Senior Tactics
General
Richard Unanue Unknown Asked 15 years ago
I'm 73 years old, still an athletic all around attacker, with 6 years of table tennis under my belt. But, all things being equal, 99 percent of all opponents will be younger, quicker, and more experienced. In general, what do senior players do to level the playing table? Move to long pips? Change all around attacking to more defense? Concentrate on better tactics, e.g. into the body, short game, etc.?
Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago
Hi Richard,
Try to use placement and variations is spin and speed to your advantage.
Also develop the amount of spin you can generate. By being able to generate moe spin you can develop variations that will confuse your opponents.
Work on your serves. This is an easy way to win point s and doesn't require too much agility or movement.
But if you are athletic keep going for it. No need to slow down now...
Yes, sometime players move to pimple rubbers as well. Make sure you have the basics first before you make this move.
Thoughts on this question
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Ji-Soo Woo Posted 15 years ago
Just my 2 cents from my experience.
Successful older players tend to be more crafty. Younger players just like hitting every ball with as much spin and power as possible...older players therefore have to learn how to deal with heavy spin but tend to concentrate more on placement themselves. Since they generally have weaker mobility, they have to have strong backhands and forehands. Often they use long pips to slow down the game. If you can learn to twiddle, and to be able to attack from both sides, all the better. Other older players are primarily blockers and move younger players around...hitting the ball early to give minimal time to recover. Have a good short game. Develop good backhand and forehand flicks.
Of course these are just generalisations. Some older players are able to compete to a high level playing a younger style of game (running around, playing aggressive forehand loops and drives etc).
Richard Unanue Unknown Posted 15 years ago
Ji-Soo Woo Posted 15 years ago
Table Tennis could be described as a young person's sport.
(in what other sport do they have a over 30 competition!!!???)
However, this is generally more true the higher the standard of competition. We probably will never see someone over 40, for example, winning the world championship (we probably have never even seen a over 30 win it either...though I don't know for certain).
I don't know what your level is, but for normal club level table tennis, older people can mix it with the most cocky of the youngsters. And that's the great thing about table tennis. It is such a highly technical sport that skill can overcome sheer brute strength and speed. I'm not a youngster myself, but I regularly get whooped by competitors several decades my senior.