Coaching in the Wilderness and Run-ins with Animals

I do some coaching each week on the road, including a trip out into Virginia. They pay me double to do this, otherwise I wouldn't want to leave the safe confines of the Maryland Table Tennis Center, which is eight minutes from my house. The kid I'm coaching in Virginia is five years old, and like most kids his age has an attention span of roughly from now to now. So I find all sorts of interesting ways of keeping him interested during our one-hour sessions - mostly with targets on the table (giant rubber frogs, stacks of cups, etc.) or by setting up imaginary scenarios where he has to do something or the world will explode. This kid lives in a mansion in the middle of woods - a great place to grow up.

Yesterday after I drove down their front driveway (about two hundred yards) and pulled into the street out front, I found myself surrounded by six deer. I'd driven right into their midst and then stopped my car, and rather than run, they all just stared at me as if they were used to this. I stayed absolutely still, and after a minute they ignored me. Four more joined them, and now ten deer surrounded me. As if that weren't enough, I very large hawk sat perched on a telephone cable just over the street, looking down on us like the specter of death.

After about five minutes the deer all took off suddenly as another car came by. (Apparently my car wasn't as scary.) As I drove out, four more deer came out onto the road, blocking my path. They froze for a moment, and then they too took off. A minute later, as I drove home, I passed a large horse farm with dozens of grazing horses.

I've had other run-ins with wildlife in my years as a coach. Many years ago, while spending a summer coaching in Oklahoma, I woke up in the middle of the night with a searing pain, and discovered a scorpion perched on top of me that had just stung me. Numerous times I've had birds flying around in clubs and tournaments, including this segment from the Maryland Table Tennis Center (starring a very traumatized bird and Nathan Hsu, Derek Nie, Raghu Nadmichettu, Tong Tong Gong) just a few weeks ago. A kid once brought a box turtle to MDTTC and let it walk about the club all afternoon while he played. We've had numerous dogs visit the club, though all seemed well trained. One woman at one of our training camps brought her dog, which was so well trained it would sit quietly by the table as her owner trained, never interrupting anything until she gave the okay, I think by snapping her fingers or something. The kids had a blast with it as it would lie quietly as they covered it with ping-pong balls.

Here are lots of animals playing table tennis!

Exhibition and Teaching in Guam

Australian player and coach Alois Rosario puts on a show for the kids in Guam (2:05).

Great Point at World Cup

Here's a great point (1:09) from the 2012 Men's World Cup between Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus and Chuang Chih-Yuan of Taiwan. The point took place with Samsonov leading 9-8 in the seventh, and gave him match point. Chuan would win the next two points, but Samsonov would win 12-10 in the seventh.

Ariel Hsing vs. Matthew Perry

USA Olympian Ariel Hsing was on The Ellen DeGeneres show yesterday (3:12). DeGeneres was playing actor Matthew Perry when she faked a back injury, and said someone else would have to play for her. Then she called in Ariel, who proceeded to clobber poor Perry, who was actually pretty good. DeGeneres had told Ariel not to hold back, and she didn't.

Three-Way Table Tennis

This looks like someone's homemade table, but they decided it needed three sides. And they are playing outdoors.

***

Send us your own coaching news!

Tip of the Week:

Training Cycles.

My Weekend

I'll tell you about my weekend, and then you tell me about yours. Mine was about evenly split between table tennis and my outside interest, science fiction & fantasy writing, along with some Baltimore Orioles baseball.

FRIDAY: Friday is ancient history now, and I only vaguely remember what I did after doing the blog in the morning. I was a practice partner for our junior program that night (5-7), and unfortunately set our junior program back ten years by going 5-0, with wins over a pair of 2200 players (both 3-0, though one wasn't a junior) and a 2300 player (3-1). As I told the 2300 player, "I'm going to get a swelled head." (I'm too old and stiff to compete at that level anymore!)

SATURDAY: I coached a beginning junior class from 10:30AM to Noon, coached two others players from 2-4 PM, and then went home. (I twinged my chest and shoulder near the end of this session, which is worrisome.) Normally we have a 4:30-6:30 training session, but with Coach Jack in China until the end of October (vacation) and with most of the club taken over by the local Coconut Cup tournament (a local mostly-Chinese event, over 100 players), we cancelled it. I spent the rest of the night reading "Behold the Man" by Michael Moorcock. Isn't that how normal people spend Saturday nights?

SUNDAY: I coached a junior from 10-11AM (chest and arm seemed okay), then went home and raked leaves from my lawn and had lunch. I coached two kids from 2-4:30 PM, one a beginner, the other a rapidly advancing 7-year-old girl who is now looping from both sides off backspin, and who successfully for the first time served backspin so the ball came back into the net. Then I taught a beginning junior class from 4:30-6:00. (Judah Friedlander, a standup comic and a star from the TV show "30 Rock," came in for a few hours. I've coached him a number of times.) Then I was a practice partner for the last half hour of our 4:30-6:30 training session, where I played (and won!) two matches. Then I sped home to watch the Baltimore Orioles go to 2-2 in the ninth against the New York Yankees (first game of the playoffs) before giving up five runs and losing 7-2. Along the way I managed to watch The Simpsons and Family Guy.

