August 19, 2015

Boosting, Part 2

Yesterday I posted about the problems with boosting. Here's a simple solution to the problem for USATT. (I've also added this as an addendum in yesterday's blog.) All we have to do is change the USATT Tournament Guide. Under Referee Responsibilities, it says:

5.h. Determines the legality of clothing and equipment. The USATT Dress Code and the red/black racket rule must be consistently enforced at all tournaments

If this were changed to the following, I think it would solve the problem. I’ve only added the last sentence, which I've bolded.

5.h. Determines the legality of clothing and equipment. The USATT Dress Code and the red/black racket rule must be consistently enforced at all tournaments. Any racket that passes the racket testing procedure would be considered legal for that tournament.

Tuesday's Coaching

We spent a lot of time on the backhand yesterday in the camp at MDTTC. The new players really picked it up quickly. The toughest case was the kid who played tennis, and kept turning sideways to hit backhands, tennis style. 

Perhaps my best coaching was with a kid who had an extreme backhand grip, with the soft part of the thumb on the rubber, leading to all sorts of problems. The grip was almost the same as the grip I started with 39 years ago, before Bob Kaminsky and Jim Mossberg convinced me to use a more normal grip. (And note that there's another kid I'm working with in the camp who has jerky strokes like me, as I wrote about yesterday, so that are two players who bring back memories of me long ago.) He was willing to make the change, and so we spent much of the day working that. In drills he quickly picked it up, but it'll take longer to do it in games. 

Our kids in the 7-9 age range are extremely strong - perhaps more depth than we've ever had at MDTTC. We're starting up a new weekly program just for them. It's amazing watching how fast they are improving. When I look at them I can't help but judge and sometimes rank them by 1) current level; 2) technique; 3) physical skills; 4) mental skills; and 5) drive. It's great to see how many of them rank high in all five. But the truth is there are full-time centers all over the country these days, with lots of junior programs and great coaches, and so what seems so good might just be the norm for a top-flight training center - and there are a number of such centers. (We're one of them!!!)

Xu Xin Receive Training

Here's the video (58 sec, including slow motion replay) – note how they don't play out the rally, and so he focuses on receive, getting a lot more receive practice per time than if you play out the points? I once watched at a U.S. Open as Eugene Wang (#1 player in North America) practice his receive for over 30 minutes, with his coach/practice partner just serving and grabbing another ball from a box to serve. This has been one of my pet peeves for many years, that so many coaches, even high-level ones, don't do this basic systematic receive training, and so their students are weaker on receive than those who do. (Side note – notice how Xu is sidespin receiving? Why don't more players use such basic variations?)

Ask the Coach

Episode #168 (30:45) - Benefits of Random Drills (and other segments).

The Best Training is Participating in Matches

Here's the article by USA junior star Victor Liu. 

Para Pan Am Games Final Results

Here's the USATT listing. Congrats to USA medalists:

  • Gold Medalists Ben Hadden and Tahl Leibovitz
  • Silver Medalists Ari Arratia, Lim Ming Chui, and Tahl Leibovitz/Lim Ming Chui
  • Bronze Medalists Pam Fontaine, Sherri Umscheid, and Jennifer Johnson/Cynthia Ranii. 

Turnkey Sports' Carolyne Savini Appointed to USATT Board

Here's the USATT press release

Karlsson Holds Hope for Another Swedish Number 1

Here's the interview with Peter Karlsson by Matt Hetherington. (Karlsson is a former world doubles champion, 4-time team champion, and European Men's Singles Champion.) 

DHS LED Table - the Next Revolution in Table Tennis?

Here's the video (55 sec). Personally, I'd find this highly distracting, both as a player and as a spectator. But maybe I'm living in the past?

11 Questions with Michael Levene

Here's the USATT interview

History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 16

The first four chapters are now online, care of Tim and USATT. Or you can go to TimBogganTableTennis.com and buy the volume yourself, or any of the other volumes! 

More Mike Mezyan Pictures

NOTE - If you are unable to see these pictures, all you have to do is join the Table Tennis Group - it's easy! Here are all the past, present, and (soon) future pictures he's collected. (I pick out his best ones for here - he has more.)

Xu Xin Wine

Here's a picture of the bottle of wine with his face on it that he received for his birthday from CCTV. (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

Mini-Mini-Pong

Here's the picture. (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

Santa vs. Reindeer

Here's the picture! Any suggestions for a caption?

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