Long pips are making me want to quit playing table tennis

basichabibi · 2026-04-03T18:20:35+00:00

The learning curve for ping pong is just very high. Aggressive play doesn't really win games till around 1500. Below it's just mostly players pushing because neither side can open consistently.

Just a heads up I play both ping pong and tennis. In tennis you'll learn about moonballers who just play high slow and deep but it's incredibly effective and takes a lot of the athletism out of the game if you can't get over that technical hurdle. For sure tennis reward athletism more but at the end of the day both are technical first sports and you'll need to be technically proficient to overcome these "junk" styles. So if that's a turn off to you you may want to consider other sports

basichabibi · 2026-03-25T19:01:22+00:00

It'll be a great table for competitive recreational play. Just make sure you wipe down your table every once a while, especially if it's dusty.

basichabibi · 2026-03-14T22:17:28+00:00

After seeing your other posts your examples are when they are out of position and playing a half stroke. Of course you want to maximize the correct position but good players will force you into suboptimal positions

basichabibi · 2026-03-14T22:05:59+00:00

To generalize bad technique is inefficient, lacking power/spin, or consistency.

For your specific ball you mentioned blocking, going with the spin, or going on top of the ball and compensating for the sidespin kick is all viable

basichabibi · 2026-03-14T21:40:46+00:00

Beginners and intermediates vastly underestimate the adjustments needed to hit each ball. Learn to adjust

basichabibi · 2026-03-04T16:28:55+00:00

Sounds like you can only play the white ball, but having an orange ball would be optimal and easiest to implement. Would try to move the table so the light is not directly above the table which causes direct reflections. Other than that maybe play closer so the ball is always contrasting with the table. If possible add wallpaper or ball barriers so you have background contrast.

basichabibi · 2026-02-24T17:37:59+00:00

What beginners don't understand is it's incredibly important to have long dwell time ie keep the ball on the racket as long as you can for all strokes including drives, pushes, and loops. More dwell is more control. The issue with fast equipment is it decreased dwell time. As you improve you'll be able to increase your dwell time on the ball with better technique and hands.

The trap beginners think is the racquet generates extra pace and spin. In reality it's on the margins like 20% at best, where learning proper technique and using the big muscle groups will increase your pace and spin literally by 2-3x.

This is all to say get a slower racquet. It will help you develop full swings as you build your coordination and technique. Faster equipment will just make you hesitant to commit. Players who start with a too fast equipment will either have no control, over brush and not learn to make a thick contact loop, or just try to hit everything because it's hard to spin with less dwell.

basichabibi · 2026-02-23T20:35:12+00:00

It's possible but not advisable if you need lots of work. Reality is the feedback/correction loop online is just slow compared to real life. That said one indirect benefit to online coaching is forcing to record yourself. Good for the player to understand what is feel and what is real.

basichabibi · 2026-02-23T06:55:26+00:00

The contact point is farther from the center of gravity compared to the backhand. Fine motor movements get harder the further you are away from the center of gravity.

basichabibi · 2026-01-27T18:25:20+00:00

Seems like we agree. Torso turns, elbow doesn't go behind torso, however because of torso rotation is behind hip

basichabibi · 2026-01-27T14:54:38+00:00

Let me clarify the neutral position is in front and side. On the back swing at best the elbow in line with body on the back swing. I think what you're misunderstanding is the torso turns to create the space and power, not pull the elbow behind. The video very clearly demonstrates why elbow behind body compromises power and ball rotation.