MONDAY: This was a busy day, mostly SF stuff. Besides a very short table tennis blog entry, I read and critiqued two short stories for a writer's group coming up that night. I wrote half of the Tip of the Week for this morning ("Training Cycles," see above). I did laundry. I did the Junior Class Accounting (takes some time!). I put together five pages of notes for the Capclave Science Fiction Convention coming up this next weekend here in Gaithersburg, Maryland. (I'm a panelist.) At 6PM I drove up to Frederick for a meeting of the Frederick Writer's Group, which meets twice a month on Mondays. I got there 90 minutes early (intentionally) and worked more on this week's Tip while munching on a Russian Reuben sandwich and hot chocolate. The meeting itself was 8-10PM, where my fantasy story ("The Nature of Swords") and two others were critiqued. Mine came off really well - I was pretty happy - and soon I'll put in some of the suggestions and start submitting it. Here's the opening paragraph:

The two floating swords parried and thrust as they battled through the corridors of the ruined castle. Dust and cobwebs swirled in the musty air as the steel on steel clashing continued up a stairway and into a large room that once had been a kitchen, with rusty pots and human bones littering the floor by a broken table covered in dust.

Then I raced home and managed to catch the last few innings as the Orioles defeated the Yankees, 3-2. Then I stayed up late putting in some of the suggestions for my story, finished the Tip of the Week (though I'd end up rewriting much of it this morning, alas), and before going to bed, did a quick rewrite of one section of my upcoming book, 'Table Tennis Tactics: A Thinker's Guide." (The writing is basically done; I'm doing the page layouts now.) Then put together a "secret" package to send to Judah Friedlander (more on this later on!). Then I read the newspaper, read the last 20 pages of "Behold the Man," and went to bed at 3AM. 

Three ITTF Seminars in India

Here's an ITTF article about the three ITTF coaching seminars that USATT Coaching Chair Richard McAfee is currently running in India.

Table Tennis Down Memory Lane

Here's a trip down memory lane for table tennis players, with vintage video (6:40) from the hardbat era.

Pamela's Essay - Hitting with the President of China

Here is a college essay from Xiyao "Pamela" Song on her playing table tennis with Hu Jintao, the President of China. Pamela, a former player from the Maryland Table Tennis Center, is now a student at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Two years ago, at age 16, she was #4 in the U.S. in Under 18 girls with a rating of 2361.

"Ping."

 The ball spun off the paddle and hit the table.

"Pong."

The president hit the ball back.

"Ping."

That would be the president of China, a country of 1.4 billion people.

"Pong."

The setting would be an exhibition match of the best ping pong playing.

There I was, at the age of 11, looking across the green table and staring into the brown eyes of China's top political leader, Jintao Hu, at the center of an arena surrounded by hundreds of people. I knew I wanted to be the best. I practiced for hours each day to get on this stage.

With a paddle in one hand and a small ball in the other, I posed to hit my first serve to President Hu. Thoughts raced through by mind. "Should I go easy and let him win the first point? Or, should I capture the opening point?" Diplomacy told me one way, but my competitive instincts told me another. I decided to go for the point, and hoped that Mr. Hu would understand. Mr. Hu served. I held my paddle tightly and smashed the ball with a nimble waist twist. Thunderous applause followed. Clearly, this was my moment of glory, not his. I won that point and several more. Before leaving, he called me to his side and encouraged me.

 "Fly high, my little girl; and never shy away from opportunities. There is a vast blue sky opening for you." Hu said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I took his advice. When I was 15, I flew to America.

I knew life in America would be challenging and hoped it would provide me more space to fly. The challenge to learn English seemed as heavy and bulky as the luggage that I'd brought from China. But, as I unpacked my suitcase, I began to find ways to learn English. Armed with the little insufficient basics of "Chinglish", I seized every opportunity to become fluent in English. I kept a personal diary to enhance my writing and even borrowed audio tapes; even my sister would get annoyed by hearing my iPod play "Unite 1, Lesson 1…"  I can still remember vividly how excited I was when I could distinguish between "ring" and "rain," and how thrilled I was when I was able to order a cup of tea at Starbucks in English for the first time.

I feel accomplished about my achievements thus far and am now ready for my next set of challenges to study at Penn State with a goal of becoming a scientist or doctor. I hope to make a significant contribution to U-Madison by sharing my Chinese culture, personality traits and experiences, and to serve as a bridge between China and the rest of the world. Mr. Hu was right. Fly high and never shy away from opportunities. My wings have become much sturdier and more powerful as I open them up, soaring higher and farther, to embrace this vast blue sky of possibilities.

Stone-Age Table Tennis

Maybe these cement tables in the park are the secret to China's success?

Non-Table Tennis - Humorous Ghost Stories

I did a guest blog this weekend for World Weaver Press on Humorous Ghost Stories as part of their Haunted October Blog Tour. They just came out with a new anthology, "Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales," which includes my humorous ghost story "The Haunts of Albert Einstein." (You can also buy it on Amazon.)

***

Send us your own coaching news!

Columbus Day and Pongcast

Today is Columbus Day, a Federal Holiday. Who am I to go against Federal Law and work today? I'll be back tomorrow with both the blog and the Tip of the Week. For now, let's contemplate the surprise of the American Indians in 1492 who discovered their lands had been "discovered" by Columbus, who no doubt looked forward to rising economic prosperity due to trade in the worldwide economy with their new European partners, all of whom had properly stamped green cards and visas.

If only the Indians had foreseen the rise of ping-pong 400 years later, and counterlooping with tensored inverted sponge in 500, they could have set up training camps in their cornfields and among the buffalo, and gotten such a head start on the Chinese that they'd dominate the sport with their tomahawk serves and obsidian blades.

But for you diehards who absolutely need their daily TT fix, here's Pongcast TV Episode 16 (21:40), which covers the recent Men's World Cup.

You're still here?

***

Send us your own coaching news!

Value of the Backhand Loop

If I could go back 36 years and tell myself one thing as I was developing my game, I'd tell myself to develop my backhand loop.

