Maryland Table Tennis Center Newsletter August 2017
Maryland Table Tennis Center Newsletter August 2017
(By MDTTC)
Welcome to the 63rd issue of the MDTTC News! As usual, there’s lots of news to report and new and ongoing programs, and we hope to see you at some of them. As usual a special thanks to MDTTC sponsors Butterfly and HW Global Foundation. Make sure to read my daily table tennis blog – I often write about MDTTC happenings there. And if you have a nice picture taken at MDTTC, email it to me and it might make the newsletter!
– Editor and Coach Larry Hodges; Publisher Wen Hsu.
CONTENT IN THIS ISSUE:
- Butterfly MDTTC August Open: August 26 -27
- Summer Camps: now till September 1
- Talent Development Program Tryouts: September 2 or 3
- Maryland Medalists at the USA Nationals
- National Senior Games
- Capital Area League: Info on Team Registrations Coming Soon…
- MDTTC Leagues: Tuesday & Friday Night Leagues
- MDTTC Adult Program: Continuing in the Summer
- Junior Programs: Resuming in September
- Private Coaching
- Birthday Parties and Rental Space for Corporate and Private Events
- MDTTC Web and Facebook Pages
- Tip of the Month: Sports Psychology
MDTTC AUGUST 26-27 OPEN
Deadline to enter is 7PM on Friday, Aug. 25! Here is the tournament page and here is the entry form. You can also enter online at Omnipong. We expanded our tournaments from last year, going to two days and three-star events, doubling the prize money, and going from seven to ten events. The ten events are (on Saturday, with prize money in all events): Open, U2400, U2200, U2000, Over 50, and Under 15, and (on Sunday): U1800, U1500, U1200, and Under 12. Larry Hodges will be directing, assisted by Mossa Barandao, with International Umpire and Certified Referee Paul Kovac as referee.
SUMMER CAMPS
MDTTC Summer Camps began June 19 and continue all summer until Sept. 1. The daily schedule each day is 10AM-6PM. Full day or half day options are available. Early dropoff starts at 8:30AM. The camps are for all ages and levels, though they are dominated by kids.
TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM TRYOUTS
Tryouts for Juniors Age 6+
Every eligible player interested in joining or continuing with the Talent Development Program must show up on one of the two dates for the tryout. Players will be assessed individually and in groups. Dates: Saturday, Sept. 2 OR Sunday, Sept. 3 Time: 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM Eligibility: Children age 6+ from DC, Maryland or Virginia areas
Pre-requisites:
- For age 11+, at least 3 years of table tennis training
- For age 9 – 10, at least 2 years of table tennis training
- For age 6 – 8, at least 1 year of table tennis training
- Recommendation from your current table tennis coach
What to bring to the Tryout:
- Table tennis or gym shirts and shorts
- Table tennis or gym shoes
- Table tennis racket
- Water or sports drinks
- A recommendation letter from your current coach
Notifications of your child’s acceptance into the program will be sent by Thursday, September 7th. Fall Semester group training begins on Sunday, September 17th.
For questions about the tryout or the Talent Development & Afterschool Care Programs, please email Program Director Mrs. Wen Hsu at hwglobalfoundation@gmail.com
This program is organized and supported by HW Global Foundation and its generous donors & sponsors. HW GF is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. HWGlobal.org
MARYLANDERS MEDALISTS AT THE USA NATIONALS
Congrats to Tiffany Ke for making the 2017 U.S. Junior, Cadet, Mini-Cadet Girls’ Teams!
Below are Maryland medalists:
GOLD (listed by alphabetical order)
- Charlene Liu, Over 60 Women’s Singles & Over 65 Women’s Singles
- Larry Hodges, Over 40 Hardbat Singles
- Nathan Hsu & Jackson Beaver, Under 4200 Doubles
- Nathan Hsu (with Yahao Zhang, TX), Adult Team Top Division
- Roy Ke, Under 2400 Singles
- Yvonne Kronlage, Over 80 Women’s Singles
SILVER
- George Li, Under 2200 Singles
- Jack Jacobs, Over 80 Singles
BRONZE
- Charlene Liu, Over 50 Women’s Singles
- Charlene Liu and Changping Duan, Over 60 Mixed Doubles
- Julian Waters and Changping Duan, Over 60 Men’s Doubles
- Julian Waters and Yvonne Kronlage, Over 50 Mixed Doubles
Here are complete results from the USA Nationals (July 3-8 in Las Vegas).
