I played in another hard bat tournament
I came in 3rd this time. We played best 2 out of 3 to 21 points. I beat the person that won the tournment last time but there were two players with 1600 ratings that I lost to. The person that won play hard bat much of the time like Jay Turberville does. Jay posts on the mytt forum and Greg Letts' forum on about.com.
I played with my hard bat only for two weeks before the tournament. During that time I played some matches with people where I had split games or matches with before and now I would win easily with my hard bat. Some think I play a more consistent game with my hard bat. I think don't think I really play better it is just that the balls come back differently and take some time for opponents to adjust to.
However, I do play a more well rounded game with the hard bat and I think it has affected my play with other paddles. I know I chop more now than I use too. I now rely more on placement and control than ever before, instead of brute force looping.
I played for 7 hours on Saturday. 5 hours at the Willamette TT club and then I drove back to Portland, an hour away, where I play for anothe 2 hours. At the Portland TT club I played with my Samsonov Alpha with Mark V max and Yasaka Anti Power(YAP). It took little time to adjust from hard bat to Mark V and YAP. I played well. Last week I played TT for 17-19 hours. That is a lot of TT and I am taking Sunday off.
Today is still Sunday here, Monday there. Monday evening I will go to the club. There is a person there that I haven't beat yet in a match. Last time I played I lost 2-3 but I was playing with my hard bat. I need to play with my Mark V and YAP or my LP paddles and then I think I can beat him. I play well with Mark V max and YAP. What I like about YAP is that I can attack more easily with it than with LPs. I can attack reasonably well with 755 1mm but some how I attack better with 755 0X. It is like playing with a hard bat but more effective.
Boz, even in Thailand your playing conditions are better than what we have at the Portland TT club. When I retire I will have to pick a place that has a TT club with nice facilities. Even the Willamette TT club in Salem, OR is FAR better than what we have in Portland, OR.
Oh yeah, I do have T05 mounted on two of my paddles. They are simple not getting the love and attention the other paddles are.
Comments
Play till you drop
Wow that's a ton of play. I played a few times ago for with a dead old addoy bat and whipped my partner the first match and beat me the second I gave up after.
I enjoy the chop actually - just to change the game around for a bit. Not sure about pure hard bat - it takes to much change for me. I think I would prefer a double sided long pimple with sponge for a complete chopping style.
I haven't called up Ed for play these last two days. Don't know what's wrong with me - just feel my whole body feels bit dead. Not aching like a mega flu, just kind of dead with no energy to do anything.
Hope it goes away soon.
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I am feeling it now
I play last night at the club. I had no energy. I am beginning to think I play just as well with my hard bat as any other paddle. I play with my hard bat a lot. I use it against the under 1000 players that don't need the trauman of playing against LP or anti rubber.
Chopping with anti, LP and hard bat sure is different on from the other in how open the paddle must be. With anti it must be relatively closed. With hard bat it must be open. It will take some time for me to make the adjustment between them seamlessly. I know, I know. I should just stick to one but that isn't as fun. As long I am getting better I am fine with that even if I am taking the long road.
sponge pips
From what I remeber of my limited play with the 30 free bats in the big red box at btta is that I liked playing with the short pips with a thin sponge. That bit of sponge made it that fraction easier to do both block and hit. The ones with zero sponge seemed like a totally different game where the angle of the bat had to be ridiculously correct to get it on the table and hence rely on being a totally dead wood underneath to slow it down and not float off the end if doing anything at the table. Even away from the table it felt nicer to have a bit of sponge.
would not use a fast thick sponge ever though.
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You are right!
I play hard bat with a Toxic 5 and Peacekeeper. The Toxic 5 blade is relatively slow and will absorb the energy of a hard loop. That is what hard bat players want. When using sponge you can afford to use a faster blade because the sponge will absorb more energy. I can still hit the ball fast enough with my Toxic 5 with Peacekeeper to blow the ball past inverted players.
I think it is easy to get the blade angle ridiculously correct when playing with hard bat.
I play with my hard bat a lot. I play with my hard bat when I am playing against people I know I can beat because I don't want to torture them with LPs or anti. As a result I have got a lot of experience with my hard bat. Before the tournament I was playing better players and winning games from them. I am not a push over with a hard bat.
I can't hit a loop but the hard bat does make it easy to place the ball accurately. I don't have to be as worried about spin. I can play against choppers with either my hard bat or LP. I like to play LP players with my hard bat. My hard bat doesn't give the LP players enough spin to work with. The whole idea that people that play with pips have a weak BH. That is total BS. I have a killer BH using flat hit. I can't do BH loops with a hard bat but I can switch between inverted, anti, and anti in very little time.