Sponges weren't nearly as good back then as modern ones, and so it was much harder to backhand loop with great power without backing well off the table to give yourself time for a bigger swing. The thinking for many was that if you develop your footwork and forehand, you don't need as much of a backhand attack - i.e., "one gun is as good as two." And backhand loop? It was a nice shot, but not really necessary.

And so I didn't really develop a backhand loop until I'd played many years. The result is it's not natural or particularly strong, can be erratic, and is not a particularly instinctive part of my game.

With modern sponges you can loop just about anything, even balls that land short over the table (especially with the backhand, where you can wrist-loop it), and so players pick up the backhand loop early as a dangerous weapon. A good backhand loop gets you out of those pushing rallies (including pushing back deep serves to the backhand) that put you at the mercy of the opponent's loop. Meanwhile, I still struggle to get myself to backhand loop against deep serves (I can't step around and loop forehand every time), and against quick, angled pushes to my backhand, especially after a short serve to my forehand. You don't have to rip these backhand loops; consistency, depth, and spin are key. (You can often get away with a weak loop if it consistently goes deep.)

Just as difficult is backhand looping in a rally. These days many of our up-and-coming juniors backhand loop (often off the bounce) just about everything - or at least topspin their backhands to the point where, compared to backhands of yesteryear, they are backhand loops. This turns players like me into blockers, and not in a good way. 

Not everyone has the athleticism to backhand loop over and over, though most people can if they spend enough time both practicing and (just as important) doing physical training. But just about anyone trained properly can turn their backhand loop into a dangerous weapon against pushes, deep serves to the backhand, and against low but soft blocks. Yes, I mean you, the person reading these words.

So develop that shot, and don't make the mistake I made so many years ago.

More on Backhand Looping

And since we're on the topic of the backhand loop, here's a new video out, "Backhand Loop Training" (6:41) from Dynamic Table Tennis (that's Brian Pace). It shows Brian demonstrating and explaining the backhand loop. Note near the start how he's backhand looping against block almost off the bounce, something few players did when I was starting out (except perhaps for Hungarian great Tibor Klampar).

Here's a tutorial (4:02) on the backhand loop against topspin by ttEdge.

Here's a tutorial (4:12) on the backhand loop against backspin by PingSkills.

Here's a video (1:08) from a year ago of Chinese Coach Liu Guoliang feeding multiball to Ma Long, who is backhand looping against backspin. I don't recommend most of you try to loop with as much speed as Ma, but note that his loops aren't just speed - they have great topspin as well pulling that ball down.

Zhang Jike vs. Timo Boll

Here's a match from the 2012 World Team Championships between world #1 Zhang Jike of China versus the European #1 (and world #1 for three months last year) Timo Boll of Germany, with the time between points removed so it's nine minutes of non-stop action.

Behind the Back Save Against Saive

Here's a video (55 sec) of Marc Closset making a behind-the-back return to win a point at the 2012 Belgian Championships against Jean-Michel Saive. Make sure to watch the slow motion.

How to Win a Key Point

This player has taken his high-toss serve to a new level (0:20).

***

Send us your own coaching news!

Coaching Footwork

Someone posted on the about.com table tennis forum on how difficult it must be to coach footwork in the U.S., since most coaching here is done one-on-one rather than in groups. Because of this, he thought that coaches can't really see what the student is doing, and so can only coach strokes, not footwork.

It's a good point, but it's not really a problem for good coaches. You teach footwork one-on-one by having the student do it without the ball, where you often do it together, with the student matching the way the coach does it and making corrections as necessary. If you have a student shadow practice footwork this way regularly, they learn it. Then, when you get to the table, you can tell by their body posture and positioning if they are doing it correctly.

The most important aspects to stress are foot and body positioning; balance (which involves moving with your feet, not with your hands, i.e. reaching); and the idea that you don't decide whether you have to move, you assume you will always have to move. 

Yesterday Was a Bad Day (mostly non-table tennis)

Let's see, Obama didn't perform well in the debate, the Orioles lost, the Yankees won, two of my three TT students cancelled, I had a headache half the day, a new online video of our club got our web address wrong (see below), the sole of my shoe broke, and from my todo list I didn't update the "Celebrities Playing Table Tennis" page or work on the Codex contest SF story I started last night. Can we have a Groundhog Day replay?

MDTTC Video

County Cable Montgomery in Maryland runs a regular TV segment called Parks Rec n Roll. They did a feature on racket sports here in Montgomery County, featuring tennis, badminton, racquetball, and of course table tennis at the Maryland Table Tennis Center. The entire video is 30 minutes long, but here are the table tennis segments, which are a little under six minutes total. The video features me, Tong Tong Gong, Derek Nie, Crystal Wang, Amy Lu, Nathan Hsu, Wen Hsu, Timmy La, Chen Bo Wen, Mort Greenberg, and Sammy Snitskovsky. (One little problem: at 28:05 it puts the MDTTC web address on screen, but they got it wrong, putting in "org" instead of the "com" in www.mdttc.com.) Here are links:

• Entire video (30 minutes)
• Two seconds at the start, featuring Kyle Wang clowning around for the camera (starting at 0:08)
• Twenty seconds starting right at the two-minute mark
• The main feature, starting at 23:10 through 28:30 (so five minutes 20 seconds long)

Ariel Hsing for USOC Female Athlete of the Month

You can vote online for USOC's Female Athlete of the Month. Ariel is up against 19 other athletes - but she's currently in the lead! Okay, she has 8 votes, two more than three of her competitors (hmm, 6-6-6?), so it's still early. Ariel's had a good month, as verified by this ITTF article. You can also vote for Male Athlete of the Month and Team of the Month, though strangely there aren't any table tennis players there.

