00 PM Post #23 of 46
Control player but that was 30 yrs ago. Those days were dimpled, sandpaper and the sponge rubber was just coming on the market. Fun sport. I played mostly during my Navy days. Family and friend play got too boring so I gave it up.
 
Sep 30, 2008 at 11:16 PM Post #24 of 46
no rubber needed...I go bare...
 
Sep 30, 2008 at 11:58 PM Post #25 of 46
It is hard to play where I live because no one I know can get close to beating me. While in college, we had a guy that was on India's Junior National Team, so I always had someone to kick my butt. I think my rating got up to about 1750, but I don't know what it is now. You guys are making me want to play again!
 
Oct 1, 2008 at 3:19 AM Post #26 of 46
I played for Canada as a junior back in 1973, during the "Ping Pong Diplomacy" tour by the Chinese Junior and Senior teams through the US and Canada during the Nixon era. Yes, I'm that old.

I'm still a reasonably good defensive player (chop/block) and play at the several clubs here in Toronto, although it would be a struggle for me to make division one, let alone a provincial team any more. The beauty of this sport is that you can play it well into your 70's, it will keep you fit and sharp.

I use Chinese 729 rubber (563 mid-pips with .06 sponge) on my backhand and Sriver EL on the forehand. Blade is a Darker mid.

I was also level one coach back a long time ago, and the best advice I can give is to join a club and get some decent coaching and strong practice partners. If you are serious, you can also buy a Butterfly robot to train at home ...but they are costly.

Getting coaching and playing with good players to develop proper strokes and footwork is everything ...if you want to advance past the club level ...the game is great at any level though. During the Olympics, Table Tennis was sadly underreported in North America, yet in China it is considered the national sport and their top players are revered at the level of Yao Ming.
 
Oct 1, 2008 at 4:12 AM Post #27 of 46
pssst: it is yasaka mark v. stiga however sometimes use yasaka tech and vica versa

lornecherry: i live in eglinton station area. i have a small flat so no robot and i have no money for a table now. however, can you suggest clubs around there? i frequent table some forums but i am still lost about it. would like to report back to headfi how damn good you are! cheers
 
Oct 1, 2008 at 4:22 AM Post #28 of 46
yea but i seldom use speed glue.
But i have to admit with the glue it's really holy moly lol.
the ball just goes super fast it's amazing.

Shigzeo you seem good!!!
i could never beat the top players in my country.
What style do you play?
I reached peak at secondary 3 but i started dropping right at 4 and i don't know why. I became lousier and lousier.
Any idea why?
tongue.gif

And i'm super inconsistent too. Sometimes i have 90 % loop rate sometimes i have 20% frustrating training sessions.

Before olympics, an international competition was held in singapore.
I had real fun watching. It was excellent watching kreanga and mizutani and ma long play. IT's fantastic. The rallies just make you wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooow

and oh, my coach was once a player too. He was ranked 130+ at his best.
Well good he is but he doesn't coach me very well. I don't have personal trainings, just team trainings but he favours those that he has personal trainings with. So i figured things out most of the time myself.

Last year, i had a trip to taiwan. Training trip. It was great too. The players there are good and i had alot of fun playing with them although i lost most. Their training is top-notch quality. They practice the basics so disciplined. They start with a looping 3 points on the table, left middle right and you can just see them going on and on and on and on like some kind of robot. and their bat sound is great too.
 
Oct 1, 2008 at 4:40 AM Post #29 of 46
haha: norway are not famous for table tennis. that is why i beat the former under 17 top 7 player! i love it but i play too many sports to be good at one.

i think i am usually the worst at any club or team i go to in any sport: badminton, football, table tennis, bicycling. all the same; i just love to run and sweat!
 

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