[Video] "Trying" to do Drills

Alrighty, as promised, you get some vids of me and my buddy Hwa doing some drills. we're not the best but it's great practice for sure =).

thanks dici! unfortunately, we're past those already...the inconsistencies really show themselves when we have to move. hence why we're starting this now. =)

for a while now. at least 2 years?

He still can try to use BRP, however, it definitely that the basic of brp loop still need to be improved. But what I found that it is much harder to use the BRP to block the shot. This may due to that I have more better understanding on the angle of paddle when looping. 

I think I only start the BRP early this spring, but I has less issue on executing the loop drive on top spin and float ball. If it is a heavy backspin, I'm definitely will use chop it back. But when I recall the last competition game I have played. My body memory is just too get to the old school penhold style that I won't ever thinking about executing the brp loop lol...

chu_bun wrote: There are a few old guys (50+) here picking up RPB and use it effectively.  They tend to use it for shots when they have more time such as flipping slow servers, killing high short balls, ... RPB does add more dimensions to their game.  I don't really see why one shouldn't learn it because he started out with the TPB.

If playing for fun, then by all means do what you like. However, when playing competitively, changing one's form or learning an entirely different stroke would be a severe drawback. Imagine giving Ryu Seung Min using a C-pen paddle and telling him to loop every ball using RPB when it goes to his BH side, it would expose a weakness in his game that players would exploit to the fullest extent. I wouldn't be surprised if he fell below WR 100 if that was the situation. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

The scientific reason why learning a new stroke at an older age is so tough is because the brain does not actually learn the stroke. It adapts your current movements to somehow mimic the stroke that you want to produce. For example, after a certain age, some believe it is 25, the brain has learned pretty much everything it can regarding motor skills. After that, your body just adapts the existing movements that are "pre-programmed" in your brain to create the stroke you want to execute. The brain is a phenomenal adapter, but even it can't adapt to create a stroke it has never executed before. Also, this is the reason why "practice makes perfect." The more you repeat a stroke, the better your brain adjusts and adapts to mimic it, or if you are young, how to learn it. This is also the reason why many people have "accents" when trying to speak a different language. Take an American who has been speaking English his entire childhood and had not tried learning any other languages during that time. If you told him to pronounce something in Cantonese, for example, his brain would automatically pull together the voices, sounds needed in order to create that Cantonese word. However, the only voices, sounds he learned were English, so the only way he would be able to recreate that Cantonese word would be by using the English sounds he learned during his childhood. Eventually, with a ton of "practice makes perfect," his brain would be able to mix and blend the English sounds to mimic the Cantonese language even though the Cantonese pronunciation does not exist in his brain, just an adaption of the English language to mimic the Cantonese language. Hope this helps. Thanks for reading.


Edited by cls2222 - 06/22/2011 at 1:28am

tpgh2k wrote: i think they can learn it. it's kinda getting off track but i'll chime in too. example: kim bong geung. he was briefly the coach for GSU. he's a traditional jpen back when he first moved to the states (like ryu...since they know each other). he switched to c-pen because he wasn't as fast as he used to be. he learned, or used RPB, just fine. still kicking a lot of people's butts....including mine when i tried =( we'll do some more filming tomorrow and try some different drills.

Is he still playing competitively? I have no doubt in my mind that a player from Korea with that kind of training would be able to use RPB without much of a problem. But, if he was still 30 or so and practicing regularly and going to pro tours, I don't think he would have made the switch at that time. I may have said the wrong things if you were just enjoying yourselves. By the way, I regularly play against a 2300 level J-pen player who uses a Kim Taek Soo with RPB, which he just started using 2-3 years ago, and the tactic I mentioned previously works well against him. Many 2000 level J-pen and traditional C-pen players I know just recently switched to RPB for fun I guess, even though they still regularly go to tournaments, and the tactic works very well against them. Have fun guys!

Wow, it's just amazing how good are you in real play, and how bad while doing drills.

Playing with the brain is no good. To me, it is better to play with Brian.

We are using special pills to purge the muscle memory and make the process of learning more successful, no matter how old the learner. Hopefully, soon there will be pills for any particular technique.

Imago wrote: We are using special pills to purge the muscle memory and make the process of learning more successful, no matter how old the learner. Hopefully, soon there will be pills for any particular technique.

Is what you are saying serious? I never heard about that yet.

Imago wrote: Wow, it's just amazing how good are you in real play, and how bad while doing drills.

lol i guess i concentrate more during real gameplay than during drills? 

My difficulty with continuous drills like that you kinda have to hold back (otherwise the other guy cant block consistently), and the holding back is hard if you are used to simply putting as much power as you safely can on the ball as you normally do in games.

Multiball is much easier, just whack away. I feel far better with multiball, more relaxed and smooth, etc.


Edited by Vassily - 06/22/2011 at 5:35am

Just about learning table tennis later in life we have players that didn't play competition regularly until age 35 or so, lets say they were at 1400 us level then. By mid 40s some of them (not all but quite a few) are able to reach around 2000 us or close enough to it

Edited by bluebucket - 06/22/2011 at 6:18am

I agree with Wiggy. Both of you are not consistent enough with the shots and the blocks. You must not try to hit the fastest or the spinniest shots, that will make it difficult for the blocker. The main thing is consistency and placement. Just find the rhythm and placement where you and your friend are most comfortable with.
I did not see all the video (only when you loop and your friend block), but your friend can actually block closer to the table where he can block a bit early with soft hands and place the block to where you want him to put the ball. IMO, traditional PH block is much better for drills like this.

Vassily wrote: My difficulty with continuous drills like that you kinda have to hold back (otherwise the other guy cant block consistently), and the holding back is hard if you are used to simply putting as much power as you safely can on the ball as you normally do in games. Multiball is much easier, just whack away. I feel far better with multiball, more relaxed and smooth, etc.