May 31, 2016

Tip of the Week
How to Cover a Short Ball to the Forehand.

MDTTC Open House
Here's a great video (4:18) of the Open House at the Maryland Table Tennis Center this past Sunday, created by Ming Li. The event started at noon and ran for three hours, all free. (Here's the Facebook version.) Here are five photos, also by Ming Li. Throughout the event were periodic raffles - and lots and lots of food and refreshments! Here's a rundown:

  • Things started off at noon with a 30-minute junior training session, mostly for new players, which I ran, assisted by Raghu Nadmichettu and Klaus Wood.
  • Next came the exhibition, where I took on 11-year-old Lisa Lin (member of USA National Hopes Team – top four under 12 girls), and despite the use of an over-sized racket, a mini-racket, an over-sized ball, an under-sized ball, a 50-foot serve, blowing the ball over the net, lying down while lobbing, and some basic cheating (and a well-timed bribe to umpires Lance Wei and Mu Du), I still lost. (I always lose in exhibitions – I play the "bad guy"!)
  • Next was a multiball demonstration by Coach Jack Huang, with many of MDTTC's top juniors taking part, including Mu Du, Ryan Lee, Lisa Lin, and Klaus Wood. (With apologies to any missed.)
  • Next came the Parade of Champions – single elimination with all matches just one game to three points! Coming out on top was Lisa Lin over George Li in the Final. Lisa received $70 in free equipment, while George got a nice new collared Butterfly shirt.
  • Next came the Trick Shot seminar, which I ran, where I demonstrated and taught various trick shots, including the infamous 50-foot serve; the "ghost" serve that bounces back into (and often over) the net; balancing the ball in the air by blowing on it; rallying by blowing the ball over the net. The toss-under-one-leg, serve-under-the-other serve; and finally speed bouncing on the table. (The video above includes shots of the kids trying out these shots.)
  • The afternoon events finished with the Service Seminar I ran, where I went over the various ways to create spin and deception, as well fast & deep serves, and then the players got to practice. 

Navin Kumar's Improved Forehand
Here's the video (2:16), and here's the photo (where I'm "Mr. Miyagi"!). You may know him as "The Bionic Man," from numerous articles such as this USATT article and video (9:22). I had a session with him on Sunday, right after the Open House (see segment above). We're focusing a lot on forehand hitting; on reacting to different shots (topspin and backspin) to his long-pips backhand; random drills (both regular multiball and looping to random spots, where he has to block or smash), and playing regular points (especially receive) to get him ready for the upcoming Romanian Paralympic tournament he'll be playing in a few weeks from now.

World Veterans
They finished on Sunday in Alicante/Elche, Spain, May 23-29, with 4600 players and 150 tables. Here's where you can find results. USA will be running them in Las Vegas in 2018, the first time we've had them since 1990. (They are run every two years.) I've already been asked to do the coverage for 2018, so I'm gearing up for that – and maybe I'll even play! Here are the USA Medalists – here's a picture of them – and other notes.

  • Charlene Liu/Patty Martinez won the silver medal in Women's 60-64 Doubles.
  • Ting Ning Cheung/Chiyako Suzuki won the silver medal in Women's 65-69 Doubles.
  • David Sakai/Dan Seemiller won the bronze medal in Men's 60-64 Doubles; here's a video of them (1:24) playing the last few points of their quarterfinal match. 
  • Donna Sakai/Connie Sweeris finished third in their preliminary group in Women's 65-69 Doubles, alas, but then they went on to win the Consolation bronze medal.
  • Cheng Yinghua defeated six-time German Men's Singles Champion Georg Böhm in the round of 32 (11-9 in the fifth!) in Men's 50-59, before losing in the next round to top-seeded He Cheng Zhiwen of China. In 2018 he'll be eligible for 60-64 singles – he'll be a very strong contender!
  • Here's the ITTF article, Getting to Grips with Organisation, Danny Seemiller Looking Ahead, where they talk about the World Veterans and its coming to the U.S. in 2018.
  • Here's a picture of the "Passing of the Flag," with the World Veterans flag handed off to the 2018 World Veterans Co-Chairs, Dave Sakai and Dan Seemiller. (Here's the non-Facebook version.) Better still, here's the video (1:27)!!!

