Bristol Civil Service Table Tennis Club Newsletter. A message from Stuart Murray Williams, Table Tennis Club Chairman.

Transcription

1 Bristol Civil Service Table Tennis Club Newsletter Issue 13 March 2015 A message from Stuart Murray Williams, Table Tennis Club Chairman Many thanks to Charlo e for another full and well-designed newsle er which she has typed le -handed a er fracturing her right hand! We wish her a full and speedy recovery. Thanks too to several contributors for their reports, photographs, informa on and advice. As we move well into the second half of the season, it is encouraging to see several Civil Service teams well placed and pushing towards the top of their divisions, with most of the others safely in mid-table posi ons. Many thanks also to Paul Barlow for his many years as club secretary and for stepping in as club treasurer last year. However, Paul has indicated that he will be relinquishing this role at the AGM in the summer, so we will need a new treasurer then. Do you have the necessary experience and me to take this on? If so, please have a word with me or with Paul if you want to know what is involved. Club finances are buoyant at present, but we do need someone to look a er them. Thank you to Paul Barlow The new plas c balls and the Civil Service Table Tennis Club Mark Kinlocke Table Tennis England have stated that from July 2015 all English compe ons will use the new plas c balls. The old celluloid balls will s ll be legal for play but effec vely no one will be using them. So from the end of the season it will be plas c balls for all of us. Unlike in 2000 when we moved from the 38mm to the 40mm ball, there are 2 dis nct types of plas c balls, the seamed type and seamless type. These plas c balls are also slightly bigger than 40mm, so they are referred to as 40+ balls or 40plus. At the me of wri ng (3rd February 2015), there are three main factories making all plas c balls. 1 Xushaofa, who make the seamless variety; brands include Yinhe, Stag 2 DHS who make the seamed type; brands include DHS, Bu erfly, S ga, Joola. 3 Ni aku who make one product, the Ni aku Premium seamed ball. Reports from players playing experiences are that the seamed balls from DHS are having some severe quality issues regarding roundness and durability. In contrast, the seamless are proving to be very good and long las ng. I just a ended a major TT tournament which used the Stag seamless balls and there were no breakages. The Ni aku Premium also has a very good reputa on. But this has caused supplies to have dried up worldwide and it s very difficult to get hold of them at this me. The plas c balls, some mes called poly balls, are bigger, slower and have less spin. So they will take some me to get used to. I always have a few seamed and seamless balls in my bag, so if anyone wants to try one, speak to me whenever I m at one of the club prac ce sessions. Inside this issue Perspectives from the Hard Bat Competition 2 Perspectives continued 3 Table tennis committee 3 No TT on Saturday 7th March 3 The Bristol Closed Championship 4 Veterans Table Tennis returns to Thornbury 4 More on the Bristol Closed 5 Coach s corner tips from Dan Ives 5 National Disability TT Championships 6

2 Issue 13 Page 2 Perspec ves from the John Mycro Boucher Hard Bat Compe on History Ain t What It Used To Be Sven Pe ersson Typical. You wait ages for one, then two turn up at the same me. But this me I don't suppose anyone minded. It was quite amazing that the same name had not been seen twice on either the plate or the main singles trophy before. The 2015 compe on changed all that with Dennis 'The Menace' Coombes winning a great plate final for the second year in a row against Shaun 'That Was A Chea ng Serve' Fitzpatrick. I was happy to umpire that match, and was able to fully appreciate the quality of the play because of the close view that I had. Shaun was more the a acking player, especially with the forehand. Dennis though was rock steady in defence, ge ng most shots back. With a consistent backhand and his typically awkward forehand hit, Dennis came out the winner a er three great games. The main final was between the two top seeds, Dave 'The Chop Machine' Reeves and Mar n 'Atomic' Gunn. That final started with Mar n gaining a big lead very quickly, and some may have thought that Dave would be brushed aside in no me. But as is o en the way with defensive players, the longer the match goes on the more it can begin to favour them. Dave was gradually able to cope with Mar n's power shots, and with superb court coverage extended many a rally in his favour. But Mar n showed great shot selec on at the right me, proving that this hard bat game lends itself very well to tac cal play. What was now a very compe ve game just went Mar n's way, along with the trophy and another li le slice of history. It was nice to see the improvement displayed by a number of players, with rallies las ng longer, wonderful victories and close defeats. And good to see some new faces there too. As players become ever more familiar with the hard bat game, it seems sure that enthusiasm for this wonderful type of game will con nue to grow. I remember saying once that you will never see people having so much fun, or as many smiling faces as at the hard bat compe on. The dynamics are very different of course to the sponge rubber game, and so it would seem are people's sense of fun between the two. The two though are s ll just wonderful games, to be played in equal measure for our great enjoyment. My first Hard Bat Compe on Steve Kingsco Hi, my name is Steve Kingsco and I play for Bristol Civil Service TT club and I decided to enter the Hard Bat compe on for the first me and here is my story. I have given players divisions in brackets. Well, I have been playing for 5 years now, my first year as a reserve, and I've reached the dizzying heights of Div 6... OK lowly depths lol. I had no idea what to expect except that my now good friends Chris Adamek (2) and Steve Tainton (4) will be picking me up at the unearthly hour of 8 am on a cold Saturday morning. When we walked through the door of our local venue everything was set up and Terry Toghill asked me to warm up with the deligh ul Charlo e Taylor (7). The bats, all the same, no sponge whatsoever, with pimples on the outside and reminding me of a cheap bat I once played with as a kid on holiday. The bat felt alien in my hand and I couldn't get used to it for love nor money. There were 24 players there, I believe, including myself and these were divided into groups of 4. My group consisted of Dave Reeves (Prem), Mark Kerslake (1), and Sven Pe erson (2)... It s then I realised I wasn't going through to the Main event as only the top 2 did, Sven and Dave going through. So I was through to the Plate selec on in my group were Dennis Coombes (2), Simon Monks (4), and Louis Price (6) at last someone in my division but with a way be er win average. Again the winner and runner up going through. I only won the one match which happened to be against Louis must have been the lush bacon roll I had eaten, giving me some well needed energy. /...

