February 10, 2015

Tip of the Week

Pulling Off Big Upsets.

North American Grand Tour Final

I spent the weekend watching and coaching at the Westchester Table Tennis Center in New York, where 16 players from around North American gathered to battle for $10,150. (1st $3500; 2nd $1750; 3-4: $850; 5-8: $400; 9-16: $200.) Here's the USATT article by Bill McGimpsey and Ben Nisbet, featuring Eugene Wang (rated 2799), who (as most predicted) won the final in a 4-3 battle over Bob Chen (2730). Here's the USATT page for this five-star event, with results and video. Here are photos from Warren Rosenberg Photography and from JOOLA. Here's the event program booklet.

The North American Tour was started in 2013 by Bruce Liu, and has grown to 25 tournaments from coast to coast. Players earn points based on their results, and the top 16 were invited to the final. Two players couldn't attend, and so two promising players were invited in their place (Nathan Hsu and Crystal Wang). The stated goal of the Tour is to "raise the level of table tennis in the United States by encouraging the best American players to compete in tournaments more often and by attracting top foreign players to the U.S. for Americans to compete against."

I thought the tournament was well run, with great playing conditions. The only down side was the lack of spectators, with about 140 for the Final (I did a very quick, rough count), which included the players and officials. Great thanks goes out to the ones who put this together: Organizers Bruce Liu and Will Shortz; Referee Roman Tinyszin and umpires Igor Knelev, Leon Libin, and Asif ud-Doula; Directors Robert Roberts and Rawle Alleyne; Operations Director Neville Roberts; Communications Director Gail Kendall; Publicity Directors Irene Silbert and Richard Finn; Program Book by Bharati Bhalla; Banners and T-Shirts by Wayne Wolf of Blue Cup Design; Photographer Warren Rosenberg; Live Streaming Video by David Del Vecchio; Commentators Bill McGimpsey, Steve Burka, Ben Nisbet, Wally Green, and Jim Butler; and the many from the Westchester Club and others who helped out, and with apologies to any missed. (I'll add them as I get them.) 

Things started off on Friday night with a party at the playing hall. After dinner was served (your choice of deli sandwiches, baked chicken, or chili), a "handicap" tournament was held, where spectators were paired against Tour players, with the latter handicapped in various ways - balancing a racket on their head, using a pan as a racket, using a mini-racket, having to keep one hand on the table, or wearing a mask that covered one eye. The audience would then vote on how many points one would have to spot the other. The last match was me versus the randomly selected Crystal Wang, which was somewhat ironic since I'd be coaching her in the tournament. I proposed that rather than her being handicapped, I'd use a clipboard as a racket, but the audience would decide how many points she'd spot me. Alas, they decided to make things hard for me, and had us play even. I'm pretty good with a clipboard, but Crystal's rated about 2450, and she eked out an 11-8 win.

I spent much of my time watching the three players from my club, MDTTC - Ruichao "Alex" Chen, Nathan Hsu, and Crystal Wang. Alex coached Nathan's matches; Nathan's mom (Wen Hsu) coached Alex's matches; and I coached Crystal. Alex made the quarterfinals before going down to Eugene Wang. Nathan and Crystal didn't make the Final Eight, but each pulled off a great win in the four-person round robins. Nathan upset Rui Wang (2637), at -7,9,9,5, and gave Jishan Liang a very tough 10,9,9, match. Crystal upset Zhao Zi Rui (2661), at -5,9,-4,12,6. In game four she was down 5-9, and then had to fight off I think four match points before winning. By rating these were the only two upsets (by rating) in the 31 matches in the tournament (24 preliminary matches and seven matches in the main draw). See article on Crystal below.

