Stefan Feth Interview

May 29, 2014

Playing Bad





Is there something wrong with your equipment? This can happen, but it's rare. Usually it's your own fault. Is your rubber surface dirty and so not grabby as usual? Clean it. Is it getting old and so is losing its bounce? Get new sponge. (If you can't afford new sponge, then perhaps it's a chronic problem.)  Is it humid? Keep a towel just for your racket and ball so you can keep them dry. I'll also include here other factors in the equipment category. I'm used to playing in near perfect conditions, and so when I play on slippery floors, on brown wood floors with orange balls (where the floor and ball are similarly colored so I lose the ball in the background), or in bad lighting, I play poorly. Is this an equipment problem or a chronic problem? This might classify as both. The fact that I don't play well in poor conditions is a chronic problem that lowers my overall level of play, but only in certain circumstances.

Are you out of practice? Whose fault is that? Solution: Go practice. If you don't have time to practice, then it's a chronic problem that simply lowers your overall level of play.

So if nothing is affecting your play physically, and you can't blame it on your equipment, and you are in practice, what can you blame your poor play on? Yes, it's all mental. There are so many ways a player can talk himself out of playing well. The most common is by harping on the poor shots instead of the good ones. Harp on the good ones, and you'll likely begin to emulate them. Harp on the bad ones, and that's what you'll continue to do since that's what you're thinking about, and the brain (i.e. the subconscious) tends to mimic what it is thinking about. Or perhaps you got nervous? Yep, that's all in your head. Or you got defensive when you had a lead? Another mental problem. Or you just weren't up to playing? Yep, that's mental.

I could go on and on, but the conclusion over and over is the same. When you play poorly, it's almost always mental. And guess what? With practice, you can get control over the mental aspect. You have to choose to do so, but once you do, you'll rarely have a bad day again. Here are some resources on sports psychology.


Here's an interesting discussion on the subject of talent on Dora Kurimay's table tennis sports psychology webpage. One part I disagree with was from one of the takeaways at the end, "Talent doesn’t really exist…" I don't see how that came from the discussion. Avi Schmidt argued that you need some talent when he said, "Yes, personality traits matters but you need some hand eye coordination skills as well." And Sean O'Neill also implied the existence of talent while discounting its value when he wrote, "Talent is useless and often counterproductive."

We are not all born exactly alike, with identical brains and body. So of course there is such a thing as talent. (Here's where I blogged on the topic.) The only question is how much of a difference it makes. Ultimately, how hard a person works (as well as other intangibles such as coaching, playing partners, tournament experience, etc.) is more important than talent in the long run, though in the short run talent may seem the dominant factor. Or, as it says in the takeaways at the end, "Motivation and passion matter the most in the long run." 

The Health Benefits of Table Tennis

Here's the article. I don't think I've linked to this one before.

Interview with Stefan Feth

Here's the interview with the USA Men's Coach and former German star.

Killerspin Videos

Here are hordes of videos (including lots of coaching videos) from Killerspin.

Susan Sarandon and Table Tennis in People Magazine

Here's the page. She talks about table tennis in the bubble on the lower right. Here's what it says (it's hard to read on the page): On Celeb Ping-Pong Players, "Jamie Foxx, Ed Norton, and Prince are all very good. Even Jack Kevorkian! When he came to town after he got out of prison, he played all night. Some people get obsessed, but I never play to win. If I have to get competitive, I freeze."

Zhang Jike Impressed with Armless Player

Here's video (13 sec) of World and Olympic Champion Zhang Jike videoing Egyptian player Ibrahim Hamato as he smacks backhands with Samsonov. Here's more video (2:43) of Hamato from my May 14 blog.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Commercial

Here's a commercial (34 sec) for Banco Esperito Santo from 2010 that features soccer player (that's football for non-Americans) Cristiano Ronaldo playing table tennis. I especially liked the service fake near the end!

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