February 15, 2011

How many hits in a minute?

Can you do 173? If a 12-year-old from Japan can, why can't you? You really should watch this video - great counter-hitting, and a real example of concentration. (There's a short commercial at the start - sorry.)

I'm toying with trying this, but going backhand-to-backhand right off the bounce, perhaps with one of our local juniors, who have natural machinegun-like backhands. If you want to see how many you can do, here's a key hint: don't think as you hit, don't try to control the shots, just blank out the mind, just watch the ball, and let the strokes happen. After about 20 seconds, you'll start sweating--mentally, if not physically. After 40 seconds, your eyes will glaze over.

Arrested at a Table Tennis Camp?

Here's an article about a fugitive who was caught because of his table tennis addiction. They picked him up when he went to a table tennis camp in Delhi! Inspired by this, the Maryland Table Tennis Center (my club) will now operate as a sting for the police, attracting table tennis criminals from all over the world. (Note to the criminal table tennis underground: I'm just kidding, feel free to come to our camps. We will teach you to kill. Maybe even loop kill.)

So . . . how bad did you play?

[This is from an article I wrote a while back.]
"How’d you play?"
"Bad!"
"How bad?"
"So bad that--"

  • The umpire started coaching me.
  • The crowd rose to its feet when I returned a serve.
  • My opponent bought me an instructional book.
  • I saved $5 on a haircut from all those balls whizzing by.
  • My coach hid in the bathroom.
  • It had to be my equipment.
  • The computer that does the ratings had to be reprogrammed for negative numbers.
  • Butterfly offered me a long-term contract to use Stiga products.
  • George H.W. Bush named me one of his thousand points of darkness.
    (You have to be a certain age to get this one, from twenty years ago.)
  • My kid sister beat me.
  • My kid sister offered to spot me points.
  • My kid sister spotted me points and beat me.
  • My kid sister's best friend, who's never played, spotted me points and beat me.
  • My kid sister's best friend's little brother's pet turtle beat me.
  • Every time I play, all the dogs in the neighborhood howl until I stop.
  • Rodney Dangerfield asked me to be his sidekick.
  • Wayne Gretzy outscored me, and he was playing hockey.
  • I distinctly heard the ball laughing at me.
  • I remember every point I scored. It was an edge ball.

***

Send us your own coaching news!

The video record was certainly amazing. I'm not sure if I could beat it, but me and a 2300 college player in my region probably came close this past saturday. He is one of those machine-gun backhand types, but is steady as a rock. Incidentally, the girl from the vid has always been my favorite female table tennis player.

I wonder if the turtle could beat Fred the iguana? (Assuming you know of the story...)

I wonder if the turtle could beat Fred the iguana? (Assuming you know of the story...)

I'm not sure I know the story. Would that be Yertle the Turtle vs. Don Iguana? :)

Lol. I was told a story by one of my coach's friends about a guy who played with an iguana on his shoulder. And he actually entered the iguana in a sanctioned tournament so it had a rating. At least I think he said that it was an iguana...

 

Also, it is 11:29 a.m. central time and for the past ten minutes I've been experiencing slower loads than ever before. It's good to provide a time frame to your web host so that they can pinpoint a cause.

Lol. I was told a story by one of my coach's friends about a guy who played with an iguana on his shoulder. And he actually entered the iguana in a sanctioned tournament so it had a rating. At least I think he said that it was an iguana...

Amazing how these stories change over the year! Believe it or not, I'm the source of the story, and it was my pet iguana Don that I entered in several tournaments! It was in the early 1990s. I bought him a USATT junior membership (I think $10), and entered him in junior singles in four or five of our local tournaments, which I ran. (So I didn't have to pay his entry fee! But I did have to pay the rating fee.) It became a regular thing - I'd send the match slip out, and about ten minutes later Don's opponent would return it with a score of 21-0, 21-0. Then, one day, one of them returned it with a score of 21-0, 21-1 - Don's first point! But no, I didn't actually bring Don to the tournaments (though I did bring him to the club one day), and I didn't play with him on my shoulder (though I should have). Unfortunately, the USATT ratings database only goes back to 1994, so the individual matches aren't listed. But they do have all rated players listed, so if you go to the USATT Ratings Histories, and type in "Iguana," you'll get Don Iguana and his rating of . . .  24!

 

Well, I received 4th hand information so I'm not surprised to hear that the story has changed over the years. Glad to know the real story behind it though. I figured if anyone knew, it'd be you xD. Are iguanas on your shoulder USATT tournament legal as long as they aren't the color of the ball? ;)