3 Issue 13 Page 3 Perspec ves from the Bristol Hard Bat Compe on con nued So the Plate final was Dennis Coombes (2) who happened to be in my group against Shaun Fitzpatrick (1). A er a very close fought ba le, Dennis came out the winner, and he was hanging, what a trooper. The Main event final was between Dave Reeves (Prem), who was also in my group, and Mar n Gunn (Prem). Well this match was amazing, featuring fierce a ack from Mar n and unbelievable defence from Mar n, it was like an exhibi on match and a treat for everyone to watch Mar n coming out the winner! Time for a well earned drink or two down in our bar if you haven't been in there then you should, plenty of choice of booze and so drinks, friendly bar staff, BT Sport on the TV, American Pool, darts and full size snooker available next room support your club! Can t win em all! Andy Cooper Just to say how much I enjoy the hard bat compe on. It's a great compe on not like any other, no one has great advantage over any one else. Everyone displays a good compe ve spirit and the finals this year were fantas c I wish I'd won it but you can't have everything! Other familiar faces were in ac on on the day: Table tennis club committee President Ken Simmonds Chairman Stuart Murray Williams Deputy Chairman; Coaching and Competitions Mark Kinlocke Secretary Chris Adamek Treasurer Paul Barlow Welfare Officer Tim Harris Publicity Officer Charlotte Taylor Lo area not available Saturday 7th March The CSSC lo area will not be available for any Table Tennis prac ce next Saturday 7th March. The hall has been booked all day for a boxing event and I believe ckets are available at the club for the evening event. The tables/barriers will need to be taken down and put away a er prac ce on the previous night Friday 6th March. Prac ce will resume on Sunday 8th March as usual. Chris Adamek

4 Issue 13 Page 4 The Bristol Closed Championship The Civil Service Club was well represented at this tournament and although we had no overall champions, congratula ons to the following members: Andy Cooper with Por shead C partner Mark Ratajczak were runners up to Craig Mehew and Dave Webber in the Div 3 5 doubles Sven Pe ersson with Thornbury A partner Mar n Gunn were runners up to Dave Harvey and Dave Adamson in the Vets doubles Andy Cooper was runner up to Callam Parkins in the 3 5 singles Other club members in ac on were Michael Julian, Bryan Taylor, Steve Tainton, Julian Boucher, Rob Dixon, Pawel Rekawiecki, Terry Toghill, Richard Rees, Simon Monks, Warren Sneary, Ian Thomas, Pra k Bose and Charlo e Taylor. It was good to see the Civil Service Cadets playing too. Veterans Table Tennis returns to Thornbury Tim Harris A er an absence of two years the Veterans English Table Tennis Society will be staging its Western Masters tournament in the Bowls Halls of Thornbury Leisure Centre over the weekend of 11 th and 12 th of April. Formed in 1984 and with a membership of 900 the society organises tournaments in different loca ons in England during the Table Tennis season. The tournaments cater for different age categories which consist of over 40s, over 50s, over 60s, over 70s and over 80s in singles and doubles. The Saturday consists mainly of groups where compe tors are drawn into groups of 4 in their respec ve age group. On comple on of their group the winner and runner-up qualify for the main event and players finishing in 3 rd and 4 th posi ons qualify for the plate event; all those events take place on the Sunday. Compe tors can enter a maximum of three events over singles and doubles. The tournament will accept entries from non-members: an entry form can be obtained from the VETTS website s.org.uk; it needs to be completed and sent to the Referee by March 12 th. This year VETTS have been fortunate to secure the services of Ma hew Syed as the a er-dinner speaker at the Saturday evening tournament social event. Ma hew was England s No. 1 Table Tennis player for nearly a decade, a compe tor at two Olympic Games, and a three- me Commonwealth champion. He is now best known as a sports journalist and writer of the interna onal bestseller, Bounce. The book has become a bestseller, resona ng as it does with business audiences, individuals and sport. He is also a regular sports columnist for The Times. Alongside wri ng, Ma hew commentates for the BBC and Eurosport. In recent years he has also become a much sought-a er a er-dinner speaker. Ma hew has confirmed he will compete in the Over 40 Men s Doubles at Thornbury, which will take place during the Saturday a ernoon of the tournament. The Civil Service Table Tennis Club now has a Twi er