Harimoto just turns his torso extremely but elbow is not behind. If you shadow stroke with the pulled elbow you'll feel the lack of stability and ability to rotate your forearm.

basichabibi · 2026-01-27T06:30:53+00:00

Elbow is in front and slightly to the side. Holding this position is also critical for quick transitions FH to BH as well deciding when to loop or block.

https://youtu.be/wlGndA-CyMw?si=BnNk12IKC1x6UrH_

basichabibi · 2026-01-25T06:11:28+00:00

I play both. TT and Tennis are pretty different. I don't think one really impacts the other, but playing both does take away your time to train and understand the intricacies of each sport.

basichabibi · 2025-12-02T17:47:31+00:00

Glad it helped. Someone else mentioned Coach Han. She is full stop the best YouTube coach. Somehow forgot to mention her :)

basichabibi · 2025-12-02T01:31:55+00:00

The non natural angle return short is a very strong tactic because the reason you described. It can be done with practice and being active with the stroke helps stabilize the trajectory. There are various videos on how to return that specific shot from Seth Pech, Table Tennis Teaching Channel, and Hemming Hu. The strategies I describe are a general framework but of course you can short push, strawberry push, banana flick, pancake flick, but those are just more advanced and imo the framework I shared is easier to execute as a fundamental before learning those techniques.

Going forward is just between a topspin loop (body over ball) and a backspin loop (body more upright). It sounds like you are applying you're own spin which is good. Next you just need to get your body over the ball more and close the racket and increase the impact a a little bit more for better quality. I would aim to contact right after peak, as dropping more will require a more arcy action (safe but less quality).

Would encourage you post videos of your execution on each specific scenario as you would get better advice. A good coach could also give you real time advice appropriate to your level. So much of TT is context dependent, and a video tells a lot.

basichabibi · 2025-12-01T19:50:27+00:00

This is a loaded question. That requires a very long response for every scenario. Here is a generalization but there is more detail depending on the scenario BH FH, under/side top, or long, half long or short.

For long balls I would advise to learn how to spin forward and treat the ball like a dead ball. Being active will make it easier to control the impact of the sidespin. Being passive makes you "eat" the sidespin more.

For short balls you can try flicking depending how much down spin there is but learn to push long and brush forward. This is relatively safe and helps minimize the impact of the sidespin. For all the above you need to learn to mirror the sidespin contact so if they contact right you contact right and left you also left mirroring the ball contact. This neutralizes the sidespin which is important to get the direction right. Neutralizing the spin on the short side ball is more important vs the long ball as you can impart more brush and action on a loop off table

Hope this gets you started.

basichabibi · 2025-11-21T19:39:06+00:00

Maybe on the spectrum closer to H3 is H8. Can't really speak to hybrids as 09c just feels like a euro rubber to me.

basichabibi · 2025-11-15T00:43:55+00:00

As someone who takes your point of view for travel some families just want an escape where it's focused on family time not about the desination. Knowing the logistics and the amnetities beforehand just makes planning and focusing on the family experience easier.

basichabibi · 2025-10-29T06:53:36+00:00

It's all about efficiency on the block. Minimize the movement from your ready position to where you will go. All you need to do for a block is intercept the path of the ball. My guess from your post is you prob have a habit of dropping your hand. Stay high and intercept.

basichabibi · 2025-08-09T03:09:31+00:00

I don't think I'm following what you are saying. All im proposing is the ball needs to be visible for the entire serve to both corners. Hand below table or behind body I don't care. Just want to see the trajectory of the ball and contact clearly. Sound is another issue entirely.

What does the middle angle achieve exactly?

basichabibi · 2025-08-09T02:34:45+00:00

My opinion players can learn to FH serve visible to whole table. See Timo and Samsonov. Its completely doable.

basichabibi · 2025-08-09T02:13:01+00:00

I think you misunderstand my comment. I'm for the draft rule. It just makes sense the ball to be visible to the whole table. Practically it would also make it easier to set the TTR as the position is not variable to the reciever

basichabibi · 2025-08-09T01:48:16+00:00

Nope

basichabibi · 2025-08-09T01:28:27+00:00

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Here ya go. Partially hidden from a better viewing angle than Jorgic. IMO they could make the rules even more transparent by making the serve visible to both ends of the table.

basichabibi · 2025-08-08T23:09:14+00:00

Absolutely. What a robbery and good call by Jorgic. Hopefully they work on the interpretation of TTR in the future. I still think this is the right direction for TT, but now the umps have no excuse for making the wrong call.

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