February 5, 2014

Today's Blog…

…will be shorter than usual. Because of our after-school program, and because I'm rather busy on weekends, I've worked every day this entire year (other than Jan. 1 and two days when I had the flu). Due to icy conditions, local schools are closed today, so no afterschool program. I normally have three hours of coaching on Wednesday nights, but two are off today, so only one hour today. (Plus a dental appointment at 11AM.) So I'm basically taking the day off, though I'll likely use it to catch up on things, such as working on my upcoming book Table Tennis Tips.

Poly Ball

  • My Thoughts on the Poly Ball: They are pretty simple. I haven't really looked into how or why the rule is coming into place - there's a lot of controversy about it. To me it's very simple: do the new balls play like the celluloid ones? The newest one that came out by Xushaofa plays very similar. (I blogged about this on Dec. 26 - see second segment.) According to this article (which I linked to yesterday), the balls are accepted by the Chinese team and endorsed by Ma Long. So I'll accept them as well. Personally, however, I'd rather stick with celluloid, as would many others. For those who would like to fight the change, see next item.
  • Petition to Keep Celluloid Balls: Here's an online petition to keep Existing Celluloid Table Tennis Balls.
  • ITTF Approved Poly Balls: Yesterday I wrote about the ITTF approving the first plastic ball, the Xushaofa. This morning there are two more up, the DHS 40+ and the Double Fish 40+. Here's the listing.
  • Liu Guoliang considers the Poly Ball a "potential hazard."

Serving by Bengtsson

Here's an article on Serving by top coach and 1971 World Champion Stellan Bengtsson. (The article is from 2010, but I don't think I've ever linked to it.)

The iRacket

Here it is! (Why do I have this sudden urge to invade some other country? Think about it until it comes to you.)

Care for a Little Outdoor Table Tennis While it Snows?

Here are some snowy ping-pong table pictures.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Table Tennis Superbowl Ad

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the ad (14:39), where they interview Ian Rappaport, the "unsuspecting" person who had the wild night in the ad. They discuss the table tennis aspect starting at 4:15. "I'm a big ping-pong player," Ian says. (Here's the complete ad (3:44), which ran in several parts. The table tennis starts exactly two minutes in. "Prepare to be crushed in tiny tennis," says the long-haired wigged Arnold.)

Non-Table Tennis - Win a Free Copy of Sorcerers in Space!

Here's the online raffle where you can win a copy of my humorous fantasy novel. Or just buy it here (save a few dollars) or at Amazon. (Available in print or ebook format. Stars a kid who has to put aside is table tennis ambitions to save the world!)

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