Blog entries

Update

David Bernstein — Sun, 05 May 2013 14:56:37 +0100

I haven't blogged in a while because well I haven't been playing a lot! My new job has required some business travel (a new thing for me) which has caused me to miss about a month of playing since January. That combined with fewer hours at the table (no table at new workplace) means my level has slipped somewhat. I would really like to play more but it's just one of those periods.

In any case, the time away (relatively speaking) from the game has given me a chance to ...

talk about consistency....

wiggy63 — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:33:27 +0100

Kreanga;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR3M-cjTz0U

playing against Long pimples

wiggy63 — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:35:07 +0100

I am teaching a few players how to read LP's, This is the best coaching aid I have seen on explaining the key principles, ( thanks Gregg )

www.gregsttpages.cm/artiocles3/53-articles/long-pimples/87-long-pimples-for-beginners

Loop driving at its best....

wiggy63 — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:01:31 +0100

enjoy this spectacular rally;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQu4YX7Ztzs&feature=youtu.be

Fast counter hitting at its best.

wiggy63 — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:40:53 +0100

just have a look at the rally at 1 min six seconds. Pure gold table tennis, its just not possible to play with a faster tempo than this surely?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI-o_16fTgU

2012 US Nationals II

David Bernstein — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 14:13:43 +0100

I have a tried and true method for getting a warm up partner which is to commandeer an empty table and practice serve. It almost never fails that within 10 minutes someone desperate to warm up for their first match of the day will approach me and ask to hit a few balls. This works perfectly for me since generally speaking I'm not a very forward person. On the first day of the tournament my warmup partner an...

2012 US Nationals I

David Bernstein — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 01:33:57 +0100

After a year break I'm back at the nationals in Las Vegas. This is my third trip and every time it's been fun. I'm in five events this time around. Winning any event at the nationals is tough because people train specifically for it, you have to win a lot of matches just to get in a final, and since the rating deadline is months in advance (October) many kids come in very under rated. So for someone like me winning an event is pretty much not on the table. Howeve...

Goodbye work table

David Bernstein — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 04:55:05 +0100

I haven't written in a while since I've been going through a job transition. The new job is of course better in many ways, many that is except one: there was a table in a large unused room at the old place and no table at the new one. Towards the end that table (and the Thursday noon yoga class) was sometimes the only thing that got me to work in the morning. I would take a break at least once a day to hit with a friend or just practice service on my own. Alas, t...

Dan gets win of his life.

wiggy63 — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:18:48 +0100

Dan Otter is starting to get some good results, his latest scalp being that of Lesley keast the former Welsh number one lady, this is Dan's best result so far. Lots happening in the league, I am hoping to get some time to write a few full blog posts over the Christmas break.

Players are starting to perform.

wiggy63 — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 04:22:57 +0100

The new season has started, and some of my coaching pupils are really starting to play good open table tennis, finally released from the shackles of the tight local league style of play. Billy and Dan O had reportedly a fantastic match last week, Dan coming out winner at deuce in the fifth end, but the result was not important really, both players said afterwards that the open rallies made for the most enjoyable match they had ever been involved in. Meanwhile, Mick Johnson has beate...

Playing with a physical limitation.

wiggy63 — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 04:21:57 +0100

This has to be the most extreme, i just dont know how he does it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g7_YL5C71u8

BBC Ramin Cross Review

David Bernstein — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:39:48 +0100

Yes I am in the throws of another EJ spasm. That means lower ratings for me and more money in the pocket of my favorite local equipment dealers. One of those guys is Charlie Smith, the blade maker extraordinaire at BBC blades. Charlie loves single ply cypress and many of his blades are variations on this theme. The Ramin Cross is essentially his entry in the Nittaku Acoustic category of blades, i.e., 5-ply, all wood with a special glue between the plies. I had a Nittak...

Testing the New Rubber Waters

David Bernstein — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 22:25:17 +0100

Tenergy is now $80 per sheet here in the US and that's a lot of money even for a veteran EJ like myself. Since I went back to shakehand spongeland in July I've used four sheets of the stuff, two of 64 and two of 05. Maybe I've changed or maybe tenergy has changed but those sheets didn't seem to have the magic that I remember from a year ago.

So lately I've been trying some alternatives on the forehand side. On the backhand I have a new sheet of 05 FX which I have to s...

Crusaders champs.

wiggy63 — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 05:54:46 +0100

The Crusaders singles tournament was held on last Monday, very well run by Billy Holmes.

The number one seed was yours truly, with John Malone seeded two. An excellent performance by Jimmy Wynne helped him to progress to the semi final stage where I managed to put an end to his run, although Jim played very well enjoying some extended rallies. I beat John M in a three set final, he had a 7-3 lead in the first end, but failed to capitalise, mainly due to being touched/served o...

The Feet First Rule

David Bernstein — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 15:45:40 +0100

I'm an occasional poster over on the about.com table tennis forum (sorry Denis!) and one of the nice things about that is reading Sean O'Neil's frequent posts. One of the things he often mentions is that there are two types of players: "hands first" and "feet first." Meaning that the first movement a player makes when reacting to an incoming ball is typically either with their hands or their feet. In Sean's opinion being a feet first player rather than a hands first one is w...

2012 Berkeley Open

David Bernstein — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 22:19:37 +0100

It's been a year since I last played in a usatt tournament and I don't think I'm quite back to the level I was at then. Nevertheless I entered the U1550 event at the Berkeley Open today and went a respectable 2-1 but didn't advance to the next round. This year's tournament had quite a bit lower attendance than the NATT usually books at the Cal gym. I overheard someone saying the player count was 185, down from around 250 a year ago. It was a welcome break from the norm...

Basic Geometry for Taller Players

David Bernstein — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 17:19:28 +0100

After watching videos of myself for the past five weeks it's become pretty clear that everything else considered one basic problem stands out, which is that I just don't get low enough. This is an issue that many coaches have pointed out to me over the years as well as my friends, other club players, random spectators, etc. I've always deflected this with the comment that I feel like I'm getting down and bending my knees while I'm playing, the assumption being that their obse...

New season approaches

wiggy63 — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:38:20 +0100

Here we go again, for me its my 35th season of competitive TT, the first 15 yrs being a player of considerably lower standard than the last 15, with five years in the middle being an upwards improvement curve. I mention this, because it shows that big jumps can be made well after those formative years. I was fortunate, along with the bulk of top Lincoln league players, to have received excellent coaching advice from the start, First with Fred Otter from Gainsborough, then from Barry...

Training Videos

David Bernstein — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 01:40:55 +0100

I've taken four of these and really every time I come home expecting them to look better and every time I sit there struggling to find any little thing that looks remotely good. During one period yesterday I made an extra effort to bend my knees deeply just so I could see on the video what it looked like when I bent my knees deeply. The result? Some guy standing more or less straight up with perhaps a slight ten degree bend in his knees. Really? Later we did a mu...

The Trick to Serving

David Bernstein — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 18:06:37 +0100

I've blogged about this in the past, that I don't really understand how to serve a table tennis ball despite so many ten of thousands I've served over the past seven years. It was the same when I was growing up playing tennis. I served many balls in practice and in matches but I didn't really understand on a basic visceral level what I was doing until one summer when I just got it. In tennis when I was growing up there were two main serves that people used: flat and kick.&nb...