September 29, 2025
Tip of the Week
Deliberate Practice in Table Tennis.
Sick, Next Blog Oct. 13, and Huntsman World Senior Championships
I think I have the flu – not sure yet. So, I got a very late start on today’s blog, which will be shorter than usual. I’ll be out of town next week at the Huntsman World Senior Championships in St. George, Utah. So next blog will be on Monday, Oct. 13. Wish me luck – I’m in Over 65 Men’s Singles and Doubles (with Mark Kraut), Over 55 Mixed Doubles (with Jia Guo) Over 65 Hardbat Men’s Singles, Hardbat Doubles (with Mark Kraut), and Elite Singles. Wish me luck!
Weekend Coaching
I had a busy coaching weekend. We did a lot of backhand footwork practice, an often overlooked technique. Many players just reach or even rotate their body in an awkward way rather than move. I also introduced “Neuromuscular Adaptation” drills to some of the kids. This is where you feed multiball, but they don’t know where I’m putting the ball. For beginning-intermediate players, you normally just put the ball to the middle forehand or middle backhand, and they have to react. For more advanced players you both go wider and you also go at their middle. The three keys are:
- Proper ready position, with racket pointed at where my racket would hit the ball, so the player can move in both directions equally well.
- React, don’t guess – don’t move until you see where the ball is going, and always remember that you have more time than you think. First move HAS to be the right direction.
- Move to the ball, no reaching.
Remembering Charles “Chuck” Hoey
Here’s the obit for this US Table Tennis Hall of Famer, by Sean O’Neill.
Story & Lesson Highlights with Dora Kurimay
Here’s the article in Bold Journey.
Styles Through the Ages
Here’s the article by Dr. Zhang Xiaopeng.
I Challenged World No.5
Here’s the video (15:08) as Adam Bobrow takes on Truls Moregardh.
Non-Table Tennis - “Confederate Horses on a Plane”
I made the cover of “The Best of MetaStellar Year Four” for my story, “Confederate Cavalry on a Plane” (4,400 words). A physics professor and his student on a passenger plane argue about the possibility of infinite alternate universes, while being robbed blind by a bratty kid. The professor bets the student that even the most unlikely event possible must inevitably happen somewhere, and a series of unlikely events leads to three very confused Confederate Cavalry charging down the aisle of the plane.
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