Who's in to Table Tennis/Ping Pong?!!?!

[MAME]

My college had a table tennis class that I took last semester. I got much better in a short amount of time and started playing at the local table tennis club. We had a tournament at school and I ended up winning out of 30 participants, some were pretty good too.

I didn't realize how intense the game can get (the ball can travel over 60 mph, http://www.jayandwanda.com/tt/speed.html). People in Europe and Asia train extremly hard and are in tip top shape. It's pretty insane how much running is actually involved in the game.

Anyway, anyone else find the game fun to play? Anyone ranked?

 

[BigJ]

A kid in my CS class last semester was one of the top ranked up-and-comers in the nation. He had to miss our final because of a tournament of some sorts. He should probably make the Olympic team. And yes, to fit the stereotype, he is Asian.

If someone who is really into the sport had pictures, I could probably point him out.

EDIT: Here, I found his name.

Name: Han Xiao
School: University of Maryland at College Park


* NCTTA Record
o Career
(beginning with 2004-05 season)
Singles: 11-0
Doubles: 0-0
o Current Season
Singles: 11-0
Doubles: 0-0
* Results
o 2004-05 (Current) Season
o All results since 2004-05 Season

A few kids in our CS class went to see him play a few times, and he's amazing.

EDIT #2: Here's another link

http://tt.mainstreet.net/ttoutpost/Han_Xiao_vs_Mark_Hazinski.htm

Looks like he missed our final for the National Tournament in Las Vegas. Heh.

 

[MAME]

Originally posted by: BigJ
A kid in my CS class last semester was one of the top ranked up-and-comers in the nation. He had to miss our final because of a tournament of some sorts. He should probably make the Olympic team. And yes, to fit the stereotype, he is Asian.

w00t, I'm a CS major!

Not asian though

 

[PunDogg]

i play all the time, we have a table in our basement,

Dogg

 

[PlatinumGold]

i play a little. i don't have any particularly good weapons. i just play strong fundamental ping pong. so i usually win on the mistakes of others.

there is this one guy at church that i can't beat tho. everyone else at church i can beat. this guy i just can't beat. he uses the european type grip and plays extreme spins and what i call tricky ball. i use the asian style grip and i play a straightforward hit it hard type game.

i know how to play the spins and stuff but i'm not really good at outguessing which spins he's going to use etc.

 

[MAME]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
i play a little. i don't have any particularly good weapons. i just play strong fundamental ping pong. so i usually win on the mistakes of others.

there is this one guy at church that i can't beat tho. everyone else at church i can beat. this guy i just can't beat. he uses the european type grip and plays extreme spins and what i call tricky ball. i use the asian style grip and i play a straightforward hit it hard type game.

i know how to play the spins and stuff but i'm not really good at outguessing which spins he's going to use etc.

If you hit it hard, the spin will be negated. The spin style is extremely gimmicky and doesn't really work against people who play semi-often.

What I hate is when I play against people who don't serve legally. The ball is supposed to rise 10cm from your hand before you hit it!

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: MAME

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
i play a little. i don't have any particularly good weapons. i just play strong fundamental ping pong. so i usually win on the mistakes of others.

there is this one guy at church that i can't beat tho. everyone else at church i can beat. this guy i just can't beat. he uses the european type grip and plays extreme spins and what i call tricky ball. i use the asian style grip and i play a straightforward hit it hard type game.

i know how to play the spins and stuff but i'm not really good at outguessing which spins he's going to use etc.

If you hit it hard, the spin will be negated. The spin style is extremely gimmicky and doesn't really work against people who play semi-often.

What I hate is when I play against people who don't serve legally. The ball is supposed to rise 10cm from your hand before you hit it!

the problem is, i still have a hard time hitting balls likely to bounce a second time on the table (short balls). i have a decent swing against slightly longer balls.

also, he spins harder than anyone i've seen.

finally, he plays a lot of mind games. trying to be tricky. if he were to play just straight out, rally type game, i'd beat him consistently.

 

[MAME]

Originally posted by: BigJ
A kid in my CS class last semester was one of the top ranked up-and-comers in the nation. He had to miss our final because of a tournament of some sorts. He should probably make the Olympic team. And yes, to fit the stereotype, he is Asian.

