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Is it just me? (7)
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by Donald 22 years ago
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The following message (subject: Re: Yes, just you .) was posted by Donald, on 11/4/2002 11:27:24 AM:
Hawk eyed "I cannot accept that the misuse of language is petty , as we are attempting to communicate with each other using words , then the words have to be correct , or we may as well be talking complete gibberish. As for prejudicial , prejudiced against what exactly ?" Donald Hello Hawk eyed. If you harbour such a distaste for that which you deem a "misuse of language," then, why not improve yourself by not exhibiting consonance with your object of distaste? You stated in one of your posts the following; " The techniques involved in playing the two sports [is] completely different." Tsk. Tsk. This is but one of several examples which could be cited. Am I going to point them all out to you? Absolutely not. Why? Because it would be pure pettiness to do so. Why? Because the whole idea behind the concept of language and communication in general is to share ideas and thoughts between people. If that idea is served, despite an incorrect spelling and/or grammatical error on occasion, then the entire goal of communication has been reached. Insofar as you understood my incorrect spelling of a word as being that which I intended to convey, then, the whole goal of communication was reached. It is therefore exceptionally petty to complain about a blemish on the package. It is majoring in minors. If 'English,' as it were, were as sancrosanct as you erroneously believe it to be then we would not have such disciplines as linguistics and philology. Now, if it truly be the case that you are so concerned about communication then why employ the use of sarcasm in your posts? The true nature of a sarcastic comment is veiled behind the literal words and is, therefore, obscure. I ask you, Hawk eyed, were you being sarcastic when you stated; "I have no doubt that you can execute a forehand loop with supreme competence..."? If I am to take your remark at face value then you must concede your original point that the problems I have experienced in my counter-looping drills are attributable to technique. If, on the other hand, you were employing the caustic and bitter device of sarcasm then you are guilty of veiling your true intended meaning which runs antithetical to your demands for straightforward communication. I will leave it to you to decide which horn of that dilemma you wish to be impaled but you will have to either concede your original charge or become guilty of your other charge which you have laid to my account. Incidentally, I would have you know that I employed a USATT certified coach and he never saw problems in my forehand technique in general. Further, five time World Champion Li Zenshi of China conducted a table tennis clinic at the club with which I was affiliated and he saw no poor technique in my forehand loop (He did offer constructive criticism in other areas, however). Further still, five time US National Men's Singles Champion, Sean O'Neil, saw no poor technique with regard to my forehand loop and all of these instructors even commended it. So, I KNOW the difference between good and poor technique as it concerns the forehand loop. Prejudiced against what? I was specifically referring to your remark contained in your post dated 11/3/2002 @ 7:01:37 AM where you stated, "2. I appreciate that you are American , and that you have degraded the English language in many ways , but I was not aware of the " American " spelling of the word tournament." You here employ an over generalization towards all Americans based upon my incorrect spelling of the word, "tournament." There is an inherent prejudice against Americans contained in such a wide sweeping generalization. Hawk eyed "I think that you are becoming a little inebriated in the exuberance of your own verbosity here . Are you trying to say that there was a problem and that it is now resolved ?..." Donald I never said the problem was resolved. As a matter of fact, I stated that I still saw occurrances of the problem in the 2002 European Championship tapes, albeit, with much less frequency than I saw in the 2001 World Cup tapes. Hawk eyed I'm sorry but I simply cannot believe that the worlds top table tennis players ever experienced the kind of slack jawed disbelief which you describe as being a normal reaction to hitting a shot off the table , for whatever reason. As a table tennis player yourself , you must understand that there are numerous reasons why you miss the table , you even describe some of them yourself " poor positioning , poor shot selection " being just two , you could just as easily have added , poor speed of reaction , poor foot work , need I go on ? We are talking about professional table tennis players , who may well be practising five, six , seven hours a day ( as the Chinese do ) for six days a week . We are talking about prodigious talent , spotted early and nurtured from then on . Are you seriously suggesting that players such as these cannot accomodate a two millimeter change in ball size ? Donald Hey, prior to my injury, I practiced over four hours per day six days a week. It is just that I was no prodigious, world class talent. Did you ever consider that it precisely because these players practice so intently and are such finely tuned athletes that might be cause for them to have difficulty adjusting to any variation with the equipment? I am not asking you to "believe" anything since you can easily get a copy of the 2001 World Cup tapes yourself. I am not saying there was not some outstanding play therein but I am making the general statement that the level of play was far below that to which we are accustomed to viewing in such events from the World's elite table tennis players. I am further suggesting that an examination of those tapes reveals many instances of players in a counter-looping situation where the ball simply loses momentum and lands in the net much to the wonderment of the players who made the shots. The replay further demonstrates that these players were in perfect position to make the shot and that there was no deviation from proper technique in the execution of those shots. As to what adjustments the players have made from 2001 to 2002 where the situation was improved (not solved by any means, mind you), I simply do not know. Hawk eyed "Ought ? Ought ? Do you mean aught ? Buy a dictionary ." Donald Nice evasive maneuver, Hawk eyed. Hawk eyed "I have absolutely no wish to belittle or question your ability or technique ,..." Donald You have certainly done so up to this point. As a matter of fact, attributing the problem to my technique was your original charge. Of course, I knew at the onset that such a charge was utterly baseless and purely the product of unsubstantiated conjecture on your part since you have never seen my technique. Such was your presumption. My Achilles Heal always resided moreso in my poor service return and a poor ability to read the spin on serves. If I got past my opponent's service, then, I fared quite well more often than not. Hawk eyed God knows my own is slight enough , but what I will question is your own ability to find an " epedemic " problem in table tennis where no such problem exists now , or ever has. Donald I never saw such a problem in World Class events prior to 2001 and I never had that problem myself with the 38mm ball. In the 2001 World Cup tapes, I saw the exact same thing I was experiencing and I saw it from many of the players - particularly Liqin. They would attempt their counterloop and stare at their bats when the ball failed to make it to the net. I saw players who seemed genuinely perplexed as to why that ball behaved as it did. Your original advice to practice was and is certainly sound. Perhaps a better familiarity with the new ball is the reason why the 2002 play was far, far superior to the 2001 World Cup. Personally, I don't detest the new ball. There are some aspects of it which I actually like. I had reserved judgment concerning it's introduction and even now I am not wholly against the 40mm ball - especially after seeing the utterly superb rallys contained in the European Championships. However, I do know that the ball has been behaving rather strangely in certain situations where I knew that my technique was proper as was all other aspects which go into making a shot. In a wholly unrelated matter, do you happen to know what happened to Carl Prean? Did he retire? Hawk eyed "As you Americans say , " Have a nice day. "" Donald I've never said that. Take care, Donald |