September 17, 2013

Junior Program

Monday was my "off" day - the only day I don't coach. But it never really is an off day. First, I did the Tip of the Week. Then I did the blog. Writing a feature article and then blogging should be enough, but that just started my day. Then I spent much of the day doing accounting, planning, and organizing for new MDTTC junior programs.

We have two changes coming up. Until now we've had a system where juniors in my beginning/intermediate sessions bought ten sessions at a time, and came whenever they wanted. This meant that we never really knew how many players would come in a session, and so never knew for sure how many coaches would be needed. With beginners, you need to have a rather low player-to-coach ratio as they can't really practice effectively among themselves yet. So starting this weekend players are required to pay for ten consecutive weeks at a time, either the Saturday session (10:30AM-noon) or the Sunday session (4:30-6:00PM). We will allow players to transfer back and forth from one to the other as long as they let me know in advance so I know who's coming each session. This is similar to how we already set up our school program with local schools, which meets Thursdays 6-7PM and Saturdays 9:30-10:30AM. Yesterday I sent out an email explaining the changes to parents, and emailed back and forth with those who had questions.

The second change is we're adding junior progress reports. This means that at the end of each ten-week cycle the players will be given a series of tests to see how they've improved. At the beginning levels this will involve things such as how many times they can bounce a ball up and down on a paddle, balancing a ball on the paddle while walking about, and explaining and demonstrating the service rules. As they advance it becomes more table tennis specific as they see how many of each shot they can execute in a row, etc. As players improve they will advance from Level 1 to Level 5. Wen and John Hsu were very helpful in putting these together; I'm meeting with them soon to go over and finalize them.

I also spent some time thinking about some of the things some of our juniors need to focus on. For example, I coached one of them in a tournament on Sunday and have a specific list of five things I want him to focus on. It's not always weaknesses you focus on; in this case I was so impressed with his backhand loop in matches that I want to focus more on it as a strength to build around. There was also a serve he did that I think shows promise, and we're going to work on that. (But he also needs work on staying down and driving forward when forehand looping, pushing, and returning serves.) I watched several others in league matches on Friday and have some ideas on things I want them to work on as well. When you give private or group coaching, you can't just watch your players when you work with them; you have to see them in action in real matches against other players to really see what they do.  

How Ping-Pong Saved the World

Here's the full-length documentary (74 min), just released. Description: "How Ping-Pong Saved the World" is a feature length documentary that recounts the events of April 1971 when a U.S. Table Tennis team became the first Americans allowed to enter communist China in over two decades. Their invitation paved the way for President Nixon’s landmark visit just eight months later in February of 1972. For eight days these Ping-Pong diplomats discovered the little known world behind the Bamboo Curtain and in the process reshaped world history. "Ping-Pong Diplomacy" soon became a metaphor for the on-going difficult relations between the United States and China --- two ideological opposites on the brink of detente. It marked the beginning of a new relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China; one that over the next 40 years would evolve into the world’s most important bilateral alliance.

PongPlexed - Twisted Table Tennis

Here's PongPlexed: "Based in Brighton, England, a highly skilled team of artists, designers and Ping Pong lovers have created a range of Tables that are bringing people together through the medium of Table Tennis."

Ping-Pong Balls and Liquid Nitrogen

Here's a video linked from Table Tennis Nation that shows what happens. Or just watch the repeating gif image they show below of the actual explosion.

Table Tennis on a Moon of Saturn

Here's what it looks like! Cool image.

Non-Table Tennis - Capclave SF Convention

On Oct. 11-13 (Fri-Sun) I'll be bouncing back and forth from coaching and attending the local Capclave Science Fiction Convention. It's held annually at a Hilton Hotel about five minutes from MDTTC. For the sixth straight year I'm a panelist. I'm on three panels, two of which I'm moderating. I'm also doing a reading from my upcoming novel, "The Giant Face in the Sky." (I plan to read an excerpt where the sorcerer and his apprentice are going through security at an airport, and meet up with the very literal-minded and bureaucratic sorceress Jackie Kennedy, who moonlights as a security agent. The novel takes place in the 1960s, but the scene satirizes modern airport security.) Any table tennis players want to join me at the convention? You'll get to meet some big names in the SF and fantasy world, including guest of honor George R.R. Martin, author of Game of Thrones! Plus lots of panels and other events to attend, as well as the always great Dealer's Room. Here's the programming schedule. Here's the list of panelists. Here's my Capclave bio. And below is my schedule. (It's also online.)

Fri 4-5PM: God Emperor of Capclave - The Politics and Religion panel (Moderator)
Fri 9-10PM: Amazon: Hero or Villain? (Moderator)
Sat 12-1PM: 1001 uses for an unpublished story
Sun 3-3:30: Reading from my upcoming novel

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