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Spring Break Camp
We had 47 players in camp yesterday, all at the same time. How did we accommodate them all with 18 tables? In the morning session, we had 7 coaches feeding multiball, leaving 11 free tables. With 22 players on those 11 tables, that meant we had 25 players at any given time on the 7 multiball tables, rotating around between doing multiball, picking up balls, or practicing on the free tables. In the afternoon session the advanced players did more live play (two to a table), while younger beginners were grouped on a few tables for multiball and various games - such as hitting a bottle supposedly filled with my dog's saliva, where I had to drink it if they hit it. (I'm working with the beginners mostly this camp.)
The coaches are myself, Cheng Yinghua, Jack Huang, Wang Qing Liang ("Leon"), Chen Bo Wen ("Bowen"); Chen Jie ("James"); and Raghu Nadmichettu. Jack Huang used to be Huang Tong Sheng ("Jack"), but he's been Jack so long we no longer use his Chinese name.
While most of the players are local from Maryland or Virginia (since Spring Break Camp coincides with spring break in local schools), we have a bunch from out of town. There's a nine-year-old from Japan who's about 1900; four members of the University of Missouri team; and several from New Jersey and New York.
One of the beginners who was having so much trouble yesterday did a bit better today. However, he's still got a ways to go - every now and then he'll do a series of proper strokes, and then he'll fall back into bad habits. The other also showed some signs of learning, but doesn't seem too motivated to learn. Surprisingly, the latter one picked up serving pretty well, while the first one is struggling with that.
I gave lectures on the backhand, on serving, and on doubles tactics. However, since most of the players are local juniors, I kept the lectures short. I had a problem with a few overly excited kids who kept talking among themselves during the doubles lecture, which took place right after we got off break.
I got to talk some with the University of Missouri team for a bit. Their best player is about 2100, the other three somewhere in the 1700-1800 range or so. One (I think the 2100 player) was having trouble covering the table after stepping around his backhand to do a forehand penhold loop. Many players have this trouble because they don't position themselves properly so that they'll follow through in a balanced position, which is what allows a player to recover quickly. Players often follow through with their weight going off to the side, which means they waste precious time recovering. Instead, players should position themselves so their weight is moving more toward the table as they loop, putting themselves right back into position to cover even a block to the wide forehand. I can still do this at age 53 (well, against most blocks!), not because of foot speed, but because of proper footwork technique.
I'm getting a bit banged up. (This is me.) Here's a roll call:
Returning Serve: Part One
Here's the article from Table Tennis Master. I'll post part two and others as they come up.
ITTF Level 2 Course in New Jersey
Richard McAfee will be running an ITTF Level 2 Coaching Course at the Lily Yip TTC in Dunellen, NJ, Aug. 26-31. Here's a listing of all upcoming ITTF coaching seminars in the U.S.
Ariel Hsing Article
Here's a feature article on her from the ITTF.
Table Tennista
Here are four new articles on China Table Tennis.
Multiball Training in Hungary
Here's a new video (3:18) featuring multiball training with members of the Hungarian Woman National Team and with some young players in the Hungarian Table Tennis Centre in Budapest. This is roughly what I do all day long at our MDTTC training camps.
Multiball Training in China
Here's a video (7:09) showing multiball training in China. There are many styles of multiball feeding; I was fascinated to see that the man in red feeding multiball uses almost the exact technique I do, i.e. first bounce on the table. Even the drills he does are about the same as the ones I do.
The Correct Way to Finish a Point
Here's a six-second video where Richard Lee demonstrates your basic serve and zillion mile per hour loop kill. Do not try this in your basement; he's a professional.
Best of Xu Xin vs. Ma Long
Here's a video (8:29) of the best rallies between these two Chinese superstars. Many of these points are truly impressive - are we reaching the pinnacle of human performance in table tennis? (I'm sure someone will quote this back to me someday when someone makes these two look like amateurs.)
Artistic Table Tennis Pictures
Here's an interesting and artistic table tennis picture. And here's an artistic table - it's like playing bumper ping-pong.
Staged Shot-Making
Here are 13 spectacularly staged trick shots.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
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Tennis and Table Tennis
I used to play tennis regularly, going to the Quince Orchard Swim and Tennis Club for group training sessions. But it took up a lot of time and money, and I finally stopped about three years ago. Last night I had an urge to play, and so signed up for the 7-8 group session. It's a full-time center, with five tennis courts and a huge swimming pool. Each is contained in a huge "bubble," which comes down during the summer. (I hate when the bubble comes down, and we're stuck playing outside, in the sun, heat, and wind. If tennis were meant to be played outside, there'd have been tennis courts in the Garden of Eden, right?)
