January 7, 2015

USATT Election

Sometime today USATT will announce the results of the USATT Board election, where I'm a candidate. It'll likely be posted on the USATT News page. (I'll link to it here when it does.) Check back here periodically today, and when the results are out, I'll check one of the below.

V I was elected. Oh No!!!
   I wasn't elected. Lots of sleep planned!!!

USA Olympian and Five-Time U.S. Men's Champion Sean O'Neill on Peaking

Sean has always been one of the hardest working players in U.S. history. (Here's a video by Brian Pace where he gets a lesson in "Work Ethic.") But it's not just hard work - anyone with grit and determination can do that, and many do. The point is to do so intelligently, so as to get the best results. And one of the keys to that is peaking for the "big" tournaments - something Sean may have done better than just about anyone else. Recently I had some Facebook discussions with Sean on this, and below is what he posted about peaking.

Peaking by Sean O'Neill

The real question is how does a person actually peak for big events? Do they just eat more Wheaties? Do they use different glue? Is there one drill you do that others aren't doing? The reason I won so many titles was:

1. My event preparation was far superior to the entire field. My off-the-court training dwarfed my opponents.
2. My video analysis of ALL my opponents wasn't closely matched or even really attempted.
3. My coaching was far stronger with both eastern and western coaching philosophies from day one.
4. My tournament environment was more favorable living on the east coast where I could play from NY to GA in a drive from home. We had monthly events at our local club. I was averaging 25-30 tournaments a year as a 9-16 year old. Playing abroad from age 11 was key. China for two months as a 14 year old was huge.
5. The intensity of my practices was in a different league then my competition. For three hours each day, one ball didn't touch the ground without a 100% effort. Edges were return regularly and net balls were easy put-aways. The first and final points were played as if I was in the finals of the Nationals. My drill selection or multi-ball was far more advanced than other Americans.
6. I made my first adult team as a 15 year old so I was exposed to international play at an adult while still a junior.
7. Played any adult style as a cadet. I learned to finish the point when I was 11 years old and made the main draw at the 1978 US Open by beating Randy Seemiller with stronger shots.
8. I played European style league matches as a junior in Stockholm. Learning how to play in front of a crowd when you only play two matches a night is the same as playing a finals. I also did this at the US Nationals in the Boys under 11, 13, 15, and 17, where Scott [Butler] and I were also prior to men's singles final. That is how one learns to play big when big is expected.
9. I had great doubles partners from Insook to Diana to Hank to Danny to Eric to Team Angby to show me how to play as a team and set my partner up.
10. My parents set everything aside so I could focus on table tennis 30 hours a week plus. We had live-in coaches (Chuchai Chan and Monty Merchant) before anyone ever thought of that idea. I had sponsor help with expenses as an under 11 year old. Larry published a letter to Butterfly to get the ball rolling. I had a European club happy to have exchange with me during critical junior years. I had club mates who would drop their training to help with any drills I needed help on. I had world-class coaches that never charged me a dime for their time, advice or guidance.
11. I knew that if I never gave up I would have a chance to compete. I didn't always win but I always competed.

So those are the top 11 reasons people should understand that allowed me to peak when it mattered most. There was nothing magical about peaking. It was the direct result of planning, preparation, and execution. Each year had a clear plan on what event were markers and which events were final exams. What I didn't do was put the same effort into the Westfield Open as I did the US Nationals. It makes no sense. Those little events are opportunities to try new things, test new strategies, and to gain recon info to be studied prior to bigger events.

No one can perform at 100% optimal level for each and every tournament throughout the year. Every Olympic Coach will talk about macro and micro cycles or even more basic a seasonal approach to physical and mental strengthening. Why is there spring training camps? To get into shape as year-long performances with no breaks are guaranteed to burn one out mentally. I think there was a time I lost to Danny in Detroit [US Open Team Championships] 5-6 times in a row and beat him in Vegas [USA Nationals] 5-6 times in a row. Detroit wasn't the goal tournament for me, it was a prep tournament for me. Did I try to lose in Detroit, NO! Did it bother me, NO! I knew the real prize was two weeks later.

Not that I am in their league, but Tiger, Sampras, Agassi, Nicklaus always spoke about winning majors as defining greatness. For me it was making National Teams and winning National/Olympic Festival/Pan Am Titles. My overall level of play was better than my entire generation. We had foreign-born players that I didn't focus the same efforts on in non-US Championship events. I didn't play for rating points, I played for hardware and medals. My junior titles speak for themselves, my singles titles speak for themselves, my doubles titles speak for themselves, mixed doubles titles speak for themselves, my sport festival titles speak for themselves, my Pan Am titles speak for themselves, my making of national or world cup teams speak for themselves. Winning 5 out of 7 Men's singles finals against some pretty solid opponents (Butler, Boggan, Seemiller, Zhuang, Hank Teekaveerakit) 18 titles between them speaks for itself. Oh, I will say the loss to Hank in 1986 was directly responsible for winning in '87, '88 ,'89, as that lesson never left me on each point of a finals is worth about two weeks of training. I lost my focus for 2 points in our match and Hank made me pay for it big time. Lesson learned big time. 

I broke my calendar in to both physical and emotional cycles to peak at the targeted tournaments.  It is one thing to taper down physically (i.e., reduce the longer distances and increase the intensity), but one must also be aware of the increased anxiety that accompanies getting closer to your goal.  I set emotional check points every 2 weeks out from an event to make sure I wasn’t getting too nervous leading into an event.

Other challenges included dealing with other players or experts after events that didn’t understand my targeted tournament list.  These naysayers were best to be avoided as they simply had no clue that the tournament I just participated in was one to try a new stroke that I had been practicing or to add a new tactic.  My coaches always were aware of my targeted events as they were critically involved in the planning stages.

Going into the final weeks, we would ramp up video analysis of potential opponents and practice more matches with these opponents directly in mind.  Working with the US Olympic Sports Psychologist (Shane Murphy and Sean McCann) we were able to create mental rehearsal tapes I could utilize daily in my visualization exercises.  Many people talk about doing the extra stuff, very few actually follow through.

Crystal Wang 2014 Highlights Video

Here's the video (1:29) created by Jim Butler. 

Practice

Ever feel like you're having a practice session where you're not really getting good practice? One of our top players said this of one of his practice sessions. (It can be because you're not doing the right drills, don't have the right intensity, your practice partner isn't drilling well, etc.) My response was, "When you practice if you are not getting practice stop your practice until you are getting practice."

Pingpong Keeps Seniors Fit both Physically, Mentally

Here's the article from the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Your 2015 Table Tennis Goals

Why not post it with others on this ITTF Facebook page?

Tiago Apolonia Voted Best Shot of 2014

Here's the announcement, along with the video (47 sec, including slow-motion replay), from Table Tennis Daily. "We are delighted to announce that the Portuguese sensation Tiago Apolonia has been crowned winner of the 2014 best table tennis shot of the year for his simply unbelievable around the net forehand in his match with Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov at European Team Championships."

Epic Celebrations in 2014

Here's the article and video links from Tabletennista.

Great Exhibition Point Between Ovtcharov and Persson

Here's the video (1:18, including slow motion replay).

Table Tennis Beer Pong Robot

Here's the video (1:46) - robot evolution has reached its ultimate peak, and there is no further purpose in human life other than to worship our drunken robot masters.

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