5 Issue 13 Page 5 The Bristol Closed from the other side of the table Charlo e Taylor My par cipa on in the Bristol Closed tournament was shortlived - my fellow Civil Service Pirate Pra k Bose and I realised, as we faced the mighty Tim Sobey and Adam Thorne in the Div 6 7 doubles, that we needed rather a lot more prac ce in serving, receiving and movement round the table! I had a ny bit more success in the singles but, as they say, didn t trouble the scorers for long. I was very pleased, therefore, that John Ruderham, the organiser of the tournament, had asked me if I could help with some of the administra on mainly scampering between the results table and the results charts on the wall to update players progress through the different rounds of the compe on. It was really interes ng to see the me culous organisa on resul ng from weeks of prepara on that John had put in beforehand, and the intricacy of the steps he goes through to ensure that all players get the fairest possible draw. He endeavours to arrange the ini al draw so that players do not meet club mates, and seeds everyone according to their performance in the league. He does all this in good me and then has to rejig as players contact him to change events or withdraw! There were more than 100 players compe ng in 21 events, and more than 350 matches were played during the day a mammoth feat of organisa on. Each player s name is on a small le on a board to the le of the admin table, while a layout of all the tables in the hall is on the right. As soon as players are allocated to a table, their name les are transferred across to the appropriate space, so at all mes John can see who is playing and who is available - very useful for keeping things moving along, especially for those players in mul ple events. The goal at all mes is to have all tables occupied, and when this was achieved it was very sa sfying. Pra k also helped with this and we both enjoyed it very much. Thank you very much to John for organising the event so well, and keeping so calm on the day! For John s very detailed account of all the events, go to Coach s corner advice from Dan Ives: Tip number 2, SPIN TO WIN Hey everyone, my name is Dan and I am one of the coaches at the Civil Service Table Tennis Club. Each newsle er I will write a small important p to improve your table tennis. In the previous newsle er the coach s corner was all about ge ng the basics right and keeping things simple. This month s p is about spin. One of the most important differences that separate na onal league players from local league is their ability to spin the ball with great consistency. Did you know that a table tennis ball can travel Dan coaching Dean Cundy to win the 2015 Men's Singles tle at the Bristol Closed at up to 150 revolu ons per second, that s the same wheel speed as a Ferrari travelling at 100mph. Therefore you need to try to bring this spin into your game and use it to your advantage. Learning how to spin the ball can take a li le bit of me but with deliberate focus and prac ce you will crack it in no me. Let s take the forehand topspin stroke for example. When striking the ball, take off all the speed and visualise yourself trying to use your bat to spin a wheel (look at this image for an example). 1) Brush the ball 2) Fine contact 3) Smooth contact Thinking about brushing the wheel with your forehand stroke will reinforce the ac on to brush the ball. When your forehand brushes the ball it will grip to the surface of your rubber and be propelled forward with spin. Once you are competent at using your forehand topspin to spin the ball begin to do exercises that require movement. An example could be: one forehand wide and then one forehand from the middle. Again, keep prac sing brushing the ball to produce lots of spin. This spin will increase your accuracy rate and make it much harder for your opponent to receive. Spin to win!

6 Bristol Civil Service Table Tennis Club Newsletter Filton Avenue Horfield Bristol BS7 0AT See our website at com/index.html Thank you very much to everyone who has contributed to this newsle er. Do send me your comments and ideas for ar cles for the next one. Thank you also for your sympathy a er my running accident I am very sad that my broken fingers mean no more table tennis for me ll the end of the season. S ll, I m out of my cast now and just have this neat li le splint. Charlo e charlo ejanetaylor@ scali.co.uk National Disability Table Tennis Championships Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 th March at the Bristol Academy The Bri sh Table Tennis Associa on of Disability (BTTAD) is hos ng their annual Na onal Disability Table Tennis Championships Saturday and Sunday 14 and 15 th March It is the first me that the Na onal Governing Body has brought this na onal event to Bristol. Paralympic world no. 1 Will Bayley (who is a former student of Bristol Academy) will be there; Great Britain no. 2 woman Kelly Sibley, as well as the Mayor, will be invited to present medals for the event. Live streaming will capture some great games over the weekends. The organiser is looking for volunteers to help in the event at the Bristol Academy (SGS) on Saturday(10:30 6pm) and Sunday (10am 3pm). If you think you could help in either of the following roles, please contact choisze.to@sgscol.ac.uk or on : a) Volunteer umpires b) Volunteers to help in managing tables and do some ball picking du es The associa on will be grateful if anyone could help for a few hours on either Saturday or Sunday or both! Even if you can help just for a short me or only for a few hours on one day, it would be much appreciated. More information? If you have any questions about any aspect of table tennis at the Bristol Civil Service Table Tennis Club membership, coaching, costs, how to get involved in a team, what happens at club night on a Sunday please get in touch with Chris Adamek at chris_adamek@hotmail.com