While I was paying for the session in the front lobby area, a kid walked up to me and said, "Hi Coach Larry!" I didn't recognize him at first, but I finally figured out he was Kevin, one of the kids in my Sunday junior session. Outside of a table tennis environment I hadn't recognized him at first. Then a man came up to me and asked if I also taught tennis. Again, I didn't recognize him outside the table tennis club, but he was the father of another player in one of my group sessions; his son or daughter was presumably out playing tennis or swimming. We chatted for a few minutes, where I explained I was just a player at the tennis center. When I went out on the tennis courts at 7PM, guess who was sitting next to the next court, watching his son take a tennis lesson? Stephen Yen, a local 2300 player! That's three separate table tennis people I ran into there in the course of a few minutes.
The session went great. I was a bit rusty, but my forehand was pretty much as good as before. All the coaches there agree I have the most lopsided tennis game they've ever seen, with a really good forehand, and a pretty good backhand slice, lob, and drop shot, and placement and positioning well beyond my tennis level. But the rest - backhand, volleys, overhead, etc. - is pretty ordinary, other than lots of hustle.
There's an interesting neurological phenomenon I learned a while back about my tennis and table tennis. From table tennis I instinctively place shots to the right spot without thinking about it - after years of play, it's completely subconscious, as reflexive as, say, getting the angle right when blocking a loop. I do the same thing with my ground strokes in tennis; if an opponent gives me an opening on one side, I don't have to think about it, I'll automatically go to that spot. But here's the interesting phenomenon: when I'm at the net volleying in tennis, I have great difficulty placing the shot. There might be an open court to volley into, and I'll unthinkingly volley right back at my opponent, like a beginner. Then I made a discovery - when I do swinging volleys, then that part of my brain that instinctively places the ball lights up, and I'm back to reflexively putting the ball to the right spot like a pro. I finally figured it out. From years of table tennis my brain has become conditioned to placing my shot during my backswing. If I take a backswing - as I do in table tennis (even when blocking), tennis ground strokes, and swinging volleys - I'm a "pro," always hitting the right spot. But when I don't backswing, such as when I'm volleying at the net, that part of the brain doesn't light up, and so I'm back to being an amateur with no ball placement skills. (Technically, I think I do backswing some when volleying, but it's a different type of backswing then I'm used to, and my brain apparently doesn't register it as a backswing.) My solution has been to do lots of swinging volleys, which are considered less consistent than normal volleys, and so all the tennis coaches always discourage me from doing them. But they are better for me, because otherwise I fell like a beginner at the net, probably with a deer-in-the-headlights look since my brain simply won't operate properly in racket sports if I don't backswing. There must be a budding neurologist out there who can use this phenomenon for their Ph.D dissertation!
I've been thinking for a while about writing an article on Tennis for Table Tennis Players, and Table Tennis for Tennis players. But I'm not sure of the demand for such an article.
Tim Boggan and Cary Cup
Tomorrow morning at around 9:30 AM, USATT Historian and Hall of Famer Tim Boggan will arrive at my house after driving downing from New York. He'll spend the day and night here, and then on Thursday morning we drive down to the Cary Cup Championships in Cary, NC. On Friday morning I'll play in the hardbat event there - I won it in 2010 and 2011. Then I'll be coaching the rest of the way, mostly with Derek Nie, as well as Tong Tong Gong and perhaps others. Then I come back with Derek and his family, playing auto bingo the whole way.
Ma Long Continues Battles with Zhang Jike
Here's the article, entitled "Ma Long Declares to Continue Competing Against Zhang Jike"
Mikael Appelgren in a Reality Show
Here's the article! "Yes, the legendary Mikael Appelgren will participate in a Swedish TV program called "Mästarnas mästar" (the master of masters). This is a contest program that gathers Swedish athletes from different disciplines. During the competition, they have to face physical and mental challenges, where their teamwork, perseverance and strategy are tested. On this occasion, the program will take place in the Peloponnese peninsula in southwestern Greece."
Michael Bolton Plays Table Tennis in Commercial
Here's a commercial (1:02) for Optimum Insurance that features American singer and songwriter Michael Bolton.
Ping-Pong Art Table for Kids
Here's the article and pictures from Table Tennis Nation.
Carolina Pong and Überpong Paddles
Here's a video (2:56) of Carolina Pong auditioning the new überpong paddles.
Table Tennis Clocks
I own two table tennis clocks, the first two listed below. The first one sits on my shelf behind my desk, and the second one I put up at the Maryland Table Tennis Center (in the back where I often teach junior classes). In honor of Daylight Savings Time (I'm only two days late), here are other pictures of table tennis clocks. (Here's where you can buy some of these.)
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Tip of the Week
Practicing for the Big Matches.
Daylight Savings Time
Daylight Savings Time took a bite out of a Sunday morning practice session. I coach a six-year-old on Sundays from 10-11AM. Because of DST, that was like 9-10AM. Still not too early, right? After all, kids get up much earlier than that for school, right? Well, not in this case. I think the kid was used to staying up a little later on Saturday night, and his sleep clock was way off. When he came out to play, he was half asleep - literally. A few minutes into the session he put his head on the table and either went to sleep, or at least closed his eyes for a minute. I got him up, but a few minutes later he did it again. I had him splash water on his face to wake up - it did the trick for a few minutes. Then he sort of stood up, closed his eyes, and seemed to fall asleep standing up. Anyway, the first thirty minutes of the session were more or less alternate practice and sleep, practice and sleep. Then he woke up.
