April 5, 2018

Lefty Multiball?
As noted in my blog yesterday (second segment), I'm having major shoulder problems. They have been ongoing since October, but became dramatically worse in December at the U.S. Open when I went for a big forehand and tore (or technically "frayed") my rotator cuff. That, along with shoulder tendonitis, bursitis, and extremely tight muscles, mean I won't be doing any private coaching for a while, as explained in the blog.

It also means I can't feed backspin repetitively. When I did this on Saturday, my arm literally went into rebellion, with every part of the shoulder screaming out in terror, "Stop It You Fool!" I stopped a little short of 90 minutes into a two-hour multiball session with a very inflamed shoulder, and it's been hurting ever since. I can feed regular topspin no problem, but when I open the racket for backspin, the arm twists about slightly, and this puts a strain on the shoulder. I experimented all sorts of ways, trying to find a way of doing this without hurting the shoulder, but couldn't find one. (It also puts a strain on the shoulder if I repetitively do my favored forehand pendulum serve, though I've found a way to adjust so it isn't as bad, but the serve isn't quite as good. Tomahawk serve is fine. Backhand serves are out of the question.)

So guess what's on my todo list sometime over the next day or so? I plan to stop by the club and practice feeding multiball left-handed. I've never even tried doing this. I'm not particularly good playing left-handed - I occasionally switch hands when I'm way out of position and either lob or soft-spin a lefty shot, but I'm probably about 1100 overall that way. I've been shadow-practicing feeding multiball left-handed the last few days, and while I'm not too confident I'll be able to feed multiball very well that way, it's worth a try. One option is to do most multiball right-handed, but switch hands (and sides of the table) when I need to feed backspin. But can I learn to do this (with practice) at a high enough level to be effective?

Have any of you ever tried switching hands to feed multiball? Or, due to injury to your playing arm, learned to play with your other arm? I absolutely am NOT going to do the latter, but lefty multiball might be a temporary solution.

Butterfly Cary Cup
Here are articles on the 4-star tournament held this past weekend. The first four are by Steve Hopkins. (I added the last two items one day later.) 

Slovenia Open
Here's the ITTF home page for the event taking place in Otocec, Slovenia, April 2-6 (Mon-Fri). The dates caught me off guard this morning - I assumed it was this weekend (perhaps starting today), but they are already past the preliminaries (Mon and Tues) and into the main draws starting yesterday.

Commonwealth Games
Here's the ITTF home page for the event taking place in Oxenford, Australia, April 5-15 - it starts today.

Register for Spring Group Classes & MDTTC Butterfly Spring Open
Here's info! This is for players in my region, at the Maryland Table Tennis Center in Gaithersburg, MD.

Reflections on Reflectoid
Here's the article by Coach Jon.

How Do I Choose The Right Ping Pong Paddle For My Playing Style?
Here's the article.

New Articles from Samson Dubina

Will Ma Long Win Tokyo 2020?
Here's a great Facebook posting by EmRatThich. Alas, you might not be able to read it if you are not on Facebook - not sure. If you can't read it and DESPERATELY want to, email me and I'll email you the text.

Power of World #1 Fan Zhendong!
Here's the video (4:12) from EmRatThich.

USATT Insider
Here's the issue that came out yesterday.

Featured WAB Club: Li Loeber
Here's the article by Steve Hopkins.

Improvised Pong
You can play it anywhere! (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

Butterfly and Amatur Romania
Here's the video (8:10) - but the part I like is the great ping-pong ball animation in the first 25 seconds!

Badminton Pong?
Here's the video (34 sec) - and watch the kids' heads go side to side!

Batman Pong
I just like this Batman photo! (Here's the non-Facebook version.) Here's my April 1, 2016 blog, with Batman and Superman table tennis pictures at the end. (No, not an April Fools' joke, though the first segment there is!)

Skull Pong
Here's the picture! (Here's the non-Facebook version.) I just added this to my Skeleton Pong listing in my March 30 blog.

Ping-Pong Paddle Boulevard?
Here's the picture! (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

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