May 10, 2018

Early Bird Entries at the USA Nationals and the Coaching Seminar
Here's the USA Nationals page, July 2-7 in Las Vegas. The early "Early Bird" deadline is tomorrow, May 11, so don't forget to enter NOW!!! On May 12 cost for adults goes from $250 to $325, for juniors from $225 to $300. So maybe, just maybe, you should consider entering NOW!!!, and save yourself $75? It's like getting a free sheet of Tenergy!!! (Did I mention you should enter NOW!!!?)

I blogged about the USA Nationals on April 19, where I wrote about the 91 events, spectating, equipment booths, the Hall of Fame Banquet, the VIP package, the USATT board meeting, and the coaching seminar I'll be running.

The coaching seminar will be on Serve and Receive Tactics, tentatively held on Sunday, July 1, from 5:30-7:00PM. (I might see if it can be moved to perhaps Tue or Wed night.) It will be FREE to all USATT members. Here are topics I will be covering:

Serve Tactics

  • The purpose of the serve
  • Set-up serves vs. trick serves
  • Types of deception
  • Long serves
  • Short serves
  • Serving combos
  • Holding back on serves
  • Ten-point plan to serving success

Receive Tactics

  • Reading the serve
  • The purpose of the receive
  • Types of receive - your arsenal
  • Passive, disarming, & aggressive receives
  • Receiving deep serves
  • Receiving short serves
  • Deception on receive
  • What to do with tricky serves

I plan to run a similar seminar at MDTTC on Thursday, May 31, from 8-9:30PM, as a fund-raiser for sending MDTTC coaches to the Nationals. For that one, we'll be charging probably $15 for MDTTC members, $20 for non-members. (I'm doing both of these as a volunteer - I won't get paid a cent.)

New ITTF World Rankings
I blogged about the new world rankings on Tuesday (4th segment). Here are four new articles and a video on them.

The Table Tennis Troubleshooter
Here's the article by Coach Jon. "Experienced players are often excellent diagnosticians. You may not need to have played very long to recognize weaknesses in other players. Watching other players gives some insights, but playing a match against them reveals far more about their abilities. Every player comes with their own idiosyncrasies. Some of these traits provide special strengths for them, but some may stall their progress for years."

Slow Motion Analysis of Fan Zhendong vs. Koki Niwa
Here's the video (2:41).

USA Fields Talent Packed Squad of Nominations and Qualifiers for 2018 North American Hopes Tournament
Here's the USATT article by Matt Hetherington.

WAB Club Feature: Pleasanton TTC in California
Here's the article by Steve Hopkins.

Coach Expresses Hope of Joint Korean Table Tennis Team at Asian Games
Here's the article from Inside the Games. "…but warned they should only do so if it increases their chance of success."

Traian Ciociu, the Senior Player but Ready to Learn
Here's the ITTF article. "Age is no barrier, without doubt Luxembourg’s Traian Ciociu, is young at heart, the 55 year old is the most senior player on duty at the current Liebherr 2018 World Team Championships in Halmstad, Sweden. Motivated, he fulfils both the role of player and that of the guiding hand for the younger players in his team."

Table Tennis Tidbits #27
Here's the USATT article (with links to video) by Robert Ho: 2016 China Open, Top Two Tangle Times Two.

History of USATT – Volume XX – Chapter 27
Here’s chapter 27 of Tim Boggan's latest volume, which covers 1993-1994. Or you can buy it and previous (and future) volumes at www.timboggantabletennis.com. Chapter 27 covers "1994 May-June Tournaments." Note that Volume 21 is now out. This volume is 438 pages with 1667 graphics, and covers all the wild things that happened in 1994-95 - and I'm mentioned a lot! Why not buy a copy - or the entire set at a discount? Tim sells them directly, so when you order them, you get it autographed - order your copy now!

Salute to Professional Coaches at the ICC Butterfly America Open
Here's the Facebook album. (Can non-Facebook members see them?)

ITTF President vs TableTennisDaily's Dan!
Here's the video (9:07).

Giant Fox Pong?
Here's the picture! (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

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