He actually had a pretty good second half. For his age, he's developed a pretty good backhand, can even smash pretty hard. (I have to get him to slow down.) On the forehand he tends to face the table without rotating his shoulders, and this also leads to an awkward grip. So we spent much of the second half shadow practicing this properly, and though he at one point put his head on the table again for a short nap, he got the forehand right. Near the end he was smacking forehands pretty well, including 22 in a row at one point - and he's hitting them pretty hard. Not bad for a six-year-old who is very small for his age - he looks about four. We also did some serve practice.
We finished the session as he likes to, by stacking pyramids of cups on the table, which he knocks down with forehands and backhands as I feed multiball, including the never-ending quest to knock down "Scar," the nastiest paper cup in the world, distinguished by a blemish that was no doubt received in one of his many fights.
U.S. Open Entry Form
It's ready! See you in Las Vegas, July 2-6.
MVP Ma Long
Here's an article on Ma Long being the MVP of the 2012 Chinese Super League.
Table Tennis and Flags
They just go together, don't they? That's a Romanian flag.
Play Table Tennis with Timo Boll
Here's a video (1:04) showing what it's like to be Timo Boll in practice. I think they put a mini-video camera on his head so you see things as he sees them.
Girls and Women in Table Tennis
Here's a great video (3:22), Let's Do More for Girls and Women in Table Tennis.
Exhibition in Hawaii
Here's an exhibition in Hawaii (59:07) that was done back in 2007, with Matt & Len Winkler and Leo Lucas.
Imagination
Here's a great and hilarious new table tennis video (3:33), featuring a "grudge match" on a mini-table, with great special effects.
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Flu Update
It's much better than before, but I'm still sick. I won't bore (or sicken) you with the details, so let's just say I'm singlehandedly propping up the economy with my support of NyQuil, Campbell Soup, and Kleenex Industries and. If all goes well, I expect to be coaching at the club tomorrow morning. It'll be a short blog this morning, then (after a few other items on my todo list), it's back to bed.
Off-Table Serve Practice
Here's a way to develop your serves away from the table - and it may greatly improve them. Start with a simple exercise: toss a ball in the air as if serving, and spin it with your racket. Try to do this so the ball goes straight up so you can easily catch it. After you've mastered this, try varying the spin. Try spinning it with the racket moving side-to-side, in-and-out, and in both directions. Learn to do all sorts of spins this way, where you focus on sheer spin and control. When you can do this, you are only one step away from doing this with an actual serve.
Ma Long - Superman?
Here's an article on Ma Long, the "Superman of the Chinese Team." Includes links to several videos.
Liu Guoliang and Kong Linghui
Here's an article on these two titans of China, formerly superstar players and now coaches of the Chinese Men's and Women's National Teams.
LA Dodgers Ping-Pong
Here's an article from Table Tennis Nation on the LA Dodgers baseball team quickly becoming baseball's official ping-pong team.
Ping-Pong Making a Comeback
Here's an article and video (1:42) on how table tennis is "trending." Table tennis coach and player Matt Winkler is featured.
Cape Fear Table Tennis
Here's a documentary (11:26) on the Cape Fear Table Tennis Club in Fayetteville, NC.
Olympian Magazine
Here's a link to the online Olympian Magazine, both the new issue and past ones. Nothing directly table tennis related, but it might be of interest to some. One article might in particular jumped out at me (haven't read it yet) - "The Role of Deliberate Practice in Becoming an Expert Coach: Part 2 - Reflection." (Presumably there's a Part 1 in the previous issue.)
Behind the Back Training
Here's a video (19 sec) showing behind the back training on an iPong robot! That's Steven Chan doing the demo. (I'm jealous; because of stiff shoulders, behind-the-back shots are about the only "trick" shot in table tennis I've never mastered.)
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Recent and Future Technical Changes in High-Level Table Tennis
Here are what I consider the five biggest technical changes in table tennis over the last ten years, in no particular order. The last four were all being done ten years ago, but they've gone from a few players doing it to being commonplace at the higher levels.
- The rise of super-looping sponges that practically loop by themselves.
- Backhand banana flip, even against short serves to the forehand, turning the receive against short serves into a dangerous weapon.
- Off-bounce backhand loops as regular backhands.
- Reverse penhold backhand, making the conventional penhold backhand almost obsolete.
- Shovel serve, which is a forehand pendulum serve where at the last second before contact you can serve either serve regular or reverse pendulum serve, i.e. sidespin either way, or backspin or no-spin.
Here are three possible ones to come.
- Super-fast "hyperbolic serves" as a regular serve. These are serves where you hit the ball as hard as you possibly can, with the power going into both topspin and speed, just like a loop, allowing one to serve faster than was previously believed possible.
