Coach Samson Dubina US National Team Coach 4x USATT Coach of the Year
 

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Effective Stroke Practice

Learn what you should be practicing!

Written By Professional Coach Richard McAfee
I often see players spending large amounts of practice time working on a single stroke that they wish to improve.  Most often this involves hours of executing the stroke over and over and in conjunction with simple footwork drills.  After all this work, the athlete is often disappointed to find that during competition that the same well-practiced stroke breaks down.  Why does this happen, because the practice they have been doing does little to link the stroke to the rest of the player’s game.

Mental Strategies - Part 13

You are a loser!

 
If you are a tournament player, shaking off a loss will be one of the biggest hurdles that you need to jump.  This entire article can be summed up in 1 sentence…
 
Stop the excuses, admit you lost.  
 
After admitting to yourself that you lost that match and it was your fault, you will then be able to clearly think why you lost and you will learn from your mistakes.  If you continue to make excuses, then you won’t change, you won’t improve, and you will keep losing.
 

Mental Strategies - Part 12

Learn How to Become a World Class Player!

 
Question:            Samson, how can I improve my mental game?
 
Answer:               Choose a level-headed, world-class player and copy him.
 
When studying this elite athlete there are several things that you should be looking for.
 
Attitude During Training

Lucky Loser

Learn a term that the pros use

If you have ever played a world pro tour event, you are probably familiar with the term “lucky loser”.  So what does it mean? 
 
A lucky loser is a player who loses in an event but still advances due to an opening in the draw.  For example, if there are 152 players entered in one pro tour event, there might be 32 players seeded into the single elimination and 120 players competing in round robin groups.  There would be 30 groups of 4 players per group with the winners advancing to meet the 32 seeded players. 
 

The Good News of Jesus Christ - Part 12

The Gospel of Jesus Christ
Watch this video!!!

This morning, I was meditating on the fact that the Bible says that God justifies the ungodly.  Many people think that they can earn their way to heaven by being good, by not committing any felonies, or by being a good husband or a good wife or a good father or a good mother.  They think that surely God will see their good deeds and be satisfied.

What Should I say?

Three Things

Encouraging and coaching fellow club members at tournaments is one of best aspects of a competition.  In this article, I’m going to outline how to coach another player between games.  If I were coaching a friend or student, here is what I might possibly say.
 
Good game – you ended strong with a nice comeback. 

World Class Player Coming to Ohio!

Wang Zhen (rated 2815) just confirmed his entry to the Newgy Akron Open!

Wang Zhen just finished competing in the ITTF Grand Finals!  Ranked #65 in the world, he is wrapping up his world tour.  As he travels back to North America, he will stop in Ohio to compete in the Newgy Akron Open.  Please plan to attend!
 
If you have never attended one of our events....here is some info that you might want to know...
 

Cross-Training

Learn 44 New Exercises that will BOOST your table tennis game!

 
At your level in table tennis, fitness might not seem very important.  However, if you want to improve 2-3 levels, fitness will become an important aspect of your game.  Prepare for improvement!  Avoid injuries!  Increase your speed!  Boost your endurance!  At the end of every training session, do 20-30 minutes of intense physical training focusing mainly on foot speed, core strength, stability, and balance.  

Mental Strategies - Part 11

Earned, Never Given

 
You have often heard the Marines say, “Earned, never given!”
 
This is the same mindset and you should have in table tennis. 
When you serve a fast, surprise serve, you are planning for your opponent to return and you are planning to win the rally.
When you loop with your powerful forehand, you are expecting your opponent to return it and you are expecting to loop multiple balls in order to win the rally.
When you push deep and fast to your opponent’s wide forehand, you are expecting a soft opening that you can counterloop.
 

Make a Plan

Written By Richard McAfee

One of the most difficult skills for the average player to learn is match strategy.  There are several reasons for this.
1.    It requires the ability to focus on what your opponent is doing.  This can be difficult when your own strokes are not sound. 
2.    It requires a lot of experience to realize what strategies work against different styles. 
3.    Finally, it is hard to fine much in writing regarding match tactics.  This is largely due to the complexity and individuality of the issue.

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