Richard McAfee in India

USATT Coaching Chair Richard McAfee is running ITTF coaching seminars in India. (Here are some photos.) Here's his Facebook postings about the first two days:

Day One: I am getting ready to start day two of the ITTF-PTT Level 1 Course in Ajmer, India. There are 14 coaches taking part and we are mixing in some of the local juniors during some of the practical sessions. The facility we are using is a full-time table tennis academy with 14 tables, wood flooring, good lighting, and a large conference room/class-room. There is also an attached hotel where I am staying. Most of the coaches are very experience and some have travel 36 hours by train to reach the course. Ajmer is an ancient and beautiful city.

 

Day Two: I just finished day two of the Ajmer, India ITTF-PTT Level 1 Course that I am conducting. The second day is the hardest one (physically) for me as it is on "on the table". We have had a group of 12-16 kids hanging around watching our course in the afternoons and it seems that they do not receive coaching. There is a very high level (national team members) of junior training at the academy but these kids are not good enough to be in the coaching group. Today, I couldn't stand the longing in their eyes any longer and after our 6 hours of course work, I stayed and did another session for these kids. One of the other coaches in the course also helped out. What fun! There is nothing more gratifying than to watch sheer joy in the faces of kids playing a sport they love. Now for a much needed rest. I understand that more kids will be coming tomorrow so I will try to continue our little training group while I am here.

Table Tennis Boosting - Our Version of Doping?

Here's an article in the Huffington Post from August about table tennis boosting. I haven't tried boosting myself, but I should probably do it just to see what it's like. (I'm retired from tournaments so it's not like it's going to "boost" my rating!)

The Real Housewives of New York City Play Pong

In last night's finale, the characters in the show visited Spin New York to play table tennis with Marty Reisman and others. Here's the report from Table Tennis Nation.

What's Really on His Mind on a Date

Yes, the truth.

Another Weird Table Tennis Dream

Last night I dreamed I was playing in the North American Teams. I'm not sure who my teammates were; they were sort of shadowy. As I went out to play my first match, I realized I was carrying a thick sheaf of papers and a keyring full of keys. So rather than play the match, I decided I needed to go home to drop these things off. I ran outside and began jogging. Then I seemed to go through a montage of cars, buses, and running through an airport. Finally I arrived "home" - except the house was from the haunted house picture I had just yesterday made my computer's background picture. I ran inside and pushed the elevator button for the 15th floor (which doesn't make sense since the haunted house didn't have 15 floors, but perhaps it was bigger on the inside). I kept waiting and waiting impatiently, worried that if I didn't hurry I'd get defaulted from my match. Finally, I got to my room, which seemed some sort of dormitory room, I think from my years at the Olympic Training Center. I opened the door with the keys and went to a mirror. Looking into it I saw that I was wearing the funny hat that Q wore when we first met him in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I tore it off, tossed the keys inside, and left, closing the door as I went out, thereby locking myself out with the keys inside. (But I didn't realize this at the time.) I went outside and began to run as fast as I could, worried again that I'd get defaulted. I ran faster and faster in a panic, and finally, in a nervous sweat, arrived back at the Teams. I hurriedly went out to play the match, and found that the other guy was there, waiting for me. I then realized I was still carrying the sheaf of papers I'd had at the beginning. I decided to use them as my racket, and got set to play. Then I stopped, realizing just then that I'd locked myself out. I began to panic again, thinking I had to run home again to get my keys, and that's when I woke up.

***

Send us your own coaching news!

USA vs. Belgium Clubs

Someone emailed me yesterday saying he was pretty sure Belgium didn't have 500 full-time clubs, as I'd quoted someone posting yesterday. There's no way to judge from here. But the key is that both seem to agree they have 500 clubs in an area about the size of Maryland with about twice the population. Maryland, the state with the highest percentage of USATT members among its population, has only six clubs. That's about an 83-1 ratio by area, or 42-1 by population. I think we're outgunned.

The writer also pointed out that clubs in Europe are organized differently and said there's no point in comparing numbers, but I disagree. People are people, and if we create a good product, they will come. Every time someone has opened a nice table tennis club in the U.S. and run it properly, the people have come. The limiting factor isn't the U.S.; it's the small number of people in the U.S. able and willing to create such clubs. Sure, Belgium and other European countries have more government support, but entrepreneurs in the U.S. have shown over and over that professional table tennis clubs can make it in the U.S.  Look no further than the San Francisco Bay area, where new full-time clubs seem to pop up every week.

There's a reason why so many can open in a relatively small area and be successful. While more dedicated players will travel longer distances to play at a nice club, something like 90% of a club's business is with players within five miles. That's five miles in both directions, so call it a square with a ten mile diameter, or 100 square miles. You could ring most major cities with full-time clubs, as they have in the Bay area, and they'd barely affect each other. Plus the major cities themselves, with their much denser populations, can support a larger percentage. (The Maryland Table Tennis Center, my club, is about 15 miles north of Washington D.C.  I once estimated that the D.C. area could support 20-30 full-time clubs.)

Of course, from the point of view of each club, do we really want more local clubs that will take away some business? Of course it hurts a little bit, but not nearly as much as you'd think. More clubs means more players, and more players mean a larger field to draw when running leagues and tournaments. The simple reality is that most of a club's business is not only local, but from locals they develop themselves by promoting the sport and setting up programs that meet the needs of the players, i.e. leagues, coaching programs, etc.

Here's the current list of full-time clubs in the USA. I really wish USA Table Tennis had chosen to get involved in recruiting and training of coaches and promoters to set up these centers (as well as leagues), but my proposals to them over the years haven't convinced them. So we're on our own. Why not take an online virtual tour? Each of these clubs is the result of someone who took the initiative. They are the heroes of our sport, the ones who will take it to the next level.