- Strawberry flips. This is the opposite of a banana flip, where your racket goes from left to right instead of right to left as with a banana flip (for righties). Many players have learned to sidespin this way, but more as a change-of-pace sidespin. A few players, such as Stefan Feth, can do a serious drive this way, so that the ball literally jumps away from you if he backhand flips it to your forehand (assuming both are righties).
- More off-the-bounce sidespin counterloops. Sidespin loops from off the table are about as good as they'll ever get, unless we get even better sponges. Players are already looping off the bounce with heavy topspin as a matter of routine. So the logical next step is to do this with sidespin, hooking and fading the ball at extreme angles. Lots of players do this occasionally, but imagine the player who perfects this as a routine shot.
Status: Tim Boggan's History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 13
This volume covers 1984, and brother (or should I say Big Brother), it covers it all! We've been working on the page layouts for three days now. Besides the covers (4 pages, including inside covers), we're through page 162 and chapter 9 out of 29. I've now fixed up and placed on the page (including captions and attributions) 343 graphics - just over two per page. I'm sort of featured in chapter 9, where he talks about the many coaching articles I wrote that year and the year before, and so I got a head shot. Then he treated me to dinner at the Outback.
USA Team Trials
Chinese Team Trials
China is also having their National Team Trials. Here's where you can see articles, results, and video.
The Serve and Backhand Attack of Seiya Kishikawa
Here's a video (4:00) where Seiya Kishikawa (world #28, recently as high as #16) demonstrates his serve and backhand attack. With English subtitles and lots of slow motion.
The Proper Way to Finish a Match
Here's video (16 seconds, including slow motion) the last point in the Chinese Team Trials between Ma Long and Fan Zhendong. Ma shows how to end a match.
You Can't Take the China Out of Coaching
Don't see it? Look at the word "coaching." After the "coa" you get "ching." Drop the tail off the "g" and what do you have left? (Of course we all know what "COA" stands for.) No, I didn't hear this somewhere - I just noticed it.
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Feb. 4 USATT Board Minutes and Tournament Sanction Changes
Late last night the minutes of the Feb. 4, 2013 board meeting went up. Part of it was the election of Mike Babuin as the new chairman of the USATT Board of Directors, and the Advisory Committee Chair Appointments (see segment below). However, the bigger news is the new sanctioning standards for USATT tournaments, from zero to 5-star. Here are the new rules. When I get a chance I'll go over them and give my own thoughts. I'll be glad to hear your own - feel free to comment.
Mike Babuin New Chairman of the USATT Board of Directors
The USATT Board chose Mike as the new Chair. I've had many discussions with Mike, and I think they've made a good choice. Here's the article, and here's the actual board minutes, both of which also discuss advisory committee chairs. Here is the list of all newly appointed or re-appointed USATT Advisory Committees chairs.
High Performance Committee - Carl Danner
Nominating and Governance Committee - Bob Fox
Ethics and Grievance Committee - Jim Coombe
Compensation Committee - Mike Babuin
Audit Committee - Peter Scudner
Athletes Advisory Council – Han Xiao
Officials and Rules Advisory Committee - Roman Tinyszin
Seniors Advisory Committee - Gregg Robertshaw
Tournaments Advisory Committee - Larry Rose
Editorial Advisory Committee - Jim McQueen
Clubs Advisory Committee - Attila Malek
Hardbat Advisory Committee - Alberto Prieto
Juniors Advisory Committee - Dennis Davis
Coaching Advisory Committee - Federico Bassetti
Marketing and Fund Raising Advisory Committee - Jim Kahler
Book Blatherings
Ma Long vs. Zhang Jike
Here's video (4:40) of their match at the 2013 Chinese Team Trials.
Pool-Pong
This is what happens when you combine pool and ping-pong (39 sec).
Underwater Table Tennis
With a shark!!! But of course sharks can play table tennis. Sometimes they even infest the table.
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Tip of the Week
Tactical Matches
Here are two examples of tactics used in matches this past weekend.
Last Thursday I wrote about a chopper who had spent much of the last year learning to forehand loop, going from an almost exclusively defensive chopper to having a very aggressive forehand. This weekend it paid dividends for him - well, almost. I usually eat choppers alive, but he wasn't really a "chopper" this match, as he kept attacking. The score went to 9-all in the fifth before I won the last two points. The key to what made him so difficult to play wasn't just his attacking; it was the threat of attacking. Besides his usually defensive play, he won points with his attack three ways:
The problem I had with his forehand counterloop is that it would catch me close to the table, and so I'd almost always block it. (I tried looping into his middle and wide forehand, but he ran them all down to counterloop over and over.) Then he'd swoop in and keep looping, and I'd usually end up fishing and lobbing. At 9-all in the fifth, he suddenly counterlooped - and I counterlooped off the bounce for a winner, a shot I used to be good at, but that I don't do nearly as often anymore. I may have to go for that shot more against him. Or I might work on dead-blocking the ball. I also probably need to go after his middle more in my first loop, where he's not as ready to counterloop. As it was, I was somewhat lucky to pull off that shot at 9-all, and could easily have lost this match.
