May 9, 2016

Tip of the Week
Move In to Cut Off the Angles with Quick Blocks.

Balance and Recovery
During coaching sessions yesterday I spent some time harping on balance. Way too often, when moving to the wide corners, players go off balance, either because they are reaching instead of stepping, or because they step, but not far enough. And so they hit the next shot off-balance, leading to a weak and erratic shot. Perhaps even worse is it leaves them unable to return quickly to ready position, so they aren't ready for the next shot.

What seems to happen to many players is they learn to make these slightly off-balance shots somewhat consistently, and so it becomes a habit. The problem, besides the loss of power, is that because they are off balance from that shot, it takes time to recover the balance to move back into position – and so they are late on the next shot. And then they scream, "I'm so slow!!!" It's not a slowness problem; it's a technique problem, caused by faulty feedback. Instead of realizing they are missing the next shot because of a balance problem that leads to slow recovery, they think it's natural slowness, and don't fix the problem.

Often staying balanced while moving to the wide corners is a simple matter of taking a longer step so as to keep your center of gravity between your legs. By doing so, you stay balanced, and can recover almost immediately for the next shot. And then, as if by magic, you'll think you've suddenly gotten faster! (An expanded version of this will probably become a future Tip of the Week.)

Need 50 Reviews on Amazon
Today I'm asking a favor of readers – in particular those who have read (and liked!) my book Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers. Amazon has a rather complicated algorithm for ranking books, and I attended a seminar on this recently. The speaker wasn't from Amazon, was actually another writer who had investigated it, and he'd come up with some interesting conclusions.

One of the interesting things he said is that books are ranked more by 4- and 5-star reviews than by sales. I'd heard this before, so this was verification. I also learned that it goes up in the rankings if the 4- and 5-star reviews get a lot of people clicking "yes" on the "Was this review helpful to you?" question at the end of each review.  

But another thing I learned – which I'd also heard and have read others say – is that a "magical" thing happens once your book gets 50 reviews, assuming most are 4- and 5-star reviews – it shoots up in rankings, shows up more as a "suggested book," and other nice things. The book currently has 39 reviews – 32 are 5-star, 6 are 4-star, and there's one 3-star. So the current average is 4.8. Now if I can only keep that average but get 50 reviews!

So here's my request – and there are really two of them. (Note that it doesn't matter if you do the review on the print or kindle version, all the reviews are listed on both.)

1. If you've read the book, and like it, please give a short review and a starred review – hopefully 5-star! The review can be a single sentence; you don't need to spend much time on this. To do this, simply go to the review section for Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers.  
2. Click "yes" on the "Was this review helpful to you?" question on all the 4- and 5-star reviews.

Tao Wenzhang & Lily Zhang, California State Table Tennis Champions
Here's the article and results. (As of this writing, not all the Sunday results are listed, including Men's and Women's Singles.)

State Championships
This next weekend is the New York State Championships and the Alabama State Championships!

Top 8 Common Table Tennis Mistakes and How You Can Overcome Them
Here's the article from GreenPaddle.com.

Tom's Table Tennis Newsletter
Here's the newsletter from Coach Tom Lodziak with a number of coaching tips:

• Can you pass my consistency test?
• Tactics for beating a blocker
• What went wrong with my season?
• Time for practice (five tips)

Nutrition Session for Table Tennis Athletes by Michiyo Kimura (PhD)
Here's the video (19:05).

The World's First Brain Training Experience
Here's a review of ttEDGE app. (Also see interview about the app with Coach Brett Clarke underneath.)

Develop Sharp Minds / Mental Alertness
Here's the article that features table tennis. There have been a lot of articles on this recently.

First for Gujarat State, Not First for India, Numbers Growing at Rapid Rate
Here's the ITTF article.

MHTT Training Video Blog Kicks Off
Here's the article from Matt Hetherington, with links to videos featuring two days of training (16:07 and 14:15 long).

Dropping the Double Reverse
Here's the video (12 sec) from Matt Hetherington. The first is a standard reverse pendulum serve, but watch the second for a great surprise variation!

Incredible 41-Shot Rally
Here's the video (78 sec) as Nigeria's Aruna Quadri lobs and fishes back shot after shot. (I may have linked to this one once before, but it's still fun to watch.)

Mima Ito in Waldner Mode?
Here's the video (36 sec) as she plays a chopper.

Olympic Qualification 2016 MA Long VS FAN Zhendong
Here's the video (13:39), with Adam Bobrow doing the commentary.

2016 Butterfly Cary Cup Highlights
Here's the video (10:52).

Dr. Horrible vs. Bad Horse at Ping Pong
Here's the hilarious music video (1:45)!

Mexican Team Members Building Wall for Trump?
Here's the picture. I'm not sure that six-inch net will keep the Mexicans out.

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