January 11, 2018

Tip of the Week
Systematically Practice Against What You Have Trouble With. (I normally do these on Mondays, but I was out of town Monday and Tuesday, and didn’t have time to do one on Wednesday.)

Spin Wheel
I had some fun in December with the new TSP Spin Wheel, which was sent to me by PingPongDepot. It’s basically a small tire attached to the table that allows you to practice looping by spinning the wheel. Included with it is a speedometer (technically, a tachometer) that tells you how fast you are spinning it! That’s half the fun – the kids at the club were battling to see who could make it spin the fastest. Here’s video (4:02) of the wheel in action. (This one is white, but the one I have is black.)

I didn’t want to hurt the sponge on my racket so I annexed an inexpensive sponge racket as the full-time racket to be used with the Spin Wheel – I recommend you do the same. The wheel will spin the same whether you use a $300 racket and sponge combo or a $15 one.

The key is to use your normal loop stroke (forehand or backhand) and do it over and over, focusing on proper technique each time as you build up the spin. Some might get careless and use just their arm, so focus on using the whole body, as you do with a loop, from the legs on up. Done properly, it could help in developing the stroke and the muscles used.

It wasn’t all fun for me when I found out what I’d suspected – that with age, I probably don’t get as much spin as before. I was able to hit an even 60 on the speedometer with my forehand (I’m not sure if that correlates directly to miles per hour, but it’s all relative), but then John Olsen went over and hit 72, dashing my hopes and dreams.

Here’s what it says on the Spin Wheel info page (see link above):

  • A useful device for learning and practicing spin variation and learning the difference between brushing the ball for spin instead of hitting the ball for speed.
  • Can be used in many different ways and at different angles, to improve spin on your stroke and on your service technique.
  • Has speedometer attached to measure the wheel's speed.
  • The faster the wheel rotates, the more spin you are likely to generate with that stroke.

ITTF Statistics Page Now Available
Here’s the ITTF article. Or go straight to the Statistics Page.

Progressing to Higher Levels, Learn from China
Here’s the ITTF article.

Simplifying An Overly Complicated Game
Here’s the article from Coach Jon.

Ma Long Chop Block Technique
Here’s the video (5:04). It’s in Chinese, but you can watch how he does it.

Waldner Videos!

Saive vs. the Little Girl
Here’s the video (46 sec) where Saive apparently is taking on challenges – and she smacks one in! Make sure to see Saive’s serve at the end.

When Accuracy Meets Table Tennis Fun!
Here’s the video (38 sec).

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