Game Study Lab
Get Past 4

16 Comments

1. marv on March 19, 2023 at 1:40 pm

   one serve team in “I” formation when serving on one side of the court?
   Missed opportunities for the serve team to get up to the NVZ.
   some forces shots too wide or long that did not need to happen.
   Not many dinks art this level.. Maybe one real good rally up at the NVZ?

   seems like gifted point = when returning team does not get return or 4th shot into play.

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2. Maureen D. on March 19, 2023 at 1:41 pm

   Thank you! I really enjoyed watching this video about getting past 4. I’ll certainly try it out next time I play.
   MD

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3. Stephen Chavkin on March 19, 2023 at 1:45 pm

   Thank you. You’ve provided a tool I can use with my tournament partners to analyze our game play video. I’m sure this will help us in the upcoming US Open and National Senior Games tournaments.

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4. Tom Ferguson on March 19, 2023 at 1:57 pm

   Great skill analysis in watching this video play. I only missed one out of the total you showed, so I feel I am getting the hang of analysing games so hopefully I can analysis my game better to make improvements where necessary.

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5. Anne on March 19, 2023 at 4:51 pm

   I’m looking forward to applying the 4 shot plus goal in my next rec game. I am striving to learn but struggling with fellow rec players who like to point out my errors but don’t seem to recognize their own or do not play with any structure to their. As the “known newbie” (6 months) I’m fodder for unrequested help and suggestions and cause for all lost games which can be disheartening.

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   • CJ Johnson on March 19, 2023 at 4:55 pm

     Hi Anne, you’re right that’s a challenge. Our suggestion is to deal with it in a manner that fits your personality. You might consider saying something such as I really appreciate your input but I’m working with a coach and I want to stay focused on what they’ve asked me to do.

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6. Michael Bersuder on March 19, 2023 at 5:38 pm

   Love your system. Can’t wait to start playing. After playing table tennis, tennis , racquetball, and golf many years I surprised how many missed shots in this game. I REALLY CAN”T WAIT TO STEART PLAYING!!!. When I played table tennis and tennis, it was avoiding the unforced errors that had led to success. Let them make the mistakes.

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7. Perry Parendo on March 19, 2023 at 6:50 pm

   Agreed – these are good players. Need to look at more games this same way. Interesting to see the advantages created after the first 4 shots.

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8. Dan Raats on March 19, 2023 at 8:10 pm

   I am going to keep better track of this metric in my games.
   The definition of “gifted point” is clearly stated as “one that the serve team did not have to earn”. However, I didn’t read that carefully before I did the analysis and included rallies won by the return team that they did not have to earn. Though I understand that shots 2 and 4 are more consequential than shots 1 and 3, I definitely don’t want to give away rallies on shots 1 and 3 either.
   When I counted “gifts” this way, most of the gift points occurred when the rally ended in less than five complete shots. Only one short point did not seem to be a gift. None of the long rallies seemed to end with a gift.

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   • Cathy Clemens on March 20, 2023 at 6:52 am

     thanks for clarifying gifted points Dan. I didn’t see that either.

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   • CJ Johnson on March 20, 2023 at 10:07 am

     Dan, I hate missing a serve and a return too but the way I look at those is as an opportunity cost and while I hate missing opportunities, it’s likely I’ll have another chance. The miss on a return or fourth effects the game. I can never get that point back.

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9. Cathy Clemens on March 20, 2023 at 6:50 am

   Very interesting. My numbers were lower…guess I lost count. I love these lessons…it can really show what I’m capable of in my play by learning what to watch for. My numbers were GP4=5, <4=11, Gifted=2. I'm not sure what counts as Gifted.

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10. Rene Therrien on March 20, 2023 at 7:35 am

    Great learning tool.

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11. Sean on March 20, 2023 at 12:33 pm

    Thank you for this! This is a great tool to learn from, and gives a clear picture of the value of working on these four shots. Every gifted shot came on an under four play.

    BTW 4 out of 12 shots gifted would be 33%, not 25% (25% would be 3 out of 12).

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12. Carol Smith on March 20, 2023 at 1:29 pm

    It would help my evaluation and break down of these videos if they were filmed from the sideline rather than the end line. Very difficult to see the movement of the team opposite the camera. Thanks for all you do for our sport!

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13. Dave McWhirter on March 21, 2023 at 5:08 am

    Why did the female player closest to the camera, never mover to the left hand side?

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