November 17, 2014

Tip of the Week

Smooth Acceleration + Grazing Contact = Great Spin.

(This is an updated and expanded version of what was originally a blog entry from a while back.)

Hodge Podge

It was another busy weekend, with lots of stuff to report - hence the heading.

I had an interesting learning experience with one seven-year-old I coach. He's one of the more advanced ones, one you'll likely be hearing about in a few years. He can loop from both wings, and is learning to be more and more consistent, and already has great power. There are a few problems with his technique which I'm working on - too long a backswing, and a tendency to let his free arm hang loose and so not always using the left side of his body. He's tried my racket out, and loves it, and is always trying to borrow it. At first I thought it was too fast for him - a Timo Boll ALC with Tenergy on both sides (05 and 25). But when he borrowed it in drills, his shots got better and better! His father noticed this as well. We discussed it, and finally decided he's ready. So he's borrowing my backup blade (the same racket and sponge), and will soon get a new one. (He currently uses a Timo Boll All-round, with Roundell sponge.)

The old paradigm of starting with slow equipment is still true, but when a kid is training regularly with a coach and has the fundamentals mostly down, the tendency more and more these days is to move him to more advanced equipment sooner than before. This allows him to more easily do advanced shots, and so advance faster than if he were inhibited by equipment that made these shots more difficult to do.

I admonished one of our top juniors for losing a match this past weekend because he kept going to the opponent's backhand instead of going after his middle, which was the "book" on the player. Alas, I didn't coach the match and wasn't there, but was told about it later. C'mon, players, you don't go to the backhand and look for chances to attack the middle; attacking the middle is almost always the default place to go!

I currently have Saturdays off, which is rare for a coach. But I'm looking to move things around so I get either Mondays or Tuesdays off. If so, then I'm looking to start up an advanced training group in Saturdays (primarily for juniors, but others may be welcomed), along with a new beginners class. If all goes well, they'll start up in January.

Here are some great quotes from kids I coached this weekend:

  • Kid #1, who was doing a side-to-side footwork drill and wasn't too happy about it: "My legs are cranky."
  • Kid #2, who was trying to concentrate in an improvised game where he had to serve and backhand loop against backspin, but kept having lapses. Player: "You're distracting me." Me: "I didn't say anything." Player: "You were thinking something."
  • "I killed Scar!" We often end sessions with the younger kids by having them stack paper cups and then knock them down as I feed multiball. Many of the cups have names! The "evil" cup is named Scar, and it is the goal of every kid in the sessions to kill him, i.e. knock him off the table. Actually, the "I killed Scar!" quote happened over and over this weekend.

During the beginning junior session on Sunday (4:30-6:00PM), we had a mixture of white and orange training balls (about half each), and the younger kids (ages 7-9) decided that we would use only orange balls with the robot, and white balls with my multiball. So they began segregating the balls! They were very studious about this. But one kid rebelled and kept putting white balls in the robot, and orange balls in my multiball box. Pandemonium! At that age little things become important, and it led to two kids crying and a near fight as the rebellious kid kept going against the majority. I pulled him aside and told him I agreed with him that it normally didn't matter which balls went where - but for now, the other kids on ball pickup duty were having a lot of fun working together to keep the balls separate, and so why not go along? He wouldn't, and so things got weirder and weirder. I finally found a solution - I kept the rebellious kid on the robot or with me the last 20 minutes, which didn't seem fair to the others (who got less table tennis time), but the other kids wanted it that way. They were having more fun keeping the balls segregated than actually playing!

I got involved recently in a couple of discussions in online table tennis forums. Alas, it's almost always a mistake for me. There's always a troll waiting, either looking to make a name for himself by going after me, or just being a troll. It's too bad as some of these "trolls" do have something to offer, but most seem to be relatively low-level players or coaches who could learn a lot if they'd listen and discuss more, and rip into others less. The primary problem is often inflexible thinking, where one decides something and absolutely will not consider the idea that perhaps his initial thinking isn't completely correct. I learn things as well, often about equipment, which is probably where I'm least knowledgeable as a coach. I know when to keep my mouth shut - when former U.S. Team Member Han Xiao, who has one of the best close-to-the-table backhand loops in the country, talked about backhand looping a few days ago, I closed my mouth except to ask questions, and picked up a few pointers! (And I used to coach and train with him - he began at my club at age seven.) I've also recently learned some subtle stuff on footwork, which I may share later.

In one recent case, one of these "trolls" began posting stuff about how I had made all these claims about how a racket flexes at contact, even claiming I'd made specific claims about the length of these flexes! (He firmly believes that rackets do not flex at contact.) I've never done this, and I still don't know if the person had me mixed up with someone else, or was simply being an ingenious troll. But the troller very insultingly insisted I'd posted these items, but refused to give any source, responding to any queries on this with more insults. Alas. And I really would have liked to discuss it and learn something about racket flex!!! But it would primarily be theoretical knowledge as I have a pretty firm grasp of the practical implications. Knowing specifically how or if a racket flexes at contact isn't as important for a coach as knowing what types of apparent flexing leads to what type of shots, ball control, feeling, etc.

