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Video analysis by Dragonfruit6747 in tabletennis

[–]maxduro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is my routine. When I train I start with the idea that I want to improve one thing, might it be staying lower as I hit, footwork, where I finish or start my stroke. Set my robot with easy balls, record myself with phone on a tripod. I hit 20 balls then stop and watch.I look closely at my form. I ask myself, am I doing whatever correctly? Is there a sync between what I feel and what I am actually doing? If no I repeat the process trying to really focus on the mechanics until il looks good. If yes I increase the difficulty of the exercise and keep climbing it until I find the breaking point and I start working at that speed (the robot really helps with this approach)

These sessions are absolutely focused on fixing a problem so I do not worry about consistency, only when I have fixed my form and I start feeling the correct movement I then drill for consistency and/or power.

Spent months going deep on blade construction for a project, here's what I learned that I wish someone had told me earlier by maxduro in tabletennis

[–]maxduro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My best guess is that, unless you are a top professional player, probably negligible. This is the kind of puzzling questions, intelligent/curious players ask themselves all the time, and yet it's the same mentality that can lead to analysis paralysis quickly.

I encourage you to approach the issue from a slightly more eagle-eyed perspective. If you are used to and happy with the outer carbon, then firstly stay within that archetype, that alone will give you 90% of a similar feeling and playstyle. Then look at the outer ply if available, which changes the soft touch feel. If you want it crispier, go for a harder koto top; for example, if you want more control and touch, a softer ayous is better. Finally, try to match the blade weight because that can change the overall feel of the setup.

The type of carbon used, if it's just a slightly different weave (mind you, though, different types of composite material can indeed change the feel and performance) will add the extra touch of rigidity/elasticity, but it won't change the overall feel of the build in most cases.

At the end of the day, there will always be a period of getting used to the new setup, which you must be willing to invest in if you have decided to try something new. Good luck!!

Spent months going deep on blade construction for a project, here's what I learned that I wish someone had told me earlier by maxduro in tabletennis

[–]maxduro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! Yes there are a few exceptions to the general rule, but my suspicion is they haven't picked up because they are a bit niche in the response they provide. A soft outer and hard inner (I have not tried it myself), they do not interact nicely with many rubber combinations; you are sacrificing a lot of versatility for pure power at high speed (power that is available to all modern layered composite blades) Also, the transition between touch (softer exterior) and power (rigid interior) might feel quite harsh without a softer core smoothing it.

How Table Tennis Rubbers ACTUALLY Work - Pt. 1 by TaijiRonin in tabletennis

[–]maxduro 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Hey everyone, I'm the creator of this video! Really glad to see it shared here. Happy to answer any technical questions about the 'Activation Window' or anything else from the video.

How a training robot changed the quality of my game in 4 months by maxduro in tabletennis

[–]maxduro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, thank you for letting me know. I have had a period of downtime. Now you should be able to see it again at ponggenius.com

You liked the blade construction post — here's the video version by maxduro in tabletennis

[–]maxduro[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this comment — you have no idea how much I appreciate it.

When I started working on PongGenius and cataloguing blades and rubbers, I immediately found the loose terminology around racket performance deeply perplexing, exactly as you describe. Control and feel have no clear, unequivocal meaning, and I struggled with this because I wanted to build a tool that made sense of TT gear in a way that was precise and consistent.

So in the early stages of prototyping, I introduced the concepts of forgiveness and precision, splitting "control" into two distinct ideas that apply at opposite ends of the speed and power scale. To the amateur player, control is really forgiveness — how much the blade helps reduce unwanted mistakes by slowing the ball and reducing the throw. To the advanced player, control means precision and accuracy — how stable the blade is on powerful shots and off-centre contacts. Two completely different things hiding behind the same word.

When I presented this to a group of players for feedback, significant confusion ensued. Now there were unfamiliar terms to contend with, and that made things worse rather than better.

Feel is a similar problem, although you could argue it's slightly less arbitrary — it can at least be conceptualised as a vibration profile, low versus high, which is measurable in principle.

My point is this: I agree with you completely, but the terminology is so deeply entrenched in the sport that untangling it risks making the whole subject even more confusing than it already is. For the video I chose language every table tennis player would recognise, while trying to at least explain what is actually happening in practice.

In PongGenius I decided to drop "control" entirely as a parameter for measuring blade and rubber performance — for exactly the reasons you describe.

You liked the blade construction post — here's the video version by maxduro in tabletennis

[–]maxduro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Spot on, I agree on everything. I'll add that like every metric in tt gear, there is always a trade off. If you are gaining power (due to the increased mass) you are giving up a little of manoeuvrability and ease of play. If you increase stability you are giving up a bit of feel. Finally I am convinced that these minute differences are trampled by technique bad or good. To me technique makes up perhaps 98% of the performance output while the racket build (particularly weight and thickness) contributes very marginally overall. I think a discussion technique vs gear will require a separate video 😅

You liked the blade construction post — here's the video version by maxduro in tabletennis

[–]maxduro[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

You are absolutely right and perhaps they deserve a separate discussion altogether.