The Orioles Excuse

Some readers may remember my back problem tribulations of last year. I got over them from a regimen of weight training and stretching. After the back was better, I stopped weight training, and so far my back has survived. However, the weight training did something else - it made me play better. In particular, my upper body and legs were stronger, and this led to my better play. I found myself looping with mobility, consistency, and power that I hadn't had in years.

Now it's mostly gone and I'm back to futilely waving at balls as they whip past me. The solution? Back to weight training. However - I'm going to put it off a few more days, possibly a few more weeks. I've been following Baltimore Orioles baseball, and now they are in the playoffs. I usually did weight training at Planet Fitness on the way home from coaching sessions at the club, which often finish as the Orioles are about to play. They could be done as early as Friday (if they don't win the AL East today over the Yankees and then lose in the one-game wild-car playoff), or they could continue all the way to the World Series, with a potential seventh game scheduled on Nov. 1.  

So here's my vow. Starting after the Orioles finish their season, I will start up weight training again. Opponents beware!!!

USA Junior and Cadet Team Selection Procedures

Here is how USATT will selection their 2013 junior and cadet teams.

Ryder Cup Table Tennis

It seems the real reason USA lost to Europe at the Ryder Cup is the golfers spent all their time playing ping-pong. Here's another article on the topic care of Table Tennis Nation. (Yesterday I wrote about Phil Mickelson at the Ryder Cup; last Thursday I wrote about how table tennis was the heart of Team USA bonding at Ryder Cup.)

The Ping-Pong Round Table

I'm not sure if this is a conference table or King Arthur's table, but it looks like fun.

The King Kong of Ping Pong

Yes, King Kong plays ping-pong. Guess what he uses for balls?

***

Send us your own coaching news!

Table Tennis Centers in Maryland, the U.S., and Belgium

On Friday at the Maryland Table Tennis Center I was wondering how USATT would be different if all their board members were required to spend a week at one of the "elite" training centers. Their perspective on table tennis in the U.S., and where it could go, might be a bit different from what they are used to.

There are about 50 full-time table tennis centers in the U.S. (Current count: 53; let me know if I'm missing any.) Of these, perhaps 5-8 can be considered "elite," i.e. ones with large junior development programs that consistently develop strong players. Key here is both the elite aspect and the large number of players they have.

Recently someone posted on a table tennis forum that "The USA has 50+ full time clubs." Someone responded, "Are you serious about the 50+ or do you mean 500+? In Belgium, there are about 50 clubs for each of the ten regions." Yes, that's 500 full-time clubs in Belgium, which has an area slightly smaller than Maryland (both about 12 thousand square miles), with a population about double Maryland's (about 11 million vs. 5.8 million). (And Belgium's numbers are dwarfed by Germany, England, and of course China and most Asian countries.) Now Maryland is, size for size and population for population, probably the most successful table tennis state in the U.S., with a higher percentage of its population USATT members than any other state. (They have 263 members out of a population of 5.8 million, or one member for every 22,053 people. Only New Jersey is close, with 351 members out of 8.8 million, or one for every 25,071.) Maryland also has one of the most successful junior programs in the country. And yet Maryland has only two full-time training centers to Belgium's 500! They have a full-time center for every 22,000 people, while Maryland has one for every 2.9 million. The U.S. has one for every 5.9 million people.

Of course the biggest difference is Belgium and other successful countries focus on leagues and junior programs. So does Maryland. Here's a rundown of the strongest of the 40+ junior players at MDTTC on Friday during a junior training session and the Friday night league (name, age, rating):

• Wang Qing Liang, 16, 2644
• Chen Bo Wen, 14, 2441
• Tong Tong Gong, 14, 2334
• Nathan Hsu, 2296 (was recently 2356)
• Anthony Qu, 12, 2194
• Roy Ke, 13, 2188
• Derek Nie, 11, 2149
• Crystal Wang, 10, 2099 (was 2166 before playing a tournament with a fracture wrist!)
• Michael Ding, 13, 1989
• David Varkey, 17, 1882
• Lilly Lin, 15, 1874
• Amy Lu, 11, 1852
• Lisa Cui, 13, 1804
• Princess Ke, 12, 1776
• Jason Wei, 14, 1768
• Adam Yao, 10, 1739
• Wesley Duan, 12, 1685
• Tony Li, 11, 1618

Between these, and all the little kids smacking forehands and backhand back and forth (not to mention all the non-juniors in the league - it's not just juniors), it's a different environment than what most in the U.S. sees unless they are at one of these "elite" training centers . . . or perhaps in Belgium.

$100,000 World Championship of Ping-Pong

The inaugural event will be held in London on Jan. 5-6, 2013. Players are required to use sandpaper rackets. $100,000 for sandpaper table tennis - yes, my friends, the world is changing.

ITTF Inaugural Level 3 Course

Here's an ITTF article about the first ITTF Level 3 Coaching Course, held in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Sept. 21-28. It was immediately followed by a two-day Level Three Course Conductor Training Seminar. Attending both were USATT Coaching Chair Richard McAfee.

Table Tennis Artwork

Here is more table tennis art by Mike Mezyan. The four here are labeled "Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind," and feature Chen Qi, Wang Hao, Ma Lin, and Wang Liqin. Here's a larger version. And here's his Facebook page for all his artwork.

Orioles Make Table Tennis a Priority

Here's an article from Table Tennis Nation on how the Baltimore Orioles baseball team (and their manager, Buck Showalter) made table tennis a priority. "Where is the ping-pong table?" Showalter asked when he showed up in spring training. Meanwhile, you can read my "Top Twelve Things Happening the Last Time the Orioles Had a Winning Season" article at Orioles Hangout, where it's a featured front-page story. I've had eight front-page articles there. My favorites are "You're No Good, Baltimore Orioles" and "The Wonderful World of O's."

