Tip of the Week
MDTTC Camp, Week Eleven, Day Five
The eleven week camp marathon is over - each camp Mon-Fri, with a total of 55 days of camp. We averaged over 30 players per camp.
On Friday, the final day, I gave lectures on flipping short balls, on equipment (inverted, short pips, long pips, antispin, hardbat) and on how to play certain styles (choppers, penhold, Seemiller grip). We ended the morning with the candy game, where I put piles of candy on the table (jolly ranchers and Hershey kisses), and the kids took turns trying to knock them off as I fed multiball, three shots each. There was a stack left at the end so I distributed that among everyone.
Then we had lunch, and then 17 of us walked to the 7-11 down the street. (They keep giving me free small Slurpees for bringing in so many customers!) In the afternoon we had a practice tournament. I also had an informal awards ceremony for Wesley Fan and Kyle Wang, who had won bronze medals at the Junior Olympics a month ago for Under 14 Boys' Teams, but had left without getting their medals (or even knowing they had won them!). The medals had been mailed to me to give to them. We also sang Happy Birthday to Daniel Zhu, turned ten that day.
Things I Learned This Summer
The Backhand Block
Here's an article by Tom Nguyen on improving his backhand, with tips from Steven Chan.
Tahl Leibovitz: Saved from Homelessness by Table Tennis
Here's an article in the Times of Israel about how table tennis saved Paralympic Champion Tahl Leibovitz from homelessness.
Chinese Training
Here's a video from two years ago (7:54) that shows the Chinese team in training.
1958 U.S. Table Tennis Nationals
Here's a video (9:59) with clips of matches from the 1958 Nationals (now usually referred to as U.S. Opens), with commentary by Marty Reisman, who also appears in many of the clips. (He would win Men's Singles.)
Bryan Brothers Play Table Tennis
Here's a video (1:23) of the Bryan Brothers (twins Bob and Mike, #1 tennis doubles team in the world and recent Olympic Gold Medalists) playing table tennis in a charity to benefit the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). Note the two-handed backhand by Mike! You also get to see Bugs Bunny (or a very large rabbit) playing. Really.
Real Table Tennis!
Here are six pictures of vintage table tennis as it should be played. (Click on each picture to see the next.)
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Weird Camp Happenings
Lots of strange things happen in regard to table tennis camps. Here's a sampling.
2006 vs. 2012
Yesterday I blogged about how much junior development has improved in the last six years, and compared the junior top 15 rankings from the Nov/Dec 2006 issue to the current one. Here's a chart that shows this even better, comparing the #1 and #15 then and now, showing just how dramatic the improvement has been since the advent of full-time training centers all over the country. It's amazing to me that, for example, the #15 junior in the country today would be #2 in 2006! The depth has exploded.
|
2006 #1 |
2012 #1 |
2006 #15 |
2012 #15 |
Under 18 Boys |
2418 (would be #13 in current rankings) |
2625 |
2159 |
2387 (would be #2 in 2006) |
Under 16 Boys |
2418 (would be #6 in current rankings) |
2522 |
2087 |
2310 (would be #6 in 2006) |
Under 14 Boys |
2323 (would be #6 in current rankings) |
2420 |
1870 |
2153 (would be #5 in 2006) |
Under 12 Boys |
2044 (would be #10 in current rankings) |
2235 |
1440 |
1916 (would be #3 in 2006) |
Under 10 Boys |
2044 (would be #1 in current rankings, but the #2 was only 1495) |
2008 (#2 is 1920) |
620 |
1170 (would be #5 in 2006) |
Under 18 Girls |
2330 (would be #4 in current rankings) |
2548 |
1811 |
2112 (would be #4 in 2006) |
Under 16 Girls |
2113 (would be #7 in current rankings) |
2329 |
1620 |
2002 (would be #3 in 2006) |
Under 14 Girls |
2029 (would be #7 in current rankings) |
2261 |
1432 |
1786 (would be #4 in 2006) |
Under 12 Girls |
2029 (would be #3 in current rankings) |
2105 |
553 |
1213 (would be #9 in 2006) |
Under 10 Girls |
894 (would be #12 in current rankings) |
2105 |
80 (!) |
372 (would be #4 in 2006) |
ITTF Coaching Seminar
Here's an ITTF article about the recent ITTF Coaching Seminar Richard McAfee ran in Austin, TX, the ninth one to be run in the U.S. (I ran one of them.)
Waldner - Through the Years
Here's a video (6:21) that shows Jan-Ove Waldner through the years, starting when he's a kid, including interviews and showing his development. (Doesn't actually start until 18 seconds in.)
