June 12, 2015

Preparing for the U.S. Open and Other Competitions

Many of you will be competing in the U.S. Open a month from now, or perhaps someday in your future will have some other major competition one month away. It's time to prepare!!! Here are some things you should be doing or thinking about right now. 

  • Balls. They are using Nittaku Premium 3-star 40+ plastic poly balls. (Say that five times fast without breathing.) Unfortunately, they aren't on sale anywhere in the U.S. - the supply is out. They are sold here by Paddle Palace, but they are currently (and for some time) listed as "out of stock." A rumor recently went around MDTTC that I had some, and since then I've been pummeled with requests for them. (I had three 3-packs, plus two loose ones. I sold a pair of 3-packs, and am holding on to the other five balls for use the last week before the Open. Unlike the celluloid age, the different balls play differently. No other ball really plays like the [long name given above]. What to do? Probably the best option if you don't have any [long name given above] to practice with is to simply practice with whatever plastic ball you can get. It won’t play quite like the [long name given above], but it’ll at least play a little like it. (It’ll feel heavier and harder to spin than a celluloid.) When you get to the Open, the very first thing you'll do is buy some [you know what goes here], and head for the table to practice. Don't just do drills - play some practice games. You'll adjust somewhat quickly. Just remember that most of your opponents will be in the same situation. 
  • Serves. Are you practicing them, or are you planning to handicap yourself at the start of half the points? Will you have the guts, say, to serve a fast down-the-line serve against a forehand attacker at deuce, or will you wait until it's deuce and you see the opening before you realize you haven't practiced this serve and don't have the confidence to do it? Are your serves bouncing low? Are your spin serves effective? Are your long serves effective? Can you control the depth? Are you practicing serves the productive way? Have you bought Table Tennis Tips, which has 150 different Tips, including 25 on serving? (Hey, it’s my blog, so I get to advertise it here!!!)
  • Game Drills. From this point on your focus should be on game-type drills and games. You should still do practice your shots, but you need to get as much match practice from here on as possible. Figure out how you are scoring points and focus on increasing that; figure out how you are losing points and focus on decreasing that. Are you familiar with Training Cycles?
  • Food and Fitness. Are you going to show up at the Open feeling weak? The last week isn't the time to diet. So you have about three weeks to diet and train for the Pool Party tournament. You want to be in the best physical shape of your life a week before the tournament. Then, that last week, eat well (not too well!), play lots of matches, and go easy on the physical training (both so you'll be rested and to avoid injury). 
  • Playing MDTTC Players. Come prepared to play special tactics against players from my club. Practice serving high, lobbing serves back, and whatever ways possible to make our players over-confident so that once you are way, way behind and have little chance of coming back, that's when you make your move, and our overly-confident players will collapse and blow the biggest lead in history. 
  • Cash and Credit. Make sure you have lots of money on hand to spend at the Open - those equipment booths are sooooo enticing. Plus - and this is just rumor - I'm told there are other things to do in Las Vegas besides table tennis. I can't imagine what.

MDTTC Open, Adult Training, and Summer Camps

  • We have an MDTTC Open tomorrow (Saturday) – you can still enter!
  • Here’s the new flyer for my adult training sessions, Sundays, 6:30-8:00PM.
  • MDTTC Summer Camps begin on Monday and continue for eleven consecutive weeks, Mon-Fri, 10AM-6PM. They are dominated by kids, but are open to players of all ages and levels.

Ask the Coach

Episode #141 (11:00) – Gears on the Forehand Topspin.

Daniel Ives: Table Tennis Daily in China (Part 1)

Here’s the article and podcast (26:45). Daniel Ives is the founder of TableTennisDaily, one of the most popular table tennis websites in the world.

Magical “God” Serve

Here’s one minute of elite serving – see how the ball comes off the receiver’s racket different each time.

USATT Insider

Here’s the new one, which came out on Wednesday. I’m in it a few times, with my article “What to Think About in a Match”; the feature on my club in a local newspaper where I’m quoted and pictured (“You Play Ping Pong in Your Basement...THIS is Table Tennis”); and there’s the announcement of Volume 16 of Tim Boggan’s History of U.S. Table Tennis series (I did the layouts and lots of photo work). I’m also mentioned by Dell in his “11 Questions with Dell Sweeris”! They also have articles on the Open (I’m going), on Jim Butler winning the Meiklejohn Seniors again (here’s my updated illustration), and lots of other stuff. 

What to Expect at the World’s Biggest Ping Pong Pool Party

Here’s the article from MH Table Tennis, about the planned 1500-person pool party at the U.S. Open on Friday, July 10. If you’ll be at the Open, or in the area that night, here’s where you can get more info and sign up!

Top Ten Health Benefits of Table Tennis

Here’s the article from HealthFitnessRevolution.com.

Quadri Aruna on Being Africa’s Best Table Tennis Player

Here’s the article from the BBC. He’s currently #45 in the world, was #30 in November. (His name is misspelled as “Qadri” in the article, but according to the ITTF rankings and his Wiki entry, there’s a “u.”)

ICC Fundraising

Here’s an article on the club’s fundraising, from the Indiawest.com.

Setting the Example for UNOSDP Youth Leadership Camps

Here’s the article.

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). Butterfly also has a great news page.

Table Tennis Best

Here’s the new highlights music video (7:44).

The Power of Sidespin

Here’s the video (5:00).

Fan Zhendong and Zhou Yu Training for China Super League

Here’s the video (1:29).

Timo Boll’s Hand-Switching Around-the-Net Loop

Here’s the video (18 sec).

Pong Humor

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