March 29, 2018

MDTTC Spring Break Camp: Day Three
Yesterday I had six players in my group for most of the session, so I decided to put them in three groups of two. Two of them would practice on a table by on their own. Two would be on the robot, taking 15 shots each, sometimes with a target on the table to aim for. And two would be with me, with one on ball pickup. It worked pretty well. I did some changes in the pairings after each cycle so they'd get different players to hit with when they were on their own.

Much of the session was stroking and footwork drills. But for one cycle I hit with each player live (rather than multiball), and so each got to do some steady forehand-to-forehand and backhand-to-backhand, and some did live footwork drills. (This was the morning session, which emphasizes multiball. In the afternoon session it's almost all live play.)

We also had a serving session, where I worked with the various levels, from one who is still struggling to serve on the table, to several who were well into learning spin serves. One was hard at work the whole session on his tomahawk serve, and he can now do sidespin, backspin, or side-backspin.

I always have a number of possible table tennis games to finish the session, but the younger kids always have one demand: "Cups!!!" So once again we finished the session with them building pyramids and forts made of cups, and then I fed multiball as they took turns knocking it down. (The older kids from my group and others play up-down tables, games to 11, 11-10 wins.) Often one or two of the kids will go to the cup side and try to rebuild the pyramids and forts as fast as they are knocked down. When they get down to a single cup, I often end it by putting a ball under the cup and explain it's the most powerful nuclear bomb in the world, and if it blows up it will destroy the galaxy, and they have 60 seconds to knock it off - two shots each. So far they've managed to save the galaxy all three days. Be thankful.

Are You Ready for Table Tennis Success?
Here's the article by Eli Baraty.

Lessons From One Billion Backhands
Here's the article from Coach Jon.

Everybody Jumps: Fitness Challenge from Chen Longcan
Here's the article, with links to video, by Bruce Liu and Steve Hopkins.

Three Year Eurosport Agreement Signed; World Class Events Covered in Tokyo 2020 Build Up
Here's the ITTF article.

Edghill Wins St Joseph Garden Open Table Tennis Championships
Here's the article. However, I think they mean the St. Joseph Valley Open!

Airport Tennis Pong
Here's the video (40 sec) of Adam Bobrow and MDTTC Coach Jeffrey Zeng Xun! Coach Jeffrey was on his way back from a vacation in China and apparently he and Adam just happened to bump into each other. Jeffrey was already at the club yesterday coaching! Here's some more Airport Pong (2:47) from 2012, featuring Lilly Lin, Amy Lu (lefty), Nathan Hsu, and myself.

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