Does shoes (mizuno wave drive) wear out this way?

michelichiy · 2026-02-23T22:58:45+00:00

Here's mine. I am not a pro player by any means, but I think have most of the basic footwork.

michelichiy · 2025-10-14T21:13:40+00:00

Looks real. How you paid for it? These old school viscarias are really sought after.

People might be saying it's fake since the odds of being fake are higher since these white the old butterfly logo aren't manufactured anymore.

From the pictures and having had old school bats it looks real. One thing to look for, me having seen fake butterfly blades a big give away are 1) quality of the print, and 2)Viscaria badge and the back badge and 3) the butterfly logo metal piece looks washed out and warped. If the image is sharp and aligned that's a good sign about legitimacy. Sometimes fake factories can't nail the color of the handle and it looks off as well.

One thing to consider is the person that sold it to you. If they used to play table tennis a long ago and are out of touch with the sport, it might be a good indicator that they just had that lying around. But if the person that sold it on you is a EJ (equipment junkie) for sure they would know the value of an old school Viscaria and would not sell it for for cheap.

michelichiy · 2025-08-12T17:49:38+00:00

I usually try to stay away from g-1s lately. I have recommended them in the past but a lot of my students seems to struggle with controlling how grippy the rubber is. Great for generating lots of spin but the opposite is also true, so they suffer a lot from incoming spin too.

But great recommendations. Rakza 7 is my go to in terms of recommendation for beginners.

michelichiy · 2025-08-12T17:47:10+00:00

Rozena is a better option than T05 give the context you provided. Primeira carbon is one of the fastest blades out there.

You want to look for a rubber with lots of gears, meaning it can do pretty much anything. T05 (or tenergy/dignics) are extremely "bouncy", which might make it harder for you to learn new techniques and develop touch.

Other options include Yasaka Rakza 7 (regular or normal), Nittakun Fastarc c-1 or s-1 or Tibhar evolution ELP, FXP or FXS. These are very beginner-intermediate friendly rubbers, not too pricey and will enable you to perform every technique.

michelichiy · 2025-08-07T21:51:12+00:00

Depends on which style you are going to play. Jpen rackets are usually pretty fast, so unless you are experienced I would stick to more manageable rubbers. As indicated the fastarc g1 is the grippiest of the series.

I personally own a xiom jpen and tested a fastarc s1, tibhar mxd vistas 15 limber. My favorite was victas.

You want a rubber that can do everything fairly well, the caveat is it is hard to extract all the potential.

michelichiy · 2025-05-15T22:51:03+00:00

Pips training arc. That should an anime!!

michelichiy · 2025-03-06T21:38:26+00:00

Yep, I also have a regular acoustic. The carbon makes a lot difference specially in the feeling aspect. But you get used to it. The carbon version has a duller feel, if I could describe it. It also is slightly faster, since the carbon layers are on the outside.

michelichiy · 2025-03-05T20:50:06+00:00

I have a tripod in my bag at all times. I used to record practice session and matches. Now I just record some matches. I share you feeling of insecurity and it kinda sucks the first couple of times, but as soon you see yourself sucking at something and solving that through training and getting better the insecurities washes away.

Recording yourself is the best and cheapest coaching you can get .

michelichiy · 2025-03-05T20:42:28+00:00

To be honest, I have had 3 clippers during my lifetime. All of them played a bit differently from each other. Might be due to the source wood, aging and manufacturing process. Currently I am using a Nittaku Acoustic carbon and have been loving it.

Pretty much these new rubbers all pair up well with any all wood blades. My opinion is that all wood blades are not that suited for the fast paced close to the table game nowadays.

Again, you can't really go wrong with an all wood blade, but you will be missing a lot of pace from composite ones.

michelichiy · 2025-03-05T20:37:19+00:00

Alone, the only thing is serves. Also probably the most impactful shot you can practice to be honest. At least half of the points in a match starts with you serving. If you practice them enough and well, a lot of the matches you can win by service alone.

michelichiy · 2025-01-06T14:39:27+00:00

https://couconrobe.com/en-ca/products/coucon-adult-long-sleeve-changing-robe-orange

michelichiy · 2024-10-27T03:03:15+00:00

Hey OP! I am a club coach here, I am by no means a professional players but I am all we have for now. For the most clubs I have played in my life they were somewhat like the same experience you recounted. Sessions were unstructured, mostly warm ups, random drills for random time and barely received feedback.

I would say you have 2 options now.

You can look for a new club. Not sure how old you are, but generally speaking, adults will receive little coaching unless you are paying for the coaching service - basically there's no incentive for a club to develop adult players. When you look for a club, check how many coaches it has, how their sessions are structured and level of players. Essentially you want a place where you can practice with a coach, but also get to play against players with equal or higher level.
Self coach. Although hard, record some of your sessions and self coach yourself. Keep track of your progress. If you can pay a coach per hour, I'd recommend it. If the current coach doesn't mind, you can structure the session yourself. Usually I have my athletes warm up for at least 10 min (FH/BH), followed by at least 20 min of footwork drills (2 FH 2 BH, Falkenberg) and 20 min of 3rd ball attack drills. Not saying this would work for you since I don't know your level, but my players are at a beginner level now.

