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.
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.
In the first ever episode of the Talkin' Smash Podcast powered by JOOLA, I'm joined by one of my friends and a recognizable face in US Table Tennis - Ryan Willard.
Commonly seen as an MC/Host and one of my favourite co-commentators, Ryan's journey in the sport spans from being first exposed to the sport at SPiN New York, all the way to hosting the World Table Tennis Championships.
Honestly being a part of this journey with Ryan has been pretty amazing. He was literally hosting a social/pro competitive table tennis night at SPiN in New York City, and gradually over the years brought something special to the game. It has been my pleasure to work with him over many years now, and to see him go from the shadows of SPiN to the lights of the biggest table tennis events in the US and the World!
Ryan was without a doubt the perfect person to start off my new podcast with, as a seasoned podcaster himself, and also as someone who brings an entire spectrum of experience in our sport - all the way from being fresh to the game, to having seen it at its very best.
You can also check out the audio podcast on Spotify!
I know it's been a long time since I have posted here on my blog, hopefully most of you have been able to keep up with me on my Instagram @mhtabletennis where I have been posting everyday!
Recently, since beginning to work with JOOLA Global, I have been producing coaching videos for the new JOOLA Infinity App. I'm really excited to be part of this project and be able to spend some time finally delving into sharing some more special tips on techniques, experiences and tactics as well as training drills and more!
The app already has dozens of videos, with a good balance of free and premium content. Currently there are a handful of coaches, one being my own Physical Trainer Kevin Finn from PeakPerformance Table Tennis, and another being 3-time Olympian Lily Zhang.
There are a handful of new videos released to the platform each week, and the number of coaches and content types will only continue to expand as the app grows!
To kick things off, I am uploading weekly videos from my 11-part Basics for Beginners series of videos from the app, you can check out the first one below on the basic racket grip. Many of you will be too advanced in your game for these, but perhaps you can share them with friends who are looking to get into the game!
This is the perfect chance for anyone from a basement ping pong player, to an aspiring table tennis player, to learn something to enhance their game.
I hope you will all join the app and join me as I continue to work hard putting out more videos!
Still in the process of getting all of my videos summarized and up here on the blog, I'm hoping to get more productive moving forward. I know I keep saying it, but this time cross your fingers and hopefully it will be true :)
In this article I will do a quick four point summary of my tutorial video on the long fast serve!
4 Key Factors for High Quality Long Fast Table Tennis Serves
See below, the video tutorial which covers the 4 points, you can also read the summary points I have written below - the video is 13 minutes long in more of a detailed style, so if you don't have time now, perhaps save it for later! :)
1. Serve Depth
An effective long-fast serve needs to consistently be deep on the table, this means getting as close to the back edge, side edge or corners as possible. A good exercise for this is to put a towel on the table or a marker and ensure that you can consistently serve inside a deeper 'zone' on the table.
2. Serve Speed
In order to make your long fast serves most effective, they need to have a quick and low trajectory. A long serve which lacks speed is not going to be useful in matches. A good way to practice this is to put a slightly weighted object (usually empty boxes are good) on the end of the table, and practice serving fast to try and knock the item back towards and off the table edge.
3. Serve Actions
It is important that you are able to reduce any tells with your service actions. Long fast serves need to be a surprise to your opponent in order to have maximum effect. You should practice connecting short, half-long and long serves with similar actions - in order to disguise them. You can practice serving in pairs of short/long with the same/similar actions.
4. Serve Precision
Putting a ball on the table or some kind of small target can help increase your serve accuracy. As your table tennis opponents get more high level, it is important to be able to target specific places on the table. Knowing how to adjust your weight transfer, direction and contact in order to achieve a pinpoint placement is vital, and so using small targets as demonstrated in the video can be useful.
These are all things that can also add to making your serve practice more engaging and purposeful. If you are trying to improve your long fast serves, perhaps some of this information can be useful to you!
Thanks for reading, and if you haven't already be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and help share some of the videos to get them to others who may find them useful too!
