First Battle Against Tibhar Grass Pips & Serve Strategy Lessons 🏓Match 17 vs Logan

[@lt.kettch]

Special KZbin thanks indeed... 😂

[@BenSucksAtPingPong]

(ง ͠ ͠° ل͜ °)ง

[@lt.kettch]

@@BenSucksAtPingPong ┻━┻ ︵╰(°□°╰)

[@turbozed]

This match really exposed how your bad FH form was losing you a lot of points. You were able to put away like one or two out of the many chance balls that went to your FH. A lot can be written about what can be fixed but the main points are : 1. Too big backswing 2. Elbow too far from body and rising during the shot 3. Using your shoulders instead of your body to hit The one decent one you did was around 5:15. The reason it was successful is because it was close to your body and you had a little less time to perform your stroke. Making your stroke more compact increased its effectiveness because you had less time to implement your bad form like you used in other FH smash attempts. To fix this you want to keep your elbow close to your side (maybe two fists away). Depending on how high the ball you lift your shoulder and your elbow. Backswing doesn't go to more than few degrees past 90 in relation to your sides. When you hit, use your legs and twist your hips and generate power into the ball. You want to feel a connection from your legs, hips, to your arm. Right now you're just trying to swing the racket arm using your upper body and shoulders, and it's incredibly hard to find a correct hitting point when your shoulders and elbows are so unstable with such a big swing. Also keep your eyes on the ball the entire time until contact. Actually train high ball and lob smashes. You don't get good at strokes without practice. For some reason people think because these are supposed to be easy balls, these smashes don't need to be trained. They absolutely need to be trained.

[@BenSucksAtPingPong]

Excellent analysis and yes, my forehands are really suffering lately. This comment, though, prompted me to practice my forehands (by way of 3rd ball attack, as I know I can at least set them up) with my son on our table for a few round. Great instructions. Will definitely implement! Thank you so much!

[@lt.kettch]

Good job trying to adapt mid-match. Remember to consider the opponent's position (and which side the pips are on in this case) before serving. When you're deciding which serve to use, consider what the most likely return will be and prepare for it. What kind of spin do you want to receive and how do you force him to give it to you? Other than stuff from LP weirdness, looks like the feeling carried over well from your game with Kelvin 👍 Btw, what kind of ping pong balls do you use? Strangely enough, you can actually feel a difference between brands!

[@BenSucksAtPingPong]

I actually think I'm really, really good at knowing which side the ball is hit on. As a former twiddler myself, I can spot it quite well. Reacting appropriately is another story. I was trying to overpower the dead more than react to a reversal more than I should have, but the grass reversed it more than I thought. As far as the balls we use, I always carry Nittaku 3* 40+ and most people in the club use those. Dallas (and I think Michael O) like the DHS 3* Premium 40+ and I don't mind those. However, I really, really, REALLY loathe, with the fire of 1000 suns, the Butterfly 3* balls. It's like playing with a thin, hollow golfball to me.

[@lt.kettch]

@BenSucksAtPingPong I remember you were of the dark side LP crew. I'm not disputing the fact that you can spot it, just advising that you consider the potential effects of each side and how to respond prior to serving 👍 I really like the DHS DJ 40+ (One step up from DHS 40+). Not only are they cheaper, they feel a lot more stable and spinny than the nittaku premium balls imo.

[@BenSucksAtPingPong]

I'm not sophisticated enough to tell the difference yet between the DHS and Nittaku, but I DEFINITELY can tell with butterfly and training balls.

[@Gruntle-i8w]

------------------------------- IT'S STATS TIME: Control of point (Initiative): ------------------------------- - If a player is in obvious control of their destiny, errors are theirs to make and points are theirs to lose. - That means if a player scores very high in controlling points and loses the match anyways, the reason they lost the match are overwhelmingly likely their own mistakes, and less the quality of opponent. - There were a LOT of switched serves / miscounts in this match... --- Game 1 (Won) --- Ben remained in control of point on own serve: 6 of 9 Ben gained control/initiative of point on opponent's serve: 8 of 10 Control rating: 14-5 Predicted result based on Control: 11-4 Actual score: 11-9 --- Game 2 (Loss) --- Ben remained in control of point on own serve: 3 of 6 Ben gained control/initiative of point on opponent's serve: 4 of 6 Control: 7-5 Predicted result based on Control: 11-8 Actual score: 1-11 --- Game 3 (Loss) --- Ben remained in control of point on own serve: 2 of 5 Ben gained control/initiative of point on opponent's serve: 5 of 6 Control: 7-4 Predicted result based on Control: 11-6 Actual score: 1-11 >>> switch of tactics here

[@Gruntle-i8w]

