As You Think, So Shall You Become - Revisited
Yesterday I posted this Bruce Lee Table Tennis graphic – and the Bruce Lee quote in the heading, “So you think, so shall you become,” very much applies to table tennis. Most players have self-images of their game, which puts them in a comfort zone. And nearly everything they do re-enforces this, and so they stay in this comfort zone, rarely developing anything new. Sure, they play around with other shots, and practice them, but not in a long-term, serious way. I’ve seen loopers who can’t block react by spending even more time working on their loop rather than mastering the block. I’ve seen players who are great blockers but constantly lament their lack of attacking skills – and spend decades playing as a blocker rather than taking a few months of that time where they develop and incorporate attacking skills. These players are unable to think of themselves as something better, and so are unable to become better. And that’s what Bruce Lee was referring to.

In fact, for players who stay in their comfort zone rather than strive to leave it, I will paraphrase the Bruce Lee quote: “So you think, so shall you remain.”

Those who become great players have a different way of thinking. If they see something that someone else does better than they do, they are certain they can do better and become determined to top it. They may not always become better at it, but they become as good at it as they can possibly be. The best up-and-coming juniors see what the world-class players do, and are convinced they can do better – and so strive to do so. “So you think, so shall you become,” and because they think they can, they become it.

I remember coaching a top 12-year-old whose strength was blocking. He was in a close match against an older, higher-rated looper, and the match was 2-2. Between games I told him he needed to forehand block into the opponent’s wide forehand to draw him out of position, and – but I was interrupted. The kid wanted nothing of this. He was certain he could win by counterlooping with his opponent, apparently oblivious to the fact that the opponent was a much better counterlooper. But he was determined, and so we changed our tactics to make sure the opponent had more difficult loops to counterloop – and lo and behold, the 12-year-old left behind his blocking persona and won by looping everything. A year later he made the USA Cadet Team.

I’ve gone through similar thinking. Fortunately, I’ve always felt that if I put my mind to something, I could master it. When I first showed up at the New Carrollton Table Tennis Club in 1976 at age 16, and saw real table tennis for the first time, I was at first shocked at how much better everyone was. (I was #41 of 43 on the ladder, ahead of a 12-year-old who had also just started and an 8-year-old girl.) But whatever I saw, I was certain I could also master. At the time I was basically a keep-it-in-play type, with an occasional pick-hitting forehand. (I was also holding the racket with the thumb down the middle, using the other side for both forehand and backhand, basement style. Jim Mossberg quickly fixed my grip.)

I remember watching Bob Kaminsky smacking in forehand after forehand against chopper Herb Horton, and told myself, “I can do that.” (At the time I didn’t even realize Bob was hitting with short pips, while I had inverted.) So I spent a huge amount of time working on my forehand hitting, and turned it into a huge strength. At the 1976 U.S. Open, my first big tournament, I saw how Dragutin Surbek (#3 in the world, who would win men’s singles) could cover the entire table with his forehand, and told myself, “I can do that.” And so I became a forehand specialist, running around hitting forehands every chance. (Surbek was actually a looper, but I copied his footwork, and that of Kjell Johnannson, as a hitter.) When I saw Ricky Seemiller serving people off the table, I told myself, “I can do that.” I practiced my serves for half an hour a day, six days a week, for three years, and developed very good serves.

By driving myself to surpass these players in their own strengths, I achieved a 1954 rating in 2.5 years. But then I hit a wall. I was getting looped off the table by opponents, who were turning my hitting game into a blocking game. I told myself, “I can do that,” and was determined to become a looper. Here I ran into problems. Anyone who has seen me play can attest that I’m pretty stiff when I play. What they might not know is that I was just as stiff as a teenager as I am now. (I was once told by a doctor it’s a medical condition. My muscles are so dense that I sink like a rock in water – I sometimes show off in pools by walking around on the bottom on the deep end, or doing pushups on the bottom.) But I spent years working at it, and after about two years (where my rating dropped to about 1800), it began to pay off, and I developed a pretty decent loop, at least for a 2250 player. (If you ignore the stiffness and jerkiness, my technique is actually very good. Though that’s a lot to ignore.)

I never moved as fast as Surbek, or served as well as Ricky Seemiller, or looped as well as many of my opponents – but by striving to match and surpass them, I developed these things to a very high level. (I think I may have matched Bob Kaminsky’s forehand – but his peak years were many years before I saw him.)

So what is the self-image you have of your game? Do you stay in your comfort zone - “So you think, so shall you remain” - or do you have higher ambitions, realizing that the very act of telling yourself, “I can do that,” will lead to great improvement, even if you never do it as well as the one you are copying? “So you think, so shall you become.” Remember it, both for table tennis and for other aspects of your life as well.

Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder: How do you react to a loss?
Here’s the new coaching article from Samson Dubina.

Status of “Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion”
We should finish it today, and if all goes well, print copies of Dan Seemiller’s autobiography will be out in a week or so! 218 pages, 96 pictures, great reading! Stay tuned. (Next week I’ll put together the ebook version.)

Some Nice, Easy Counterlooping
Here’s the video (43 sec). The site is in Chinese, but the video is in table tennis. If you want to learn to counterloop, just watch this and copy. Don’t they make it look easy? But seriously – you can learn by watching, because done properly, and with practice, it isn’t that hard. Don't think you can do this? See Bruce Lee quote above.

Table Tennis Tactics - Serve and Attack
Here’s the coaching video (12:18).

Zha Wenting Captures Women’s Singles Title at Butterfly LA Open
Here’s the article by Barbara Wei. Links to three other articles on the tournament by Barbara were in my Sept. 6 blog.

Internet Sensation Ibrahim Hamadtou Becomes a Paralympian
Here’s the ITTF press release, with links to video, on this spectacular armless player.

Belarus Open on the ITTF Pro Tour
Here’s the page where you can get results, articles, pictures, and video. The tournament is Sept. 7-11, finishing this Sunday.

Austin Table Tennis on TV
Here’s the video (2:03).

Table Tennis Robot Home Upgrade for Continuously Varying Speed
Here’s the video (64 sec) – this is both fascinating and hilarious!

The Sound of Table Tennis
Here’s the animated video (44 sec). 

A Little Underwater Table Tennis . . . with Sharks?
Here’s the picture!

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Final Proofing - "Revelations of a Champion"
Yesterday I did the absolutely final proofing of Dan Seemiller’s autobiography, “Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion.” The book is really coming around! I did 4.5 hours of proofing at Ledo’s (noon to 4:30PM, lots of pizza and large Mountain Dew, two refills), did a 90-minute coaching session, and then did another 2.5 hours of proofing at Wendy’s (7:30-10PM, large chili with cheese and onion, and a large Dr. Pepper). And then it was done! Except – I needed another three hours to input all the changes, making sure to keep all the layouts lined up. (Plus some USATT stuff took up over an hour.) I also had 19 questions for Dan, which I emailed to him a little after 2:30AM. As soon as he gets back to me on those, I’ll be able to finalize the interior. (It’s 3:23AM as I write this – I’d rather get the blog done now then have to do it when I get up.)

Meanwhile, today I need to pretty much finalize the front and back cover (plus the spine in between). That was turning into a headache as the cover picture is a great shot of Danny, but it’s in black and white. I colorized it, and added the title and a sub-title, but so far the fonts and colors just aren’t working. I’d like to get this done by Friday, since I’m running the MDTTC September Open this Saturday, and coaching all day Sunday.

There are some nice quotes from Dan in the book – I may blog about some of them later on, after the book is out.

I had an interesting time at both Ledo’s and Wendy’s, with an interesting event at each. At Ledo’s, three old white men – all at least 75 or 80 – spent over an hour very loudly discussing what a great person Donald Trump was, while ripping into Clinton. (They actually spent most of the time talking about the virtues of Trump, with anti-Clinton interjections thrown in.) I had to restrain myself from correcting some of their statements. Next time I need to bring earplugs, or perhaps a tranquilizer dart gun. Or maybe a hard-hit ping-pong ball to the head.

At Wendy’s, a family of eight people got there just before me – apparently a grandmother, a mom and dad, and five kids. The kids were excitedly talking about getting Happy Meals, which was strange since those are from McDonalds. Then the mom told the cashier that there was a special on Happy Meals after 4PM, and that they should cost only $1.99. The cashier was very confused, and kept trying to explain that they don’t have Happy Meals at Wendy’s. The mom then changed her order to Chicken McNuggets – again, a McDonald’s menu item. When the cashier again tried to explain, the woman got very agitated, and asked for the manager. When the manager explained that this wasn’t a McDonalds, the woman insisted that they had been coming regularly to this Wendy’s and getting Happy Meals for $1.99 after 4PM. This went on for a time, and I was getting pretty impatient. The woman finally said, “Well then, we’ll just go somewhere else.” The kids were very disappointed at not getting their Happy Meals. What’s funny is there was a McDonalds almost next door – and that’s where they went next. (I saw them to there through the window.) Presumably they got their Happy Meals. Or perhaps they tried to order a Frosty.

Liu Guoliang - Table Tennis Tactics Genius
Here’s the video (19:52) from July, but this is the first I’ve seen it. It’s in English.

Table Tennis Tips for Racketlon Players
Here’s the new coaching article from Expert Table Tennis.

