I recently played in the 2011 World Table Tennis Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. What made it such a great experience was that I got to compete against the best players in the world. Unlike last year in Moscow, this year was a singles tournament. (Last World Championships was a team competition; it switches off every year) The top 64 players were seeded into the main draw and the other 308 players were put into round robin groups of either three or four players. Only one player came out of each group. After the group stage, the remaining players had to play either one or two single elimination matches to reach the main draw, depending on if they had a bye into the second preliminary round or not. After the preliminary matches came the main draw, which consisted of the best 128 players in the world.
My goal going into the tournament was just to do the best that I could and make it out of my first group. I was seeded second in my group out of three people; the two others were from India and Djibouti. My first match against Djibouti went smoothly, as I won 4-0 without too many problems. The match against India was the following day, and the fact that his world ranking was 220 got into my head more than it should have. (For anyone that doesn’t know, 220 in the world is about a 2700-2750 U.S. rating) My problem was that I kept thinking about how badly I would get killed rather than focusing on how to win the match.
The following day I walked up to the table shaking. After many unforced errors and what seemed like only a few minutes I found myself down 0-3 in games. The next game I decided to try playing without any pressure and just have some fun. Surprisingly, I found myself with game point and closed it out to be down 1-3. I realized at that moment that just because he was 220 in the world, he wasn’t unbeatable. I started gaining some confidence and went up 9-3, but failed to close out the game and lost 14-12. Though I lost the match, I learned an important lesson: to never be intimidated by an opponent. It doesn’t matter how good they are, where they’re from, or what their ranking is. In my case, I lost the match before it even started, which I will make sure to never do again.
Here are some useful tips for the next time you’re the underdog in a match.
-Your opponent is probably more nervous than you are, so don’t count yourself out
– Try to play one point at a time and analyze what’s going on in the match (why you’re losing certain points, where their weaknesses are, etc.)
– Change a losing strategy and have fun! Even if you are losing, it’s not the end of the world. Just try to do something different and see what works and what doesn’t.
Michael Landers
Newgy Industries, Inc. is proud to sponsor Michael Landers. Michael is the 2009 U.S. Men’s Singles Champion. Michael is the youngest male table tennis player to achieve that title in history at just 15 years old. He is also currently on the US Junior Team and is the reigning U.S. Junior Boys Champion.
Michael is 16 years old and lives in Old Westbury, New York. He is coached by Ernesto Ebuen and plays at SPiN New York and the New York Table Tennis Club. Michael has been playing table tennis since he was 10 years old.
When Michael is not playing table tennis, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends and always loves to meet new people. He likes listening to music, exercising, and sleeping.
Competition Record:
2010 U.S. National Junior Singles- 1st Place
2010 Men’s and Junior Team
2010 Youth Olympic Games- Boys PanAm Qualifier
2009 U.S. National Championships- Men’s Singles Champion
2009 World Junior Circuit Canada- Cadet Teams First Place
2009 North American Championships- Cadet Boys Champion
2008 Canada Cup Open Doubles Champion
2005 Juniors Olympics- U-12 Boys Silver and Doubles Gold
2007-2011 National Team Member
Working on the technical aspect of your game and playing matches are both very important for your game. But it can sometimes be difficult to know when to work on what, and how much to do. Here are some tips that I think will be very useful.
When you are first starting the game of table tennis, it is very important that you know the correct strokes and can read spin. For people just starting, I would suggest that you mostly focus on learning your strokes. Because in a game, you can sometimes lose focus on your strokes, and concentrate more on just getting the ball back on the table. If you just work on getting the ball back, your strokes will become sloppy. And once they become sloppy, it is VERY hard to fix them. So I would suggest mainly technical training at first. But make sure you know how the strokes should be, and once you learn them, practice them over, and over again. A good tool for practicing is the Newgy Robo-Pong table tennis robot. This will allow you to work on a shot for a long period of time.
Now, even though you should do a lot of technical practice at first, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play matches at all. Playing some matches is good. A good ratio to go by is, for every hour of matches you play, you should train about five hours.
Once your strokes become more natural and consistent, you can slow down with the technical training. But that doesn’t mean you should never train again. Just make sure you keep your strokes correct.
Now if you have been playing for a long time, it doesn’t mean it is too late for you. You can still begin to practice a lot on your strokes, and your game will still improve.
Train Smart!
Perry Wilson
This blog entry I would like to write about some table tennis news!
This year’s 2011 US Nationals (which is typically held in Las Vegas, Nevada) will be held in Virginia Beach, Virginia. To prepare for this event, I strongly recommend you attend one of the Newgy Robo-Pong training seminars offered by USATT Certified Coach Carl Hardin and Newgy Industries. Carl knows the Robo-Pong table tennis robot better than anyone I know. He not only knows it, but he also knows how to utilize it to help improve your game. If you want to improve greatly, and get the most out of your robot, I strongly suggest you attend this training seminar. Not only is Coach Carl Hardin fantastic, but so are the playing conditions. The ping-pong tables sit on red Olympic-grade flooring, the facility has excellent lighting, a player lounge and cameras to watch your game. So what are you waiting for, sign up for a session today! Plus, it’s free! You can’t beat that!
Pierce Scott
Do you want to improve your table tennis game so you can beat your friends or win an upcoming tournament?
Here’s your chance!
Maximize your Newgy Robo-Pong: Learn how to best utilize all the features of your robot to improve your table tennis game!
See how the Robo-Pong can improve your table tennis skills while having fun and getting a workout all at the same time! This seminar will consist of both demonstrations and hands-on activity with the Robo-Pong and other attendees.
This seminar is FREE to any Newgy Robo-Pong (2050, 2040, 1050, 1040 or 540) owner. Sign up for 1, 2 or all 3 days!
Friday, May 20, 2011: 6-9 pm
Saturday, May 21, 2011: 9 am-5 pm
Sunday, May 22, 2011: 9 am-12 Noon
First come, first serve basis; Men, women, all ages and all skill levels!
Taught by USATT Certified Coaches Carl Hardin and Roger Dickson
At the Newgy Table Tennis Training Center
805 Teal Drive, Gallatin, Tennessee 37066 USA
To sign-up for this free seminar, email [email protected] or call 1-800-556-3949 to reserve your spot!