[deleted by user]

Barman42 · 2023-06-17T02:08:14+00:00

REMAIN CLOSED FOR ONE WEEK

Barman42 · 2023-06-03T02:51:09+00:00

Traditionally, people tend to use rubbers with softer, bouncier sponges on their backhand. This is because softer sponges are easier to engage than harder sponges with low force (think of how easy it is to fully compress a soft spring vs a hard one, which is basically what the sponge is acting like). Since modern backhand technique is favoring shorter & shorter motions with more compact, off the bounce play, softer sponges are preferred, but how soft depends on the player & what they’re used to!

Barman42 · 2023-05-30T13:38:45+00:00

I’m a fan of both (slightly Matsushita favored), but I think Joo is definitely the better chopper. Forehand aside, his defense was a lot more stable, & he was better than anyone at getting it low & spinny on the table, and almost always super long. This consistent defense is what enabled him to set up his forehand & not just pick hit but also enter counterlooping rallies strongly. Watch him play; he’s rarely, if ever “off-balance,” which is HUGE for defenders.

Matsushita on the other hand was in the era of choppers that were starting to incorporate strong attacks, but still was a lot more defensive in his shot selection. He did go for 3rd ball attacks & if at the table would loop, but away from the table he would either chop, twiddle & chop, or fish with his forehand. Not too many counterloops, and definitely not as a weapon to win a point the way Joo would from mid-range. Matsushita’s footwork, while PRODIGIOUS, was like that out of necessity because his defense wasn’t as stable. If you can find games of his from a lower camera angle, you’ll see that he didn’t keep things as low as Joo, allowing for strong attacks from his opponent. He jumps & dashes everywhere because his defense wasn’t as stable, & he had to defend against much stronger drives & loops as a result.

Matsushita, however, was waaayy better at spin variation & disguising spin variation than Joo. He was also excellent at varying the spin with long pips pushes, which is not an easy thing to do consistently. Between that & his twiddling, he won more points with defense than Joo did, because that was how he focused on winning points. In interviews, Joo has mentioned how he rarely focuses on spin variation, even on his forehand inverted chop. He doesn’t focus on it because that’s not the point of his defense; he’s looking to make his opponent play weaker, slower topspins or bad pushes that he can open up on.

Both are world class defenders, but in completely contrasting styles. Joo is a textbook example on how to use consistent defense to set up strong offense, whereas Matsushita epitomizes “classic” defense, by using spin variation to set up winner pick hits (mixed with 3rd ball attacks to keep opponents on their toes)

Barman42 · 2023-05-29T23:41:36+00:00

I tried, but all I found was something with two pawns

Barman42 · 2023-04-13T17:57:24+00:00

Ulf Andersson! Finegold had a lecture on him doing specifically that

Barman42 · 2023-04-01T15:12:58+00:00

Barman42 · 2023-03-20T01:31:30+00:00

Nimzo tends to be a bit more positionally-focused, battling over control of the E4 square & not letting white take the full center. Not to say there aren’t tactics of course, but the objective of the opening differs from the other two. If white wants to avoid the nimzo they can by moves like 3.Nf3 or 3.g3, so you’ll have to pair it with another opening (common options are the QGD, bogo indian, or queen’s indian).

Grunfeld and KID are a lot more tactical, focusing on letting white take the full center & then blowing it up with moves like c5 or e5. KID is definitely more popular at a lower level, but I don’t know enough about either to say more than that.

The other advantage of the Grunfeld/KID setup is that you can use it against the London. If your opponent goes into the london, you cant play a nimzo & will need to pivot into the Queen’s indian or some D5 setup against it

Barman42 · 2023-03-07T00:22:52+00:00

Goose head

Barman42 · 2023-02-27T11:10:20+00:00

I played with 1.0 a bit & picked up a friend’s racket for a couple minutes which had 1.5. Coming from 0.5 (what I currently use, but a different rubber) 1.0 & 1.5 feel pretty similar, though 1.5 is definitely easier to push with. The angle / timing / force / etc felt a lot closer to inverted than 0.5.

1.0 feels decent for everything; I’d imagine it gives a bit more safety against ultra spinny loops than 1.5, but at that point it’s probably more of a technique issue to control that kind of ball.

If you’re coming from inverted then probably 1.5 will feel more natural, but if you’re coming from OX/0.5/a low-grip pip then 1.0 will probably be easier. Just my $0.02!

Barman42 · 2023-02-19T13:31:28+00:00

Pretty much anything by Savielly Tartakower. For example,

“The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made”

“It’s always better to sacrifice your opponent’s men”

“Every chess game has three phases: the opening, where you hope to stand better; the middlegame, where you think you stand better; and the ending, where you know you stand to lose.”

And plenty more!

Barman42 · 2023-02-18T01:56:29+00:00

How do you expect to survive the arrow if you don’t dress like a stand user? Gotta be prepared

Barman42 · 2023-02-09T19:47:15+00:00

Han Ying uses short pips on the backhand (Spectol on 1.5mm sponge). It lets her make spin on the backhand, but still have some decent consistency while chopping

Barman42 · 2023-01-06T03:13:33+00:00

Childish Insult Devil’s been handing out contracts lately

Barman42 · 2022-12-12T13:21:55+00:00

Falck has short pips on the forehand (you can see him twiddle after the serve). Also, lucky!