As You Think, So Shall You Become
Here’s the Bruce Lee/Table Tennis graphic – and it very much applies to table tennis.

Two Little Japanese Kids Playing Ping-Pong
Here’s the video (10:47). And they say the Chinese are even better.

TRex vs. Brontosaurus
Here’s the cartoon!

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Michael Jordon and Ma Long – the Same?
Here’s the classic picture of both. There’s actually a coaching lesson in this. Players have their best performances when they just let go and let their subconscious take over, i.e. learned reactions. So when top players are performing at their best, they are basically just observers, other than basic tactics. So when they pull off great plays, whether in basketball, table tennis, or any other skill sport, they often have that reaction of essentially shrugging their shoulders and throwing up their hands, as they are just as amazed as we are at what they are doing – because, deep down, they don’t even feel like they are doing it, they are just spectators.

I’ve had this exact same feeling when I’ve played my best. I remember playing Rey Domingo – a 2500 player – in perhaps the best tournament match of my life, and I just watched as his best shots came at me in slow motion, and so easily returned, and anything I touched with my forehand was a winner. I spent the whole match focusing on not paying attention to what I was doing because if I’d thought about it, everything would speed up and my shots would stop hitting. I won the match easily.

I’m guessing most of you have had this experience as well. If not, you need to learn to let go when you play. There’s a reason why you train – so that you reactive instinctively, as the top players do.

A Proofing We Will Go, A Proofing We Will Go…
Today I’m spending most of the day at Ledo’s Pizza doing the final proofing of Dan Seemiller’s autobiography, “Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion.” The pages are done in the hopes that many readers will force a humungous print run. (Yeah, that rhymes, but in reality it’s print on demand.) Dan’s also proofed it, and found all sorts of things – his proofing skills are better than his forehand defense. (Did I just let the cat out of the bag on how to play him? Sorry Dan!)

MDTTC September Open
Here’s info! It’s this Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Maryland Table Tennis Center. I’m running it, alas. See you there! (Note that you can enter online – and you should. See link at the tournament page.)

ITTF Cadet Camp at MDTTC
My blog on this from yesterday is now a USATT news item.

Backhanded Compliments: The Case for the Table Tennis Backhand
Here’s the new article from Coach Jon.

Krish Avvari Interview
Here’s the USATT interview with the USA Junior Team Member, by Rahul Acharya.

11 Questions with Sharon Alguetti
Here’s the USATT video (3:17).

History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 17 (1989-1990)
Here's chapter 25! Or order your own print copies at TimBogganTableTennis.com.

Iwata City celebrates Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito’s Olympic Success
Here’s the ITTF article.

Tapper and Partyka Sets Off for Early Clash in Rio
Here’s the ITTF press release on these two Paralympic players.

Table Tennis Star David Wetherill Goes for Glory at the Rio Paralympic Games
Here’s the video (1:52).

Samsonov vs. Zhang Jike, Quarterfinals of 2015 German Open
Here’s the video (17:31, with time between points removed, some slo-mo) – Samsonov was up 3-0 in games and 10-9 match point in the sixth, but Zhang would not be denied. Zhang would lose 3-4 in the final against Ma Long at the 2015 German Open. A year later they’d repeat nearly all of this at the Olympics.

Photos of Olympic Athletes Staring at Table Tennis Balls Are Gorgeous and Strangely Hypnotic
Here’s the articles and photos from Business Insider.

Now THAT’S a Table Tennis Trophy!
Here’s the muscley image, held by Richard McAfee. (Here’s the non-Facebook version.) He’s currently in Thailand teaching an ITTF Level 2 Coaching Course. (Here’s the non-Facebook version.)

Is This Your Forehand?
Here’s the repeating gif image (4 sec)!

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Tip of the Week
Looping Slightly-Long Balls.

ITTF Cadet Camp at MDTTC
The ITTF, in conjunction with USA Table Tennis and the Canadian TTA, ran a four-day ITTF Cadet Camp at the Maryland Table Tennis Center over Labor Day Weekend, Fri-Mon. Fifteen players took part in the camp, including five USA national team members: Crystal Wang (Junior and Cadet Girls); Derek Nie and Klaus Wood (Cadet Boys); and Lisa Lin and Faith Hu (Mini-Cadet Girls). Also taking part were Ivy Liao and Isabelle Xiong, members of the Canadian Women’s, Junior, and Cadet Girls’ Teams. The camp had nine sessions, 22 hours total. Here’s a group picture.

Wang Qing Liang (“Leon”), recently named a USA National Cadet Coach, was the head coach, and planned out and ran much of the camp. Other coaches were Cory Eider (USATT High Performance Director), Liu Yongjiang (Canadian National Cadet Coach), and myself (a USATT certified National Coach and former USA Junior Team Coach). Wen Hsu was the Camp Coordinator. Practice partners were Nathan & John Hsu, Heather Wang, You Lyu, and Yan Zhang. (Practice partner and coach is almost interchangeable as the practice partners were also coaching and often feeding multiball.)

