Has Luis ever had any coaching on forehand stroke technique?

He is about 1000 points higher than me in ratings, but I would rather be here in the cellar than slap the ball like that with his body/shoulders parrallel to the table.

I don't mean to sound so critical, but I watch a lot of these video's of 2000+ players and the technique just isn't there. Imagine how well they would play with proper technique.

 

> Has Luis ever had any coaching on forehand stroke technique?

I don't think he's ever paid for formal coaching.  He does study the game and his life revolves around Table Tennis.

I remember him talking about hitting in Lily Yip's basement once, but I don't think he was being coached at the time.

A few months back I noticed he often went backwards when hitting forehand and I encouraged him to go forward with his stroke.  I think it's best for most all strokes for the racket to travel forward at contact.

--Rob

Pretty is as pretty does - he seems to do pretty well. 

I watched the first video only.  I've noticed that almost all such videos make folks look worse.  I definitely don't want to see myself on video!  I'm sure they look better in person, and, heck 2000+ ratings don't lie.

It didn't take me many tournaments to learn that playing against players with weird styles or equipment is far less comfortable than against "normal" (loopers mainly) ones - assuming they both have similar ratings.

bes

Good Video tips!  Thanks!  I wish that I wasn't so well suited for a role as the "Bad Forehand" model!

My occasional coach is working on the steady elbow part, which is helping.  I usually have my feet in the right, or adequately right place.  I tend to anticipate, and look really dumb when I guess wrong.  Sean's "stab at the ball" statement is a nice way, understated way to describe my futile gyrations at that point...

bes

> I wish Sean had an entire training dvd for sale. His training tips are so valuable.

 

http://store.alphatabletennis.com/dvd101.html

 

The DVD version of Table Tennis 101!With more competition footage, a slide showwith well over 100 pictures of top players, more animations.You can learn all the basic strokes of Olympic levelTable Tennis. It gives the users a clear overall viewof the skills needed to play competitive Table Tennisand allows them to access each of them directly by aclick of the remote control.U.S. Champions Wei Wang and Sean O'Neill illustrateeach stroke in video clips shot from three differentangles. Audio commentary supports the visual presentation,and the user can study the strokes from three angles.For each stroke, there is a clip that shows world top playersusing it in competition and an analysis section that dissects the stroke into its main components.3D animations are used to explainbasic conceptssuch as spin and ball trajectory and to show themovement of the racket for each stroke, viewed fromthree different angles including that of the player.The random access capability makes it possiblefor the user to quickly zero in on thestroke he wants to studyand equally quickly change topics. Sections: Forehand and backhand, Looping, Pushing, Blocking, Hitting, The Grip, Positioning, Spin basics, Footwork and practice, Equipment, Competition examples, Slide show, 3D animations of all strokes

In the modern table tennis game, the outcome of many matches depends on which of the players controls the early part of the point better. The best counter looping or -hitting techniques will be of no use to a player who cannot get beyond the first two ball exchanges of the point. This video tape concentrates on the main points of serving and serve-receiving. It is assumed that you are familiar with the basic techniques of table tennis as they are discussed in the video "Modern Table Tennis 101". Now, Wei and Sean concentrate on deepening your understanding of the serve motion, serve strategy, receive motion, receive footwork and receive strategy. Since there are many different ways to receive a serve, all basic techniques, including pushing, dropping, flicking and sliding are covered. As in the previous tape, stop- and slow motion are used to clearly show all movements. Examples from international competitions are used to show, how each of these techniques is applied by world class players competing against each other. At the end of each main section, Wei and Sean show you practice drills designed to build consistency in that specific phase of the rally. Technique and strategy of the following are covered:

 

The Serve:
- Forehand Top- and Sidespin Serves
- Forehand Underspin Serve
- Backhand Top and Sidespin Serves
- Backhand Underspin Serve
- Serve - Attack Drills

Receiving Serves:
- Forehand receives
- Backhand receives
- Receive Drills

 

See the individual descriptions for Modern Table Tennis 101 and 102. You can choose 101 on video or DVD. 102 is only available on video.

> Why do you give a sh1t

There were some interesting decisions made on this call.

I plan on putting up some of that video when I get a chance.

It gives a few different perspectives on the call and how people see things.

--Rob

From looking at the trajectory of the ball, I think it was an edge. 

 

From looking at the trajectory of the ball, I think it was an edge.

I also think there was deflection.

i also think it was an edge.

> I remember him talking about hittinig in Lily Yip's basement once, but I don't think he was being coached at the time.

The scorekeeper, Gia Leu, said it hit when Len asked him.  I do notice Gia's head isn't facing the ball when it passes the edge of the table, so I'm guessing Gia heard something.

Len said he heard something but wasn't sure and awarded the point to Luis based on Gia's call.  He retracted the call and made it a let because Gia isn't a certified umpire.

--Rob

From what I understand, the assistant umpire can only call edges on the side of the table he's facing. 

Yes, where in this context "only" applies to sides and ends.

The umpire is responsible for calling edges on the side of the table he's facing and the ends.  

Yes and no, depending if there is an assistant umpire or not.  If there is no assistant umpire, the umpire is responsible for "deciding" all sides and ends.  When there is an assistant umpire, as you said, the assistant umpire "decides" on the side closest to him/her and the umpire "decides" the other side and ends.

So apparently, even if the scorekeeper was a certified umpire, technically he couldn't make the call in this case since the decision was whether or not the ball hit an end edge. 

Disagree.  The scorekeeper's certification is irrevalent here. The scorekeeper can not "decide" anything, period, only an assistant umpire can decide, where applicable, or the umpire, where applicable.

 

So apparently, even if the scorekeeper was a certified umpire, technically he couldn't make the call in this case since the decision was whether or not the ball hit an end edge. 

"Disagree.  The scorekeeper's certification is irrelevant here. The scorekeeper can not "decide" anything, period, only an assistant umpire can decide, where applicable, or the umpire, where applicable."

Thanks.  I thought that if the person who was flipping the score cards was a certified umpire, then he could act as both an assistant umpire and scorekeeper.  Is that not the case?

Edit:  I see that Rob just asked a similar question.  I didn't see his post until after I posted this message.  :)

Gia was designated as the scorekeeper for the match.  It wa also announced that Gia was the score keeper. In order for Gia to be an assistant umpire, he would have to have met some umpiring level.  Gia would also have to be designated as the assistant umpire prior to the match. 

I believe it was not proper for the umpire to request the opinion of anyone else to help make the call.  The umpire should have made the call based on the facts he determined at that time.

>>Thanks.  I thought that if the person who was flipping the score cards was a certified umpire, then he could act as both an assistant umpire and scorekeeper.  Is that not the case?<<

"An Assistant Umpire keeps score, but they are not "Scorekeepers".  Scorekeepers are powerless, Umpires and Assistant Umpires are authorized to make certain decisions."

I should have been more clear in my posts.  I didn't mean "scorekeeper" as a title.  What I meant, but didn't spell out, was that if the person who was keeping score was a certified umpire, then it was possible for him to have been acting as an assistant umpire for the match (if, as you said, he was assigned as such).  My point was that even if he was the assistant umpire, it wouldn't be his decision to make whether or not a ball hit an end of the table edge.

Thanks for the thorough explanation about the assignment of match officials.