Consistently Inconsistent
Hey there everyone, it is Marcelo again and I am here today to share something that I hope you guys could help me out with. I have been playing TT for a little over a year now and I have improved considerably since I first began to play at the dorms. Since I first began to play I have also developed a lot of passion and love for the sport. I try my best to make time for practicing almost everyday at the gym's tables. At the same time though I have started to get incredibly frustrated during my practicing.
One of my favorite things to do in TT, like a billion other people, is to do heavy topspin loops. There are periods of time when my looping is absolutely spot on and I am making the majority of the shots that I attempt, then, all of a sudden, I fall into a rut. During these ruts my looping is complete trash. I flat out miss the ball very often, the balls I do hit go off the end of the table or don't make it past the net. It is so frustrating for me because I have put so much work into developing a good loop and I feel like I should be getting more consistent when doing it. Instead I am not even hitting that ball. This frustration causes me to play worse, that leads me to get more frustrated...You can see where this is going.
I am not sure if I just don't have enough practice or if I am missing some vital detail that is preventing me from being consistent. I wouldn't know because I have never had anyone to really teach me or to point out my mistakes. I taught myself with youtube videos and observing high level players, but I know that it isn't quite enough. Either way, I don't know what I need to do to make my looping more consistent or what I should do to get myself out of my world famous ruts. I've been told that all athletes go through the same thing, I just wish that it wasn't so often for me. It often holds me back from having fun and often actually makes me have a pretty frustrating time.
On a brighter note, this last Saturday the TT Club met for the last time this year. A lot of people are going to be out of town for the holidays so it seemed like a vacation from the club would be a good idea. It was a lot of fun to get all the guys together and play some TT as a break from studying for final exams.
This is Oscar. He is probably the best member in our club. He is getting ready to hit a very strong backhand!
This is my training partner Arnold. He is left handed and has very nice control! We are playing at the univeristy gym.
This is my chinese friend Kai. He plays a very offensive penhold style and is very fun to play with and talk to.
See you guys later!
Comments
focus on the right shot
I am very impressed with this blog entry illustrated so well and with depth to respond to.
1. Everyone has good and bad days.
2. It is often a good idea to take a break when you are in a rut just to kind of give it a reset period.
3. When you come back you need to start to analyse your situation in depth. I used to keep a blog on paper but hey now I just do it here. If you can give more detail about what is happening. Surely it is not missing every shot for example. It could be you are trying to hard as in trying to put to much spin or speed into it. Or often just could be you are a bit impatient. With out any video here I can't predict much more than that.
I have bad days too, usually major ones because of equipment changes, minor ones more related to state of mind.
If you don't have a good sleep, if you feel a bit jaded, if you expect too much etc. The fact is there is only one thing in every point or shot. That thing is doing the right shot at the right time. If you force it too much there isn't much to expect except being suprised most the time by it not going where you want.
It is all about focus once you have ingrained technique.
http://tabletennisyoutube.com
You will have ups and downs
I make videos of myself and evaluate them. I don't have a coach but the videos will show all. The last video I made on Tuesday showed that I was not bending my elbow fast enough. I was getting no elbow whip action. After seeing that I started thinking about how I whip my FH during a loop. What I learned helped a lot on my play Wednesday and Thursday.
Boz is right about having ups and downs. I stopped whipping my elbow so my loops started to be lame. You need constant feedback until you are much better than any of us are to keep from back sliding.
improvement
I ahve just read your blog and like you been playing for around a year now. As with you I hit some really good shots but also some horrid ones. Fresh air shots are the norm some days. I think you need advice from better players and as John said video of your game can help. What I have found is that there are few eureka moments and that day to day you can see little or no improvement. But month by month you will see progress. The most obvious one is that you start beating players you used to lose to.