October 17, 2022
Tip of the Week
The Yin and Yang of Serving.
Cary Cup Open
I spent the weekend coaching at the Cary Cup at the Triangle Badminton and Table Tennis Club in Cary, NC. Here are complete results of the tournament, care of Omnipong. I was coaching two players, Todd Klinger and Christian Funderberg. I can't really go into details of most of the coaching – call it coach-player privilege – but here are some highlights. Ojo dominates the big events!
- Yes, if you miss your own serve twice a game, you drop about 100 rating points in level. (It cost us at least two matches.)
- No, the match is not over if you are up 2-0 in games (twice), or up 9-6, 9-7, or 9-8 in deciding game, or up match point in deuce twice. It was one of those weekends.
- Yes, in fact, you most certainly should attack the middle and forehand and stop going to the player's really good backhand.
- No, don't think about the shot, just do it.
- Yes, it's lucky that Christian and I had the same size shoes and so when his literally broke apart while he was playing, he was able to borrow mine.
- No, just because he's playing with a hardbat doesn't mean it's going to be an easy match.
- Yes, if the opponent is a passive receiver, we're going to take advantage of it.
- No, you cannot call a let after the point is over. (Todd and Christian didn't do this – they know better.)
- Yes, we discussed and solved every philosophical issue on the five-hour drive home. Later we will publish our annotated discussions in the New York Times.
New from Samson Dubina
- Equipment - Here are the top 6 table tennis equipment questions
- Playing System (3:45)
New from Ti Long
- Ti Long instructs to move 1 - 1 ( 2 points far) to make Forehand Topspin against Backspin for Sweden (6:47)
- Ti Long instructs and corrects 3 techniques for returning serve to the Americans (17:27)
- Ti Long guide and fix Tomahawk Serve (arc, underspin, sidespin, Topspin) for Switzerland (10:08)
- 18 minutes to know how to do Forehand Push | Ti Long fixes errors for beginners (18:59)
- Ti Long instructs and corrects Forehand Pendulum serve errors for Swedish students (14:26)
- Know how to return the long and fast Forehand Pendulum serve with side + topspin in 15 minutes
How Often Should I Change Table Tennis Rubbers
Here's the article by Matt Hetherington.
Forehand Loop & Footwork
Here's the video (48 sec) with Ye Tian
Tournament Update … Steady Progress, But Too Many Missed Opportunities
Here's the article by Tom Lodziak, with some insights from his play.
New from the Performance Biomechanics Academy Table Tennis
- Leg forward?. Forehand topspin table tennis (9 sec)
- Table tennis Games Evolution (62 sec)
- Table tennis. Reverse pendulum or banana Split (27 sec)
- How to Play Table Tennis . (Fundamental Tips) (59 sec)
New from PingSunday/EmRatThich
New from Taco Backhand
- FAN ZHENDONG AT 16 YEARS OLD (2:07)
- IMPRESSIVE EXHIBITION MATCH - KRISTIAN KARLSSON VS RUWEN FILUS (6:13)
- THE MOST ENTERTAINING TABLE TENNIS PLAYER - PERFECT CAMERA ANGLES (3:39)
Seth Pech vs Senura Silva 2022 (16:04) Presper Financial Architect Open
Here's the video as Seth gives point-by-point commentary.
Ask the Coach
Here are the latest questions from PingSkills.
New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly
- WAB Club Feature: PingPod
- The Many “Looks” of Kanak Jha
- PingPod Featured in Men’s Health Article
- WTT Feeder Fort Lauderdale 2022
- Irene Yeoh Looking Ahead To World Hopes Week & Challenge
New from the ITTF
- Olympic Solidarity Course a Great Success in Chile
- Chengdu, China – 2022 – Lights, Camera, ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships
- World Parkinson’s Table Tennis Championships Goes to Crete
- Full House for Joyce Oliveira, the Leading Name at Brazilian Para Open
Return Everything Shirt
Here it is!
Famous People Playing Table Tennis
Here's the video (5:06) from Table Tennis Central, which includes Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, English football (soccer) players Tom Carroll and Raheem Sterling, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Spacey, and two people at the very end that I don't recognize.
Charlie Cox, Mark Ruffalo, and More Play Ping Pong in New She-Hulk BTS Video
Here's the article and video (15 sec)!
The Miami Dolphins Ping-Pong Odyssey
- Mike McDaniel Praises Dolphins Captains for Removing Ping-Pong Table from Locker Room
- Tyreek Hill says Dolphins removed damaged ping-pong table from locker room to replace it with a new one
This is How the Dream Starts
Here's the video (10 sec)!
Most Random Ping Pong Racket
Here's the video (8:19) from Pongfinity! "In today's challenge episode, we're going to play with the world's most uneven racket, see how many papers we can slice with a ping pong ball, and more!"
Mostly Non-Table Tennis
Here are more science fiction & fantasy stories of mine that just came out.
- Post Roe Alternatives: Fighting Back. This is an anthology of stories protesting the end of Roe v. Wade. It just came out last week. It includes my satire, "Interview with Mr. Plub."
- The Vampire on the Tesseract Wall. This also came out last week in Dark Matter Magazine. A 4-D being buys a 3-D being as a decoration for his wall - but the 3-D being is a powerful vampire who sucks not only blood but energy. It's a mix of SF and dark fantasy/horror and takes place entirely in a vividly described 4-D world as the 4-D being and the 3-D vampire wage war.
- Here's my complete science fiction & fantasy bibliography.
- Here's my entire written works and all 17 of my books (including nine on table tennis) - see link on left of this page.
- And don't forget to get your copy of First Galactic Table Tennis Championships – only $5 for print, $3 kindle!
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