June 17, 2015

MDTTC Camp and Coaching

Yesterday felt like one of the most exhausting days ever, probably because it was. Imagine coaching a group of 6-to-10-year olds for three hours, eating lunch, frantically reading a must-read document for an hour, then coaching the kids again another three hours, then doing 90 minutes of private coaching, then doing this blog (so I wouldn’t have to get up extra early this morning to do it). All in a day’s work for many full-time coaches, but it left me exhausted, as it has the many times I’ve had to do this before in our camps. But I’m getting older, and it’s not so easy anymore! (There are about 40 players in the camp.)

Several of the kids in my group were near-beginners, so we did a lot of work on fundamentals. Quite honestly, a few seemed pretty untalented at the beginning but surprised me with their progress as the day progressed. At the end, nearly all of them were able to hit the bottle of “squeezed worm juice,” and I was forced to drink quite a bit. Yuck!!! (As far as some of the kids know – and some sort of believe me – I’m spending the night at the hospital getting my stomach pumped.)

It has to be said – I’ve never seen a group who could lose paddles so quickly. I think we spent half the camp searching for lost rackets. I might have to tie them to their wrists.

One of the kids in my group, about eight, who has been in several of our past camps, wrote a note and handed it to me. It read, “Dear Larry, Larry is varey (sic) nice. By [name withheld].”

After a sufficient amount of pleading and negotiating, I finally gave in and treated them all to Slurpees at 7-11 after lunch. There goes my income…

Tomorrow we’re going to spend quite a bit of time on serves. I always look forward to the jaw-dropping, bug-eyed looks of shock when I demonstrate backspin serves that bounce back into the net. I really should video that part.

For the private coaching, because my arm is still bothering me and keeping me from playing 100%, I had two students come in together, Sameer and Daniel, along with Coach Raghu, and we had a joint session, where we each spent half the time with each. I did the multiball and blocking drills while Raghu got the fun ones – looping to them and counterlooping, and playing out points.

U.S. Open Finals Prepares to Rock Las Vegas

Here’s the USATT article. I leave for the Open in 18 days!

Ask the Coach with Richard Prause

Episode #18 (1:15) - Preventing Easy Mistakes.

Training to Drive the Ball Low to the Net

Here’s the video (1:30), with a barrier over the net.

Want to Be a Table Tennis Aerobics Instructor?

Here’s the article with a link to video.

USATT Board of Directors Minutes

Here are the minutes to the May 29, 2015 USATT Teleconference. I was on the call (as a board member), but wasn’t particularly active in this one, though I was involved in some of the U.S. Open and the Friends with Paddles discussions.

11 Questions with Larry Bavly

Here’s the USATT interview.

Olympic Solidarity Course has Immediate Effect in Samoa

Here’s the ITTF article, which features USA’s Richard McAfee.

2015 Missouri Show Me State Games Open

Here’s the article with a link to video.

Social Networking App for Table Tennis Players

From Pong Universe: for iPhone, and for Android.

Meet the Philippines National Table Tennis Team

Here’s the video (3:02) with Adam Bobrow.

Crazy Shot by Bojan Tokic at European Games

Here’s the video (20 sec) as the ball hits the net, bounces off the side, hits the post, and bounces back and hits the edge!

San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick and Jarryd Hayne Play Table Tennis

Here’s the video (1:16).

ELITE Table Tennis Club Dance

Here’s the music video (2:54) as this club’s juniors put on a show.

Non-Table Tennis – “Head or Heat”

My horror story “Head or Heat” is coming out soon in ARES Magazine, one of the nicer SF magazines. It’s the top cover story. It’s a takeoff on Halloween. Here’s a description:

"Head or Heat, Head or Heat, give us something good to eat!" chant the master race Sizan children, in various costumes, in their version of Halloween. But what they want to eat are the yummy-tasting heads of the slave race Slabinnac children, or they'll burn your house down. What's a slave mother to do?

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