Phil Mickelson and Table Tennis at the Ryder Cup

Here's an article on golfer Phil Mickelson and table tennis at the Ryder Cup. Here's the table tennis excerpt:

Ask anyone about the team room, and Mickelson's name invariably comes up. He talked of his and Woods' dominance on the Ping-Pong table Wednesday, boasting that few of their U.S. teammates can touch them.

''Put us together on that table, and we're rocking it,'' Mickelson said.

(That's only partly true, Steve Stricker said. Matt Kuchar is actually the Roger Federer of the U.S. Ping-Pong table, and Stricker said Mickelson is putting off that matchup until Sunday. ''He doesn't want to get any bad mojo going before the tournament starts.'')

Top Ten Points

Here's a Top Ten Points video (6:12) from recent years (Worlds, Olympics, World Cup). Includes lots of slow motion.

The Amazing Race - Downgrading to a Sauce Pan

As near as I can tell, "The Amazing Race" is a Chinese show where people compete for prizes. In this segment (1:37), they had to score a point - a single point! - against a little girl who was obviously an elite junior. She played them using a sauce pan and a tambourine, and rarely lost a point.

***

Send us your own coaching news!

Tip of the Week

Short Serves to the Forehand from Backhand Side.

The New Plastic Balls

Here's a review of the new ball by Alex Vanderklugt of the OOAK forum. He reviews it with visual inspection, sound, size, the bounce test, and in actual play. The results are not good.

As some of you may have heard, plastic poly balls (instead of celluloid) are coming to table tennis, replacing the usual celluloid, care of the ITTF, starting July 1, 2013. The reasons seem to be vague, but involve a supposed worldwide ban on celluloid because of their flammability. Can someone point me in the direction of a good article on the current status? I've heard they may postpone the actual switch if they are unable to come up with poly balls that are satisfactory, but can't remember where I've heard this. Anyone know anything?

USATT Coach of the Year

It's that time of year again - time to nominate coaches for the USATT Coach of the Year Awards! There are five awards - National, Developmental, Volunteer, Paralympic, and Doc Counsilman. (I was the USATT Developmental Coach of the Year in 2002, and was runner-up three times, alas.)

Men's World Cup Results and Video

Here are results, articles, and photos of the 2012 Men's World Cup, held this past weekend at Liverpool, England. Congrats to China's Ma Long, who came from behind to defeat Germany's Timo Boll in the final, -7,-8,2,7,7,10. And here's a video of the Final in just eight minutes, with time between points taken out. 

Best of the Men's World Cup

Here's a video of the best points (5:47) from the Men's World Cup held this past weekend in Liverpool, England.

Henzell's World Cup Blog

Eight-time Australian Champion William Henzell kept a blog of his trip to the Men's World Cup in Liverpool, England this past weekend. Here are the three entries.

• Sept. 25
• Sept. 26
• Sept. 27
• Sept. 29

Butterfly MDTTC September Open

The MDTTC September Open I ran last weekend was already processed on Thursday night! That's pretty fast. Here are the rating results, here are the actual results, and below is my writeup. 

Seventy-three players competed in eight events for $2600 in prize money plus trophies at the September Open at the spacious Maryland Table Tennis Center. The events were dominated by local junior players, with at least one junior player in seven of the eight finals. In the Open, it was chopper/looper Wang Qing Liang (17, rated 2644) over two-winged penhold looper Chen Bo Wen (15), -6,6,9,7,-9,6. In the semifinals they defeated a pair of former Maryland junior stars, Wang over Raghu Nadmichettu (6,7,9,5) and Chen over Khaleel Asgarali (10,3,8,7).

After losing to Chen Bo Wen in the Open Semifinal, Raghu came from down 0-2 to win Under 2350 over Hung Duy Vo, -9,-15,6,11,8, in the only final without a junior player.

Roy Ke, 13, had an exceptional tournament, winning Under 2200 with a string of upsets over Chen Qiming (2121), Nazruddin Asgarali (2187), and coming back to win the final over Lixin Lang (2127), -6,-5,4,8,8. His new rating is 2188.

Another junior having an exceptional tournament was Anthony (Tony) Qu, 12, who not only won Under 2050 over John Olsen, but upset Richard Doverman (2349, 11-9 in the fifth) and Derek Nie (2170, 13-11 in the fifth) to make the quarterfinals of the Open. His new rating is 2194.

Practice partners Wesley Duan (11) and Kyle Wang (12) ran amok in four events, taking four second places - Wesley in Under 1900 and Under 1650, and Kyle in Under 1400 and Under 1150. Winning these four events, respectively, were Pat Lui, Quang Lam, Ara Sahakian, and still another local junior, 12-year-old Daniel Yang.

Rating-wise the big winner was William Wung, who gained 549 points in going from 494 to 1043! Others with big gains were Wesley Duan (253, 1432 to 1685), Benjamin Kang (231, 829 to 1060), Roy Ke (186, 2002 to 2188), Tony Qu (169, 2025 to 2194), Quang Lam (154, 1348 to 1502, the only non-junior to gain more than 100 points), and Moonsoo Park (102, 598 to 700). Also welcome to six newly rated players: Tiffany Ke, Deapesh Misra, Sameer Shaikh, Sam Snitkovsky, and Jeremy & Alexi Weinberg!

Special thanks goes to Lixin Lang for helping run the tournament, and to tournament sponsors Butterfly and Llewellyn Realtor James Wu. 