In another match I played a really good two-winged hitter who, until now, simply couldn't return my serves. However, we've played a lot recently, and for the first time ever he did a decent job of returning my serves, and once in a rally, could hit really well. At this point I'd been at the club coaching and playing for eight hours, and I found myself unable to go through him with my attack, nor could I outlast him in rallies since I was too soft against his strong hitting due to exhaustion. (I had just finished playing the extremely tiring 11-9 in the fifth match against the chopper - see above.) After losing the first game - the first game I'd ever lost to him - I went to a simple strategy of pushing or chopping his serves back as heavy as I could. He had a nice hitting game, and could loop against normal backspins, but against these ginzo backspins, he fell apart. When he did manage to lift one up, it was too soft and usually short, so even exhausted I could smash them or block them hard to his middle. I won the next three games. The key was to commit to the heavy backspins so I knew in advance I would be doing them, and so could really load them up and control them.
More tactical examples coming tomorrow.
Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers - Kindle Situation
Two notes:
I should have the proof version of the print version tomorrow. I'm already planning a few changes, so after I check to make sure everything's coming out (I already wrote that I'm worried about the photo resolution), I'll upload the "final" version. It should be available a few days after that.
USA Team Trials
They start in three days, Thur-Sun, Feb. 7-10, at the Top Spin Club in San Jose, CA. They had a press conference on Saturday. Here are pictures and other info on the Trials. And here is the USATT's info page on the Trials.
Bojan Tokic Interview
Here's an interview with Bojan Tokic of Slovenia, world #25. Includes video.
The Awesomeness in Table Tennis
Here's a new highlights video (8:40).
Wang Liqin vs. Xu Xin
Here's video (3:59) of for world #1 Wang Liqin's incredible comeback from down 0-8 and 3-10 against world #1 Xu Xin at the 2013 Chinese team trials.
Table Tennis in Lagos
Here's two kids in Lagos playing table tennis using an old door balanced on stools as their table. Remember this next time you complain about your playing conditions!
The Table Tennis Collector
Here's issue #67 of The Table Tennis Collector. Here's what Editor and ITTF Museum Curator Chuck Hoey says about it:
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to announce the publication of issue number 67 in the Table Tennis Collector series. This is the 20th year of publication, beginning with 16 pages in black & white, and evolving to a 50-page issue in full color, free to all.
Many interesting articles in this issue, and a special report on missing World Championship scores that are needed to complete the historical record - please help!
Special thanks to our many contributors for sharing their research, including Alan Duke, Steve Grant, Fabio Marcotulli, Jorge Arango and John Ruderham, and our dedicated phiatelic collectors, Hans-Peter Trautmann, Winfried Engelbrecht, Tang Ganxian and Marc Templereau.
The pdf download is 10MB in size, so please allow extra time for the download to complete. This is a direct link: http://www.ittf.com/museum/TTC67.pdf
This issue, along with the entire series, can be accessed via my website: www.ittf.com/museum
Click the TT Collector icon and then select an issue to view.Hope you enjoy the new issue. As always, constructive feedback is welcome.
Best wishes from Switzerland.Chuck Hoey
Curator, ITTF Museum
Xu Xin Multiball
Here's video (37 sec) of world #1 Xu Xin doing multiball. See if you can match him!
Xu Xin and Ma Long Fooling Around
Here video (41 sec) of the current #1 and #3 players in the world goofing off. See if you can match their tricks! (Xu is the penholder, who starts out on the near side.)
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Rating Cutoffs at Nationals
There's been a lot of discussion recently about the ratings cutoffs at the USA Nationals. The problem is that at both the Nationals and the U.S. Open they use ratings from well before the tournament to determine eligibility, but up-to-date ratings from just before the tournament for seeding. There's a somewhat good reason for this. Players need to know in advance what events they are eligible for so they can schedule their travel and hotel. So they used to use these older ratings for both eligibility and seeding. But this led to players with very high ratings getting listed with much lower ratings, both for eligibility and seeding. So USATT decided to at least use the more recent ratings for seeding, even if it meant seeding a player with a rating that was over the cutoff. While this does make some sense, it leads to a lot of confusion and irritation when a player is listed with a rating that's over the cutoff.
