Is it my equipment or myself?

Marcin J Asked 14 years ago

I started playing 4 years ago. I am in mid 20's. I first started with grubba all blade & tackiness ruber, than i switched to yasaka dynamix 17 which i like because it was fast yet had amazing control for how fast it was. Now I am using for few months schlager blade with tenergy 05 F and 05fx on B. I like this setup, when i play against european style players, but i am having some difficulties with asian players, beacuase it is much harder to play against heavy spin... I have a tendency of playing very far away from the table...my backhand is much better than my forehand. I often play defence & block with this setup. I sort of chop or block. What i am having trouble with is when i am at practice at a local club i more attack and play as an attacker, but when it comes to tournaments i switch to defense and sort of feel more confident this way-but thats not what the results show.... I am ranked ~1900 player. When i play tournaments i am closer beating 2100-2300 players than sometimes a player my ranking or even slightly lower.... Any suggestions. Can reply to my email?

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Hi Marcin,

Sounds like you are developing a bit of tension when you are playing in matches where you see the result as important.

You say you play better against the better level of player.  This is because you are not expecting yourself to win the match so you can play more freely.  However when you play against players of similar ability you are more worried about the result.

Focus more on playing some good Table Tennis during these matches. 

The faster equipment may be  little responsible.  When you are tense the faster equipment is very unforgiving.  The ball really shoots off too fast and it is difficult to control your strokes.  This is why you are probably become more defensive in your stroke to try to compensate. 

Two things to work on, perhaps getting a slower setup.  Secondly, working on your relaxation during your matches.