If I listed every drill done during the camp, this would be a long blog. Let’s just say the focus was on footwork, serve & attack, and serve & receive. At the start of the camp, the drills were a bit more generic as they did drills where they had to cover a lot of ground very fast (i.e. footwork). More and more the drills became more game like, often starting with a serve and loop. There was a lot of service practice, generally followed by receive practice, with lots of flipping and short receive. One of my favorite drills is when the coaches fed multiball half-long backspin, and the players had to judge whether the ball was long enough to loop, or had to push or flip. As a feeder, I had fun trying to mess them up by feeding balls right in between! (It also inspired this morning’s Tip of the Week, Looping Slightly Long Balls.)

Physical training was a major component of the camp. Most sessions started with jogging and various side-stepping routines. Twice they did ladder drills, where they work on speed and foot coordination. Twice they did “plank” training. They also did the “hill runs” – there’s a steep hill just outside the club, and we made use of it. The kids had to run up the hills, jog back, and repeat about ten times. Then they repeated this running backwards. And finally they did it on their hands and feet – no knees or other part of the body touching the ground – and had to go up the hills this way backwards, feet first. It was torture great fun!!!

Several times in the camp they played matches, including a practice tournament, a team competition, and doubles. After each, the players were required to write out why they won or lost. You don’t learn from these things if you can’t do that. At the end of the camp Cory emphasized to the players how important tournament competition is – many of them are only playing 6-8 tournaments per year when they should be playing more like 20. The best juniors generally play lots and lots of tournaments, and it is this constant feedback – plus the incentive to train for these tournaments – that leads to much improvement. I pointed out that I’d heard coaches argue that one tournament is worth one or two weeks of training. I also pointed out that lots of tournaments is the cure for those who are afraid of losing rating – you both get used to playing lots of rated matches and so lose the fear of it, plus you know you have another tournament coming up in  a week or so anyway, so your current rating is mostly meaningless.

Here is the lighter side of the camp:

• Amy Wang (USA Junior and Cadet Girls’ Team) was supposed to participate, but had to go to a separate ITTF event. But when we arrived, some of us thought she was there – and throughout the camp people kept thinking they saw her because Canadian Isabelle Xiong looks almost exactly like her! (They even play similarly.) I’m looking forward to seeing them side by side. If I hadn’t been told Amy wasn’t coming, I would have gone over to Isabelle and said, “Hi Amy!”
• I bought four mini-paddles at the USA Nationals, but they had cheap sponge on them, and weren’t fun to play with for many. So I put Tenergy on both sides on two of them – and the kids went crazy with them! They took turns throughout the camp during breaks, and put on quite a counterlooping and lobbing show with them.
• During break, Klaus Wood practiced various around-the-net sliding shots – and here’s the video montage (30 sec) of these shots in slow motion – they are pretty spectacular!

I’d like to thank all those who made the camp possible – ITTF, USATT, CTTA, MDTTC, Cory Eider, the players and coaches, and MDTTC’s tireless worker Wen Hsu. Without them these poor kids would have spent another Labor Day Weekend watching TV while their overseas counterparts were sweating and improving.

The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race Cartoon – Revisited
On Friday I posted my 2016 Presidential Race Cartoon, which I hope you enjoyed. The cartoon was made up of 77 distinct images, combined in Photoshop. (I still have the version with 77 layers, one for each item, so I can edit them individually.) Up until the last minute I was toying with sticking in something about Trump’s hair, but things were a bit jammed, and let’s face it, that would be too easy. (I was thinking about making his hair a tribble from Star Trek.) I also toyed with giving him a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap, with an asterisk that said something like, “You realize I’m saying America isn’t great?” For Clinton, I toyed with putting some bulge on her back, due to the conspiracy theories about that being a defibrillator vest. But I’m guessing most readers haven’t heard about that one.

The original background images was Oh Sang Eun vs. Timo Boll. I chose the picture because I needed one where both players and the audience could clearly be seen. However, Oh is just standing there, so I removed him and replaced him with this one of Fan Zhendong. Then I removed the umpire, cleaned up the image, and put in all the other images.

Hopefully, most readers could recognize the people in the audience, but here they are, L-R, starting with the “Trump Cheering Section”: Russian President Putin, NJ governor Chris Christie (what was he thinking???), the Joker (from “The Dark Knight”), Dennis Rodman, Charlie Sheen, Sarah Palin, Mike Tyson, and the three KKK’s. (Rodman, Sheen, Palin, and Tyson are all publicly for Trump.) The two “Poorly Educated White Guys” are generic pictures of rednecks, and the five in the “New Jersey Muslims Jumping Up and Down Celebrating 911” are also generic pictures. Next to the aisle and saying, “We want to play” are the Libertarian and Green Party candidates, Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. To their right, in the “Clinton Cheering Section,” are Presidents Bush Sr., Obama, Bush Jr., B. Clinton, and Carter.