USATT News Items
They have a lot of new stuff on the USATT News Page as well as on the Butterfly News Page, so rather than link to them individually (though I do with some), why not go meander over to these pages yourself and take a looksee? (Disclosure: I'm on the USATT Board of Directors – an unpaid volunteer position – and am sponsored by Butterfly.)

How to Beat Everyone in Your Office at Table Tennis
Here's the new article from Ben Larcombe at Expert Table Tennis.

The Best Table Tennis Books
Here's the new article by Ben Larcombe at Expert Table Tennis. One of my books made the "5 Must Read Table Tennis Books"! (And here it is – buy it and read it, in print or ebook!)

Remembering & Forgetting: Learn to win at 9-9
Here's the coaching article from Samson Dubina. The ability to both remember and forget are paramount in all sports.

How the First 2016 U.S. Olympians Maintained Their Focus
Here's the ESPN article, which not only applies to table tennis, but has a segment on USA Olympic Table Tennis Player Wu Yue.

Doru Gheorghe to Lead Lady Rams Table Tennis
Here's the article on the former USATT High Performance Director and long-time USA Women's Coach, and his new coaching job.

Capital Area Team League
The third and fourth meetings of this season's Capital Area League (DC area) took place on May 14 and 28, both at MDTTC – here are the results. This season there are 24 teams and 127 players.

11 Questions with Tom Roeser
Here's the USATT interview.

Dimitrij Ovtcharov - Irregular Table Tennis Training
Here's the video (3 min).

That's Some Multiball!
Here's the video (45 sec).

That's Some Rally!
Here's the video (35 sec).

2016 Croatia Open Highlights

Ping-Pong Door
Here's the video (39 sec)!

One-Person Table and Racket
Here's the picture – I have one of these! (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

Memorial Day Paddle
Here it is.

Hilarious Trick Shots and Acting
Here's the video (2:02)!

Non-Table Tennis (mostly) - Campaign 2100: Game of Scorpions Review and the Baltimore Science Fiction Convention
[NOTE – the first half of this went up late in my last blog, so I'm running it again.]
My recent science fiction novel, Campaign 2100: Game of Scorpions, just got its first review in a major site - and it's a great one! Here's the review from the SF Crow's Nest. Some quotes: “There are so many good things in this novel that I’m bursting to share them but that would spoil it for the first time reader.” "Anyway, it’s a marvellous book. Easy reading, fast-paced, lots of surprise plot twists, likeable heroes, a loveable alien and a gripping climax that takes the election right to the wire. Highly recommended.” Here's my March 8, 2016 blog about the table tennis in the novel, and here's the link to the book preview video (80 sec). 

Speaking of my novel, I spent Saturday at the Baltimore Science Fiction Convention, where I was on panels, did a reading, and in general promoted my novel. Yep, I got to hobnob with George R.R. Martin, read a story to a room full of people who had nowhere to go (we lock the doors!), and got to talk to another room full of people about what are the greatest animated films ever - one of the more interesting panels I was on. After much fighting debating, the panel concluded that the top ten of all time, in no particular order, were: The Incredibles; Toy Story 1; The Lion King; WALL-E; Who Framed Roger Rabbit; Spirited Away; Iron Giant; Snow White; Beauty and the Beast; and How to Train Your Dragon. For the record, I fought like crazy for Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo (those two and Pinocchio just missed the final list), and also argued for Up, Rango, and The Lego Movie. (I didn't include the second five on the list above on my top ten list.) We had a final audience vote on the #1, and it ended in a tie between The Incredibles (my #1) and Spirited Away.

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