The trouble with amateur rankings is that one person may face a lot of lesser competition while being a very strong player and another person may face nothing but higher rated competition and do decently. This will result in the first player having a lesser rating than the 2nd player. Another issue is that a lot of amateurs have NOTHING when they play a chopper because they just don't have any choppers in their area, nor do they actually make their training well-rounded by training how to play a chopper tactically, as well as how to properly hit loops and drives against their chops. So, they end up looking foolish when they suddenly run into a chopper in a competition.
@biscowho I think you really centered the point, he is a stronger player than me and his rating is pretty much accurate, while mine is a bit low since I've lost quite a few matches against lower ranked opponents in recent times so I've been losing too much positions in the rankings😅. Also I think he almost never trains with a chopper so he had trouble because of that
The best option is usually to just gently bring the ball low and short over the net (just by touching it, no push or swipe) on his forehand, so that he can only do a normal push or a weak flip that you can attack. However this is not easy, especially in important moments of the match when it's harder to stay relaxed, so the other good option is a slow LP push wide on his backhand so that he has trouble doing a fast loop, and if he does, you have plenty of time to get in position to chop or block. I personally prefer doing a push with inverted as a variation sometimes but I make sure that it's heavy and difficult to loop
Nice playing! What are your thoughts on Feint Long 3? I got poor results from it because the chops were too predictable and not heavy enough -- like slow inverted rubber. For me, P1v hits way heavier chops while still being consistent and controllable.
I've never tried P1 but I want to in the near future, I like FL3 mainly because of its ability to generate spin on its own, mainly when pushing, and with my kind of long stroke I can get in a lot of backspin, plus it has a really good control
@IacopoDondana Agreed! FL3 does excel in pushing and control, so you might have to make some adjustments if you switch. The upside of P1V though is that it's much better for aggressive flips, passive serve returns, sideswipes and "bumps" against backspin. There are more opportunities to catch your opponent off guard close to the table, and much heavier chops away from the table. And if you can become more comfortable with twiddling, that helps when you need to make a push.
To be fair I'm really comfortable with twiddling, but while getting better I realized that it's better to use LP to push because you can confuse your opponent by giving no effect or backspin with almost the same movement, and sometimes give heavy push with the inverted that usually the opponent doesn't expect so he isn't able to lift it
@IacopoDondana Agreed, that's a fair point too. I find P1v is quite grippy enough to make those deceptively dead ball pushes -- but FL3 is probably the best for that. Also Curl P4 (which in my opinion is like a slightly better version of FL3)
I pretty much like p4, I played with it for like 3 months but then decided to switch back to FL3 because I find it more sensitive to incoming spin, still a really good rubber though
At no point in that match did your opponent look like the higher ranked player
The trouble with amateur rankings is that one person may face a lot of lesser competition while being a very strong player and another person may face nothing but higher rated competition and do decently. This will result in the first player having a lesser rating than the 2nd player.
Another issue is that a lot of amateurs have NOTHING when they play a chopper because they just don't have any choppers in their area, nor do they actually make their training well-rounded by training how to play a chopper tactically, as well as how to properly hit loops and drives against their chops. So, they end up looking foolish when they suddenly run into a chopper in a competition.
@biscowho I think you really centered the point, he is a stronger player than me and his rating is pretty much accurate, while mine is a bit low since I've lost quite a few matches against lower ranked opponents in recent times so I've been losing too much positions in the rankings😅.
Also I think he almost never trains with a chopper so he had trouble because of that
He didn't know what to do with the mixture of balls you were giving him. At times it looked as though he was the defender.
Good analysis, I guess he didn't really understand the spin on most of the balls
Very interesting game, in the sense that the defender is tactically stronger here with a strong forehand, well done Lacopo
Thanks, it was a strange match😅
do you have any tips on returning short backspin serves with long pips? or do you need switch to inverted side for pushing
The best option is usually to just gently bring the ball low and short over the net (just by touching it, no push or swipe) on his forehand, so that he can only do a normal push or a weak flip that you can attack.
However this is not easy, especially in important moments of the match when it's harder to stay relaxed, so the other good option is a slow LP push wide on his backhand so that he has trouble doing a fast loop, and if he does, you have plenty of time to get in position to chop or block.
I personally prefer doing a push with inverted as a variation sometimes but I make sure that it's heavy and difficult to loop
Hi, what thickness of sponge do you use for the FL3?
1.3 mm
Nice playing! What are your thoughts on Feint Long 3? I got poor results from it because the chops were too predictable and not heavy enough -- like slow inverted rubber.
For me, P1v hits way heavier chops while still being consistent and controllable.
I've never tried P1 but I want to in the near future, I like FL3 mainly because of its ability to generate spin on its own, mainly when pushing, and with my kind of long stroke I can get in a lot of backspin, plus it has a really good control
@IacopoDondana Agreed! FL3 does excel in pushing and control, so you might have to make some adjustments if you switch. The upside of P1V though is that it's much better for aggressive flips, passive serve returns, sideswipes and "bumps" against backspin. There are more opportunities to catch your opponent off guard close to the table, and much heavier chops away from the table. And if you can become more comfortable with twiddling, that helps when you need to make a push.
To be fair I'm really comfortable with twiddling, but while getting better I realized that it's better to use LP to push because you can confuse your opponent by giving no effect or backspin with almost the same movement, and sometimes give heavy push with the inverted that usually the opponent doesn't expect so he isn't able to lift it
@IacopoDondana Agreed, that's a fair point too. I find P1v is quite grippy enough to make those deceptively dead ball pushes -- but FL3 is probably the best for that. Also Curl P4 (which in my opinion is like a slightly better version of FL3)
I pretty much like p4, I played with it for like 3 months but then decided to switch back to FL3 because I find it more sensitive to incoming spin, still a really good rubber though
What blade are you using?
DHS Fang Bo carbon