3 Types of Serves All Table Tennis Players Should Know
Here’s the new coaching article by Werner Sigmund from 3TTabletennistraining (posted at Pong Universe).

Tom's Table Tennis Newsletter
Here’s the new one, with links to various coaching articles.

2016 Shonie Aki Scholarship Award
Here’s info. “The Shonie Aki Scholarship award, in the amount of $1,250 for one year, will be offered to a young table tennis player who has aspirations to complete a college education, become a better player and a productive individual who would reflect on Shonie’s legacy.” For more info, see the info page.

Butterfly Los Angeles Open
Here are articles by Barbara Wei on this 4-star tournament. Vladimir Samsonov won Men’s Singles over Huo Yingchao, while Zha Wenting won Women’s Singles over Grace Yang.

• Sept. 5: Vladimir Samsonov Wins 2016 Butterfly LA Open
• Sept. 4: 2016 Butterfly LA Open Tournament (results, pictures, video)
• Sept. 3: Vladimir Samsonov & Hou Ying Chao Compete at 2016 Butterfly LA Open

Butterfly Badger Open Bigger and Better in 2016
Here’s the USATT article on this 4-star Wisconsin tournament held near Milwaukee.

ITTF Releases Paralympic Games Table Tennis Media Guide
Here’s the ITTF press release.

Timo Boll Switches Hands, Loops Winner
Here’s the video (43 sec, including slo-mo replay).

2016 Ma Long vs Xu Xin - China Olympic Exhibition Show Hong Kong
Here’s the video (6:02).

Smacking Junior Players!
Here’s video (35 sec) of a mass of kids in a table tennis camp smacking five kids lined up against the wall with ping-pong balls. See what happens when you don’t give your best? (No, this wasn’t at MDTTC, but hmmmm….)

2016 Olympic Women's Final LEGO style
Here’s the USATT article and pictures.

Hulk vs. Superhero
Here’s the table tennis cartoon!

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The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race
Here is the 2016 Presidential Race – pong style! (Here's the Facebook posting and discussion.) That’s my main blog for today – I was up all night working on it. I’ve done this twice before, though perhaps not quite as exotically:

• 2004 Presidential Race (Bush vs. Kerry)
• 2000 Presidential Race (Bush vs. Gore)

1500 Published Table Tennis Articles
I realized yesterday that I’d just hit exactly 1500 published table tennis articles, out of 1691 total published articles. (This does not include nearly 2000 blog entries.) Wow.

ITTF Cadet Camp at MDTTC
It starts this afternoon, and continues through Monday afternoon. I’m one of the coaches. Today's sessions are 3:30-5:30 and 7:30-9:30PM. There's also a reception for everyone from 5:30-7:30PM - refreshments and beverages will be served. You are invited! I'll blog about the camp on Tuesday. (No blog on Monday - Labor Day.) 

Colin Wilson: How to Fulfill Your Potential
Here’s the new podcast (41:04) from Expert Table Tennis. Colin Wilson “…represented England for many years and is a double Commonwealth medallist. As a coach, he has worked with the English national team at all levels and trained some of the top players in the country.” In this episode you’ll learn:

• How Corby Smash TTC came into existence, and why [1:15]
• Who is Colin Wilson [7:45]
• What are the underlying qualities of success in any field [14:15]
• How much (and how often) should you practice table tennis [21:00]
• Matches vs Training – Advice for beginners [27:00]
• How to play related table tennis [29:45]
• More information about Corby Smash TTC [36:00]

2016 Olympics: Top Table Tennis Player Lily Zhang Brings Pac-12 Flavor to Team USA
Here’s the article. (It’s from Aug. 11, but I didn’t see it before.)

Ask a Pro Anything - Adriana Diaz
Here’s the new video (9:19) from Adam Bobrow.

Timo Boll vs Alexander Shibaev Table Tennis Team 2016 | Highlights Germany vs Russia
Here’s the video (10:08).

Chinese Ball-Bouncing Kids in Green
Here’s the picture – but click so you can see the other three pictures as well.

Chinese Table Tennis Art of Children Playing Table Tennis
Here’s the picture.

8th Annual Celebrity SLAMFest Kick Off Party
Here’s info on the event taking place on the weekend of Sept. 9-10 in Virginia Beach.

