August 9, 2013

MDTTC Camp and Training Centers

Yesterday's focus was on the backhand attack, especially the backhand loop. I had 12-year-old Derek Nie demo his backhand loop - if a 4'7" 65 lb kid can do this shot at such a high level, perhaps that'll encourage others that they can too. When I was coming up, players had to ask themselves whether it was worth developing a backhand loop since many believed "one gun is as good as two," i.e. you should focus on the forehand and footwork. So the question used to be "To backhand loop or not to backhand loop?" But the game has changed, and now the question is "To backhand loop and be a top player or not backhand loop and not be a top player?"

It was a tiring day for me, for three reasons. First, Thursdays are always the most tiring day in our camps - it's day four of our camps, and we have another day still to coach. Fridays aren't as tiring because it's the last day, so we get a spurt of energy, plus we have a practice tournament in the afternoon, which is easy to run. Second, two of the kids in my group (a boy and a girl, ages 8 and 9) bickered back and forth all day, and kept shoving and hitting each other with their rackets and ball pick-up nets. It got so bad that for nearly two hours I had to set up a "nine-foot rule," where neither was allowed within nine feet of each other, or to talk to each other. (Why nine feet? The length of the table, so it was easy for them to see what distance they had to maintain.) Third, at 3AM yesterday morning my TV set suddenly went off, waking me up. How had my TV suddenly turned on by itself? Apparently with a little help from my dog, Sheeba (look at that innocent-looking face!), who must have stuck her nose against the "on" switch. (Usually I use the remote, but it has an on-off switch that's near the ground.) I didn't see Sheeba do this, but it was either that or gremlins. This has never happened before. (Sheeba is now 15 and a half years old; I've had her since I got her at the dog shelter at age three.)

Someone commented about how amazed he was that there are full-time table tennis training centers. Here is my listing I maintain of them, with 56 currently on the list. (But I don't seem to have had an update since October last year - any new ones since then?) USATT badly needs a "How to Open and Run a Full-Time Table Tennis Training Center" manual. Alas, I don't have time to put one together, plus I haven't been involved in the finances at MDTTC in many years and so am not really up to date on that topic. However, I am currently advising two new centers that are in the planning stages. Much of my advice on this topic is contained in my Professional Table Tennis Coaches Handbook.

Tonight after the camp ends at 6PM I'm taking several of the kids to the Montgomery County Fair, where there are rides, games, exhibits, animal shows, etc. It's pretty big; I've been to it every year for the past ten years. I wonder if any of them will have the courage to do the camel rides? (They are HUGE!)

From Inverted to Short Pips and Back to Inverted

Here's a guest posting sent to me from a top player I know who asked to remain anonymous - though he admitted many will recognize who he is.

Seven years ago I transitioned from inverted to short pips to help me primarily against frictionless pimples. The short pips made easy work of long frictionless pimples which rely on a random amount of spin reversal from an incoming ball. Short pips deliver less spin which then results in long pimples being less effective against them. It was a fine plan until I played 2400 and above higher level topspin players. They would simply bombard my short pimples with topspin and topside spin - forcing me to strike the ball with perfect timing to put any sort of pressure on their shots. Occasionally this would work but frequently their consistency was better than my consistency with the pips. I did manage to beat a 2400 player at one US Open 3-0 when my timing with the pips was perfect, but this was prior to the glue ban. After the glue ban the pimples have become a more of a handicap and furthermore the frictionless pimples were themselves banned. The adjustment to short pips took approximately four weeks to the point where the outcome of friendly matches was the same as prior to switching. Under pressure I would place balls into the net and needed to significantly flatten my shot and contact more of the ball than with inverted rubbers. Improvement after the first month was slow, I was playing closer to the table than ever before, and my game was less fluid and relaxed. With too many downsides after this year’s US Open, I switched back to inverted rubber.

Somewhat surprisingly adjusting my contact point to skim the ball and generate topspin has taken about three weeks and my friendly results are again now similar to the pimples. The human body has a remarkable capacity known as accommodation - asked to perform a skill it learns to do so over a period of time without having to think too much about it. The adjustment has taken approximately 30 hours of playing time. I have not played any league or tournaments since switching. One thing which has helped, knowing I was going to change; twiddling occasionally allowed me to make some adjustments prior to officially switching. Note my racket is now heavier so timing was slightly different on all shots and services.

So if you are thinking of switching from any surface to any other you can do so safely in the knowledge that the adjustment back, even after several years, is not too bad. Losing some matches after switching surfaces is a given when experimenting. Sound technique and training when younger has allowed me to experiment with different surfaces including hard bats and long pimples. After playing for thirty years a bit of variety has kept my interest and enthusiasm for table-tennis alive.

[I then asked him why the glue ban affected him - he wasn't referring to opponents gluing but to gluing his own short pips. Here's his response.]

Short pips with glue - depends on styles but I liked to hit through the ball with pips - I did not block that much - with glue you can hit the ball extremely fast and low with little spin, as fast as using an inverted rubber. This gives inverted played a real problem facing different height balls being hit at a fast clip, you can time pressure them into making mistakes. Glue softens the rubber and allows a larger margin of error on the pips.  The pips without glue are slower, much harder to hit really fast and consistently. Hitting through a very fast heavy topspin loop is much easier with glued pips and gives an opponent a really disturbing, no spin, fast return.

Dan Seemiller's Receive Philosophy

Five-time U.S. Men's Singles Champion and former USA Men's Team Coach Dan Seemiller posted this short note at the about.com forum on his receive philosophy:

Each player should have their own return of serve philosophy. Here's mine:

1.      Stay neutral - make only one move and do it.
2.      Loop whenever possible.
3.      Read the server's intentions through body language, racket angle, and ball toss
4.      Be quick but don't hurry --John Wooden quote--- 

How Rubber is Made

Here's a video from Andro (4:39) that shows how its rubber is made. Many years ago I visited a Double Happiness factory in China and saw how they made sponge, rackets, and balls.

Short Push and RIP!

Here's an animated gif image of a top player (Wang Hao?) doing a multiball drill where he drops one short with his forehand, then steps around and RIPS the ball with his forehand from his backhand side. I used to do this drill all the time back in my day. As near as my memory tells me, I did it just like he does. J

Under the Leg Shot

Here's video (21 sec) of a great under-the-leg shot by Jonathon Groth in the German League.

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