June 25, 2015

MDTTC Camp

Yesterday was a rather peaceful day – no nosebleeds, no meltdowns, nothing more dramatic than a few untied shoelaces. We did a lot of work on pushing and other fundamentals; nine of us went to 7-11 after lunch; and at the end of the day, many paper cups were stacked and smacked to death by excited kids. One thing did stand out today – during all three breaks (morning break, lunch break, and afternoon break), several kids stayed late each time to work on things. At one point during lunch break I was secretly glancing at my watch wondering if I would ever get to eat lunch as several kids wanted me to work on their serves, and so all of me (other than my grumbling stomach) happily went along.

Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers

Here’s the review of my book by Samson Dubina. I like the first line! You can buy it at Amazon, in print or kindle.

Ping Pong for Quitters

Some of you might have read the book “Ping Pong for Fighters” by Tahl Leibovitz. Tahl recently got the bronze in singles and gold in teams at the Spanish Paralympic Table Tennis Championships. In honor of that, my next book will be “Ping Pong for Quitters,” unless of course I’m kidding. Here are ten major points about ideas that will be featured.

  1. As a quitter, you give up easily. So it's important to get an early lead. Try to serve first, and throw your best trick serves out there early so you can get that lead and coast to victory without facing adversity.
  2. Don't feel bad if you make the semifinals and then chicken out and quit. You still can claim that at the time you gave up you were tied for the top four. Always remember that "You're a quitter" is just an anagram for "You quarter tie."
  3. Quitters never lose if they quit soon enough. There’s nothing worse than that sinking feeling when you realize you should have quit and instead foolishly went on, and now everyone’s laughing at you.
  4. The next time you are in a tight match and are thinking of quitting, consider this: The sooner you quit, the sooner you can experience that heartwarming feeling of defeat.
  5. Quitting is for losers. That's the whole point.
  6. Winners never quit. It's as if they can't think straight in a tight match and so can't consider and be overwhelmed by all their options.
  7. One of the toughest decision a quitter must make is when to give up. Not too soon, or you don't get your money's worth. You paid your tournament entry fees and deserve to play. But if you wait too long you may have to suffer the ignominy of trying and losing, and lose all hope of blaming your loss on your not trying. My suggestion is that if you lose one game, it's time to quit. Not immediately, but in the next game. That's when you make it obvious you are not trying so that your opponent and anyone watching will nod their heads knowingly with the knowledge that you could win any time you choose to.
  8. According to medical researchers, trying takes more calories than not trying. Those who try burn calories at a faster rate, lose weight, and end up smaller people for their efforts as well as being unready to face major hunger famines.
  9. If you lose your focus and aren’t sure whether to try or not, take a time-out. You want a clear mind when deciding when to quit trying.
  10. If you do find yourself fighting hard to the bitter end and (of course) losing, don’t worry, you’ll learn from it and next time you won’t waste your time and energy so foolishly.

All About Serves and Receives

Here’s the article from Pong Universe. I just joined their “universe,” but have been too busy to really check out what it is.

How Do You Start a Match at the Right Intensity Level?

Here’s the video (2:43) from “Ask Mark” (sports psychologist).

Chinese Team Withdraws from Korean Open

Here’s the article from Tabletennista. “There are two reasons for our withdrawal from the Korea Open. First main European players from Germany are not there so the value for training is not big. Second is because of the impact of the epidemic and we also need to consider the protection of our players.”

Bounce Alzheimer’s Therapy Foundation

Here’s the article.

Around the Net Shots

Here’s a video (2:18) featuring them.

Japan Open Feature Video

Eugene Wang (CAN) vs. Jin Takuya (JPN), round 1 (58:33).

More Mike Mezyan Pictures

NOTE - If you are unable to see these pictures, all you have to do is join the Table Tennis Group - it's easy! Here are all the past, present, and (soon) future pictures he's collected. (I pick out his best ones for here - he has more.)

Table Tennis Anyone?

Here’s the picture of how it’s really done.

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