If someone who is really into the sport had pictures, I could probably point him out.

EDIT: Here, I found his name.

Name: Han Xiao
School: University of Maryland at College Park


* NCTTA Record
o Career
(beginning with 2004-05 season)
Singles: 11-0
Doubles: 0-0
o Current Season
Singles: 11-0
Doubles: 0-0
* Results
o 2004-05 (Current) Season
o All results since 2004-05 Season

A few kids in our CS class went to see him play a few times, and he's amazing.

EDIT #2: Here's another link

http://tt.mainstreet.net/ttoutpost/Han_Xiao_vs_Mark_Hazinski.htm

Looks like he missed our final for the National Tournament in Las Vegas. Heh.

as much as I want to see the videos, I really don't want to use real media.

Anyone have a link to the alternative one?

 

[MAME]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: MAME

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
i play a little. i don't have any particularly good weapons. i just play strong fundamental ping pong. so i usually win on the mistakes of others.

there is this one guy at church that i can't beat tho. everyone else at church i can beat. this guy i just can't beat. he uses the european type grip and plays extreme spins and what i call tricky ball. i use the asian style grip and i play a straightforward hit it hard type game.

i know how to play the spins and stuff but i'm not really good at outguessing which spins he's going to use etc.

If you hit it hard, the spin will be negated. The spin style is extremely gimmicky and doesn't really work against people who play semi-often.

What I hate is when I play against people who don't serve legally. The ball is supposed to rise 10cm from your hand before you hit it!

the problem is, i still have a hard time hitting balls likely to bounce a second time on the table (short balls). i have a decent swing against slightly longer balls.

also, he spins harder than anyone i've seen.

finally, he plays a lot of mind games. trying to be tricky. if he were to play just straight out, rally type game, i'd beat him consistently.

Beh, sounds annoying. If that's the case, you'd usually start pushing it, forcing a short game. Then take advantage of the first popup/long ball

 

[EvilYoda]

I enjoy the game, but don't have anybody to practice with...brought over two Butterfly paddles a couple of years ago, haven't used them enough

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: MAME

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold

Originally posted by: MAME

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
i play a little. i don't have any particularly good weapons. i just play strong fundamental ping pong. so i usually win on the mistakes of others.

there is this one guy at church that i can't beat tho. everyone else at church i can beat. this guy i just can't beat. he uses the european type grip and plays extreme spins and what i call tricky ball. i use the asian style grip and i play a straightforward hit it hard type game.

i know how to play the spins and stuff but i'm not really good at outguessing which spins he's going to use etc.

If you hit it hard, the spin will be negated. The spin style is extremely gimmicky and doesn't really work against people who play semi-often.

What I hate is when I play against people who don't serve legally. The ball is supposed to rise 10cm from your hand before you hit it!

the problem is, i still have a hard time hitting balls likely to bounce a second time on the table (short balls). i have a decent swing against slightly longer balls.

also, he spins harder than anyone i've seen.

finally, he plays a lot of mind games. trying to be tricky. if he were to play just straight out, rally type game, i'd beat him consistently.

Beh, sounds annoying. If that's the case, you'd usually start pushing it, forcing a short game. Then take advantage of the first popup/long ball

my problem is, i don't play enough to be able to slam them unless i've got some rhythm going.

my fault of course.

 

[rocadelpunk]

i love to play.

some of strategy carries over from tennis.

i am decent, but i never really mastered a proper serve or techniques.

i like to play fairly aggressive..power and spin

whether it's for the best or not : P, i just like to really go after my shots even if just playing back and allowing opponent to make a mistake would net a win.

haven't played in forever though b/c not in dorms.

the killerspin tournaments they have on espn every now and than are awesome..and i wish they had more coverage for olympics.

 

[MAME]

Originally posted by: rocadelpunk
i love to play.

some of strategy carries over from tennis.

i am decent, but i never really mastered a proper serve or techniques.

i like to play fairly aggressive..power and spin

whether it's for the best or not : P, i just like to really go after my shots even if just playing back and allowing opponent to make a mistake would net a win.

haven't played in forever though b/c not in dorms.

the killerspin tournaments they have on espn every now and than are awesome..and i wish they had more coverage for olympics.

I'm working more on proper techniques myself

 

[EGGO]

I LOVE playing this.