Lions Playing Table Tennis

Here's an illustration from pages 26-27 of the children's book "Big Max and the Mystery of the Missing Giraffe." I found 15 rules violations in this picture - what are they teaching our children?!!! Did I miss any? Here are the USATT Rules. (Note that since they are not playing doubles, they don't legally have to have a white line down the middle of the table.) And yes, I'm just having fun with it.

1. The lion on the left has a green racket surface.
2. The lion on the right has a brown racket surface.
3.  The lion on the right has his free hand (paw?) touching the playing surface.
4.  The ground is grass, which is not a legal flooring.
5. The lion's chests seem to be white, which matches the color of the ball. Technically, it's the shirt that cannot match the ball's color, but this violates the spirit of the law.
6. The table doesn't have white lines along the edges.
7. Unless these are gigantic lions, I'm fairly certain the table is smaller than a legal 9'x5'.
8. The drawing of the table measures about 2.83" x 1.25". This means if the table is 9 feet long, it's 3.97 feet wide, so the table is about 9'x4', rather than the legal 9'x5'.
9. The ball is much larger than 40mm.
10. The ball isn't spherical.
11. The net doesn't extend six inches to the side.
12. Neither are wearing shirts, violating the USATT dress code.
13. Neither are wearing shorts or skirts, violating the USATT dress code.
14. Neither are wearing shoes, violating the USATT dress code.
15. Neither are wearing socks, violating the USATT dress code. 

***

Send us your own coaching news!

2009 Strategic Meeting

I just realized that Wednesday, Sept. 26 (two days ago) was the three-year anniversary of the 2009 USATT Strategic Meeting. I still consider that one of the greatest disappointments in USATT history. We had a new board of directors looking to really do things but not sure what, and they and table tennis people from all over the country gathered for two days to decide what to do. Unfortunately, the same old arguments that look good but lead to nothing won them over, and we ended up with lots of slogans and a series of vague priorities that predictably never led to anything. I wrote much more about this one year ago, on Sept. 26, 2011. I don't know when we'll ever have such an opportunity again to get USATT to really start developing the sport the way it's done successfully in other countries and other sports. I was going to write more about this, but you know what? It's too depressing. So instead we'll go to anagrams and smile. Yes, smile.

Table Tennis Anagrams

Don't blame me - I'm just the messenger!!! On February 22, 2012, I did anagrams of the U.S. Men's Team (Michael Landers: "Me Learn as Child," "Lame Child Nears," many more; Timothy Wang: "I Own That Gym"), and the next day, February 23, 2012, I did them on the U.S. Women's Team (Ariel Hsing: "Irish Angel," "Shinier Gal," several more). Here are others; Tim and Mike are going to kill me! (Remember, I'm just the messenger!!! If they can find "positive" ones with their name, I'll post them.)

• USA Table Tennis: Uneatable Snits, Attain Blueness, Baseline Taunts, Nastiest Nebula, Instant Useable, A Baseline Stunt, A Subtle Inanest, A Sensible Taunt, Unsatiable Nets, Abase Silent Nut, Abates Nuts Line
• USATT Hall of Fame: Fat Lush Meatloaf, A Shameful Fat Lot, A Flame That Fouls, Slam Fateful Oath, Hamlet Faults Oaf, Them's A Fatal Foul, Fateful Lot A Hams, Am A Slothful Feat.
• Maryland Table Tennis Center: A Barnacle-Styled Internment, A Sternly Nerd Tent Imbalance, Rents A Cleanable Trendy Mint.
• Dan Seemiller (USATT Hall of Famer): Learned Miles, Learned Smile, Learned Slime, Slender Email, Smellier Dean, A Smellier Den, Ills Neared Me, Erased Ill Men.
• Tim Boggan (USATT Hall of Famer): Aging Tomb, Maggot Bin (Sorry Tim!!!)
• Mike Cavanaugh (USATT Executive Director): Again Have Muck, I Vague Hack Man (Sorry Mike!!!)
• Larry Hodges: Dasher Glory, Holy Regards, Shared Glory, Gory Heralds, Godly Sharer,
• Hodges: He's God!

2012 Men's World Cup

It started today at Liverpool, England. Here's the home page, with results, articles, and photos. And here's a great lobbing point played just this morning from Adrien Mattenet of France.

Chicago International Table Tennis Festival

It's going on right now (Thur-Sat, Sept. 27-29), and here's the home page. Players include Wang Liqin, Wang Hao, Ma Lin, Chen Qi, Ding Ning, Kalinikos Kreanga, Ryu Seung Min, Biba, Jorgen Persson, Zoran Primorac, Aleksandar Karakasevic, Ilija Lupulesku, Chen Weixing, and Ariel Hsing.

Table tennis at the heart of Team USA bonding at Ryder Cup

That's the headline of this article in the Chicago Business. Unfortunately you have to register to see the rest of the article. But here's a quote - "The Ryder Cup is all about pingpong, everybody." -2012 Masters champion Bubba Watson

Table Tennis Jewelry

Here are a few places to buy it:

• Table Tennis Talk Merchandise Shop
• Vinqui Table Tennis Shop
• Zazzle
• Aliexpress
• Ebay

Baby Doing Multiball - Really!

I think I posted this once before, but it should be posted again. Yes, it's a baby doing multiball (1:35), and he's actually doing it well! (And there's no rule I know of against sitting on the table, though that wooden bat is illegal - needs a legal surface.) Here are more photos of this prodigy and his dad.

National Chinese Honor Society Speech - with Table Tennis!

Here's another hilarious video (0:55) from junior table tennis star Nathan Hsu - his 55-second pitch for the presidency of the National Chinese Honor Society, which includes table tennis.

***

Send us your own coaching news!