Owen Wilson's Late-Night Ping-Pong
Here's the article from People Magazine.
Bryan Brothers to Play Table Tennis for Charity
Here's a very short article about the Bryan Brothers (world #1 tennis doubles team) playing in a charity ping-pong tournament at Spin NY on Aug. 23 to benefit FDNY.
Hardbat From the Past
Here are three clips I saw recently posted showing hardbat from the past.
The Movie Ping Pong
You can now watch the movie online - but it'll cost you 9.99 pounds (about $15.68). The documentary features "8 players with 703 years between them compete in the World over 80s Table Tennis Championships in Inner Mongolia." More info, and a preview, are at the link.
A Handy Table Tennis Racket
Let me re-emphasize - this is a Handy Table Tennis Racket!
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What are your table tennis goals?
And before you say them, remember this. There are two voices that will constantly ridicule your goals if they are too high. One is from some other players, who may not have the same lofty goals for you that you may have for yourself. Ignore them, and go for your goals. (Though it is helpful to have reasonable goals - just don't limit yourself.) The other is that little voice inside your head that says, "You can't!" Ignore that voice. In the words of Albert Einstein, "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." So drop the mediocre voice from your mind and let the great spirit soar.
Illegal hidden serves one more time (until next time)
<Begin Rant>
Dear umpires, coaches, and players, let's go over this one more time.
Rule 2.6.6: "It is the responsibility of the player to serve so that the umpire or the assistant umpire can be satisfied that he or she complies with the requirements of the Laws."
Read that over once or ten times, and it'll still say the same thing. If you aren't sure if the server is hiding contact with his serve, then you aren't sure he isn't, and the server is not serving "...so that the umpire or the assistant umpire can be satisfied that he or she complies with the requirements of the Laws." You can give a warning the first time, but thereafter you must call a fault. If you do not, you are not umpiring; you are allowing one player to cheat, and making sure more players will do so since they see umpires are not enforcing the rules. You know, the rules, the ones umpires are supposed to enforce?
Do we really want a sport where cheaters prosper and those who do not cheat are chumps who can't compete because of the umpires? As a coach, I often feel like a chump at tournaments since I haven't taught illegal hidden serves to my players, while more and more opponents are using them. It's pretty much rampant at the higher levels.
To those who say it's okay to go to the limit of hidden serves as long as you don't actually hide them - if you do that, then sometimes you will inadvertently go over the line and actually hide them. That's the nature of going to the limit on something. More importantly, if you go to the limit, the umpire from his vantage point can't tell for sure if the serve is hidden or not, and therefore he is legally obligated to call the serve illegal. See the rule quoted above. So you cannot go "to the limit" on hidden serves. If you can't serve so the umpire can see that contact was clearly visible, it's an illegal serve.
Yes, this is a picky subject for me because I don't teach illegal hidden serves at my club, and neither do the other coaches there. But other coaches from other clubs do, and we have to face these players and their illegal serves in tournaments. Since we don't teach illegal hidden serves, our players do not have illegal hidden serves, and since we also haven't taught their practice partners to do illegal hidden serves, they are not experienced at returning illegal hidden serves, and so often lose to those who use illegal hidden serves because the umpires are allowing opponents to use illegal hidden serves.
Didn't Major League Baseball have a little problem when they wouldn't enforce the rules on steroids, thereby creating an entire generation of cheaters? Hmmmm....
</End Rant>
Another table tennis blog
You'll find a number of interviews of top players and coaches and other table tennis items at Matt Hetherington's blog. (He's based in New Zealand, but seems to know everyone.) For those of you who just can't get enough table tennis. That means you. And you. And yes, you too.
The Bryan Brothers
Yes, they play table tennis too - see article and picture. (In their free time, they're the world's best tennis doubles team.)
All about table tennis tournaments
So you're about to play your first table tennis tournament, or one of your first. You're probably scared to death. You should be - some of the initiation rites they do to new players is absolutely . . . oh, never mind, you'll find out. But first, why not read my article Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your First Tournament - But Didn't Know Where to Ask! (Much of this would be useful even if you've played in a few.) Here's a list of questions answered in the article:
GENERAL TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
TOURNAMENT RATINGS
TOURNAMENT ETIQUETTE
HOW TO PLAY YOUR BEST
And since we're on the subject of tournaments...
...here's my article Ten-Point Plan to Tournament Success! And here's a link to the USA Table Tennis Tournament Schedule.
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