NATIONAL SENIOR GAMES
In the last issue we listed Maryland winners for the National Senior Games. Liu Su was correctly listed as winning Silver in 80-84 Singles, but it left out that he got Gold in 80-84 Doubles with Viktor Troppmann of Texas.
CAPITAL AREA “SUPER” LEAGUE: 2017 FALL SEASON
The Capital Area League will start up again in the beginning of October. Team registrations for the 2017 Fall season will start soon. More info will be available soon at capitaltt.com and in the next newsletter.
MDTTC LEAGUES
- Tuesday and Friday Night Leagues. All ages and levels. Please arrive prior to 7:25 pm to sign up. If you know you’ll be a few minutes late, please call the club at 301-519-8580 BEFORE 7:20 pm, otherwise YOU WILL BE TURNED AWAY.
- Sunday Elite League. This is primarily for players over 1900, and is on Sundays at 12:30PM.
MDTTC ADULT PROGRAMS
- Tuesday and/or Friday Lunch Group Training (1:00-2:00 pm) for all levels. Improve your table tennis skills while getting great physical and mental exercises. Every player will get one-on-one playing time with Coach Jeffrey Zeng (2550+ rating).
- Sunday Adult Training from 7:00-8:30PM. No pre-registration is required, but if you have any questions, email Coach Larry. Complete beginners should take several private coaching sessions first so they can hit basic forehands, backhands, and push. Be prepared to improve!!!
MDTTC JUNIOR PROGRAMS
- Novice/Beginning/Advanced Beginners Junior Classes. The next session starts on Sept. 10, 2017 on Sundays 4:00-5:30 PM for ten weeks. This is for beginners to
advanced beginners, ages 6-14, with Coach Larry, with John Hsu and others assisting. For more info, see the Junior Group Training Page. - Level 2 Junior Classes. The next session starts on Sept. 19, 2017 on Tuesdays, 6-7PM. This is intended for kids 8-15 who enjoy playing table tennis and want to improve their game. Players must know the basics in table tennis and/or have taken table tennis lessons previously. The class is kept small for individualized instruction. Sessions are Tuesdays from 6-7PM with Coach John Hsu. If you join mid-session, the class fee will be pro-rated. For more info, see the Junior Group Training Page.
MDTTC PRIVATE COACHING
Private Coaching, by Coaches Cheng Yinghua, Jack Huang, Larry Hodges, Jeffrey Zeng, Wang Qingliang, Bowen Chen, John Hsu, and Ruichao “Alex” Chen. See Private Coaching page.
BIRTHDAY PARTIES & RENTAL SPACE FOR CORPORATE AND PRIVATE EVENTS
MDTTC offers birthday parties ran by our popular Coach Larry. We also regularly host community events and team-building activities for local businesses. Space rental for special corporate and private events are available. Here is Facility Rental Information, and here is info on Birthday Party Packages.
MDTTC WEB AND FACEBOOK PAGES
Don’t forget to see the regularly updated MDTTC Facebook page, and make sure to “like” it! Stop by and see all the photos, read the latest news, or post your own comments. Also see the MDTTC web page for regularly updated info.
TIP OF THE MONTH: Sports Psychology
By Larry Hodges
Sports psychology, along with return of serve, are the two things in table tennis that nearly everyone has trouble with and yet few do anything about. How often have you lamented that you don’t play as well in tournaments as you do in practice matches? Found yourself nervous and unable to play your best? Been on the verge of winning a match and then got nervous and blew it?
Stroking and footwork drills aren’t going to solve these problems. You need to address what’s really going on. In the Sports Psychology section of TableTennisCoaching.com there are numerous links that should help. They include links to lots of articles and to five books that I recommend. (All five books are relatively short, quick reads.)
ARTICLES ON SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY
- Sports Psychology Articles by Larry Hodges (19)
- Dora Kurimay’s Table Tennis Sports Psychology page – Strongly recommended! See also her book below.
- United States Olympic Committee Sports Psychology
- The Ultimate Guide to Table Tennis Psychology from Expert Table Tennis
BOOKS ON SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY
- Get Your Game Face On Like the Pros! by Dora Kurimay and Kathy Toon; here’s my review.
- The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
- With Winning in Mind by Lanny Bassham
- Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert
- Finding Your Zone by Michael Lardon, M.D.; here’s my review (see second segment)