How serious a problem is this? Below is a chart of the rating winners and runner-ups in rating events at the recent USA Nationals. (Here are the results.) Of the 15 Champions, 9 went in with ratings already over the cutoff. Of the 15 runner-ups, 4 went in with ratings over the cutoff.
|
Rating Event |
Winner |
Rating |
Eligible |
Runner-up |
Rating |
Eligible |
|
U-2400 RR |
Alto, Earl James |
2365 |
Yes |
Eider, Cory |
2474 |
No |
|
U-2300 RR |
Cheng, Newman |
2341 |
No |
Chow, Brandon |
2212 |
Yes |
|
U-2200 RR |
Seemiller Jr., Daniel R. |
2258 |
No |
Ruhlmann, Johannes |
2059 |
Yes |
|
U-2100 RR |
Shen, Kevin |
2018 |
Yes |
Ruhlmann, Johannes |
2059 |
Yes |
|
U-2000 RR |
Shen, Kevin |
2018 |
No |
Chan, Ming Yung |
1930 |
Yes |
|
U-1900 RR |
Yang, Grace |
1617 |
Yes |
Kumar, Nikhil |
1752 |
Yes |
|
U-1800 RR |
Wong, Jordan |
1857 |
No |
Kumar, Shivam |
1845 |
No |
|
U-1700 RR |
Lam, Benjamin |
1643 |
Yes |
Ackerman, Estee |
1578 |
Yes |
|
U-1600 RR |
Yung, Timothy |
1348 |
Yes |
Quant, Brandon |
1736 |
No |
|
U-1500 RR |
Bai, William |
1525 |
No |
Yung, Timothy |
1348 |
Yes |
|
U-1400 RR |
Bai, William |
1525 |
No |
Meredith, Aidan |
1248 |
Yes |
|
U-1300 RR |
Bai, William |
1525 |
No |
Nagvekar, Sanam |
816 |
Yes |
|
U-1200 RR |
Puri, Sahil |
1107 |
Yes |
Nagvekar, Sanam |
816 |
Yes |
|
U-1100 RR |
Puri, Sahil |
1107 |
No |
Chandrashekaran, Shreyas |
1072 |
Yes |
|
U-1000 RR |
Puri, Sahil |
1107 |
No |
Chandrashekaran, Shreyas |
1072 |
No |
How can they fix this problem? They could switch to using more recent ratings, but the problem with that (before) was there wasn't an easy way to notify players if they were no longer eligible for an event. But now USATT keeps player emails on their database, so they can easily notify players of changes. So they can email the player and ask if they want a refund or to play in the next higher event they hadn't entered in, and give them 24 hours to respond (after which they'd be automatically put in the next higher event). Or they could just put a checkbox on the entry form for players to check their preference. It shouldn't be that difficult to make such a change, other than the usual organizational inertia.
One suggestion I've heard is that players with ratings over the cutoff should simply be allowed to play, but not be allowed to advance out of their preliminary round robin group. But why would a player over the cutoff of a rating event want to play in the preliminary RR group if he can't advance?
One thing us older players have to accept is that rating events will tend to be dominated by junior players. Juniors both learn faster and are often training regularly with coaches. However, that doesn't mean they can't be beat - you just have to play well and play smart. (Remember the old saying - youth and skill can't beat age and treachery!) This might help - my article How to Play Wildly Attacking Junior Players.
Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers
The covers are done, both back and front. (For the formatting I'm using, it's actually one big cover, connected in the middle with the rectangle that has the text on the binding.) The front cover features my fellow coach and former Chinese and USA national team member Cheng Yinghua serving, with the ball he's tossed up forming the "o" in the "for" in the title: "Table Tennis for Thinkers." Looking down over him is a head shot of Rodin's "The Thinker" looking down over him.
The back cover has three pictures of me coaching matches, including Todd Sweeris at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials (he made the team); coaching John and Nathan Hsu in doubles at the 2012 Junior Olympics; and coaching Derek Nie and Seyed Hesam Hamrahian in doubles at the 2012 USA Nationals. I didn't choose the latter two pictures because of the doubles, but because they were nice pictures. I was a little hesitant on the photo that included Seyed, since I don't normally coach him (he's from Ohio, the others pictured all are, or were, players from MDTTC), but he played the junior teams with Derek, and it was a nice picture. (There's still a chance I might change some of the pictures.) I'll post pictures later.
I have a few notes on some minor things to fix, mostly involving layouts. Then I print the whole thing out and do a very thorough line by line editing. If all goes well, it'll be on sale by the end of February, in "Print on Demand" (POP) and ebook formats.
After it goes on sale I'll get to work on getting my other books into POP and ebook formats, and then I'll do an advertising blitz everywhere, with a new web page devoted to selling those books.
Ask Timo Boll a Question
If you could ask Timo Boll one question, what would it be? You can submit it here, care of Adam Bobrow, and that question might get asked when Timo plays at Spin LA this Saturday from 6-10PM. Or you can "like" the questions already there that you like. The questions with the most "likes" will most likely be the ones asked. And since we're on the subject of Timo Boll, here's a video (10:00) of a great match of his against Ma Long at the 2009 Qatar Open.
