Tortured by angles, placement, misdirection

A recent match of mine vs Rich DeWitt which was played just after I had an exhausting win over a quality opponent. I had no gameplan despite having played Rich about 100 times.

Have you considered Prosthetic arm extensions ?

mon22 wrote: Lose some weight bic boi You're torturing yourself

I think he was implying that your advice isn't really advice, it's just a put-down. I mean, based on the name "heavyspin" I think he probably realizes the limitation.

Just stick closer to the table to cut down the distance you have to cover.

Rich's body language is very deceptive.  He looks like he's going one way but goes the other way using his wrist.  He's very good at placement.  You need really good reaction times to be able to play against him.

If I were playing him, and I'm not a fast improving junior who can beat him with speed, I would probably stay close to the table and try to use his tactics against him.  Hit fast and deep and/or wide, never to the same place more than twice, and force him to move.  Do it to him before he does it to you.


Edited by GMan4911 - 05/05/2017 at 2:16pm

You guys do know that Rich is currently 2200+, was rated as high as 2450+ and even today consistently gives trouble to players around 2350 if not higher?

Edited by pgpg - 05/05/2017 at 2:32pm

DeWitt's placement is impressive. If I was coaching this match I would suggest more short game. Also more dead balls and make him open-he appears to thrive in the counter attack. I would also suggest when you open find his elbow. Great video.

pgpg wrote: You guys do know that Rich is currently 2200+, was rated as high as 2450+ and even today consistently gives trouble to players around 2350 if not higher? Beating him is not trivial, so I am curious as to what strategies and ball quality/consistency one must possess to defeat him. His rubbers are also quite dead and not spin-sensitive.

Don't get into long rallies with him.  Try to finish the point with every hit.  With each successive hit the advantage is more in his favor. 

pgpg wrote: mts388 wrote: Don't get into long rallies with him.  Try to finish the point with every hit.  With each successive hit the advantage is more in his favor.  Long rallies were not a problem the one time I played him, since I was getting into 'pick up a ball' mode very quickly.  Balls are flat, low, go into the corners, and plenty of misdirection to boot. Shrugs off your spin (and I don't produce much in the first place). I think I got 5 points at most.

I don't think heavyspin has the mobility to sustain long corner to corner rallies. 

Young mobile guys like you and me can cover corners over and over again all day, but he has trouble covering more than two corners. 

heavyspin wrote: Advice for the under 2100 field. You can sometimes beat Rich because he is off. He hits a ball into the net or off the end that would've been a winner or a clear advantage shot. Playing into his right hip can be effective. If you can scramble and retrieve well, backing off the table can work since he doesn't have much power. Abort that plan if it's not working, continue if it is working. Most of the time you will react to what he does and won't often have the luxury to carry out your plan.  When I've had success (as in wins) against Rich, I was more selective in attacks and played less spinny. My general tendency is to offer a medium speed high spin ball as my opening attack and take it from there. This feeds into Rich's strength and my ball is now probably easier for him since the ball change to plastic.

Rich is obviously very good at controlling the ball.

I would try some odd tactics on serve and trying some angles. Serve from the other side of the table to force a really wide forehand. It's just something to try. How does he do against lefties?

As others have suggested spin can be the enemy. I don't think your weight was an issue - he had some really good ball placement. He was happy for you to loop your 3rd ball in the video you showed us. Twice he got you with a block to your backhand corner from a 3rd ball loop.

Perhaps offer up some sidespin on the backhand, pushing the ball out wider. I don't think his forehand stroke is powerful enough on it's own to get past you if you are ready for them (good example at the end when you countered it on him). Maybe looping to his forehand cross court could have success.

Btw Heavyspin - you have some really nice strokes. Fluid and lots of whip.

For those who get on him for being so heavy...I don't think any of those clips change if he drops a bunch of weight. Not every match is determined by physical fitness (but some are...).


Edited by wilkinru - 06/08/2017 at 3:39pm

Just curious: has Rich ever played Pushblocker?