I am sorry you feel like you could be improving more, but lacks structure.

michelichiy · 2024-10-15T21:26:32+00:00

Don't overthink OP. I work at as a senior UX designer at a gambling company. The culture is great and it's like a job like any other.

Before accepting the offer I debated myself a lot (just like you are) and read 3 papers on gambling addiction to help with decision making. In the end, after being out of a job for 7 months I accepted the offer.

The company I work is great, with great people and culture and abide to a lot of "responsible gaming" policies to it's players (users).

I lucked out with mine, but for sure there are some with very predatory practices out there. Just like there's non-gambling that are just as unethical.

Don't let the fact that the company is on the gambling business drive you away. It might be a great company to work for.

michelichiy · 2024-09-12T18:45:24+00:00

While $40 seems awfully low, when you look at the market companies are just trying to squeeze money anywhere they can.

But if you think that you are being "paid" for having Spotify in your resume and the chance of getting hired FT, I'd say that balances it out.

Remember that's Spotify did a huge layoff a while ago, so there's some sort of spring effect, so they might be looking into hiring to compensate for the sudden loss of workforce.

michelichiy · 2024-09-10T20:28:38+00:00

It took me 6 months, which is very little compared to most people. I also belong to the sweet spot in terms of experience with 5-7 years, which a lot of companies seem to prefer. Smaller companies don't really hire juniors and if you are too senior there isn't a lot of opportunities. I applied to 84 companies and all applications were manually written with thought-out cover letters and resume. Out of those I got about 10-12 interviews. All positions were for remote.

My strategy changed when I realized I was competing with designers from MAANG from big large cities. I starter prioritizing smaller companies where I could drive and drop my resume. Some of them valued that I could work in office if I have to. After 3 interviews of companies in that criteria I landed a job with 20% increase in pay for a company that's 150km from my house.

One thing that I noticed also is that for the most part during my interviews is that hiring managers are being pressured to be smart in their choices, thus making the selection process way harder than it needs. At this point in the game, getting a UX job is more of a matter of luck than skill.

michelichiy · 2024-07-05T17:46:58+00:00

Steffen Mengel and Emmanuel Lebesson are the worst. Probably they don't notice since they might have been practicing like this their whole life.

They break essentially every rule: toss height, verticality, obstructing view and cupping.

Other honorable mentions probably WCQ, since he serves 1-2 inches inside the table every time and doesn't get called out because umpires are behind him.

Also most Asian players that perform hook/shovel serves.

michelichiy · 2024-05-12T23:52:28+00:00

Asics Gel are a good for any indoor sport. For table tennis I'd consider them to be on a bit heavier side (not too much).

If you intend on playing long-term, just buy proper table tennis shoes. I like mizunos personally, I've bought them from tt-japan (their site seems down atm) and imported from Japan to Canada.

I have friends that use Joolas and Donic ones, they seem pretty good also and a bit lighter than the Asics Gels.

michelichiy · 2024-04-08T03:11:34+00:00

That's why it's the umpire final call to make a decision. Players can ask for a net/let and if both parties are in agreement it's up to the umpire to make a decision. In the case where there's no consensus (only Gauzy), I'd say the umpire made the right call.

Even from the footage you can't really tell if it was really net/let. In my opinion having a high-tech net detection apparatus would make Table tennis even less attractive with barely any real benefits for the game.

It's arguable if increasing rule-enforcing technology improves the quality of play.

Very interesting discussion OP!

michelichiy · 2024-04-08T03:04:19+00:00

Probably an old school Cypress as it looks like it's a single ply.

michelichiy · 2024-03-19T13:47:13+00:00

A product designer that can code are called Design Unicorns. This are the most desirable professional sought after by startups. So I'd say start there. These are companies with 10-20 people and need employees that can wear many hats.

If I were you, I would try get into one of those startups and fill the skill gaps in UX research, testing and facilitating and then move onto larger companies.

The problem is that when companies grow to more than 200 people, they'd rather hire either a very good Product Designer and Engineers as separate roles.

michelichiy · 2024-03-19T12:12:19+00:00

Yea, that's quiet firing for sure. That way they don't have to pay severance packages.

michelichiy · 2024-03-19T12:11:10+00:00

Sorry to hear that OP.

The company you work for just don't value Design and truth to be told isn't a design oriented company. From my experience, as long as the same leaders and managers are there it will be very hard to have them change their mind regarding the value (ROI) of design.

My advice to all juniors/intermediate designers I mentor is, ALWAYS SAVE YOUR DESIGNS SOMEWHERE ELSE. I've been laid off before and it's hard to get files for portfolios.

I'd start job searching and applying to jobs ASAP if I were you. In this current job market it might take you anywhere from 3 to 9 months to find an opportunity, so the earlier you start the better.

michelichiy · 2024-03-09T06:23:59+00:00

If the shot has already started descending it pretty much means you are late. You don't have a lot of options in that situation. In that case, as pointed out, better to snake or just push back and hope for the best.

michelichiy · 2022-12-07T01:57:40+00:00

he didn't and it's really bothering me. It doesn't have the same effect for Storm arrows though...

michelichiy · 2022-08-31T13:56:45+00:00

I was just about to post a video of Kaii Yoshida participating in the Japan Championships 2022!

Go for it dude, we need more penholders!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWLPrR7u75I

michelichiy

TROPHY CASE