Saturday 5th March 2010
At long last, the first of the Tactics videos is now up. This one has been a bit of a struggle to get done, as I explain in the video. I'm starting with the basic framework of my tactical play, with videos on 3rd & 5th ball, and 4th & 6th ball attacking to come.
Friday 26th February 2010
I was sans laptop for a while, which is why there haven't been any new videos this week. But I've got it back, and now here's two to make up for lost time, with a slew of the Tactics - 3rd ball, 4th ball, 5th ball, and 6th ball, to come!
Analyzing Your Strengths & Weaknesses - Making Plans
Handling Dead Balls to Your Long Pips/Antispin (tabesamis, this is the reply to your question, but it is in the Month 5 videos, so you can't access it from there. I'll send you an email with instructions on how you can see the video)
Wednesday 17th February 2010
Phew! The tournament is finally over (thank goodness!), and after sleeping most of Monday, I've finally got around to getting the next video edited and published. This is the first of the Month 5 videos, on the topic of third ball attacks and correct recovery locations (both in terms of your position relative to the table/line of play, and your feet positioning). Service recovery is something that I've been working on recently, so I thought now was a good time to share it, seeing as third ball attack tactics is one of the topics for Month 5. If you don't recover correctly, you'll find it hard to get your forehand third ball going. Note that seeing as this is the first Month 5 video, there is a new username and password for Month 5.
Friday 12th February 2010
I'm in the middle of running the first local tournament of the year pretty much by myself, so things are a bit hectic at the moment. I've got the final instalment of my service training up now, and I've shot the service recovery positioning video (which needs some editing), so I might have that up Saturday afternoon, if I can get up early enough. If not then, I'll be busy Saturday arvo and all day Sunday, so I'll have it up on Monday.
Monday 8th February 2010
PayPal Problems
You may have received an email from PayPal saying your subscription was cancelled, followed soon after by a payment request for Month 4. Don't panic. All that has happened is that due the original problem I had with the PayPal buttons, the starting members of the program were going to have the $10 monthly payment automatically deducted from their PayPal account in the near future. Obviously, we aren't anywhere near the end of the first year of the program (!), so it was easier to cancel all the automatic subscriptions and just do the payment requests myself when each month of content is completed. Sorry about that, didn't mean to get anyone worried.
I've got some more videos planned for this week, including a further update on my service training (I found another tweak which has now sorted my service out completely), and a little problem with service recovery which I have solved, which I'll share with you as well. Plus the start of the regular Month 5 content, of course!
Wednesday 27th January 2010
Hmmm, where were the extra videos I promised? Oops, sorry about that. :(
Anyway, here's the video I promised regarding my service training over the last month, and the mistakes I have made along the way. As I mention in the video, it's been a frustrating month or so, but after last Sunday's training matches I'm pretty sure I'm heading back in the right direction.
This will be the last video for Month 4, so in the next couple of days I'll be sending out payment requests for those of you who wish to pay for Month 4 and continue into Month 5. There will be less focus on my own season preparation in Month 5, and more time spent on the expected course outline, which will probably be a great relief to everybody!
Wednesday 20th January 2010
Wow, where did the time go? Looks like my Christmas and New Year's break got a bit out of control! Anyway, I'm back in business, so there should be a steady stream of videos coming your way in the next few months. First up, here's what will probably be the second last video for Month 4 - Fine Tuning Your Long Pips or Antispin Rubber. Once again, it's one of those videos that I thought would be about 10 minutes long on paper, but once I got started I kept thinking of more things to add, so it ended up at 44 minutes long. Sorry about that, but I guess after a few weeks without any videos, I can get away with rambling a bit.
One thing those of you who manage to get to the end of the video will notice is that I talk about doing some videoing of my training that afternoon with my training partner, Colin. Well, I did do the videoing, but due to some problems I'm having with my change in service technique, I'm a bit too embarrassed to show it to anybody. Let me just say that there was one game where I actually managed 5 faults and 1 legal serve, and leave it at that. Going back to the drawing board this morning, I think I have sorted the problem, but I want to have the chance to confirm that I have got things right before I discuss it all on video.
Needless to say, the last few weeks have been rather frustrating, as I have been constantly practicing my serves, only to end up serving worse than ever. Anyway, I do *think* I have it corrected now, but I won't be sure until I play some matches and see whether I can perform the serve correctly or not. Sigh. All going well, I'll update you all on that in a video next week - it's an interesting story about how *not* to go about changing your service technique. And don't worry, I'll have some more videos on the way before then!