Is it just in our asian blood?

 

[MAME]

Originally posted by: EGGO
I LOVE playing this.

Is it just in our asian blood?

my friend went to china and played the worst girl in a very poor village in the middle of no where. Table made of brick and cinder block.

She killed him, wasn't even close.

He said there's 1 billion people in China, and every single one plays ping pong.

 

[JFoobar]

I played registered USTTA events for a brief time. There are only so many times you can get your ass stomped by a 10 year-old Asian kid before you give it up.

I swear to God, the last tournament I played in was hysterical. I was 1-1 in my classification group (which is based on skill, not on gender or age) and need to win the last match to get into the final rounds. My opponent is this 12-13 yea-old Chinese girl who takes one look at me (I'm 6'5" and mean looking, even though I'm not a mean person) and starts crying. She is crying through almost the entire match and, as the match starts to get close to ending, keeps stopping and running over to her mother to cry more. I am smiling and trying to encourage her and her mother is just shaking her head apologetically. Eventually she plays a couple more points and the whole thing starts again. This happened like 5 times. They are holding up the finals to see which one of us is going to get in we are taking so long. A ref walks over and tells me that all I need to do is even start to complain and he will call the match in my favor since she is breaking the rules. I say no, not necessary. The match is so close we have to go into extra points. Long story short, she eventually won.

The match was at College Park, MD, coincidentally.

 

[nCred]

Originally posted by: MAME

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
i play a little. i don't have any particularly good weapons. i just play strong fundamental ping pong. so i usually win on the mistakes of others.

there is this one guy at church that i can't beat tho. everyone else at church i can beat. this guy i just can't beat. he uses the european type grip and plays extreme spins and what i call tricky ball. i use the asian style grip and i play a straightforward hit it hard type game.

i know how to play the spins and stuff but i'm not really good at outguessing which spins he's going to use etc.

If you hit it hard, the spin will be negated. The spin style is extremely gimmicky and doesn't really work against people who play semi-often.

What I hate is when I play against people who don't serve legally. The ball is supposed to rise 10cm from your hand before you hit it!

umm... All the elite players spin the ball like crazy, especially the serve.

 

[TallBill]

no, i suck at the sport?

 

[tami]

it's a great game. but i'm not a great player. i just enjoy it for the fun.

there's a new ping pong "club" in nyc -- yes, run by asians. it's getting a lot of hype around here.

 

[ActuaryTm]

I confess. I am a spin doctor.

 

[MAME]

Originally posted by: nCred

Originally posted by: MAME

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
i play a little. i don't have any particularly good weapons. i just play strong fundamental ping pong. so i usually win on the mistakes of others.

there is this one guy at church that i can't beat tho. everyone else at church i can beat. this guy i just can't beat. he uses the european type grip and plays extreme spins and what i call tricky ball. i use the asian style grip and i play a straightforward hit it hard type game.

i know how to play the spins and stuff but i'm not really good at outguessing which spins he's going to use etc.

If you hit it hard, the spin will be negated. The spin style is extremely gimmicky and doesn't really work against people who play semi-often.

What I hate is when I play against people who don't serve legally. The ball is supposed to rise 10cm from your hand before you hit it!

umm... All the elite players spin the ball like crazy, especially the serve.

umm, this guy isn't putting an elite amount of spin. If he hits it a 'loop' or puts a lot of power in to the shot, it will overcome the spin. If you watch the good players, they put a lot of power with the spin, never ever just spin.

The serve is completely unique in the sense that it's the only shot in which a player has complete control over the shot. By adding much spin and keeping it low, the server tries to retain the advantage.

If you ever look at a serve go beyong the length of the table, it is most likely hit back with top spin, negating the side spin for the most part.

 

[frankie38]

I love table tennis.

 

[SagaLore]

I think people with CS majors make excellent ping pong players because of all the practice they got as a kid on the old pong entertainment systems.

 

[NissanGurl]

I like playing, but only for fun. Unfortunately haven't played in forever...no paddle and no table. I wouldn't even say I'm decent, but I could make you laugh so hard you miss a shot

 

[Qwest]

i dabble in the sport at home.
does anyone have the video of the guys playing ping pong matrix style on that Asian gameshow?
I'm at work and dont have it right now.