What if you were given a year to practice TT?

[speedplay]

Now, I do know that we are far from professionals here, but what if you were given a year, all expenses being covered, with a coach of your own choice;

1: Who would you pick as your coach?

2: What would you like to work on, what kind of game would you like to be trained for?

3: Would you accept such an offer or do you perhaps prefer to have it as you have it now? If yes, how much time do you reckon you would spend on practise?

[speedplay]

Wow, this really caught a lot of interest

Any way, my own choice might be somewhat surprising as I would pick Liu Guoliang as my coach. As I player, I felt he had superior tactical knowledge which was a big reason for his success as I don't believe he was better then the rest of the top players at the time, stroke by stroke, but his tactics helped him to win.

The style I would like to get taught by him would be C-pen, close to the table attacker! Now, why would I choose this style and not the shakehand modern defender style that I currently play? Because I believe I'm still young enough to learn something new, but that I'm to old to re-learn something old. With my current style/grip/game, I already have so many flaws built in to it, so most of the practice time would be spent eliminating these rather then to learn new things. How ever, with a new grip and a new style, I would be a blank sheet for him to draw up on, where he could show me all the basics with out worrying about how I've done it before.

Off course I would accept such an offer and I would be willing to spend as much time as I possible could endure. Either 2 sessions, 3 hours each, or 3 sessions 2 hours each, depending on what Liu thought would be best for me. I would stay away from matches to begin with, so that my game didn't get to focused on results, as I would want to have a solid basic before I played to win. Playing to win to early probably does more harm then good for a cautious player like me.

I do believe that under these circumstances, I would reach my old level, and surpass it, pretty quick.

[RebornTTEvnglist]

C-pen for you would only be ok if your knee lasts in good shape for a long time to come. Trouble is this style's required extra movement combined with aging would possibly result in you needing to change again in a few years.

My enjoyment from TT is not all about being great at the game, although I do enjoy the satisfaction of improvement and I enjoy winning. But I enjoy competing more and being part of a team and a good bunch of people to socialise with (excluding the odd a$$). I also recognise my limitations though and I know my injury will never allow me to play a two wing looper "pretty" type of game. So I guess I'm happy as things are.

[speedplay]

C-pen for you would only be ok if your knee lasts in good shape for a long time to come. Trouble is this style's required extra movement combined with aging would possibly result in you needing to change again in a few years.

My knee is still not as strong as it used to be, but I think that with the introduction of the RPB, the extra movement demanded by penhold isn't as important as it used to be. RPB is part of the reason I would like to learn penhold as I simply love this stroke.

My enjoyment from TT is not all about being great at the game, although I do enjoy the satisfaction of improvement and I enjoy winning. But I enjoy competing more and being part of a team and a good bunch of people to socialise with (excluding the odd a$$). I also recognise my limitations though and I know my injury will never allow me to play a two wing looper "pretty" type of game. So I guess I'm happy as things are.

I agree, this is the reason I play as well, but if I was given the chance to improve my level, I would jump on the offer with no hesitation at all!

[JKC]

You would probably need about 14 months to get your full 10,000 hours in so you could make it to the top.

[speedplay]

You would probably need about 14 months to get your full 10,000 hours in so you could make it to the top.

LOL!

I doubt I would make it to the top, regardless of what practice I was given, but I would like to be able to climb a little higher in level and I actually think that it would be easier for a good coach to teach me penhold as this is something new to me. With shakehand I have a weird grip and it would take ages to change it to the correct grip. I'm pretty sure I have a lot of other flaws as well...

[Der Echte]

I've had my (almost) year here in Korea playing just about every day and it has made a world or two of difference. I started lessons a few months back and it will probably take until sometime in 2011 for me to apply what I go over in matches with significantly positive results. I am too inconsistant at this juncture, but eventually the reps will pile up and the consistancy will go up with it. if I didn't have to work and get a child through uni, then i would be training an insane number of hours per day and hanging around the semi-pro crowd in Seoul.

[Skippy]

I would be better. 

[Der Echte]

I have gotten a lot better and sometimes defeat O2000 players. I have a lot more shots in the repetoir and have improved consistancy. Yet the stuff I do in lessons is not yet match ready. I need more reps than the average joker. What I mean is just that. I got a pile better and have a long way to go to make the stuff I do in training high percentage in a match. I would get so much better if I could economically afford to quit working and pursue TT, even at my Over 40 age. Would still be a blast.

[speedplay]

Der_Echte, with that amount of practice, I don't doubt that you have improved your game a lot, but you still haven't answered my questions, what coach would you pick and what kind of game would you like to be taught?

Also, a follow up question, how far do you think you would have been able to go, if you were given the opportunity to practice hard from childhood?

As for me, I doubt I would have been able to go very far, perhaps reaching third top division in Sweden, as I think I lack the wrists to climb any further. Would have been awesome to find the answer to this question though.

[Der Echte]

There are a gazillion top coaches here in Korea. There are numerous hotspots for TT training. I would do very well in any of them. I would have still chosen to be double inverted attacking player. Although I have a screen name on MyTT reflecting a BH preference, I don't use my BH in a match so much, although I have the ability to BH loop. I would like to learn to play more like Schlager and Oh Sang Uhn, maybe even Kreanga. All those players have great FHs, but can do the job with their BH as well. If I trained from childhood, I have no doubt I would have made it to at least mid 1st division. As it is now, I might make 3rd division national open standard before the end of next year.