September 16, 2015

Type of Table Tennis Forum Members

Here's a hilarious new video (12:27) that talks about the various types of people you find on a table tennis forum. It's spookily accurate!!!

I used to be very active in online forums, but in recent years not so much. Why? It was a combination of dealing with what the video calls "1500 Experts" and trolls. Often someone would post a coaching question, and I'd answer it, only to be contradicted and even scorned by these "Experts." Let's just say that there are some very opinionated people out there who haven't actually done anything in table tennis, and frankly speaking, don't know what they are talking about. This doesn't mean there aren't lower-rated players who are knowledgeable about table tennis, but they are outnumbered and often outposted by those who are not but believe otherwise.

One that comes to mind was a guy who argued strenuously with me about forehand looping technique. He'd argue to the ends of the earth that you only use your arm for the shot, no legs or hip rotation, and talked about his revolutionary methods that gave him a more powerful loop than those taught by the clueless people who taught table tennis. He admitted he'd never been to a table tennis club or tournament, nor had he played any top players, but he knew. He KNEW.

I've also had to deal with way too many trolls. I made the mistake (please slap me) of trying to have reasonable discussions with a few of them, and let's just say that never worked. I learned.

Easily the most infamous troll out there is known by many from online forums. I'm not going to name him, but many in online community know who I'm talking about. He's been trolling newsgroups and forums since the 1990s, and (as mentioned in the video above) likes to call others "Robo-Nazis." He regularly gets banned, but then comes back under another name – but using the very same language as before, making him instantly identifiable.

He likes to make up stuff about me. For example, he constantly refers to the "Hodges-Scholer Aspect Ratio Rule of 1998," and then goes on diatribes about it and me. This was a rule or regulation whereby the ratio of the height of a pips-out rubber to its width could not exceed a certain amount, which restricted long pips. I not only had nothing to do with this rule, I didn't even know about it until this troll started blaming me for it! It so happens that 1998 was the year I mostly took off from table tennis, and it was when I came back in 1999 I found out about it. And yet there are literally hundreds of postings about this with my name on it. I'm sure there are hundreds of people who think I was involved. I don't even have an opinion on the rule, despite his many postings to the contrary. (The only rule affecting long pips players that I was involved in was the two-color rule – that I was for, and was one of the people arguing for it when it finally became a rule way back in 1983. I don't even have an opinion on frictionless pips other than that if it's a rule or regulation, it should be enforced; if it can't be enforced, it shouldn't be a rule or regulation.)

There are different types of trolls. One troll who isn't so active anymore would go on and on about how great he was, and lecture everyone on every aspect of table tennis. He had incredibly strong opinions on everything, and an extremely inflated view of his own playing level, even challenging me to a $1000 match. And so, when the USA Team Trials happened to be in his city, I showed up at his club, accepting his challenge. He refused to play for money, but we did play two matches. I still have the scores – I won at 5,3,3,0 (yes, 11-0) and 3,6,4,1. He was about 1500.

Another troll I argued with a few times (no longer active) insisted there is only one type of equipment everyone should use, and one way to do every stroke, etc. He was an outspoken hardliner on all of this, and really dismissive of opposing views. I also met him at a club one time and played him – he was about 1900.

There's another troll out there who doesn't infect forums much anymore – he did so on one for a time but was banned, and never came back. However, his mode of operations now is to send out mass emails. When I ran for the Board last December he would send out dozens of mass emails on a daily basis. However, you only had to read one or two sentences before you realized the guy was crazy or a troll. He claims I wrote a feature article attacking him in a major newspaper, that I get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the "sponge conglomerates" (I wish!!!) to keep hardbat and sandpaper down (!), and other stuff.

I also tired a bit of all the infatuation with equipment, i.e. equipment junkies. Getting good equipment is important, but it's a distant back seat to good technique. And yet I've been in at least a couple discussions with players who argue the reverse, that equipment is more important than technique, or at least on a par.

Event Listing for the 2015 USA Nationals

Here it is – over 90 events! They will be held Dec. 14-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The final event listing, with dates and times, will be released Sept. 23.

Beat the Lobber!

Here's the new article by Samson Dubina.

Stop Pushing!

Here's the coaching article from Ben Larcombe.

Ping-Pong Will Help Your Brain

Here's the article.

Top Talent to Compete at 2015 Butterfly Badger Open

Here's the article by Barbara Wei on the tournament to be held in Franklin, Wisconsin (15 miles from Milwaukee), on Sept. 18-20.

Street Pong the Next Big Thing?

Here's the article with pictures.

Steel Beams Salvaged from 110-Year-Old Railroad Transformed into Sturdy Ping Pong Table

Here's the article with pictures.

UTM Receives a Smash Hit for Ping Pong

Here's the article on table tennis at the University of Toronto.

Colorado Team League Started September 14

Here's the article about the team competition, organized by the Denver Table Tennis Alliance.

Once Again Chinese Community Center of Flushing Proves Popular Home

Here's the ITTF article on an ITTF Coaching Course held in the U.S., run by Sidney Christophe.

Interview with Hou Yingchao at the 2015 LA Open

Here's the video interview (2:36) by Barbara Wei with #2 seed, who would go on to win Open Singles over Joo Se Hyuk.

Great Champions of Table Tennis

Here's the music video (4:08).

Trick Shots with Kevin Korb

Here's the new video (15 sec).

The Spectacled Avenger?

Here's the picture – it looks like some sort of Super Woman playing table tennis1

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