Last-Minute Looping: Learning to Loop

Yesterday I taught an 11-year-old girl to forehand loop. She'd attended ten junior group sessions I'd taught, and this was I think her fourth private session. Her forehand and backhand drives are getting pretty steady, and of course we'll continue to work on them to make them "perfect."  

Sometimes it's good to wait longer to really ingrain the forehand and backhand drives before starting them on looping, but I'm a believer in getting to looping (at least against backspin) as soon as possible. Otherwise, they tend to become pusher/blockers (since they can't attack backspin), their loops aren't as natural (since they ingrain drive strokes early on rather than topspin strokes), and they don't take advantage of a characteristic that gives them the advantage at that age - they are shorter, and so looping is a bit more natural since they can let the ball drop down to their level. Plus, it gives them something to get excited about when they begin doing shots that match what the best players in the club are doing, and that excitement leads to more focus and determination, which leads to faster improvement.

I started her on looping in the last ten minutes of the session, feeding backspin with multiball. At first she had difficulty. Sometimes she wouldn't bring her racket down enough, or she wouldn't sweep up enough and would instead start up, then switch to a more forward-driving stroke. The result was flat strokes with little topspin. The scary part here is that since I'm giving her the same spin over and over, it's pretty easy to drive the ball with light topspin, and to believe that it's a good shot. (And it would have - in the hardbat era.) So I have to explain how a drive against backspin without great topspin isn't that good and will rarely be as consistent or effective in a match situation as looping. She understood, and kept trying.

When the time for the session came to an end, she was so close, and had managed to make two shots that I would charitably describe as loops, but most of the others were still just topspin drives. I went to her side and said let's just shadow practice the shot for two minutes so she can get the feel for the stroke, so she could shadow practice on her own all week and be ready next time. (We'd been doing shadow stroking, but usually for 10-20 seconds at a time at most.) We did so, and her stroke looked better and better. So I asked the dad if we could stay a little late, and he said sure. I fed her more multiball - and from the first ball, after that two minutes of shadow-practice, she was looping!!! She was grazing the ball and getting good topspin. She did seven in a row, missed a few, and then made a bunch more. I wanted to ingrain the stroke, so we did it for another five minutes. We were both very excited over this.

Now I'll be working on both her drives and loops. (As much as I like to get to looping, it's equally important to get those drive shots down - the fundamentals are key.) When I feel she's ready, I'll have her try them in combination - loop a backspin and then smash a topspin. Eventually, we'll have her looping against topspin as well. And yes, the backhand loop will be coming up as well in a few weeks.

Henzel's World Cup Blog

William Henzel of Australia is keeping a blog of his trip to the Men's World Cup in Liverpool, England, where he arrived yesterday - the tournament is Fri-Sun, Sept. 28-30. Here's Day One, where he arrives and ponders the expense of hiring a coach for his matches.

Documentary on the Rise of Sweden

Here's a documentary of how Sweden rose to challenge and defeat the Chinese at the 1989 World's. They would continue to dominate the world for about six more years, and would battle with the Chinese for nearly 15 more years. The only problem is the video, about an hour long, is in Swedish, without English subtitles. I watched much of it, and though I didn't know what was being said, you could figure much of it out from the context. Plus it was nostalgic for those of us who were around back then! The video features Jan-Ove Waldner, Jorgen Persson, Mikael Appelgren, Erik Lindh, Stellan Bengsston, Kjell Johansson, and other Swedish players and coaches, as well as Chinese players such as Jiang Jialiang and Chen Longcan.

ITTF Coaching Seminar - in India

Stopping by India anytime soon? Or already live there? USATT Coaching Chair Richard McAfee will be teaching three ITTF coaching seminars in India, in Ajmer (Oct. 3-7), in Bangalore (Oct. 10-14), and in Bangalore (Oct. 17-21). Here's the ITTF announcement.

Howard Tong Video

Here's a video (2:58) featuring 12-year-old Howard Tong of the World Champions Table Tennis Club in the San Francisco Bay area.

Orioles J.J. Hardy - "No one can beat me."

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy is the best pingpong player on the team, according to an article in ESPN on Tuesday. The article says Hardy is the best athlete on the team, and says "He also is the best pingpong player on the Orioles." It then quotes Hardy:

"The next-best is Brady [Anderson, a special instructor]," Hardy said, half joking. "I've played him 100 times. I've beaten him 100 times. He'll never beat me. No one can beat me."

Some may remember that earlier this season the Orioles contacted me about doing a table tennis special with the Orioles for their TV network (featuring Hardy, Anderson, and pitcher Jake Arrieta, another table tennis enthusiast. However, it was put off when Hardy began having wrist problems, and now they are in a pennant race. So I don't know when or if this will happen. I've been in email contact with them, and my best guess is it'll be put off until next year. We'll see.

Inmates at the Teams

That's me scratching my head as I'm literally surrounded by "inmates" playing in the 2006 North American Teams in Baltimore. Yes, that was their team uniform - and there are at least eight of them, so it might have been two teams. The ones in "uniform," L-R, are: Unknown (you can just see his hat and leg); Ray Mack; I think Fong Hsu; Unknown; Connie Sweeris (short one with back to us); Unknown; I think Jim McQueen (or was the one I thought was Fong Hsu actually McQueen? Hard to tell); and Alan Fendrick.

MDTTC Goes to the Birds

Earlier this month a bird visited the Maryland Table Tennis Center. No, not the Baltimore Orioles mascot or Larry Bird; an actual bird! Here's the video (3:47), starring Nathan Hsu, Derek Nie, Raghu Nadmichettu, Tong Tong Gong, and a seemingly very tame (but probably just traumatized) bird. I can't believe I missed all of this, but I wasn't there for the big event.

***

Send us your own coaching news!