September 16, 2024

Tip of the Week
Written Coaching Material for Table Tennis.

Weekend Coaching and My Own Training and Dieting
When I told the kids in my multiball groups on Saturday and Sunday that, no matter what, they were not to hit my water bottle (which I’d conveniently placed on the table), they of course knew exactly what to do. Well, most of them. I did have to quietly whisper to the youngest in the group, a girl about age 6, that when I tell them, “Don’t you dare hit my water bottle!” that what I really meant was, “Hit my water bottle.”) I always find it best to keep it fun while teaching the foundations of the sport, and hitting targets (and my exaggerated exclamations of unhappiness when they do) are all just part of that. So is my constantly changing name. This past weekend I claimed I was “Coach Go Away,” and you can guess how that came off.

My water bottle took a beating. I also had to petulantly walk off a few times when they called me. (“Coach, go away!”)

But the kids had great training sessions. One kid made 100 forehands in a row for the first time while doing side-to-side footwork. The six-year-old girl? She hit the bottle 13 times in 90 seconds of multiball, and was quite excited about it. I also worked a lot on smashing and the often overlooked backhand footwork. The kids were excited and can’t wait for the next session.

As to me, I have my weight down to 194 this morning (from 210 on Aug. 1), and played five times this week. Alas, I had sort of a relapse in my playing – all this dieting, weight training (three times/week) and playing left me exhausted, and it showed in my match play. My legs (and the rest of me) felt dead. I played in the Elite League on Saturday, where I was in a group of six. I’d done weight training that morning, as well as coaching for 90 minutes, and was still dieting – and so I was exhausted. In my first match I started out poorly but got better and better and get a game and kept the fourth game close against a 2400 player. But that took the last bit of energy out of me, and I pretty much fell apart my next two matches, and then I defaulted out due to exhaustion.

Since Aug. 1 I’ve been living on about 1000 calories/day, instead of about 2500 I’d need to maintain my weight. (I sometimes “cheat” and do 1200.) It finally caught up to me on Saturday. So, that night I decided to splurge, and had my first big meal in six weeks, a big plate of Pepper Chicken (Chinese food). On Sunday I also splurged on Rocky Road ice cream. The result? Instead of losing three pounds this past week, I only lost two. NOOOOOOOOOO!!! But I’m back to dieting again, until I get to 180lbs. But I think that for now on I’ll have one weekly “splurge” meal. For the rest of the time I’ll stick to my diet. Breakfast is a chocolate or vanilla Slimfast shake (180 calories) and half a cup of Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice (50 calories). Lunch and dinner are either soup, Greek salad, or half a sandwich (each about 350 calories). And I snack on raw carrots, cherry tomatoes, and apples.

US Table Tennis Hall of Fame Inductions and Banquet
You can register at Omnipong for the 2024 US Table Tennis Hall of Fame Annual Awards Induction Banquet, to be held at the Houston International Table Tennis Academy in Houston, TX this year, on Thursday, Oct. 10, from 6-9PM, in conjunction with the 2024 Si & Patty Wasserman Junior Championships held that weekend (Oct. 11-13, Fri-Sun), which you can also enter through Omnipong. You’ll get to meet and talk to the honorees, as well as the many others who will attend. Cost is only $25. (It’s free to junior players who enter the 2024 Si & Patty Wasserman Junior Championships.) This year’s honorees are Patty Martinez Wasserman (Lifetime Achievement Award) and Hall of Fame inductees Stellan Bengtsson (Contributor), Glenn Cowan (Athlete), and Dennis Taylor (Contributor). Here is the 2024 Hall of Fame Program Booklet. I’ll be there! (I did the program booklet and will do the induction speech for Dennis.)

Illegal Chair of the USATT Board
It’s now been 588 days (84 weeks) since USATT elected Richard Char to an illegal third term as chair of the USATT board on Feb. 6, 2023. Here’s my July 1 blog about it. With the current rubber-stamp USATT board, there’s little that can be done about this and many other blatant bylaw violations and other serious issues until the next USATT elections, which are this Fall. I’ve blogged about these issues, and when the elections come up, I’ll post a comprehensive list. The irony is that, after ignoring all these problems, with the elections coming up there may be a belated realization among certain board members that perhaps, just maybe, they should deal with these problems, or perhaps do a few token protest votes. Sorry, too late. But over and over they’ve brought in lawyers to argue their case, and then argue that they’re just doing what the lawyers told them to do, pretending to forget that the lawyers were brought in to argue their case. It’s circular reasoning, where they start with a conclusion, and use that conclusion to conclude that their conclusion is correct. (Plus, “They are eating our dogs and cats!” Oops – sorry, wrong election.)

Job Opportunity:  Coach and Volunteer Development Officer
Here’s the help wanted notice from Table Tennis Ireland, the National Governing Body for Table Tennis within the provinces of Ireland.

Butterfly Training Tips

New from Ti Long

How to Do a Fast Long Serve with Robert Gardos
Here’s the video (2:18) from PongSpace.

New from Taco Backhand

How Much? My Costly Blade Testing Experiment
Here’s the article by Tom Lodziak. My thoughts on this – players should, at some point, go through a period where they try out the various rubber and rackets just so they know what the choices are. But once you find what works for you, stick with it unless your game changes or if there is something truly new to try out.  

New from PingSkills

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action!

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

New from USATT

New from ITTF

Pong in Bed
Here’s the video (13 sec)!

The Best Ping-Pong Ball Tricks
Here’s the video (46 sec)!

HILARIOUS Moments In Table Tennis History!
Here’s the video (8:26) from Table Tennis Zone.

Adam vs. Lee Seul
Here’s the video (14:57) from Adam Bobrow! “My friend Lee Seul competed internationally for Korea, 6 years ago, mopped the floor with me... so I wanted to see if she's still got it! Enjoy.”

Non-Table Tennis - Philosopher Rex
My podcast flash story “Philosopher Rex” went up this morning at Manawaker Studio's Flash Fiction Podcast. A philosophizing T-Rex that meets our earliest ancestors - lemur-like creatures - during the final days of the dinosaurs, and how their attitudes toward each other change after this pivotal meeting. The reading (by one of their professional readers) is just over eight minutes. (The text version was previously published at Zooscape.)

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