Talkin' Smash Podcast by JOOLA Ep6: The Atmosphere of Live Table Tennis Events with Ryan Willard

 I was at the JOOLA North American Team Championships a couple of weeks ago, a perfect opportunity to get my friend Ryan Willard to sit down face to face with me this time. We sat together on the main tournament court with hundreds of players around us, competing on 167 tables. It was the perfect environment to talk about the atmosphere of live table tennis events. 

Ryan Willard joined me to talk about the haves and have nots
of live table tennis events!

This is a topic I have gripes with. I think digitally table tennis presentation has improved a lot, the investment into cameras and production, particularly at the international level, has made a big difference. That being said, the majority of events still fail to fill seats. This is a huge challenge for event organizers who are trying their best to promote the sport and do new things, but also for the professional sport as a whole. 

Why do hundreds of people show up to watch sports like pickleball, cornhole, darts, snooker etc? Are those sports on a totally higher level than table tennis? I don't think so. 

Table Tennis is complex, it's hard for the average viewer to understand and comprehend. When a player does a filthy reverse pendulum serve and it gets dumped in the net - for a table tennis player this is a moment of appreciation for a great serve. For a mainstream spectator however it's lame, all they see is a serve receive error. 

There are certainly many angles to cover on this topic, I was glad to chat to Ryan about a few of those in this podcast. Be sure to check it out below on YouTube. Follow on Spotify or Apple too for your gym sessions or commute to or from work! 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/02qictmEm8i9o5jUTw5Wy6?si=4928f1f9cabe42fd

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talkin-smash-podcast-powered-by-joola/id1706374396

Talkin' Smash Podcast by JOOLA Ep5: Overcoming Challenges in Serve Receive with Lily Zhang

It was great to have Lily Zhang back on the podcast. She is a fun guest, but also a 3-time US Olympian and a 6-time US National Champion! Lily and I spoke about Overcoming Challenging in Serve Receive. It was a fitting follow-up to the previous episode where Craig Bryant and I spoke about Serve Practice Habits!

Talkin' Serve Receive with Lily Zhang

This year Lily had written some more blog posts about her experiences in specific WTT events or matches. One of the ones which stood out was her blog about competing in a match against Japan's Mima Ito and Taking on the World's Best at WTT Singapore Smash!

Serve Receive was such a prominent factor in this match, it made sense to delve into this topic with Lily and get her thoughts on the subject more. 

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Talkin' Smash Podcast by JOOLA Ep4: The Seriously Underrated Art of Service Practice with Craig Bryant

Already bouncing around some different topics and I have been doing my best to get the best possible guests to match with specialist topics. That being said, this Episode 4 Podcast was also a perfect match. Talkin' Service! with Craig Bryant. No better man for the job than @thettserviceguy (on Instagram).

My guest for Episode 4 is Craig Bryant, a service master instructor!

Craig is a former England international and a reputable coach. His 4 Killer Serves to Destroy Your Opponents YouTube video with Tom Lodziak was a hit for the online table tennis crowd. The video garnered an impressive 8.7 million views.

Now Craig is focused on building his platform and new Coaching Website as well as his social media platforms where he shares plenty of tips, tricks and fun content about the incredible art of table tennis serve. 

In this episode we talk about the importance of the serve and how much simple improvements can impact a match overall. We also talk about things that frustrate us both when we see people practicing their serves, and also people teaching serves and guiding people in serve practice. 

Overall a great podcast, we got down and nerdy on a bunch of different things and it was really fun!

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Talkin' Smash Podcast by JOOLA Ep3: Setting the Record Straight on Physical Training in Table Tennis with Kevin Finn

We are getting some air under our wings with the new Talkin' Smash Podcast powered by JOOLA. In Episode 3, my guest is Kevin Finn - the founder and trainer behind Peak Performance Table Tennis. Kevin is a certified Strength and Conditioning coach and a published Author. We chat about physical training in table tennis, some of the misconceptions and what good habits to build and consider. 

Kevin Finn is my guest on Episode 3 of Talkin' Smash!

Kevin's book Peak Performance Table Tennis - Unlock Your Potential and Play Like the Pros was released in November 2021, and his popularity in the field has continued to grow. Through his online platforms and social media he works with table tennis players to test his physical training programs and exercises through focus groups. This allows him to continuously fine-tune his training plans. 

From conversations on the falsely taboo muscle building in table tennis, to making the most of your physical training time by choosing the right workouts - Kevin offers a very specific knowledge in this field, especially with his own table tennis background to add into the mix. 

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Talkin' Smash Podcast by JOOLA Ep2: The Overseas Experience vs. Coming Home to the USA with Lily Zhang

 In episode 2 of the Talkin' Smash Podcast powered by JOOLA, I was joined by three-time US Olympian and six-time US National Table Tennis Champion Lily Zhang. We had a great discussion about different periods of Lily's playing career, living in different places and the pros and cons of living abroad vs. living at home in America. 

Lily Zhang joins Matt Hetherington on Episode 2 of the
Talkin' Smash Podcast powered by JOOLA

Zhang's career, post-university graduation, saw her experience an array of different training experiences. For the first year away from home she bounced around different countries in Europe, training and competing without a base. In year two she settled and trained full time in Dusseldorf at the German National Training Center. Her next experience saw her live in China for almost a year, during the height of the pandemic - training among the world's best with the Chinese National Team and playing in the Chinese Super League. 

After these long winded and varying pathways, her journey has now brought her home to the United States - where she is based and travels regularly for overseas leagues and international tournaments. 

It was great to get Lily's insights into these totally different worlds, but more so to delve into the mental challenges of each. My goal was to speak more about the challenges which players don't think about when they endeavour to move overseas and away from home full time. Lily's knowledge and learnings in these areas, especially with her graduate background in psychology - make for a unique and interesting podcast discussion. 

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