February 25, 2015

Willie and the Coat, and Other Competitions

Yesterday I lost a competition. Willie, an eight-year-old, has this habit of wearing his coat while he plays. We usually convince him to take it off. Yesterday, while coaching him and another in a one-hour multiball session from 4-5PM, I secretly (and jokingly) told others I had one goal this session: to get Willie to take the coat off by 4:30PM without my having to tell him to do so. And so I worked him to death with lots and lots of side-to-side footwork drills, with constant mentions of how tiring this must be, how sweaty it was, and how hot it was. But he never took the coat off. At 4:30, I gave up and told Willie what I'd been doing, which he thought was pretty funny. I'm guessing he's still wearing that coat. Did I mention he also tends to lose his shoes while playing?

I have other little "competitions" with students. With Daniel, a 1639 rated ten-year-old with a supernatural ability to get nets and edges, we often count how many we get. (He kills me, and believe me, he'll beat you at this. It's uncanny, and he does this with Tenergy on both sides - usually it's players with deader rubbers like long pips or hardbat that get all the nets.) When I coach on the back table, where there's a wall closer behind me than on the bigger courts in the front, when a student misses I often continue the rally by hitting the ball backwards so it goes off the wall and back onto the table, reminding students that "Just because the point is over doesn't mean the point is over." (Or I just return it from off the floor.)

With my beginning juniors, I often pull out my cell phone to play them, and they become determined to beat that. (I'm around 1200 with it. It's an old-style flip phone, with a smaller hitting surface than these new-fangled smart phones that are to cell phone table tennis play what Tenergy is to regular play.) With the more advanced ones, I pull out the clipboard, where I'm around 2100. These are actually good practice for the students as I mostly chop with the cell phone and clipboard, and so they get to practice their attacks.

There are also more instructional competitions, i.e. ones designed directly for improvement. For example, with Daniel, who tends to play too defensive, we often play games where he serves every time, but he has to serve and attack - but to encourage this, I spot points, he serves every point, and I return the serves mostly defensively. Other times, with other students, we play games where they serve backspin, I push back to their backhands, and they open with a backhand loop, and then we play out the point. Or we do the same thing, but they have to open with a forehand loop, where it's pre-arranged where I push the first ball. Or I push the serve back anywhere and they attack from either side.

In multiball, I often end a session with a competition. For example, I'll feed a backspin ball to the middle and then a topspin ball to the wide forehand, and the player has to forehand loop both. If they make both, they score; if they miss either, I score. Games are usually to 11. I also have an ongoing multiball competition with the younger beginners in group sessions - I end each multiball turn with a high pop-up, and we keep track of who makes the smash the most.

I'm probably the world's "least encouraging coach." Most coaches encourage their students, saying things like, "I know you can do this." I have more fun - and find I get better results - by doing the reverse. I'll ask a student if he can hit 100 forehands in a row, and if he says yes, I'll tell him he has no chance - prove me wrong! Invariably they eventually prove me wrong. (I wouldn't doubt them unless I know they can do it.) So I'm constantly losing these little challenges. I also start off many drills by saying things like, "You are about to face the world's best [backhand block/forehand block/forehand loop/etc.], so you won't be able to score any points, but do the best you can." You can imagine how determined they are to score points after that! (My ongoing and constantly evolving stories about how the Chinese coaches travel to American to study my forehand block are now legendary . . . at least I think so!)

U.S. Open Returns to Las Vegas, July 6-11

Here's the USATT article. All I know is what's in the article. More on the playing hall, hotel, and entry form will come out soon.

Three Super Leagues Serving Up Competition in 2015

Here's the USATT article on these three leagues in the LA, NY, and DC regions. Here's a separate article on the NY League. In the past USATT has rarely given serious support to such leagues, so I'm happy that it is now a priority with them!

Staying Balanced

Here's the new coaching article by Han Xiao, with a link to a video of Oh Sang Eun.

The Forehand Counterdrive

Here's the new coaching video (2:30) by Brian Pace of Dynamic Table Tennis.

Improve While Sleeping - Learn to Balance-Out Your Body

Here's the new coaching article by Samson Dubina.

