Why?

1. Because I'm totally exhausted from running the 3-star Butterfly MDTTC April Open this weekend, plus teaching a class Sunday night.
2. Because Tuesday the power will be out from 7AM to 5PM for electrical repairs. (They were supposed to do this a few weeks ago but it got postponed at the last minute.)
3. Because I have to put together the write-up, formatted results, and photos for the tournament.
4. Because I have to do catch up on some writing projects.
5. Just because!

But to tide you over until Wednesday, here's Ukulele Pong (14 sec), with Mary Lieu!

Michael Maze Short Push
Denmark star Michael Maze retired in 2016 after a series of injuries, but recently has been training for a comeback at age 36. He's a former top ten player, who won the bronze medal in Men's Doubles at the 2004 Olympics, made the semifinals of Men's Singles at the 2005 Worlds, won the Europeans Men's Singles Championships in 2009, and made the quarterfinals of Men's Singles at the 2012 Olympics. At the 2005 Worlds he beat two Chinese players, Wang Hao (Men's Singles Silver Medalist at the 2004 Olympics and world #1 or #2 at the time) and Hao Shuai, often lobbing them down. Against Hao in the quarterfinals he was down 0-3 and saved three match points before winning in one of the great comebacks in history. He's a lefty looper, and probably the best lobber in the world. But he's also known for his soft touch, such as in receive. 

Here's a video (1:35, some of it in slow motion) of him practicing his...

Off This Morning
I have to take this morning off from blogging. I'd like to say it's for some big table tennis reason, but actually it's because I'm in a pair of upcoming writing workshops, and have to read and do extensive critiques on seven science fiction & fantasy short stories. Don't worry, I'll be back to table tennis tomorrow! (Actually, I also have to do player evaluations for about ten junior players from our Talent program, so as soon as I finish the SF critiques I switch back to TT.) I plan to spend the day working at the eatery at Lake Forest Mall, so if you are local, stop by and say hello. (But I really, Really, REALLY need to get this work done, so no more than a few minutes and then I have to get back to work.) But to entertain you this morning, here's Plate Bouncing Pong (31 sec)!

What It Takes to Be Great - and How to Beat the Chinese
Here's a nice video showing what it takes to be a top player: Coming-of-Age of the Ping Pong Kiddo (12:15). It features a kid in China - one of many thousands - who is striving to be the best, and what type of training this means. (Thanks to John Olsen who sent the link to me.)

This is the type of training that goes on all over the world, often out of sight of even local players, who often don't realize how many hours these kids with their coaches are training. I see it on a daily basis at my club, Maryland Table Tennis Center, and it's happening all over the U.S. in training centers, and all over the world. But the sport is more "serious" in China, and so there are far more kids training full time, and making it their top priority, then anywhere else in the world. Even the best U.S. players have to focus more on school (or at most, equally so), and so it's hard to compete against a system where table tennis is the central focus, with numbers far larger than anywhere else. But it can be...