March 9, 2015

Tip of the Week

Playing in Poor Conditions.

USA Pan Am and National Team Trials

Here's the USATT Page with complete results and video. (Jiaqi Zheng and Yue "Jennifer" Wu were not eligible for the National Team, due to time requirements since representing another country, but as US citizens were eligible for the Pan Am Team.)

  • Congratulations to Pan Am Team members: Jiaqi Zheng, Lily Zhang, Yue "Jennifer" Wu, Kanak Jha, Jimmy Butler and Timothy Wang
  • Congratulations to US Team members: Lily Zhang, Judy Hugh, Prachi Jha and Amy Wang, Kanak Jha, Jimmy Butler, Timothy Wang and Yahao Zhang

Beginning/Intermediate Class and Junior Class

After missing two straight Sundays due to snow, we finally got back to these two classes. I taught both classes, with John Hsu assisting.

There are 14 kids in the 4:30-6:00PM beginning junior class, ranging in age from 6 to 11. Since we'd been away so long we focused on basics this session - lots of regular forehand and backhand play. We had one new player, so I spent some time getting him started. Then we did service practice, and then games. As usual, as soon as it was game time the cry went out for "Cup game!", and so out came the paper cups. It's the perfect game for the younger crowd, who love to build and destroy. So they built giant pyramids of cups, and then took turns smashing them to pieces as I fed multiball. We finished with the bottle game, where I put a bottle of "worm juice" on the table (a Gatorade bottle filled with either worm juice or Gatorade, depending on who you asked), and I had to drink it if they hit it. They did.

For the Adult Beginning/Intermediate Class from 6:30-8:00PM we had 15 players, with three others missing. Because a few had missed the first session three weeks ago I had invited them to come in early, so we actually started at 6:15, where I went over some of the things from the first class - grip, stance, and forehand. Because it had been three weeks since the previous class, where we'd focused on the forehand, I decided to spend 20 minutes on that at the start. Then we worked on the backhand. Next came serve deception, though I first did a recap of how to create spin, which I'd taught three weeks before. Then they were out at the tables practicing serves. We went late, with nearly everyone able to stay to work on serves until at least 8:15, some until 8:30PM. I promised the group that we'd start next week's session with more service practice. Then we'll move on to the focus for the session - footwork and pushing.

Snow and Back

As noted in my blog last week, I hurt my back shoveling snow over a week ago - not in the snowstorm this past Thursday, but the one the weekend before. I took much of last week off from private coaching (where I have to do real hitting, as opposed to mostly lectures, walk-around coaching, and multiball when I teach a class), and I think it's okay now. So today I return to private coaching. The temperature will likely hit 60 degrees today - but it'll take days for the huge piles of snow outside to completely melt away.

Capital Area Super League Meeting

The Organizing Committee for the Capital Area Super League (myself, Michael Levene, Stefano Ratti, John Olsen) met Saturday night at the Smash TT Center in Virginia. We've pretty much finalized things. The final tally is 68 players on 13 teams, which is okay for our first season - five in the first division, and four each in the second and third. We went over the budget, prizes, software, and various other issues. Play begins next week! (I often feel like the "black sheep" of this group, as the other three are doing a lot more to set this up, but I'll try to make up for it when I focus on publicity for the league, i.e. sending out press releases, etc.) 

My Todo List

Here's my  todo lists for today, which I'll periodically update as I go through it. 

  • Table Tennis:
  1. 1.Tip of the Week
  2. 2.Blog
  3. MDTTC Newsletter (This usually goes out at the start of each month but I held this up for the USA Team Trials)
  4. Junior Accounting - Thursday and Sunday Classes
  5. Adult Beginning/Intermediate Class Accounting
  6. USATT League Committee Appointments
  7. "Spirit of Pong" table tennis fantasy novella. (I'm going to a writing workshop this summer - see below - and plan to have this critiqued there before I do the final write-up before getting it published. To do so I'll need to have a draft ready by April 9.)
  8. Prepare for Regional Associations presentation at March 28 USATT board meeting (including plans for leagues, coaching programs, and state championships - a three-pronged approach)
  9. Work on plans for TableTennisBooks.com
  10. Afterschool Program (leave 2:30, finish 5:00 PM)
  11. Private coaching (5:00-6:30PM)
  12. Yell at players from club who didn't play smart tactics at USA Team Trials and Arnold Challenge. (Should I practice in front of a mirror first?) Okay, I'm sort of kidding, but I do have a few things to go over with them. Alas, I wasn't able to go to either tournament, mostly because I couldn't afford to miss teaching my Sunday classes for the third week in a row.
  • Non-Table Tennis:
  1. Taxes (I see my accountant tomorrow morning)
  2. Apply for The Never-Ending Odyssey Writing Workshop (July 24 - Aug. 1)
  3. Find a harder mattress (current one is too soft, and may be aggravating back problems) Note - I "fixed" the current mattress - see tomorrow's blog!
  4. Birthday thank-yous (I turned 55 on Feb. 27. Yikes, that's old.)
  5. House termite inspection
  6. Vehicle emissions inspection
  7. Clean desk (It's a mess right now. Isn't that the sign of a busy person?)

How a 13-Year-Old Girl Became a Smashing Success at Table Tennis

Here's the article from ESPN on Crystal Wang. Special thanks to USATT Media Consultant Richard Fin for helping set this up. Here's the start: "In many regards, Crystal Wang is a typical 13-year-old girl. She watches music videos and variety shows on YouTube and draws in her free time. "The Hunger Games" movies are among her favorites. She likes to read and wants to be a doctor when she grows up. When you look beyond the straight-A student's sweet, soft-spoken exterior, however, a fierce competitor emerges."

New Documentary Shows the Pain and Passion of the Pingpong Life

Here's the article from ESPN on the documentary "Topspin."

$12,000 Arnold Challenge

The tournament was held this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio - and yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger was there! Here's the tournament home page, here are results, and here's a 47-second video of Schwarzenegger rallying with Austin Preiss. Below are articles on the tournament by Barbara Wei.

Rising Early vs. Eight Hours Sleep

Here's the new article from Ben Larcombe. 

Ask the Coach (PingSkills version)

Episode #90 (24:15) - Best Penholder Ever (and other segments).

Ask the Coach (Werner Schlager Academy Version)

Here's the 31-sec video where head coach Richard Prause invites you to ask any question. (Yes, in English.)

Table Tennis Coordination, Agility, and Speed

Here's video (62 sec) of training for these.

Zhang Jike Donates Money for Sick Child

Here's the article from Tabletennista. 

Ma Long Moves Back to World Number One

Here's the ITTF press release. (I wrote about this and other world ranking news on Thursday - see third segment.)

German National Championships

Here's an article (and video) on Timo Boll winning his tenth German National Men's Singles Championship. Here's an article (and video) on Petrissa Solja winning the German National Women's Singles Championships. And here's a great rally (24 sec) that took place in the final between Petrissa and Winter Sabine. (The two would team up to win Women's Doubles.)

Bay Area a Hotbed for Table Tennis

Here's the article from the San Jose Mercury News.

"The Dean of Table Tennis": Dean Johnson

Here's the article.

Thoughts on Seattle's Least Functional Ping-Pong Table

Here's the article on this poor, forlorn windy table.

Susan Sarandon and Jonathan Bricklin's Relationship "Continues to Evolve"

Here's the article in People Magazine about two primary owners of SPiN Table Tennis.

A Table Tennis - Golf Romance?

Here's the cartoon!

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