Thursday 24th December 2009
Here's an early Christmas present - the Goal Setting and Using Feedback to Adjust Plans video. I've included an live example of how I needed to adjust my plans to improve my short return of serve - it was kind of interesting to get up and just work things out on the run in front of the camera. Hopefully it will give everyone a useful insight into the sort of thinking that you can use to adjust your plans when things aren't quite working out the way you would like.
I'm just over the 7 hour mark for Month 4. I'll probably do one or two more videos and then move anything I haven't covered into Month 5 or later. So once I've done the last couple of videos for Month 4, I'll send out payment requests and start putting up Month 5 content.
Oh, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone - have fun and stay safe!
Wednesday 16th December 2009
The Inverted Return of Serve - Close to the Table Players video is now up for Month 4 students to check out. I think I might tackle the Goal Setting and Using Feedback to Adjust Your Plans video from Month 5 next and bring it forward into Month 4, since I need to use this technique right now to evaluate the success (or not) of my return of service plans. I think it would probably be useful to talk through my thoughts in front of the camera without trying to script it in advance or look back on it in hindsight - just turn on the camera and get into it and see where it takes us.
Sunday 13th December 2009
The Long Range Defender - Inverted Return of Serve Video is now up, and I'll be shooting the close to the table equivalent tomorrow morning, so I'll try to have that up for Monday afternoon - I know you guys have been waiting with bated breath!
Saturday 5th December 2009
Yay! Got my Internet fast download/upload speed back. So here's the latest video - Inverted Return of Serve - Greg's Plan for the New Season. Next up will be the Inverted Return of Serve for long range defenders, and close to the table players (aggressive and defensive).
Monday 30th November 2009
Oops! There will be no new videos posted until Friday 4th December. Unfortunately I've gone over my ISP download cap and have had my speed throttled back until then, so uploading at 64kbps is out of the question. My partner and I will keep a closer eye on our downloading habits in future, so hopefully it won't happen again!
In the meantime, go and read this three part article series on Playing To Win, which is actually about playing video games but has so much relevance for table tennis it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I'm going to have to write or video something about this in the future, since there is just so much there that I read and go - yep, that's exactly how people think about long pips / speed glue / frictionless long pips / powerlooping / hidden serves. And especially check out Part 3 and think about basic R&D, Waldner and his creative genius vs Wang Liqin's robotic precision. It's uncanny stuff.
Playing To Win - Part 1
Playing To Win - Part 2
Playing To Win - Part 3
Thursday 26th November 2009
I've added another video to the Hitting With Long Pips - Swing Angle and Wrist Usage page. Colin Bowler, my training partner, has been working on his backhand flat hit with long pips over the last 5-6 sessions, and he has got it working pretty well now (it's a nasty stroke!). So I thought I'd show you his technique for hitting flat, hard and consistently, along with a few comments of my own. I'm going to have to copy Colin on this stroke myself, it's too effective a stroke not to!
Monday 23rd November 2009
Well, I've had my 15 minutes of fame on Australian TV (actually, more like 5 minutes), as part of the ABC show Can We Help? If you'd like to see the segment (it's good viewing and a bit of a laugh too), check it out here - http://www.abc.net.au/tv/canwehelp/ - Episode 41, 20 November 2009, the Pete Investigates: Table Tennis segment.
OK, I've got more videos to plan - back to work!
Thursday 19th November 2009
The multiball video is converting as I speak, so it should be ready to upload in a few hours. I'll update this post when it is ready to go.
EDIT: The Multiball - Early Season video is now up.
I have also updated your access rights for those students moving on to Month 2 and Month 3, so you should be good to go. I've sent out PayPal invoices for the payment. I've still got a few more videos to put up before I send out a payment request for Month 4, so don't worry if you haven't received a PayPal invoice lately. I'll probably shift around some of the content in my course outline for Months 4-6 depending on what I find logical to film in regards to the series on preparing for a new season, so I'll give everyone a chance to see what they will be getting in Month 4 before asking for payment.
Wednesday 18th November 2009
Just a quick update to let everyone know that the next video is on the way - this time I'm talking about using multiball in your training sessions. It seemed appropriate since I've just started doing multiball again myself.
It should be online tomorrow - I've shot the footage, just need to convert it and add a voiceover, then upload it.
Thursday 12th November 2009
OK, hopefully this video will be watchable without any problems. Once again, I started out trying to make a 15 minute video and ended up with something an hour long, as I kept remembering things to add! Here's the How to Train Intelligently video, giving my tips on how I try to make the most of my limited training time.
Friday 06th November 2009
It was pointed out that the latest video went blank after about 7min or so. It seems to be a conflict between the converted file from Veoh and MovieMaker. I've provided a work around so you should be able to see Tat in all his glory now!