Table Tennis Touch Game
Here’s the page for this game – but even if you don’t want to play, go for the linked 30-sec video as a robot meets up with hordes of little red creatures at the ping-pong table!

Ping-Pong Paddle Sandals?
Here’s the picture!

USA Olympian Smashes Through Opponent
Here’s the table tennis cartoon!

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Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion
Our My long two-week national personal nightmare work binge is over!!! The book, “Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion” (the autobiography of Dan Seemiller) is edited, proofed, the photos fixed up, the pages laid out, and it’s all done! It came in at 214 pages with 94 pictures, divided into eleven chapters.  Book should be available around Sept. 15.

Unfortunately, it’s not actually done. This morning at about 1AM I sent the interior proofs to Dan Seemiller for him to proof. He’ll likely have changes. (Since I wrote this there have already been two changes.) Plus I haven’t finished with the front and back covers. Plus I have to decide whether it’s worth spending roughly seven hours to create an index. Anyway, today I will try to finalize the covers. Fortunately…

Flu Status
Our My long three-day national personal nightmare illness is over!!! It’s been fun exploring the many symptoms of the flu - I won’t go into that here other than to say that you have never had pain like the pain from flu-induced joint pain. I’m still pretty tired; I feel like I just ran a marathon. But I’m mostly over it just in time for…

ITTF Cadet Camp
It starts tomorrow. A bunch of top juniors – ages 10 to 15 – will be training Sept. 2-5 (Fri-Mon) at the ITTF Cadet Camp at the Maryland Table Tennis Center. Coaches are USATT High Performance Director Cory Eider, Wang Qing Liang, Han Xiao, Canadian Coach Liu Yongjiang, and myself. Players attending include Crystal Wang, Derek Nie, Klaus Wood, Jayden Zhou, Lisa Lin, and Faith Hu, all members of the various USA National Cadet or Mini-Cadet Teams, plus a number of others. There’ll be two table tennis sessions each day (2-3 hours each), plus 90-minute physical training sessions on Sat and Sun.

Windshield Wiper Serve
Here’s the coaching video (2:59) from PingSkills. This is one of my favorite serve variations – I’ll throw it at someone when I need a “free” point. (As mentioned in the video, it’s not a common serve, so players aren’t used to it.) Ricky Seemiller used to do this serve better than anyone. The main weakness of the serve is it’s difficult to get great backspin, though an expert such as Ricky was able to do this. You can get great sidespin with this serve. I disagree with the video where it says you get less spin with this serve than with the pendulum serve – I actually get more with this serve, and Ricky used to have the spinniest serves in the world with this. The wrist really snaps into this serve with a very natural super-spinny sidespin.

The Best Table Tennis Apps (iOS & Android)
Here’s the new article from Expert Table Tennis.

USATT Insider
Here’s the new issue, which came out yesterday.

Stars Named to Attend 2016 Women’s World Cup
Here’s the ITTF press release. (For some reason the ITTF online version is all jumbled, so I'm linking to the Butterfly version, which is identical but formatted properly.) 

Fan Zhendong vs Lin Gaoyuan FINAL Highlights Chinese Super League
Here’s the video (4:18).

Promo Picture for Rio Paralympics
Here’s the picture. The Paralympics are Sept. 7-18.

Really Weird Pong
Here’s the picture!

Realistic Computer Table Tennis Game?
Here’s the table tennis cartoon!

Non-Table Tennis - Manbat and Robin, A Snowball’s Chance
Today’s a big day for me – two of my science fiction & fantasy stories were published today. They are:

• Manbat and Robin in Galaxy’s Edge Magazine. This is the story of a bat that thinks it’s a superhero, and its sidekick, a robin.
• A Snowball’s Chance, in New Myths Magazine. This is the story of a time-looping good witch who is out to stop a bad witch – armed with nothing but a snowball and a mind-boggling secret.

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Still Sick
I’m writing this at 4:45AM. Why? Because I’m in all sorts of joint pain from the flu, especially hip pain, and I can’t sleep. Most of the flu symptoms aren’t as bad as the last time I had the flu (though my stomach can best be described as “hyper-queasy”), but the joint pain is incredible. This happened yesterday as well – it seems to act up more at night. It’s very painful to lie down; sitting or standing is the only way to alleviate it. Anyway, the good news is that most of yesterday it wasn’t so bad, so I got a lot of work done on Dan Seemiller’s autobiography – in fact, other than the index and finalizing the covers, it’s basically ready to print out and proof. I’m hoping to do that today, flu gods permitting.

Big Breaking Sidespin Serve
Here’s the video (4:30), but the link should take you to 26 sec in, where the kid on the far side does the breaking serve. I do this serve all the time, and I’ll never understand why more players don’t learn such serves. It’s just a matter of serving deep with a lot of sidespin. Not only does it work here when you serve into an opponent’s forehand (lefty serving to righty or vice versa), but it also works if you serve it into the backhand (righty vs. righty or lefty vs. lefty), where it breaks away from the player, forcing them to reach for the ball.