There were some interesting contrasts in styles of play. Xiang Jing Zhang appeared to have some of the trickiest serves, where it was often difficult to pick up his contact as his racket changed directions very quickly as it approached the ball, with various serving motions. Yet it was Eugene Wang who seemed best able to control points with his serves, though much of that might be from his overall great ball control. He and Jim Butler were the two best "control" players, able to get almost everything back and unafraid to rally, while each had a big putaway shot they'd use whenever possible - Eugene's forehand loop kill and Jim's backhand smash. Both used their serve and receive to effectively control play. Others were simply relentless with their two-winged attacks, such as Bob Chen and Xiang Jing Zhang. The latter often looked like a tennis player as he raced about attacking from both wins. Alex had the most relentless all-out third-ball attack off his serves, but when he couldn't win there often ran into trouble. Yonghui Liang, a 2691-rated lefty and looking about 5'4", also had a relentless attack, but also showed many great lobbing points. Kai Zhang probably hit more backhand loop kills than anyone.

I believe players lose more points against Eugene from pressing too much than they do from his actually putting the ball away. Relative to his level and to many of the other players there, his backhand isn't a penetrating shot, and he doesn't force the forehand from the backhand side as often as others. And yet many players seemed to play over-aggressive, allowing Eugene to maneuver them around and force mistakes, rather than play more steady by pinning him down on the backhand and pick their shots. Of course, it's easier to say this than to execute it!

Some interesting notes:

  • One of the top seeds drank Cokes between games. Another was seen smoking outside. AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!
  • Before his quarterfinal match with Eugene Wang, Ruichao tore the sponge on his racket. For that match he had to borrow one from Jishan Liang, who uses a different racket and sponge. However, Eugene was just too good, and it probably didn't make a difference in the result, though the scores might have been closer.
  • Of the 16 players, five were USA citizens, who got great training and experience playing against the foreign stars, all of whom now live and compete in North America. (They were Jim Butler, Jack Wang, Gal Alguetti, Nathan Hsu, and Crystal Wang.)
  • While watching matches simultaneously live and on the video screens used by the commentators, I verified something many have said many times. The play on the screen looked significantly slower than the live play, even though they were showing the same thing. It's likely due to the size of the screens, but it really stands out when you can see both at the same time, side by side.
  • I was asked to commentate, but was too busy watching matches, and if I commentated, I'd have to focus on just one table - which would often mean not watching the players from my club. Or perhaps I just chickened out.
  • During the final between Eugene Wang and Bob Chen, whoever started on the near side of the table (closest to front door and control desk) won the first six games, with Eugene winning the last game where they changed sides halfway through.
  • Several times the new JOOLA 40+ plastic balls broke while in play. The rule on this is that play may be interrupted (i.e. a let), "…because the conditions of play are disturbed in a way which could affect the outcome of the rally." Referee Roman said that this meant that anytime the ball broke while in play the rally is a let. I've actually seen this interpreted differently, where referees and umpires have said that if the ball breaks, say, while a player is making an unreturnable smash, it's not a let because the ball's breaking didn't affect the outcome of the rally. However, that's a tough judgment call, as an opponent could claim he'd make an acrobatic return of some sort. So I'll accept Roman's interpretation, which I believe is the standard one.
  • Another issue that almost came up is when Nathan returned a ball around the net so that the ball basically rolled on the other side, and the opponent scooped it off the table and almost returned it. The ruling, according to Roman, is that even if the ball appears to be rolling on the table, it's actually bouncing with at least microscopic bounces, and so the point is over if it appears to be rolling on the table. In theory, if a ball truly rolls on the table, then it doesn't bounce, and so theoretically the player could wait until it rolls off the table and then return it - or as Nathan pointed out, it might even roll into the net and stop, and the rally would "continue" forever. But alas, that's not the ruling.

Once again I verified the fact that watching and coaching are far more tiring than playing. At least, that's how it appears to this very tired spectating coach!