Michael Lardon Interview with Michael Covel

Here's the article with a link to a 49-minute radio interview. Michael Lardon is a well-known sports psychologist and former U.S. table tennis star. I reviewed his book Finding Your Zone on Nov. 8, 2011.

Cardiopong Brain and Body Engagement

Here's the article on taking table tennis to the next level.

Killerspin Skill

Here are Killerspin's coaching videos.

Ask the Coach

Episode #83 (28:41) - Defenders and Penholders

  • Alois's Trick - 0:40: Rolling the Ball from Side to Side
  • Playing for Another Country - 2:28: We discuss the rules around playing for another country
  • Yesterday’s #PQOTD  - 6:53: When your opponent makes a service error, do you say "Thank you”?
  • #PQOTD  - 9:33: How long can Samsonov stay competitive with the best in the World?
  • Sidespin Backspin Loops - 10:15: Brock: Your tip for the loop with backspin and sidespin didn't work, do you have any other tip to block it? I'm frustrated :D !!!!
  • I'm Improving - 12:40: Lukas: Today at school I played against one of the best player in my club, and he won 15-13, none of us were trying our hardest, but I was still happy about the result. He's been playing a LOT longer than me, so I think that I've improved a lot in just 4 weeks!
  • Tomahawk serve - 13:24: Huzaifa: I have seen many people doing the tomhawk serve and they say that it is a very special serve i don’t seem to see anything special in it   WHY?
  • Tomahawk vs Pendulum - 15:57: Brock: Which serve do you prefer, the pendulum or the tomahawk serve?
  • Wrist Position for Shakehand Grip - 16:47: Nick: It was recently suggested to me by a much better player (I'm a beginner) that I should keep my wrist angled a little down. He says it will be important to move to the next level. I have been using a straight wrist shakehand grip. What are your thoughts?
  • Improving Consistency in Serving - 18:46: Koekjes95: Hi pingskillers, After 10 years of playing I have developed quite effective serves. But still, I keep missing too much serves in a match. Do you have any tips to improve my consistency in serving?
  • Returning Topspin Serves - 20:25: Lukas: And also, when I get a heavy topspin serve, I tend to go a little back and loop the ball back. Should I continue doing that, or should I try and get used to the tips in your video on heavy topsin?
  • Balance - 21:54: Brock: How can I improve my balance?
  • Defenders & Penholders disappearing - 23:05: Viet: Nowadays, I see defenders and penholders are getting fewer. Most of top players now play shakehand style and attack. For example, Joo Se Hyuk is the only defender that is well known. Also, Xu Xin and Wang Hao are the only penholders.
  • Starting Quickly - 26:17: Nick: I am finding it takes me a long time (a couple of hours) of playing to really be able to play at my peak. Any advice or warmups that might help?

Ask a Pro Anything: Seo Hyowon

Here's the interview (5:37) by Adam Bobrow of the world #10 and Korean #1.

International Table Tennis

Here's my periodic note (usually every Friday) that you can great international coverage at TableTennista (which especially covers the elite players well) and at the ITTF home page (which does great regional coverage).

Greenville College Grows Table Tennis Team

Here's the USATT article.

Getting the Most Out of Volunteering

Here's the interview with Adam Bobrow.

Eleven Questions with Jim Starr

Here's the USATT article.

Sean Casey and John Smoltz Play Table Tennis

Here's the video (12 sec) of the two former baseball stars. Pitcher Smoltz was recently inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame; Casey is a three-time All-star first baseman.

Shot of the Day (Yesterday)

Yesterday I linked to the crazy behind-the-back shot that's gone viral. Here's the USATT's page on this, which not only includes the video (55 sec) but also an interview with Kit Jeerapaet, the player doing the shot, who is rated 2295 (and recently over 2300). The video's also made the Yahoo News Page, including a repeating version. It's also in the Mirror in England, where it's called "the undisputed greatest table tennis shot ever caught on camera." Kit's stunned opponent is Sutanit "Joe" Tangyingyong, a chopper rated 2263 but over 2300 until recently.

Multi-Mini-Table Angled Pong

Here's the video (38 sec)! Sort of reminds me of Airport Pong (2:47 - The two girls in this video are Lilly Lin and lefty Amy Lu, with Nathan Hsu and I the other players.)

***
Send us your own coaching news!