USATT News Items
They have a bunch of new ones, so why not browse over them? (I linked to a few already.)

Zhang Jike Changing His Heart on Retirement
Here’s the ITTF article.

Ozone Park Resident Aims for Table Tennis Gold in Rio
Here’s the article from the Times-Ledger featuring Tahl Leibovitz.

The Ping Pong Club: Loser's Club
Here’s the DVD – you can get the 3-hour video for only 99 cents!

Great Rally!
Here’s the video (37 sec).

A Tale of Two Tables
Yesterday I linked to a table made of gold. Here’s the other end of the spectrum.

Golf and Ping-Pong Balls in Love
Here’s the table tennis cartoon!

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I'm sick in bed with a cold, so no blog today. I desperately need to get over this quickly so I'll be ready for the ITTF Cadet Camp at MDTTC this Frida-Mon. I also need to drag myself out of bed later today to continue the page layouts on Dan Seemiller's great new autobiography, "Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion." If I put in a full day, I'd finish the layouts today, other than the index and final proofing. (Dan - I know you're reading this! - I hope to finish tomorrow.) Meanwhile, here's a picture of a solid gold ping pong table in Dubai! 

UPDATE: It looks like I have the flu. And I was planning to get a flu shot last week, then put it off until this week....

Tip of the Week
Keep a Notebook.

How to Stay in Practice Without Practicing
A student told me over the weekend how he’d taken two weeks off for vacation, and when he came back, he couldn’t play at all. He said it took about five sessions before he could play comfortably again. He also said the same thing happens when he takes time off from his other sport, basketball. Yet, he said he knew others who seem to be able to take time off from these sports and come back very quickly. “Why?” he wondered.

Now I’ve never done a study of this, which is why this not yet ready to be a Tip of the Week, but I’ve noticed something very obvious about this. When I asked the player if he’d spent much time thinking or visualizing table tennis during his two weeks away, he said no. I think that players who take time off but spend some of that time visualizing playing (in their head), and maybe even shadow practicing it some, come back more quickly. Your game is controlled by your subconscious, and so any thinking about your shots re-enforces that muscle memory.

So next time you go on vacation or are injured, spend some time each day visualizing in your head playing a match. Really play it out! Serve and attack, receive, block, loop, counterloop, smash, lob, chop – whatever you do in a game, do it in your head. And I bet when you come back, you’ll get right back into it very quickly.

More Spin
Here’s the new coaching article from Samson Dubina.

How to Deal with Losing Confidence When Your Best Shots Start Going Wrong
Here’s the new coaching article from MHTableTennis.

Eugene Wang: ‘I have no regrets’ over Rio 2016 efforts
Here’s the article about the Canadian champion.

Olympics Spur Dreams of Glory in Young Northeast Ohio Athletes
Here’s the article.

Rio 2016 Table Tennis Review
Here’s the ITTF video (7:30).

Club Intersport de Drummondville
Here’s the new highlights music video (5:02).

Ma Long and Xu Xin Rally with Three Balls
Here’s the video (13 sec)!

Now That’s a Behind-the-Back Smash!
Here’s the video (16 sec, including slo-mo) of Edison Huang’s nonchalant shot.

Smacking a Ball so it Rolls Around in a Roll of Tape Trick
Here’s the video (13 sec) by USA Junior Team Member Allen Wang.

Backhand Sidespin Loops Around Net and Rolling on Table
Here’s the video (58 sec).

Andy Murray Prepares for the US Open Playing Ping Pong
Here’s the video (59 sec).

Keep Your Eye on the Ball
Here’s the cartoon!

Playing in Front of Fans?
Here’s the video (6 sec) - we’re talking fans of the air-blowing type!

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Coaching During a Game, Part 2
I blogged about this last Friday, where I explained why I'm opposed to the rule - and gave 14 different reasons. Bottom line - I think the ITTF has made a dumb mistake here, and I expect the rule will eventually be rescinded. When? I don't know; maybe in a year, maybe ten, maybe never. The rule takes effect on Oct. 1. 

But now we have to make a separate decision, one that requires nuanced thinking. Given that the rule is not a good one, should USATT adopt it? At first, the obvious thought is "Heck no!" (Ah, a G-rated column blog....) Why in the world should USATT adopt a rule we consider bad? Even the USATT Umpires and Officials Committee has come out and voted unanimously that we should not adopt this rule. 

