Summer Table Tennis Training Camps
Summer is coming, and it's time to plan for your summer training needs!!! Email me if you'd like me to add you to the listing below - I will likely link back to it numerous times. (With apologies to those missed - I put out a note last week asking for those running camps to contact me, plus I listed the ones I already knew about. I visited many of the major full-time clubs to find info on their camps, and listed those I could find.)

Why would you go to a table tennis camp? The simple answer is . . . to get better. But many would say, "I can train at my home club, why go to a camp?" At a camp, besides getting expert coaching, you get intensive training typically for five days, which is enough time to dramatically improve your game. This type of saturation training will lead to far more improvement than just practicing on and off for longer periods of time. Plus, it's a memorable event - you love table tennis, and this is a table tennis vacation! Some of my best table tennis memories are from the late 1970s when I was a regular at the Seemiller Camps. (I...

Table Tennis Happenings

• U.S. Nationals Entry Form. Here it is!  (I'd use the pop-out version - easier to read and print.) Hope to see you there - I'll be there.
• USATT Board Meeting. We had a teleconference at 7PM Monday, which lasted over two hours. Main topics included approval of the minutes of the March 12 and 26 teleconference meetings (they should go online soon on the USATT Minutes and Actions page); notice and discussion of a potential new bylaws involving USADA for compliance with the Ted Stevens Act; Discussion about Para Data Protection Guidelines; Discussion about USTTA Foundation and USATT Financial Statements; and Events Update (World Veterans, 2018 U.S. Nationals, 2018 U.S. Open, and 2020 World Championships)....

Tip of the Week
How to Return Nets and Edges.

Susan Backed Pingpong Parlor Coming to D.C. - SPiN Washington!
Here's the article. I think it's great we'll have one nearby! They really are a different type of club, going for the upper-scale recreational player, with more of a party atmosphere. I've been to the SPiN NY club twice, and had fun playing there. They now have (or will soon) clubs in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Philadelphia, Seattle, Austin, and now DC. Here is their main web page. Here's their About Us page, which explains their interesting history. (Addendum added Monday afternoon: As I drove to my shoulder therapy session after lunch they were talking about the new table tennis club on the radio! It was on WTOP - 103.5FM.)

Their location is right in the...

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...