February 1, 2016

Tip of the Week
Holding Back Against a Weaker Player.

Fifteen Fun Facts about Table Tennis
A few days ago I received an email from Herson Go, who said he would be doing exhibitions and clinics this week in five 45-minute classes at a middles school– about 300 students in all. He said, "I wanted to perk their interest and one of the things I was thinking of is to give them a short one-page list of 'Did you know that Table Tennis...' Any suggestions?" And so the list was born! Here's the list I came up with. Feel free to use this on your club websites or in other ways to promote the sport!

Fifteen Fun Facts about Table Tennis

  1. It is an Olympic Sport.
  2. It is a sport of great speed, spin, and some of the most acrobatic moves in all of sports.
  3. Professional players train 6-8 hours/day, plus another hour of physical training.
  4. Olympic athletes have been measured to have the lowest fat percentage of any sport after distance running.
  5. It is played by players from age 5 to 100 and more.
  6. It has mostly been dominated by China since the 1960s, but USA once dominated – in the 1930s! (But the #1 ranked Under 14 girl in the world is from USA.) Others that have successfully challenged the Chinese include Japan, Sweden, and Hungary.
  7. The sport was invented in England in the 1880s. It became popular in China in the 1950s when Chairman Mao declared it "The people's sport."
  8. It is one of the biggest participation sports in the world, sometimes ranked #2 after soccer, with about 300 million players. That includes over 700,000 in Germany, and many millions in China. There are over 400 clubs and 400 tournaments all over the U.S. each year.
  9. It is recommended by doctors as the perfect "brain" sport.
  10. It has been recommended to athletes as a way to develop hand-eye coordination.
  11. The sport is governed in the U.S. by USA Table Tennis, and worldwide by the International Table Tennis Federation.
  12. The International Table Tennis Federation has the most member nations of any sports association in the world with 222 countries.
  13. A table tennis player once ate his racket after losing a match.
  14. There is a top player from Egypt, Ibrahim Hamato, who has no arms, and plays with the racket in his mouth.
  15. Several colleges give table tennis scholarships, and the National College Table Tennis Association runs a highly active nationwide league with over 160 member colleges – including all eight Ivy League schools (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale).

German Open
It was held this past weekend in Berlin.

  • Here's video (11:47) of the Men's Final, Ma Long vs. Vladimir Samsonov.
  • Here's video (6:13) of the Women's Final, Wu Yang vs. Kasumi Ishikawa.
  • Here's video (2:53) of the highlights of world #4 Dimitrij Ovtcharov's seven-game win over world #29 Omar Assar of Egypt in the round of 32. Said Ovtcharov, "It was such a hard fight to keep Omar down, this guy has improved a lot!"

How to Develop Top Table Tennis Footwork and Positioning
Here's the new article from MH Table Tennis.

Talent
Here's the article by Massimo Costantini

Pendulum Serve Slow Mo
Here's the video (19 sec) from Brett Clarke.

Forehand Topspin Variations
Here's the video (3:55) from PingSkills.

Ask the Coach Show
Episode 214 (22:31) - Reverse Backhand Serve (and other segments)

Tahl Leibovitz: Ping Pong for Fighters
Here's the new podcast (44:03) from Expert Table Tennis. In this episode you’ll learn:

  • Tahl’s story and how he first began playing table tennis aged 14.
  • How he managed to quickly become a professional player.
  • What kind of preparation Tahl is doing for Rio 2016.
  • The difference between competing in able-bodied and Para table tennis.
  • Why Tahl decided to write a table tennis book.
  • Advice Tahl has picked up from players like Samsonov.
  • Dozens of tips to help you perform better in your matches.

Ma Long Training
Here's the video (1:31).

Table Tennis Edge Brain Training App and Game
Here's the USATT article.

2016 World Championships Table Tennis Table Unveiled
Here's the ITTF news release on the fancy new Butterfly table.

U.S.’ Best-ever Olympic Table Tennis Player Unretires, Enters Olympic Trials
Here's the article on Wang Chen.

DHS ITTF Top 10 Shots - 2016 Hungarian Open
Here's the video (4:37).

Forehand-Forehand, Left and Righty?
Here's the video (10 sec) as this player plays forehands with seemingly equal ease from both wings.

Floor Defense
Here's the video (43 sec, including slo-mo replay).

This Sure Looks Like Donald Trump Playing Table Tennis
Here's the video (20 sec), but it's only Boris Johnson, mayor of London, taking on England's #6 junior girl Zahna Hall. His hair might be worse than Trump's!

Ping Pong Milk Life TV Commercial Ad
Here's the video (15 sec).

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