But here's the problem. Even if we don't adopt it, it will still be the rule at ITTF tournaments. That means the U.S. Open; continental Olympic and Pan Am Trials; overseas tournaments that our players go to; and I believe the North American Teams. If USATT does not adopt the rule, then what happens to our players and coaches at these events? They'll be at a terrible disadvantage. While opponents will have had lots of time to develop signals and other ways to communicate with their coaches without opponents being able to read them, and coaches and players will be used to this new style of non-stop coaching (like a cornerman in a boxing match screaming non-stop instructions), our players and coaches won't. 

It's going to take a lot of getting used to, and the methods used for communication will continually evolve, as I wrote about last week. We'll be way, way behind. USATT coaches like myself are going to be very uncomfortable - and less effective - when we go up against coaches who are used to this rule. We'll be like someone from organized boxing in a street fight where there are no rules. We'll be bringing a hardbat to a sponge battle. 

So the question is - should USATT adopt this rule? We have to decide soon. I'm on the USATT board, which has its next meeting in Philadelphia on Oct. 10, the day after the Women's World Cup. Because that's after the Oct. 1 date that the rule comes into effect, the USATT board may have a teleconference call on this before that. I've already asked for input from the USATT Rules Committee, and would also do so from the USATT Coaching Committee except it currently (and temporarily, I hope) has no chair. This is a hugely important issue that is not to be taken lightly. 

I am quite frankly undecided about this one. I'm leaning - slightly - toward adopting it, for the reasons given above - we're going to have to deal with it anyway, and I'm a bit leery of the affect it'll have on our national teams. (Men; women; paralympic men and women; and junior, cadet, and mini-cadet boys and girls - that's at least ten teams right there.) At the same time, I loathe adopting what I consider a dumb rule. 

So . . . anyone want to chime in on this one?

On a side note, some will notice the similarity here with the illegal hidden serves that are allowed by umpires and referees worldwide, with both ITTF and USATT reluctant to step in and stop all the rampant cheating that takes place right in front of us. Because it's mostly allowed internationally, many believe USATT should just accept this cheating as part of the game, while others (including me) do not believe we should do so. There are similarities, but there are two big differences.

First, illegally hiding a serve is illegal, while legally giving coaching under the new ITTF rule is legal.

Second, even players who regularly use illegal serves - nearly all top players have to if they want to compete successfully - have to have legal serves as well, in case their illegal serves are called. So even though I've argued that USATT should take the lead in cracking down on illegal serves (i.e. cheating), I've also argued that our players should learn illegal serves as well, but use them only when the umpire allows the opponent to do so, i.e. the game is no longer being played by the rules, and serving illegal, like the opponent, no longer is giving an unfair advantage. It's an unfortunate situation that our culture of cheating has created, and it forces players to develop their service games around both legal and illegal serves, but that's the situation we have until ITTF and/or USATT leaders take action and lead. (I tried – Motion 6 - but was voted down.) But that's a separate issue - back to the new coaching rule. 

How to Compete with Younger Players – Lessons from Vladimir Samsonov
Here’s the new coaching article from Tom Lodziak.

Shadow Drills from Ping Skills
Here’s the new video (2:36).

New Poly Ball 40+ Changes Table Tennis - Affect Review
Here's the video (7:10). 

Massive Improvements in the Table Tennis Edge App
Here’s video (73 sec) and links.

An Official’s Perspective – the Olympics in Rio 2016
Here’s the article by Joseph Fisher.

ITTF Announces 12 Host Cities for New & Improved 2017 World Tour
Here’s the ITTF press release.

Larry Thoman: Butterfly’s New Robot Specialist
Here’s the article/bio.

PingPong.Gives for Charity
Here's their page. Here's further info: 

• Our MISSION: To improve Mental Health & Brain Fitness by playing Ping Pong, or Table Tennis! 
• Our MOTTO: Cross-Train Your Brain.  Play Ping-Pong. Our GOAL is to Utilize the Brain-Stimulating Sport of Table Tennis to Raise Awareness & Money for our Charity Partners focused on Mental Health Issues like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Dementia, Depression and Mild to Moderate Intellectual Challenges.
• Our VISION enables us to integrate Table Tennis Sports & Education Programs into retirement Communities, Rehabilitation/Medical Facilities, Business Organizations, Churches AND Schools! 

Ping Pong Posse - Recruiting Members
Here's their booth at a recruiting fair at USC!

Incredible Point!
Here’s the video (51 sec) between Stefan Fegerl and Kristian Karlsson. It’s an exhibition, but wow!

Repeating Chopper Image
Here's the repeating gif image. Every self-respecting chopper should put this on their web pages.

Serving a Quarter Off the Table?
Here's the video (17 sec, including slo-mo replay) of Matt Hetherington smacking a spinning quarter off the table with his serve. 

Et Tu, Brute?
Here’s the cartoon!

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