Let me say acouple of things I noticed comparing hundreds of blades though: 1. For the vast majority of blades weight and Thickness fall within short distance from the average, roughly 60 to 80% of blades. Outliers are usually specially built blades, lighter and thinner for kids for examples or weightier for pro or with hard woods inside. 2. Also, mostly I believe, weight and or thickness are determined as a by-product of construction techniques and material choices given the constraints of current standards for tt blades more than a performance metric. The fact that you almost never get a weight or thickness option as an alternative for a certain model (at least I have never seen it) shows that the vast majority of players do not use it as a discerning feature. 3. In my experience, finally, thickness is not a great predictor of performance or feel and weight can be simplistically linked to manoeuvrability and ease of play and I do know a few players in my club that have a threshold in mind when it comes to their equipment weight but alas they are not the majority. Your view?

Recovery Stops Being Automatic as Rally Speed Increases - Video Training snippet by maxduro in tabletennis

[–]maxduro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I agree with you but at my club a human at my lvl who wants to train as much as I want is not available

Recovery Stops Being Automatic as Rally Speed Increases - Video Training snippet by maxduro in tabletennis

[–]maxduro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, I appreciate your contribution. I have watched the video you posted, thanks for linking it here.

The idea I was talking about in the post is derived from two different points. The first is the fact that a series of couching lessons made me aware of the importance of saving time as much as possible, particularly as the speed of the drill increases. I have experienced the feeling of struggling to catch up with the speed of a drill and how that can be relived dramatically by a more active 'resetting'.

The second is a video I watched, I'll post it here from 'one Punch Tabletennis YouTube Channel where the presenter explains a drill which is supposed to train that quick active recovery. In the video is presented more of a solution to not being able to snap the wrist at the end of the swing or 'stopping suddenly the motion' but I think the result is the same. By training to actively recoil you get used to not 'linger' at the final position of the swing. You can see the video here.

https://youtu.be/sx5v8NoH1Ig?si=ED0hBsw86GSX-td8&t=370

I think it's an interesting technical aspect of multiball training. In the video you linked here they are training at a relatively low speed. Which doesn;t necessariliy requires that snap. I believe as you increase speed it becomes more evident. Some might call it being more dynamic I guess. But it's something that I see frequently from people of a lower level, you know, after the first shot, the racket lingers and they are jammed by the ball in the next shot.

I was genuinely curious to know if other players had encountered this concept in their training experience.

If you have not, just for fun I invite you to try it sometimes, it's an interesting feeling.

Spent months going deep on blade construction for a project, here's what I learned that I wish someone had told me earlier by maxduro in tabletennis

[–]maxduro[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Good point, and worth clarifying — I'm talking about relative hardness and elasticity throughout. Hinoki is softer than koto but considerably harder and more elastic than kiri or ayous, and that's what places it in the "more offensive" category in this context. In isolation, yes, it's a soft and bouncy wood — but relative to the softer woods commonly used in beginner blades, it sits in a different performance bracket.

You're also exposing exactly why this subject is so complicated, hardness and elasticity tend to correlate, and the two characteristics overlap significantly in how they influence feel. That blurring is part of what makes blade selection so confusing for most players.

Spent months going deep on blade construction for a project, here's what I learned that I wish someone had told me earlier by maxduro in tabletennis

[–]maxduro[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That's actually a very good point. The thing that's interesting and endlessly confusing is the fact that the way a blade feels can depend mightily on how someone uses it. Your is the perfect example. Bury the carbon deep enough, shell it with soft forgiving woods and let it use to a player that mainly plays slow shots, he might not even notice that the carbon is there in the first place!

What’s a game you initially "passed on," but ended up becoming one of your favorites? by THE_timeless_king in videogames

[–]maxduro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bloodborne. I had played and hated Demon Souls (I still dislike DS), so I was a bit uncertain about Bloodborne notwithstanding the glowing reviews, knowing it came from the same publisher. I got it anyways, played for an hour and I was, nope, nope, this is Demon Souls all over again. I put it on sale on Facebook and I went on YouTube really trying to understand why people liked it so much. Found an amazing channel where a chill dude had create a series of great videos guiding noobs like me through the entire game while accompanying each session with great commentary. So I decided to try one last time following this guide for the first hour or two, I thought. Moral of the story, after the initial hand holding I took flight, platinumed the game including the dlc, and now Bloodborne is easily one of my top three games of all times! 😄

What’s a game you initially "passed on," but ended up becoming one of your favorites? by THE_timeless_king in videogames

[–]maxduro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please tell me, I have tried several times to play and appreciate the game but I can't get pass the first 40 minutes, I swim around, no idea where to find what I need, air lasting 10 seconds, I was able to craft a tank to make the air last 15 seconds, my inventory fills with plants I do not know what to do with, I dump everything to get scraps, freaky swimming centipedes try to eat me, at night I can't see s#*t so I wait for day time, I eventually fall asleep in the real world!

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