August 6, 2013

MDTTC Camps

Another day, another camp. We've been running these five-day camps at MDTTC since 1992. My best estimate is that we've run over 170 of them, and I've been at nearly all of them. That's over 800 days of camp, almost 2.5 years. I've given each of my lectures 170 times, led in stretching (twice a day, except I missed the afternoon session sometimes so I took off 100) about 1500 times, and (I just did some quick calculations) fed about seven million balls in multiball. Yesterday's focus (as it was about 170 previous times on day two) was the backhand. This is in addition to at least 30 other camps (most about five days long) that I'd coached at before we opened MDTTC.

I noticed an interesting dynamic among some of our developing juniors. Compared to other juniors from other programs, I think our juniors tend to have better backhands (especially looping), but less power on the forehand. Our juniors tend to develop more forehand power later in their junior careers. Right now we have several of them who are in slumps as they are trying to loop with more forehand power, which (initially) leads to inconsistency, as well as problems with other aspects of their games. (More focus on the forehand means less focus on other parts of their games, plus if the first loop comes back, they aren't used to the different timing since it often comes back quicker.) The good news is they've chosen good times for this - during the summer, the best time to work on your game since there aren't many tournaments, and they are off school and so can really work on these things. Hopefully by the fall the juniors in question here will have mastered the extra power. (Much of it comes from extra hip rotation.)

Rule Changes

Isn't it amazing how the game has changed since I started playing? Here's a short listing of rule and regulation changes since I started playing in 1976. Two-color rule; paddle point rule rescinded (where you lost the point if your opponent hit the ball off the end but it hit your paddle); six-inch toss; 40mm ball; 11-point games; two consecutive serves instead of five; hidden serves made illegal; aspect ratio rule; frictionless long pips banned; timeouts; ball resting freely in palm of hand (instead of ball in palm of hand) and probably others I haven't thought of.

I was involved or responsible for three of these rule changes - the "ball resting freely in hand" rule (which I caused - wait'll you hear that story, and why the subtle wording change makes a difference!); the rescinding of the paddle point rule; and I was one of the vocal protesters that helped lead to the two-color rule. I'll write about these tomorrow since I'm running out of time and have to coach at the camp this morning.

Question: anyone know where I can find the aspect ratio rule? This is the rule or regulation that restricts the ratio of the height of the pips to the width in pips-out surfaces. Here are the ITTF rules and regulations, but I can't find it there.

Forehand Loop Video

Here's a nice video (4:02) on forehand looping which I don't think I had seen before.

Kunal Chodri

Here's the ITTF article (and picture) on USA's 13-year-old Kunal's exploits at the Korea Junior and Cadet Open, including his upset of top seed Hugo Calderano of Brazil. Alas, he lost in the next round to Park Jeongwoo of Korea.

ITTF Pongcast

Here's the new ITTF Pongcast (12:58), just out yesterday, covering the month of July. "This month the Pongcast reviews the 4 ITTF events that happened across the globe and all the news within the ITTF." The U.S. Open is included.

Steffen Fetzner's Dream Job

The former World Men's Doubles Champion has a job testing table tennis equipment. Here's the article.

Which Sport is Best - Horseshoes, Pickleball, Table Tennis, or Shuffleboard?

Here's the article on this question asked at the National Senior Games. Best answers:

"Table tennis, because those people are amazing. I was watching how aggressive they are and being able to keep it on that little table. It was very impressive."
-- Allen Sullivan, 52, Harpers Ferry, W.Va., volleyball

"Table tennis because of the speed of the game and the accuracy that you need. It's just something that would probably take me years to master."
-- Garry Bonnemere, 66, Rochester, N.Y., basketball

"Ping Pong (table tennis). The other ones don't move around enough for me. I'm highly competitive and those sports don't do it for me."
-- John Martin, 67, Harwood, Md., bowling

"Obviously, table tennis. Table tennis is a great sport. I see people playing it in their 90s and there are very few sports where you can do that. It's good hand-eye coordination and you can be as active in the game as you want."
-- Robert Duperron, 59, Manchester, N.H., table tennis

Jimmy Fallon vs. Prince

Here's the story and video (41:24) from Table Tennis Nation.

A Way to Practice Serves

Here's a video (1:16) of a trick serve for you heavy sidespin servers! I do a version of this as a demo for students, with a target placed on the far right of the table, but not quite this extreme. I may have to try this one.

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