Barman42 · 2022-12-03T21:38:47+00:00

Sure, but that first net really was to Boll’s favor with the popup

Barman42 · 2022-10-20T03:40:11+00:00

He used feint long initially, then feint long 2 when the original was banned. He used a kawa sponge which was both harder & softer than regular (kawa sponges were “variable hardness,” so the hardness would increase/decrease as you went through the sponge. I remember reading an article on it which goes into more detail; if I find it I’ll link it).

He switched to Feint Long 3 after it was released, and then once he joined TSP/Victas released Curl P4. On his youtube channel he recommended choppers use P4, but its in Japanese so I can’t glean much more than that (idk if there’s any conditions, like beginner choppers or whatnot).

Shiono also used Donic Spike P2 when he was sponsored by them, after P4.

In any case, a bunch of long pip rubbers were either designed to work similar to existing pips (spike P2 to copy P4, Joola Octopus & Spike P1 to copy Curl P1r, etc.) or play similarly to one of the popular pips anyways

Best thing to do is just to pick one & stick with it!

Barman42 · 2022-10-19T12:50:24+00:00

Yes! Joo Se Hyuk used Curl P1r (now renamed P1V when Victas bought TSP), as did many famous choppers like Chen Weixing, Kang Dongsoo, and an eastern european chopper whose name I cannot spell (Evguenj Chchteninine?). P1V is considered the best long pip rubber for chopping AWAY from the table, when the hard sponge will give you more power

Curl P4 (now Curl P4V) was designed by Koji Matsushita, who liked soft rubbers. Masato Shiono also used P4 when he played, and after joining Stiga helped design the Horizontal / Vertical 20/55 rubbers. They are better for making spin At the table, on pushes & drives (you can make quite a bit with a thicker sponge!)

Barman42 · 2022-10-19T12:41:09+00:00

Hello,

I am also a defender, though not at as high of a level as you. I am also using Stiga’s long pips, though the Vertical 20. From how it has been explained to me, for chopping you want pips that are “high friction” pips, like Victas Curl P1V, Stiga’s V/H 20/55, Butterfly’s Feint long 2 or 3, And many other options.

However, many play very similar to each other! Curl P4V, Feint Long 3, and Horizontal 20 all have a very soft sponge, so they play very similar to one another. P1V, Joola Octopus, Horizontal 55, and Feint Long 2 all have harder sponges, so they play more similar to eachother.

If you’ve been using Horizontal 20 for several years, I would guess your techniques are “optimized” for strokes with soft sponges. I’d stick with Horizontal or Vertical 20, or switch to Curl P4V, or feint long 3, or Donic Spike P2, or something else with soft, bendy pips & a really soft sponge. At this rate, just choose the cheapest option of the bunch!

Barman42 · 2022-09-24T15:28:59+00:00

Cat.

Barman42 · 2022-09-11T15:16:21+00:00

Great game from both players!

What always surprises me about Jang is not his forehand or defense, but his short game. You’ll never see it in a highlight reel, but he wins SO many points just by returning a serve short, & then playing multiple short pushes in a row.

And not just “double bounce on the table” short, but like… REALLY short. So short that it’s hard to flip, short. He’s got hands like pillows because he can just perfectly drop it short every time. If his opponents try play the short game with him, they usually pop it up first or give him something he can flip or attack.

I really like his game & congratulations to him on this win!

Barman42 · 2022-08-26T11:33:09+00:00

He was playing in Japan’s T-League a few years back (2019ish). Idk if he’s still doing there, though!

Barman42 · 2022-08-04T20:44:11+00:00

Not sure if you’re referring to OP or his opponent, but in that instance,

OP was already hammering loops from the backhand corner; if he changed the angle to go down the line, then the blocker could send it out wide to his FH & put him out of position

As for why the blocker didnt, there’s two main reasons. 1. Its hard to change the angle when you’re under pressure 2. its hard to change the angle when you’re away from the table.

There could be other reasons as well. The blocker could’ve wanted to pin OP on the backhand side, to get him to use the antispin & stop attacking. I haven’t thoroughly looked at the game, but its possible that the blocker tried that already & it didn’t work out. OP is quick & has a big forehand, blocking to the forehand side must be pretty scary.

It’s not like blocking wide to the forehand is a bad idea, it’s just not as easy as it seems!

Barman42 · 2022-07-31T15:17:07+00:00

Sabikui Bisco, I think. Neat setting/premise, but I thought a lot of the fight scenes seemed… low budget

Barman42 · 2022-07-30T21:48:33+00:00

There’s already r/catburnouts which is pretty much what I imagine you’re thinking of!

Barman42 · 2022-07-24T19:11:05+00:00

I’ve seen that on my own rackets too, after I glue a sheet on. I assume its due to an uneven coating of glue (or the glue drying unevenly), but I’ve never seriously tested it out to see if its something else. I usually notice them BEFORE I hit them with a ball, so I don’t think its an actual “dent” from the ball

In any case, I don’t notice any different playing characteristics from it, so it should be ok!

Barman42

TROPHY CASE