--------------------------------- To drive the point home: Detailed analysis of the disastrous Game 2: ------------------------------- 1: Ben sets up a textbook 3rd ball attack and wins. 2: Ben gives Logan a free point by serve error 3: Ben puts pressure on Logan and gets a high ball close to the net to his forehand side as reward. Ben waits too long to hit it, striking it in the dropping phase, and with a very closed racket angle as if it was a low topspin instead of flat like a smash, forcing it into the net. Backhand technique issue. 4: Ben puts pressure on Logan with a soft slow opening loop, getting rewarded with a weak and slow high block and Logan retreating from table in anticipation of getting utterly killed. Ben completely misses the ball by trying to brush it thinly instead of safely driving through the ball. Forehand technique issue. 5. Ben puts pressure on Logan and is rewarded by a slow, high ball to the centerline. Instead of taking one step to the left and calmly forehand-smashing it home on the peak of the bounce, he takes a step to the right to receive a must-be-forehand ball super early off the bounce as if it was a low backhand topspin, predictably making the ball fly over the table. Footwork / position issue. 6. Bad easy push on serve receive, taken too late, leaning back/taking a step back while striking while also hitting with with unstable wrist and angle. Footwork / stability issue. 7. Ben puts immense pressure on Logan after a nice backhand receive, getting a perfect long high block right into his forehand as reward, with Logan rushing away out of cam in anticipation of surely getting killed. For no reason, Ben retreats from the table himself while he's clearly attacking and while having a massive advantage, just to hit the final ball too late because he's too far away, and smacks it into the net trying to brush way too flat for that distance instead of just driving straight through the ball. Aggravated footwork/position and forehand technique issues. 8. Ben takes the initiative by playing a well-placed serve to the centerline, forcing an awkward lift-receive from Logan, because he's a big boy and receiving anything that goes to the middle is super awkward for him. Instead of following up by smacking the 3rd ball even harder to the vulnerable middle, Ben smacks hard into Logans backhand corner, which is the easiest thing in the world for Logan, because he's a very big boy and his arms have enough length that he doesn't need to reach or move at all to receive that safely, and it hits his long pips, so absolutely zero mental difficulty at all, while creating additional spin-related difficulties for Ben. This attack to the backhand corner instead of down the middle hence makes Ben lose control of his own serve point, turning it into an open rally in which both players are evenly matched. Ben continues to cooperatively aim diagonally to Logans backhand as if it was a practice drill, until Logan places one return to the middle of Bens side. Ben does not move at all to sidestep it, hence his attempt to return it is suddenly awkward, and it goes into the net. First ball aimed at the middle wins, even if slow and not spinny. Completely forgot "always aim for the middle" after serve, and immediate footwork/position issue in receiving a ball to the middle himself. 9. Nice half-long serve to the middle, immediately rewarded with a weak high lift receive to the centerline by Logan, who jumps back in anticipation of getting utterly smashed to oblivion. Ben correctly spots the 3rd ball opportunity, actually sidesteps a little to use his forhand and... thinly brushes the ball instead of properly driving through the ball, making it drop slowly towards the net. MASSIVE forehand technique issue. The decisionmaking was great this time, but apparently the default forehand striking motion that is in Ben's muscle memory is very weak. 10. Logan is serving way out of position from his forehand side. Nice receive by Ben, immediate point for Ben - which is counted for Logan because no player pays attention to points anyways. 11. Ben misses the table long, serve receive issue. Once per game is perfectly fine and normal tho, so doesn't matter. 12. Ben serves long to Logans middle forehand side. Immediate easy topspin by Logan, who plays the point and game home safe. ------------------------------ Game 2 had 12 points in total: ------------------------------ 3 of the points were "rightfully earned": 1 point was a textbook winner for Ben. (1) 1 point was kind of a case of forgetting a dangerous tactic after serve and Logan using the same tactic against Ben first successfully. (8) 1 point was misread serve spin, can happen. (11) 9 points were just free points for Logan due to fixable issues: 1 point was a winner for Ben but counted for Logan. (10) 2 Points were unforced errors like a serve to the net (2, 6). 5 points were theoretically clear winners for Ben, each just lost to simple-but-tedious-to-fix attack technique issues. (3,4,5,7,9) 1 point was a case of serving long to the opponents forehand and getting inevitably dunked on. Free point for opponent by serve placement. (12) With 9 out of 12 points being free points for Logan, it seems silly to me to say that Logan "adjusted" to anything, or that he hasn't given you opportunities. His playstyle is passive. He wasn't in control for the vast majority of the game. 75% of the points in this set were freely given to Logan, not cunningly earned by him. And with the ONLY points in which Logan actively dunked on you being the long serve to his middle forehand, it seems weird to think that "Oh im gonna play more long balls like this to his middle forehand as I used to" is a viable adjustment to turn around the match. I'm also relatively sure that noone adjusted to anyone especially in game 2 and 3, because of the frequent serve order and counting mistakes. A player cannot adjust to points he doesn't remember, and they don't know the current results of their tactic if they do not keep track of their score, so if neither player notices that Ben regularly only serves once instead of two consecutive points, and both players regulary switch serves on an uneven count, and that Ben has hit a winner but Logan gets the point, that means neither player does reliably remember even the most recent two points in the past or keeps track of the score, if even only the point just played

[@BenSucksAtPingPong]

This was such an amazing analysis. It wasn't so much counting mistakes as editing mistakes with the editing software I use. That is the result of most of the 1-serve instances. But wow, this analysis is beyond thorough-thank you for taking so much time to break down each point in such detail! Your insights into my control ratings and specific technical issues in Game 2 are eye-opening, especially how you connected them to the match’s outcome. It's clear that while I had the control and initiative, converting that control into winning points was where I fell short. The fact that I SHOULD have won game 2 and 3 even with such a huge score delta is telling. Very, very telling. Your point about the technical issues, like my forehand brushing instead of driving through the ball and footwork/positioning mistakes, really hit home. I know that focusing on refining these aspects could drastically change my ability to capitalize on opportunities. I just wish you would GET OUT OF MY HEAD with your commentary on my mental state. You're some kind of wizard there. Defintiely a lot of unforced errors. I need a lot more attacking consistency and better serve-follow-ups to avoid giving away easy points. That transition is KEY. Your breakdown is exactly the push I need to improve. Thanks again for your support and for being so invested in my game!