Interview with Champion Seth Pech
 
 
Major Titles: 2016 Aurora Cup u2400 Champion
2016 Aurora Cup u2600 3rd Place
2015 Paddle Palace Open Champion
Currently Ranked: #2 in Ohio
Former Ohio Junior Champion
 
 
Hometown: Strongsville, Ohio
DOB: August 16, 1995
Favorite Food: Pasta
Sponsors: Paddle Palace
Numbers of Years Played: 12 years
Playing Style: Two-Wing Attacker
 
Q1.  In 2015, you trained for 5 months in Sweden. Tell me about your training.
A1.  Training in Sweden was very disciplined compared to other places I have trained. They stress on being on time and giving 100% of your energy and focus at all times.
 
Q2. Specifically, what aspects of your game what were you working on in Sweden?
A2. The drills that they do are designed for a very broad area of your game. Specifically they target paddle positioning the most. For example, keeping it high on topspin and keeping it in front to transition from forehand to backhand smoothly. They also target decision making during drills. Basically treating it like game situation where you are trying to win the point. This was something completely new that I have never done in training before.
 
Q3. So you just finished the US Olympic Trials. What were some of your thoughts as far as the setting and the environment at the trials?
A3. Environment- Coming into the Olympic Trials Tournament separates itself from the others by the way you are treated. You are treated like a professional so right away you feel like you are a professional and that what you are doing is respected. The playing conditions are pristine, lighting, condition everything is very specific. During warmup on the day before, I felt happy to be a part of this prestigious event and being there. It was a really good feeling.
 
Q4. So tell me about your matches at the Olympic Trials.
A4. I think learning from this tournament, I will start training to be able to give more variation in all of my receives, strokes, blocks, throughout my game. It seems like during the match, I found that what I needed to have I didn’t have in my “toolbag”, so to say. I was having to make do and it wasn’t quite enough. Being able to have more tools is something I’ll need to have develop.
 
Q5. What is your advice to rising stars who want to follow in your footsteps?
A5. From my experience, solely by the fact that I have continuously played on a regular basis, giving full effort every time I touch a paddle, don’t slack off and continue to keep going. Secondly, when I was younger, I wanted to be too much like my role models, like Timo Boll, Jean Micheal Saive, Fan Zhendong, instead of looking at my game and what I needed to improve. Videotaping yourself is a really good idea in this situation, because then you really see what you are doing. Continue to play and don’t be someone you’re not.
 
Q6. Now that the Olympic Trials are over, what is the next step?
A6. This is a funny question, because I don’t really know the answer. I will add that my goal in this next period of my table tennis career, I plan to increase my knowledge of the game as well as my fitness. Hopefully my level will follow with that. As far as coaching goes, I plan to grow my club as well as my students. If you have any interest in contacting me, my email is: sethdan1995@gmail.com.