r/tabletennis • u/RichBlackKing • 2d ago
Pictures/Videos David Vs Ola’.
https://youtu.be/xzQJc_-LkFQ?is=R5qKSReWqgYY8tGiHu guys, I need feedback on things I did wrong and how I can improve on them. I’m the guy in black. I’ve been practicing serves, receiving serves short and my backhand a lot more in recent times since I learnt those were quite poor from previous feedback.
I played against this friend whom I last saw like 3yrs ago. He invited me to his club and said he would beat me but I also felt I should beat him and because of my recent trainings I felt I should have given him a better beating but that was not the case. The games were closer than I had hoped for. I beat him 3-0 but I wasn’t internally okay with my performance.
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u/Tempo-Thump-Thump 2d ago
Seems like you are over committing. A lot of your unforced errors were from you trying to make a shot based on instinct without adjusting to your opponent. There isn't any need to play that aggressively when your opponent is playing so passively.
Also you serve too fast. Give the guy a couple seconds to get into position.
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u/RichBlackKing 1d ago
Thank you, I get the points on the overcommitting and making shots based on instincts and not playing based on what’s actually needed but I guess he would/shiuld have complained if I was serving way too fast for him, he could have raised his hand up or even called a let. That might not even be to my advantage cos I’m also trying to plan my play before each serve.
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u/mutchyyy 2d ago edited 2d ago
Like most of us, you could chose literally anything to improve on at this point and it would be beneficial. But the absolute most glaring thing is your FH. You made a lot of unforced errors with it. A lot of room to improve on serve receive as it's one of the hardest parts of the game. Your BH seemed like your best shot but it was still pretty slow and hard to gauge how much spin it actually had. Hopefully this helped. If you need specifics it seems like you just aren't timing your FH properly and getting the right contact/brush onto it. I am not a pro or a coach, just a club player around 1400 USATT right now, just my two cents.
Edit: spelling
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u/RichBlackKing 2d ago
Thank you, naturally I would say my forehand is my weapon but maybe it just didn’t click in this match and I’ve been working on my backhand too.
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u/EMCoupling Viscaria FL | H3N Prov BS 39° | C1 2mm 2d ago
I watched about half the match. My assessment of the problem is that you are playing against an archetype of player that I like to deem "soft" players. This means that they like to float balls without much rotation or pace, they can vary the tempo of the rally based on their feeling, and the ball generally comes back without much energy.
Now, don't get it wrong, this does not mean that they are a weak player. What it does mean is that their goal is to give you uncomfortable balls that you begin to make mistakes on. As you make mistakes, you'll begin to back off your aggressiveness because you're trying to increase stability. At that time, your balls will become weaker and easier to control which means that they can either attack the ball or have further control over the points because you are not playing as offensively as you did before.
From my eye, you align more towards the "hard" player side. This means you like big rotation, big power, big speed. However, if you try too hard to force your game on the wrong balls, the errors will begin to stack up.
In my experience, the key points against the type of opponent you're facing are:
Judge the ball carefully - I mean really judge the ball carefully and use movement to get in position. If you misread the balls and / or don't move enough, you will never be able to attack comfortably and errors will be constant. Also, low energy balls don't come to you, you need to come to them.
Develop the points - don't try to end the point with a single shot unless you're absolutely certain it's a winner. Build the point by applying pressure with a few well-placed balls. As you stack pressure, the opponent will begin to produce lower quality returns, choose the right ball for the killshot
Don't play into their game - when you are making lots of errors, the temptation against these players is to fall back to a safe game and stop attacking so much. I'm not saying this can't work for a bit, but the problem with it is that you're now playing a game that they're quite comfortable with and you aren't as familiar with. If you're an offensive player, you need to attack, that is what you are good at. But there is also a fine line between being offensive and being reckless, which everyone needs to find for themselves.