Sunday night was Ice Cream and TV Night in Larry Land. Sunday night is always my TV night (I go easy the rest of the week), where I currently get to watch, back-to-back, The Simpsons, The Walking Dead, The Talking Dead, and The Newsroom. Once a month I splurge on ice cream, usually a hot fudge banana split. But last night a strange thing happened - the ice cream wasn't so fulfilling. I actually really wanted some King Pao Chicken, but it was ice cream night, so ice cream it was. I've been doing this once a month for over twenty years, but you know what? Next month when I do this, I may change it to Kung Pao Chicken Night. We'll see. (This is also why I'm always a bit later getting the blog up on Mondays. I not only have a weekend's accumulation of stuff and the Tip of the Week to write, but I'm also up late on Sunday nights.)

As noted previously, I applied to run for the At-Large position on the USATT Board. The deadline to apply was Friday, and I sent my materials in well in advance - two signed forms, 25+ signatures from adult USATT members, and a one-page statement. The USATT Nominating and Governance committee will announce who is on the ballot by this Friday.

Implementing the European Backhand Loop

Here's the new video (10:10) from Brian Pace.

Forehand Topspin

Here's the video (2:31) by Australian Coach Brett Clarke. He has a highly entertaining way of teaching! But stick with him as he brings out the stuffed bear to demonstrate proper technique.

Play Relaxed Table Tennis

Here's the article from Expert Table Tennis.

11-Part Review of Plastic Balls

Here's the page which links to all eleven videos created by Preston TTA.

Ask the Coach

Episode #28 - Using Your Show as a Bat 10:46.

  • PingSkillers Question of the Day - 0:37: Who is your inspiration?
  • Question 1 - 2:45: I've recently seen your video about amazing tricks where you played holding a shoe. This reminded me of a video of Zhang Jike where he returned ball with his shoe (worn shoe). Is that legal? And how can I perform it? Siddharth Shah
  • Question 2 - 4:02: Whenever I try to loop the ball or topspin the ball I've noticed that it's easier to loop whenever I get lower. I am able to have more leverage on the ball. Is this a good solution? Todd Fee
  • Question 3 - 5:39: What is the reason that so many players use a thinner sponge on their backhand than on their forehand side? To me as a beginner who wants to develop forehand and backhand equally, this wouldn´t make sense, right? Thomas Kunzfeld
  • Question 4 - 7:00: I noticed that in videos from the 80s and before, players tended to bounce the ball off the floor before points. In contrast, players today tend to bounce the ball on the table, if at all. What caused this change? Was a rule created? BG

"TOP SPIN" Video Interview

Here's the video (9:50) as they interview the players (Ariel Hsing, Lily Zhang, and Erica Wu), Co-Director/Producer Mina T. Son, and Co-Director/Editor Sara Newens. The movie "Top Spin" premiered this weekend.

USATT's CEO's Letter to Top Spin the Movie

Here's the letter from USATT CEO Gordon Kaye.

USATT's First ITTF Regional Referee

Here's the USATT article on Michael Meier. He is the first to qualify for the new category of referee, the Regional Referee.

Bruce Lee Ping Pong

Some of you have seen the infamous video of Bruce Lee apparently playing like a pro using nunchuks as a racket. Here's a page that links to the video and also explains its history and that it's all faked. As I've blogged before, it's a Bruce Lee lookalike in a Nokia commercial! But the world is now full of people who believe it's real.

Fan Zhendong Goes Around the Net Twice

Here's the video (55 sec). Although he raises his hand in apology about the apparent edge the second time, I think it's clearly a side ball - wonder how the umpire called it?

"The Longest Table Tennis Rally of All Time"

Here's the video (2:02). It's not even close to being the longest rally of all time (in a serious match) - that would be the two hour 12 minute rally at the 1936 World Championships between Alex Ehrlich of Poland and Paneth Farkas of Romania. But it's still a really long rally between Ai Fukuhara and chopper Hu Limei at 2014 ITTF Swedish Open that ends when the umpire finally calls expedite.

Table Tennis Harder Than It Appears

Here's the article that features college table tennis.

Kellam High in Virginia Beach Kicks off School Ping Pong Club

Here's the article by Dean Johnson.

Kalinikos Kreanga - The Power of Backhand

Here's the video (2:57) - and it not only shows some incredible backhands, but some great forehand play as well!

StellanBeng Table Tennis

Here's the video (10:58) that features table tennis legend and coach Stellan Bengtsson, along with wife and USATT Hall of Famer Angelita Rosal Bengtsson.

Australian Olympic Coach Shows Guam's Students How to Play Ping-Pong

Here's the video (2:05) as Alois Rosario of PingSkills puts on a great demonstration. (This is from 2010, but I hadn't seen it before.) I learned a new one which I'm going to copy - the catch-ball-in-shoe-and-dump-on-other-side trick.

Inclusion Table Tennis

Here's a video (2:22) about this "racquetball" version of table tennis. Here's an article on it in the Brown Daily Herald.

Yan An vs TableTennisDaily's Dan on a Mini Table with Oversized Rackets

Here's the video (7:44).

The Art of Ping-Pong

Here's the article and 21 pictures from The Guardian of Britain.

Table Tennis Jokes

Here are some pages with table tennis jokes.

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