September 29, 2017

Table Tennis Biographies
Why not spend a weekend curled up with a good table tennis biography or autobiography? Here are a few to choose from. (I have copies of each of these books in my table tennis book collection.) Or, of course, you could always buy one of my books!

  • Revelations of a Ping-Pong Champion by Dan Seemiller (2016), 218 pages. “If you are in the sport of table tennis, then you know Danny Seemiller, USA’s greatest modern champion. In “Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion,” the five-time U.S. Men’s Singles Champion takes you through his 50 years in the sport, from the early days of training, the breakthroughs, the agonizing defeats and the great triumphs.”
  • Ping-Pong for Fighters by Tahl Leibovitz (2014), 108 pages. Here’s my review. Tahl went from living on the streets to getting a master’s degree, coaching table tennis professionally, and winning lots of medals in the Paralympics.
  • Adventures of the Ping-Pong Diplomats: Volume 1: The U.S.-China Friendship Matches Change World History, by Fred Danner (2012), 238 pages. Here’s my review. This was about half historical, half autobiographical.
  • Ogi: The Life of Ichiro Ogimura (2009), 370 pages. The link goes to my review of the book, with ordering info at the end. (It’s not on sale online.) This was a fascinating read.
  • J-O Waldner: When the Feeling Decides, by Jens Fellke (1997, English version 2003), 237 pages. I have the English version, but I can’t seem to find that version on sale online, just the Swedish version. (I think I picked up my copy on sale at the World Championships a while back.) Here’s a review of the book by Ken Muhr.
  • The Money Player: The confessions of America's greatest table tennis champion and hustler, by Marty Reisman (1974), 241 pages. Entertaining read.
  • Victor Barna by Philip Reid (1974), 152 pages. The link goes to Alibris, where it cost $76.69, but it’s $147.85 at Amazon! Barna was five-time World Men’s Singles Champion.
  • Alas, it costs $147.85!!!
  • The Will to Win: Dragutin Surbek, by Stjepan Kljuic-Branin, 1973. Alas, while I have the English version in my collection, I can’t find this on sale anywhere. Surbek was a great Yugoslavian star in the 1970s who reached #3 in the world.
  • The Youngest Son, Autobiography of Ivor Montagu (1970), 384 pages. From the long-time president of the ITTF.
  • Twenty-One Up, by Richard Bergmann (1950), 242 pages. Bergmann was four-time World Men’s Singles Champion.

Ping Pong Diplomats: Chinese Couple Opens First Table Tennis Center in DC
Here’s the video (2:48) from The World Today at CGTN TV (an affiliate of CCTV), featuring Charlene Liu and Changping Duan from the Washington DC Table Tennis Center. “A couple from China have opened Washington DC’s only full-time table tennis center—using ping pong to bridge the culture divide between the U.S. and China.” (Charlene and Changping were mainstays for many years at my club, MDTTC, where Charlene ran the leagues and tournaments.)

Why You Need a Weekly Routine for Your Table Tennis Training
Here’s the article from Expert Table Tennis. “I’ve got a bit of a love-hate relationship with having a weekly routine. On the one hand, I love the freedom and flexibility of having a virtually empty calendar. On the other, I do find that I get a lot more stuff done when I create and follow a strict schedule.”

How to Avoid Injury
Here’s the ITTF Education article.

15 Reasons for Table Tennis
Here’s the article from Samson Dubina.

Chairman Mao Got it Right! “Why you are a couch potato!” 
Here’s the article from Donald Winze. “Mao Zedong wanted the Chinese people to live a healthier lifestyle and ordered more than a million concrete table tennis tables built and distributed throughout China. Table tennis is now the second most popular participant sport in the world and the national sport of China. This is not the ping-pong game of tapping the ball around in the basement but the intrepid Olympic sport that most Americans have never even seen, let alone taken the time to learn and play properly.”

USATT Insider
Here’s the new issue that came out Wednesday.

More Super Women's Table Tennis Points
Here’s the video (47 sec) of this great point between world #1 Ding Ning (CHN) and #17 Hina Hayata (JPN).

Training Chinese - MA Long, LIN Gaoyuan, FAN Zhendong, XU Xin, FANG Bo - Trials 2017
Here’s the video (3:19).

Best Rallies by the Best
Here’s the page from TTBrothers, where you can find videos showing “The Best of…” for huge numbers of top players.

Really Big Ping-Pong Ball Crashing Into Building?
Here’s the picture! (Here’s the non-Facebook version.)

Pot Pong
Why hasn’t this dynamic new sport caught on?

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