Learning Good Mechanics: Modern Topspin Strokes

Here's the new coaching article from Han Xiao. It includes links to videos of Jun Mizutani, Timo Boll, Adrien Mattenet, and Marcos Freitas, as well as an historical one of Istvan Jonyer and Gabor Gergeley showing strokes in the past.

mini-steps for HUGE IMPROVEMENT

Here's the new coaching article by Samson Dubina (with a link to a short video on footwork).

Training Secrets Revealed

Here's a Listing of Drills from PingSkills.

Nutrition for Table Tennis

Here's the article by Dr. Chandra Madhosingh

Ping Pong for Fighters Review

Here's the article, which is actually a transcribed discussion between former USA Men's Singles Champion Michael Landers and the author, Tahl Leibovitz.

Ask the Coach

Episode #73 (18:26) - How Do You Learn?

  • Previous #PQOTD  - 1:00: How do you learn best? 1. Watching, 2. Hearing about it, 3. Doing and feeling or by 4. Getting lots of facts and figures.
  • #PQOTD  - 4:02: Has Backhand become more important over the last 10 years?
  • Question 1 - 4:38: Can you give me tips how to join England team? Abdul
  • Question 2 - 7:23: Hey PingSkills! I had a competition for 1 hour ago but I couldn't compete because I have bad knees. A doctor has also looked at my knees. But how can I strengthen my knee as it hurts? Can I stretch it out or what else can I do? Please help me :) Brock
  • Question 3 - 9:00: While my FH topspins, BH and footwork improved quite a bit I still struggle with consistent, powerful counter hitting after moving from BH to FH side. My coach insists on this stroke as a follow up after a pivot FH topspin or BH topspin. Matthias
  • Question 4 - 10:56: I was wondering if it's a good method to use 2 bats, 1 for training (slower bat) and the other (faster bat) for spare time? Because I'm a very offensive player. Benjamin
  • Question 5 - 12:31: Do you think that it is good to have a motivation in order to win? Everyone is continuously telling me that I have to be motivated and believe in myself on order to be good. But they also constantly condemning my defensive style. DK
  • Question 6 - 14:31: When someone sidespins the ball, I must move my bat to the side but I do that but it just goes over the table, what am i doing wrong? Brock
  • Question 7 - 15:31: I have a problem with returning no spin serves with my long pips backhand. I can do anything I want but the ball is always high and the opponent just smashes it. I am also trying to twiddle, but the result is always the same. Do you have any advice? DK

Rising Table Tennis Star Crystal Wang Earns Spotlight at Grand Final

Here's the USATT article. (I'm quoted several times.)

2015 World Cadet Program Qualification Process (Hopes Program)

Here's info.

What Are the Benefits of Playing Table Tennis to Lose Weight?

Here's the article.

LAUSD and Pongstarz Hit Dodger Stadium

Here's the USATT article.

11 Questions with USATT Member Mike Sturtevant

Here's the USATT interview.

2014 USA Nationals Highlights Video - Part 1

Here's the video (11:30) by Jimmy Butler.

Rules of Table Tennis - Match Set Styles

Here's the video (2:35) where Brian Pace of Dynamic Table Tennis goes over the basic rules.

New Sandpaper Rankings

Here they are! USA Men's Singles Champion (sponge) Jim Butler has taken over the #1 spot here as well. The website has lots of other sandpaper info.

Nittaku ITTF Monthly Pongcast - January 2015

Here's the video (12:14).

Dan Seemiller's Still Got It!

Here's video (6 sec) of him looping forehands as his son (Dan Jr.) feeds multiball.

How a Child Reflects on a Parent

Here's a good take on this.

Making USATT Decisions

Often USATT people are forced to choose the best option from multiple non-perfect choices. It's often a can't-win situation, as demonstrated by this (non-TT) cartoon!

Tricks on Sticky Sponge

Here's the video (11 sec) as Poom Yanapong demonstrates.

Kiddie Fight

Here's the video (10 sec) - warning, bad language, high-pitched screams, and threat of extreme violence.

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