Talkin' Smash Podcast powered by JOOLA Ep8: The Evolution of TableTennisDaily with Dan Ives

To kick off Talkin' Smash in 2024, there's no better guest than Dan Ives. Dan is a great friend of mine and we have been moving independently in the same circles for many, many years as content creators and people who are extremely passionate about table tennis. I joined TableTennisDaily quite early on and was also the Facebook Page Admin for a small stint in the very beginning. Time has flown for both of us. 

Talkin' Smash Episode 8 
with Dan Ives from TableTennisDaily

From those early days the brand now boasts it's own team series in the British League, an organized 8-team Super League competition, a refurbished HQ building which is now Europe's first PingPod - as well as multiple masterclasses in it's academy with top professional players.

Ives created TableTennisDaily over 12 years ago, starting out as a YouTube channel and a small forum for the most die hard table tennis fans. Over the past decade TableTennisDaily has grown into a powerhouse in the sport.

It was fun to catch up and hear about how the TableTennisDaily brand has evolved over that time, the inspirations, the challenges, and a look into the mind of the man behind it all - Dan Ives.

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 Ep7: The Physical and Mental Comeback from Injury with Sophia Klee

Episode 7 of the Talkin' Smash Table Tennis Podcast powered by JOOLA, was another specialized topic - one I hope may help those out there suffering from table tennis or sports-related injuries and trying to find ways to improve their situation. I sat down and spoke with Sophia Klee, a rising star in German and European women's table tennis. 

A pleasure to be joined by Sophia Klee to talk
about coming back from an injury in professional sport

Sophia had a great start to her playing career, with incredible success in the European Cadet age group. She was, in 2017, champion of the Cadet Girls Singles at the European Youth Top 10 Championships, and in the same year won the Cadet Girls Doubles at the European Youth Championships. 

Her career sat on a knife-edge however at the beginning of 2022 when she suffered an unusual injury - breaking her knee cap during a table tennis match. 

While she managed to avoid having surgery, the road back was still one which presented challenges both physical and mental. It was great to chat with Sophia about her road back, and how she pushed herself back to the game she loves and continued on her journey to the top!

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 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. 

- Listen and Follow on Spotify
- Listen and Follow on Apple Podcasts

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!

- Listen and Follow on Spotify
- Listen and Follow on Apple Podcasts