1000 underspin balls on the robot today

Initially, I sent all the balls at 1 speed to 1 location, then when I could do the shot, I widened the location a bit and varied the speed a bit.  Then went to wide FH and wide BH alternating, and then just to random location from FH to BH with varied speed.  After I was getting tired from looping, I reduced the number of FH balls by reducing the number of FH locations being hit to in the random location range, thus getting a higher percentage of BH balls.  I ended up at 1300 balls for the day, and will go see how well I learned it when I play at the club tonight.

And knowing both need a lot more practice, I can say I'll give it another go tomorrow, and keep doing it till it works well.  I'm tired of sending weak balls to heavy hitters.  Gotta fight fire with fire, LOL.

So I'll try it again tonight at a different club...

I couldn't run for 30 min if my life depended on it, much less play afterwards.

Nonetheless, something that's become quite clear lately is that by the 3rd match of the day or night, if they are tough matches, I'm physically exhausted, and that's a lot of why I don't move, and allow balls to wiz by on the corners once I'm to the point where I can't get myself to move.  That's not good if I'm going to be playing any more tournaments.

But this brings to mind something a Dr. that I play sometimes said, which was "You can't play TT to get fit, you have to be fit to play TT".  He went on to suggest 30 or 45 min a day of any kind of heart pumping cardio exercise that doesn't cause me pain, for example biking, be it on an exercise bike or out on a trail or road.

Anyway, I think what I can do is to do some exercise before going to play, and then some more when I get home.  For example I could do some warmups and then ride for 20 min before going to play, and then another 20 min ride after coming home.  I don't know if the number of minutes on each side that I've guessed are reasonable or not, but basically the concept is to add some exercise to the day before and after, and then when and if the day ever comes that I feel I'm playing well enough to try another tournament, I just won't exercise that day, and hopefully that will leave me more able to last a couple matches longer before getting exhausted.  Another thing I've been doing is limiting people to a few smashes per point, and instead of hitting many times, I chop right in the middle of the rally, sometimes with pips, sometimes with inverted.  I found I don't wear out as fast, and I win more points that way because some people are better at returning any kind of hit than they are at returning alternating hits and chops.

I also think using the robot before going to play helps me a lot, because it helps me remember how I want to hit the shots.  I think it makes sense to do 300 or 400 balls before going to play, which allows for some FH drive, FH chop, BH smack and BH chop.   The point I'd like to make is that 400 balls is about 10 min of playing if the balls are at a relaxed pace.   But yes, doing 1300 and then going and paying did cause soreness in my legs and elbow, so I'll take it easier on my body, henceforth.

 

I like your work ethic.  If you tend to get stuck in pushing rallies in a match, I would suggest the practice you're doing but include transitions rather than just continually attacking underspin balls with your pips.  Example: if the robot is feeding underspin shots, push back 3, attack 1, push back 2, attack 1, push back 1, attack 1, repeat (3-2-1).  So you're learning how to get out of those pushing rallies when you do get stuck in one.  Good luck.

Yes, tis true.  I actually don't mind pushing matches, since I usually win them, but as I play better players, they are better at attacking their way out of it, so I need better strategy and weapons to counter them.  I think I need to come up with an approx height or angle to top of net, above which I will typically try to attack, and below which I will default to a push, chop or loop, instead.  But yes, mixing it up is required, or I become predictable, and predictable is not good if you are trying to win!

When at the club, I did modify my BH attack methodology to only try to use it every 3rd or 4th BH shot, and to try to hit it someplace inconvenient.  When it was hard and landed, it rarely came back.  I practiced quite a while with a 2000 or 2100 player, and that was very helpful.  Then we played a match, and I won game and a couple more were close, so that was a significant improvement since my last 3-0 loss to him.  I played a 2nd match against a player at my level, but it was also a tough one, and by the 5th game I was beat.  I won in a squeaker, and again, the BH shot helped.

FH Looping or smashing takes SOOOOO much more energy and effort as compared most other shots.  I would like to get a good hard loop working, one that isn't easily blocked or hit back well, but will need to use it sparingly to conserve energy.  The BH push, loop or smack are all shots that consume little energy by comparison.  The chop takes a lot less out of me, too, because it is slow, fluid and graceful, not whipping fast.

PS: I think I'll try to continue the 300 or 400 robot balls per day before going to play (I play every day at least once for 2 hrs or so).  It seems to be helping.