October 5, 2015

Tip of the Week

Serving and the Snowball Effect.

Weekend Activities

  • I spent way too much of the weekend emailing in various discussions on the hidden serve rule, boosting, Capital Area Team League, and various stuff on future USATT leagues and regional associations. And please, if I EVER respond to another really silly posting on Facebook about politics or religion, PLEASE just SHOOT me.
  • On Friday I was interviewed for an hour by Expert Table Tennis. The podcast will be out next Friday morning. The bulk of the one-hour discussion was on tactics. I'll post it here in my Friday blog. I also did two hours of coaching, 90 minutes of English tutoring with one of our kids, and saw The Martian late that night, which was great, though no table tennis scenes. (I'd previous read the book, which was my favorite novel of the year.) There do seem to be a lot of table tennis in recent movies, from Gravity to Minions. I need to do a compilation of them in my blog.
  • On Saturday I did something I've wanted to do for a LONG time – I spent most of the day in my lounge chair reading. (Alas, I had to do three hours of USATT and MDTTC work in the morning, but finished that by 11AM.) I normally have only one or two hours of coaching on Saturdays (Sundays is my busier day), but they couldn't make it, so I was off. I finished reading "The Three-Body Problem," a Chinese science fiction novel whose translation won this year's Hugo Award for best SF novel. (Since many table tennis players are Chinese, I wonder how many have read or heard of it?) I'm now reading the sequel, "The Dark Forest."
  • On Sunday we had 11 kids in our Beginning Junior Class, with most of the players ages 8-10. This group is great to work with – no troublemakers! The day's focus was on serving with spin, so I brought out the colored soccer balls to demonstrate. Then we worked on basics – forehand, backhand, and footwork. Best moment – the youngest in the class is five. He has struggled to hit even one ball on the table, even in multiple where we hit the ball very slowly to him. I kept guiding him through the stroke, but for the second straight session it didn't seem to work. And then – something clicked, and he hit nine consecutive perfect forehands! I'm not sure who was more excited, him, me, or his parents.

    In the Adult Training Session, we did the usual drills, plus one relatively new one for them – each spent 7.5 minutes where they'd serve fast serves anywhere on the table, and then play out the point. I started it with a demo on fast serves, showing the various types – topspin, sidespin, and dead – and to the three spots – wide backhand and forehand, and to the middle. Here are three articles I have on this:

  • Also on Sunday – my article on the Capital Area Team League went up as a USATT News Item.
  • Here are three very strange lets – or reactions to lets - that I saw recently:
    • "Let! My racket hit my knee."
    • "You can't call a let because I yelled during the point. It's free speech."
    • "Let! I wasn't ready." (After missing his own serve.)

Receiving Hidden Serves

Here's the new coaching article by Han Xiao. I suggested this one to him, since it's such a huge problem in our sport. Hidden serves aren't legal, but they are rarely called, alas, and so you need to be ready for them. This articles is great in covering exactly how to do so. 

The Details: Comparing Drills to Matches

Here's the new coaching article (with links to two videos) from Samson Dubina.

Entry Form for USA Nationals

It's out, linked from the USA Nationals page. They will be held Dec. 14-19 in Las Vegas, with the U.S. Men's and Women's Team Trials on Dec. 20-21.

Asian Championships

European Championships

USATT Celebrates Some Special Moments

Here's the new video (2:54): "With the U.S. Championships and the first stage of the U.S. Olympic Trials less than 3 months away, USA Table Tennis celebrates some special moments in recent years." (Video created by Jimmy Butler.)

The Mozart of Table Tennis Turned 50 on Saturday

Here's a picture commemorating Waldner.

Zhang Jike in Bad Condition

Here's the article from Table Tennista.

How a Chopper Ends a Match

Here's video (27 sec) of the last point as chopper Panagitis Gionis defeats Alexey Liventsov at the European Championships.

Best of Backhands

Here's the video (4:24) – why don't you have a backhand like this?

The People's Lovie Awards

It's down to the Final Five for Best Internet Video Documentary – and "Fact or Fiction," the documentary on Marty Reisman, is a finalist! Vote now for "Fact or Fiction" your favorite!

Masai Table Tennis Club – and Lions!

Here's the cartoon. What's the caption?

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