September 18, 2017

Tip of the Week
Always Think of a Loop as a Set-up Shot.

Sevens
In my 57th year I have this seven-year itch to tell seven of nine stories I have on sevens. Here are my seven deadly sins stories of seven, otherwise known as the magnificent seven.

  1. Seven hours becomes one hour on Saturday. I normally have seven hours of coaching scheduled on Saturdays, my busiest day, from 10AM-5PM with no break (plus 5:30-7:30PM twice a month). But an extraordinary thing happened this past Saturday, or rather six of them. My 10AM student told me a few days in advance he was away and wouldn’t be able to come in. My 11AM student emailed that morning that he had strep throat and couldn’t come in. My 1PM student emailed that morning that he’d forgotten to tell me that he was out of town this weekend and couldn’t come in. From 2-4PM I have two students who come in together, but they were away at a tournament and so neither were coming in. My 4PM student had a family thing he had to go to and so had rescheduled the session for Sunday. Result? My seven hours of coaching became one hour. (I spent the day writing four Tips of the Week, most of this blog – including this – and working on three different science fiction stories.)
  2. Two of seven pays on Sunday. I run an adult training session on Sundays from 7-8:30PM. Two weeks ago a new player came in for the session, but forgot to bring cash or check. (I can’t take credit cards. The club can, but at 7PM on Sundays the staff is gone.) He absolutely, positively guaranteed that he’d come back later and pay the $20. I pointed out that this had happened exactly six times before, and while all six promised to pay, only one had. Like the previous six, the player gave his absolute word that he’d pay. So I let him in the session. Two weeks later – yesterday – he showed up and paid!!! So now it’s two for seven.  
  3. The mystery of why I put a seven centimeter bandage on my foot on Wednesday. I was off on Monday and Tuesday this past week. I was fine both days, and absolutely, positively did not have a huge gash on the back on my foot. But when I woke up on Wednesday morning, guess what I had? Yeah, a huge gash there. This may be the mystery of all mysteries – where did it come from? Did a werewolf come through the window while I was sleeping and gnaw at my foot? I don’t know. All I know was that it was painful, and forced me to limp. I almost cancelled my three hours of coaching that night, but after putting a bandage on it, I was able to play, though moving aggravated it. 
  4. On September 7 I learned that I’m going to have to pay about $1200 for repairs to the electrical grid in my building. We had a meeting on this, and that’s how much it’s going to cost, divided by all of the townhouses using it. Plus I had to cancel two lessons to make the meeting, costing me another $100.
  5. Why I’ll have to cancel seven hours of coaching on Oct. 7. Because I’ll be a panelist at the Capclave Science Fiction Convention in Gaithersburg, MD. Here’s my bio there.
  6. Seven books on table tennis by me on sale at Amazon. So why not buy one of these? (I also have Instructors Guide to Table Tennis, but that’s free at USATT.)
    1. Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers
    2. Table Tennis Tips
    3. More Table Tennis Tips
    4. Table Tennis Tales and Techniques
    5. Professional Table Tennis Coaches Handbook
    6. The Spirit of Pong
    7. Table Tennis: Steps to Success (out of print, but used versions are still for sale. I plan to do a rewrite of this eventually, maybe next year.)
  7. In seven days I see the dentist. NOOOO!!!!!

USATT National Team Coaches Development Group
Here’s the info page by USATT High Performance Director Jörg Bitzigeio.

Club Owners and Managers
Are you a club owner or manager that's looking to make the most out of your club?  Are you thinking about starting a new club?  The USATT Clubs Committee has started a new Facebook Group to help share best practices to make clubs successful. Come join us!

ITTF PanAm Championships
Here’s the home page for the event which finished yesterday in Cartagena de Indias, Columbia

Asian Cup
Here’s the home page for the event which finished yesterday in Ahmedabad, India.

European Championships
Here’s the home page for the event, which finished yesterday in Luxembourg.

How to Deal with Nerves in Table Tennis
Here’s the article by Tom Lodziak.

Ma Long Training: Backhand, Forehand & Serve
Here’s the video (11:02) from Table Tennis AZ. They have a lot of other great videos on their blog page.

Eugene Wang Captures 4th Badger Open Title
Here’s the article by Barbara Wei.

US Olympian Timothy Wang Takes on New Role at ICC Table Tennis Center
Here’s the article by Matt Hetherington.

New Videos from EmRatThich

ITTF Monthly Pongcast
Here’s the video (12:31). I thought I'd posted this, but can't find it. 

Top Ten Unknown Facts About the Legend Zhang Jike
Here’s the video (60 sec).

Have You Seen This Kid Before?
Here’s the video (2:04) featuring Japanese whiz kid Tomokazu Harimoto, #13 in the world at age 14.

Top Ten Women’s Points: #10
Here’s the video (20 sec) from Table Tennis Canada, between Yu Mengyu of Singapore (world #35, formerly #10) and Pesotska Margaryta of Ukraine (world #39 in 2014).

Racketlon: The Ironman of Racket Sports
Here’s the video (2:25) on this combination of table tennis, tennis, badminton, and squash.

Little Big Shots Philippines: 11-year-old Table Tennis Player
Here’s the video (4:32), where he and the host have a funny and then dramatic battle with a table tennis robot. “Little Big Shots (PH) is the Philippine adaptation of the hit TV show Little Big Shots (US) created by Ellen DeGeneres and hosted by Steve Harvey. It is a showcase of cute and talented kids from all over the Philippines and around the world. Viewers can get to know these kids as they engage in funny chats and interviews with host Billy Crawford.”

***
Send us your own coaching news!