Ma Long's Backhand Flip
Here's a video (3:25) that features the backhand flip of China's Ma Long, world #3, world #1 for all of 2010 and eight months of 2011. (Overseas they call this shot a flick instead of a flip, but it's a backhand attack of a short ball, usually against one with backspin.) It shows it in both regular and slow motion. There's also some commentary in Chinese. Ma Long was the primary player who revolutionized receive by favoring the backhand receive against short balls to the forehand instead of doing using a forehand flip, as most coaches would urge, arguing that it drew you into a backhand position. Ma often flips with his backhand against a short ball to his forehand, and covering the entire table on the next shot with his big forehand loop.
Swimming Pool Ping-Pong
It's raining outside, which inspired me to show you this picture of two players playing table tennis in a swimming pool. Then I realized that this means that somewhere, someone is actually selling these swimming pool ping-pong sets, and some of you might want to buy one. So I searched, and found you can get one for $49.99 ("was $99.99) at In the Swim. You can also get it at Amazon, but there the price is $76.47.
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Beginner's Forehand & Backhand Loop
One week ago, on Jan. 3, I wrote about a "Beginner's Topspinny Backhand and Forehand Looping." This was about an 11-year-old who was learning to forehand loop, and was developing a rather topspinny backhand. I worked with him again yesterday. Jackpot!!!
When I say "Jackpot," I'm referring to how fast he picked up the forehand loop against topspin, which I taught him for the first time yesterday using multiball. We worked on it for 30 minutes, and he was able to do it pretty nicely. He still has a tendency to jam the table and rush the shot (leading to too much arm, not enough body rotation), so I kept reminding him to step off the table to give himself time to use a full body shot - but when I remind him, he has no trouble backing off and doing the shot properly without rushing. (Backing off against an incoming topspin and giving yourself time is key to learning the loop properly, since it's a longer stroke than a regular drive, and the timing is different. When you are proficient at the shot you can start taking it closer to the table.)
He also has a tendency to use too much arm in general, but we're working on that, and when he backs off to give himself time he's better at that. Overall, a very nice first day on looping against topspin. Next session I may let him try it "live" against my block - but only if he's doing it very nicely in multiball.
He's also got a nice backhand loop now against backspin in drills (though he doesn't use it effectively in game situations yet), and really does topspin the ball quite a bit in regular rallies. Yesterday I figured out why, and it's sort of funny. I coach him every week at the same time, and at that same time every week, on the table next to us, Nathan Hsu (16), currently the top-rated junior in Maryland at 2351, has a training session. Nathan always plays on the same side of the table I'm on, so my 11-year-old student has a clear view of Nathan while he's practicing. Nathan's known for his ferocious backhand loop, which he often does close to the table. Guess what? The two have matching strokes!!! The kid I've been coaching, whether consciously or not, has been copying Nathan's backhand.
USATT Coaches of the Year
The results are out! (The page includes shot bios of the winners.) The winners are:
Ma Long's Forehand Loop
Here's 23 seconds of 2012 World Cup Winner and former #1 Ma Long's forehand loop.
Schlager's Backhand Block
Here's 53 seconds of 2003 World Champion Werner Schlager backhand blocking against teammate Karl Jindrak.
Ruth Aarons' and Sandor Glancz's Exhibition
Here's 58 seconds of 1936 & 1937 World Women's Singles Champion Ruth Aarons (USA's only world singles champion) and 1933 World Men's Doubles Champion and 3-time World Team Champion Sandor Glancz doing an exhibition, circa late 1930s.
Justin Bieber's Ping-Pong
Here's 41 seconds of Pencils of Promise star Justin Bieber's ping-pong. I think he's famous for other stuff too.
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How to Deal with Beginners at a Club
This is a semi-regular topic at table tennis forums, so I thought I'd address it.
Believe it or not, I actually did a skit on this for the USA Table Tennis Board of Directors about 10-12 years ago. It was probably the only skit ever done during one of their live meetings - and you wonder why I can never convince them to do anything!!!
They were discussing how to increase membership, a perennial topic for discussion, but rarely one for action. The problem was that none of the people in the discussion had any serious experience at the club level, which of course is where you get new players. (I've been doing this for decades.) The question of increasing USATT membership and how to deal with beginners at a club really are the same thing. In both cases we are trying to convert non-serious players into serious players - which mostly means converting one of the 15 million or so recreational players into one of 9000 USATT members. (That's roughly a 1700-1 ratio; we aren't converting very well.)
There are three types of beginners. (I'll get to them in a minute.) I'd explained this to the board numerous times, but generally to deaf ears, often to people with strong opinions that are not based on hands-on experience. I needed to find a way to get their attention and show them what really happens at the club level, and how we can convert these three types of new players into USATT members. It was while sitting in that board meeting, listening to discussions on how to increase membership by people who didn't know how to, that I hit on the idea of a skit to get their attention.
So I raised my hand and asked if I could give a short presentation on the subject. Since, for once, they weren't in a rushed schedule - they'd put aside something like an hour for the discussion - they agreed. So I told them I was going to act out the three most common types of interactions with new players - and note that this was exactly the same in table tennis and tennis, except that in tennis (and other successful sports) they had learned to address the needs of these three types of new players.
