March 11, 2013

Tip of the Week

Practicing for the Big Matches.

Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings Time took a bite out of a Sunday morning practice session. I coach a six-year-old on Sundays from 10-11AM. Because of DST, that was like 9-10AM. Still not too early, right? After all, kids get up much earlier than that for school, right? Well, not in this case. I think the kid was used to staying up a little later on Saturday night, and his sleep clock was way off. When he came out to play, he was half asleep - literally. A few minutes into the session he put his head on the table and either went to sleep, or at least closed his eyes for a minute. I got him up, but a few minutes later he did it again. I had him splash water on his face to wake up - it did the trick for a few minutes. Then he sort of stood up, closed his eyes, and seemed to fall asleep standing up. Anyway, the first thirty minutes of the session were more or less alternate practice and sleep, practice and sleep. Then he woke up.

He actually had a pretty good second half. For his age, he's developed a pretty good backhand, can even smash pretty hard. (I have to get him to slow down.) On the forehand he tends to face the table without rotating his shoulders, and this also leads to an awkward grip. So we spent much of the second half shadow practicing this properly, and though he at one point put his head on the table again for a short nap, he got the forehand right. Near the end he was smacking forehands pretty well, including 22 in a row at one point - and he's hitting them pretty hard. Not bad for a six-year-old who is very small for his age - he looks about four. We also did some serve practice.

We finished the session as he likes to, by stacking pyramids of cups on the table, which he knocks down with forehands and backhands as I feed multiball, including the never-ending quest to knock down "Scar," the nastiest paper cup in the world, distinguished by a blemish that was no doubt received in one of his many fights.  

U.S. Open Entry Form

It's ready! See you in Las Vegas, July 2-6.

MVP Ma Long

Here's an article on Ma Long being the MVP of the 2012 Chinese Super League.

Table Tennis and Flags

They just go together, don't they? That's a Romanian flag.

Play Table Tennis with Timo Boll

Here's a video (1:04) showing what it's like to be Timo Boll in practice. I think they put a mini-video camera on his head so you see things as he sees them.

Girls and Women in Table Tennis

Here's a great video (3:22), Let's Do More for Girls and Women in Table Tennis.

Exhibition in Hawaii

Here's an exhibition in Hawaii (59:07) that was done back in 2007, with Matt & Len Winkler and Leo Lucas.

Imagination

Here's a great and hilarious new table tennis video (3:33), featuring a "grudge match" on a mini-table, with great special effects.

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