The skit was in three parts. For each part I actually walked out the door, and then came in. I played the part of both the new player and the club officer.
Part 1: I came in and said, "Hi, I'm a new player and I'd like play somebody." Playing the part of the club officer, and knowing that new player usually means beginner, and knowing that if I put a beginner up against an advanced player he'd get killed and we'd likely never see him again, I told him about our leagues, where he'd play players his own level. He played in the league against players his level, met new players, made friends, and became a regular at the club and a USATT member.
Part 2: I came in and said, "Hi, I'm a beginner, and I'd like to learn how to play better." Playing the part of the club officer, I told him about our coaching programs for beginners, both group sessions and private coaching. He signed up, learned about the sport, met new players, made friends, and became a regular at the club and a USATT member.
Part 3: I came in, and using a woman's voice, said, "Hi, my two kids would like to play table tennis." Playing the part of the club officer, I told them about our junior program. They signed up, made friends, and became regulars at the club and USATT members. And one of them went on to become National Champion.
I then explained that if a club doesn't have programs for these three types, then we lose them. (I also explained there's also a fourth type - a very small minority - which is the crazy guy who comes in, loses badly to everyone, but sticks around and becomes a serious player. They are rare, and are the ones we currently rely on for our membership (along with players from overseas).Hence the 1700-1 ratio.
How do we address these needs? For the player looking to play (Part 1), the answer is leagues. Until we have a nationwide network of leagues for players of all levels, we will keep losing these players. For the player who wants to learn more and for kids, we need more coaches. In both cases, either USATT or someone else has to take the lead in setting up these leagues, and in recruiting and training coaches.
Table tennis has done this in countries all over the world, and other sports have done so in the U.S. and all over the world. As I've blogged in the past, in Europe, nearly every country has more members in their table tennis association than their tennis association - because they address the needs of the new player. In the U.S., USTA has over 700,000 members to our 9000 - about an 80-1 ratio. If table tennis addressed the needs of new players as tennis does, and as table tennis does elsewhere, then we'd also have 700,000 members or more. But it's not going to happen by talking about it. It'll happen when someone does something about it.
I may actually take the lead in the coaching aspect, i.e. recruiting and training coaches. I've been toying with it for a while, but I'm too busy right now. USATT doesn't seem to have interest in acting on these issues, at least right now.
Petition for Table Tennis in School Curriculums
Last month I posted about this petition. Here it is again! (I'm the fifth signee; they need 25,000 by Jan. 11, 2013.) The petition is to do the following:
Include and recognize the sport of Table Tennis Aka "Ping Pong" as part of a school's athletic curriculum of choice.
Table Tennis should be included as part of a school's athletic curriculum of choice to participate and play. The sport isn't only a recreational past time but also an Olympic sport. The sport is considered and recognized relevant by other cultures. The sport is cost effective, fights the obesity problem among young Americans, and is non discriminatory. The sport can be easily incorporated in a schools current athletic curriculum, and easily be taught. Tables should be put on all middle schools to encourage start up programs. There are plenty of qualified coaches in the United States that would love the opportunity to teach and coach this fast growing sport. Starting in middle schools will also identify talented kids and Olympic hopefuls. This is the way It's done in China and Europe.
Review of the New Plastic Ball
Part 2 (14:35) just went up of the Plastic Ball Review from OOAK Reviews, "High speed filming of tests to compare relative rebound speed, bounce and spin." (On Wednesday I linked to Part 1, "Why the change and a comparison of their physical appearance.") Here's their home page, which links to both videos. I'll post here when Part 3 goes up, "Players from our Premier Division who have different styles of play and use different types of equipment try out the three balls and give their opinions on them."
World Championship of Ping Pong
It's being held this weekend, in London - but this isn't the World Table Tennis Championships; this is a sandpaper event, with $100,000 in prize money!!! (That includes $20,000 to the winner.) Here's the home page. Good luck to USA players Ty Hoff, Adoni Maropis, and Ilija Lupulesku!
Corkscrew Spin and Google
So you want to know what corkscrew spin is? This is where the ball spins so that the axis of rotation points away from you. Here's an example of clockwise corkscrew spin: just cut & paste "Do a barrel roll" into a Google engine - for most of us, it's the default search engine so you can just put this in your regular search box, or you can go to Google directly - and there it is!
Wang Liqin vs. Ma Long
Here's a great match (12:05, with time between points removed) between these two in a 2012 China Super League match
Best Table Tennis Clips of the Year
Table Tennis Nation chose the three best table tennis clips of the year, and the grand champion from those three. Two of them are paralympic players!
Amazing Shots While Rolling Around on Ground
Here's the video (1:12).
Modern Age Meets the Stone Age
Here's an iPong robot on a cement table. There's something really wrong about this. It's like a caveman with a machine gun.
Table Tennis Fun with Kids and a Panda
Kids and a Panda show how fun table tennis is in this video from PingSkills (2:23).
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