By the way, one member has reported having problems playing the Long Pips / Antispin - Return of Serve General Principles video, reporting that it cuts out at around the 10 min mark. It works fine for me, so is anyone else having the same problem?
Thursday 5th November 2009
I've added Tat's return of serve with long pip technique to my long pip return of serve - learning a new stroke article, along with some commentary of my own. Thanks Tat for making your video available for all group members to learn from.
Tuesday 3rd November 2009
OK, I'm back from holidays, and ready to roll! Here's the first of hopefully many videos to come in the near future - Long Pips & Antispin - Return of Serve General Principles (38 min).
Saturday 24th October 2009
I'm heading off on a week's holiday as of this Monday 26th November until Sunday 1st November. On the downside, that means that there will be no videos published during this time. On the plus side, I'm going somewhere with little or no computer access, so I'll have less distractions during my day, allowing me to do some planning for upcoming videos, which should then allow me to pump several out quite quickly when I get back. I've got one video already planned and ready to film, which I may try to get up online before I head off, all going well. Sorry for the wait.
Thursday 22nd October 2009
The Long Pimple/Antispin Return of Serve - Learning a New Stroke video is now up. More to come soon!
Tuesday 20th October 2009
Fear not, the latest video (Long Pimple/Antispin Return of Serve - Learning a New Stroke), has been filmed and is currently in the conversion process, so it will be up on the site tomorrow, closely followed by the video Preparing for a New Season - Return of Serve Training, which I'll shoot tomorrow and hopefully have up on the site Thursday.
And now that Month 3 is finished, I'll be tidying up the admin side of things a little, so for those of you who are waiting for their next month's payment request so you can get access to the next lot of videos, I'll get that sorted out for you tomorrow. And yes, I do remember that I have to go back and give written summaries of the Month 3 videos - I'm currently playing with the Microsoft Vista speech recognition tool, and I'm hoping to use that to make the process a lot less painful (on my wrists and forearms!). So don't worry, it's still on my To Do list, if only I could find the darn thing!
Friday 16th October 2009
Time for the final video from the Month 3 content - Long Pips & Antispin Away From The Table Styles. Then it will time to get stuck into more of the Month 4 stuff.
Tuesday 13th October 2009
Oops!
Somehow when doing the site reorganization, I managed to delete the username and password for Month 4 - I'm not sure how, since that is in a separate part of software to what I was changing - but it was definitely gone. Sorry about that, and thanks to those members who pointed out they couldn't get into the Month 4 videos anymore. I've put the password back in and tested it, and it all seems to be working fine again. Sorry about that guys!
More videos on the way this week - I should be videoing a couple today to publish tomorrow, all going well.
Friday 9th October 2009
At long last I've added my video reply to Chas' comments regarding generating forehand loop power from the waist and legs, along with some other points I've had reinforced since then, and some demo points showing my good and not so good efforts to use this technique in recent matches.
Monday 5th October 2009
OK - I've finished the behind the scenes reorganization, and access to the pages and videos should be back up and running. If anybody is having trouble getting to a particular page or video, please let me know and I'll try to sort it out ASAP.
Here's the Hitting With Long Pips / Antispin video, as promised.
Tuesday 29th September 2009
The long pips & antispin close to the table styles video is now up. Sorry it took so long, but my partner and I enjoyed our local long weekend too much!
The long pips & antispin away from the table styles video will be following soon, as well as the video answer for using the extra power from the waist technique against a strong chop. I need a bit more court space for these, so I'll video them down at my local centre tonight or tomorrow.
I'm a bit behind on my email at the moment, I'm getting into that now, so sorry if anyone has been waiting on a reply - I'll be with you soon.
Tuesday 22nd September 2009
Thanks to everyone who pointed out that comments weren't available for Month 4 - that's been fixed and you can now comment away!
Also, I've added an important post to the forum under the General section - could all members please read this ASAP. Thanks.
Finally, I've had one member not be able to download the month 4 videos - if anybody else is having problems could they please let me know - it seems to work fine when I test it but I'd like to know for sure it's not something on my end.
Thursday 17th September 2009
I'm now getting into the actual training plan itself - starting with a useful service technique/game that I use to help make my service practice less boring, and to help keep track of my service progress and compare the performance of my various serves.
Tuesday 15th September 2009
Continuing on with my series of videos about preparing for the next season, here's the video dealing with setting goals for the coming year, reassessing my play style, and choosing the right equipment to go with that style.
Saturday 12th September 2009
As I mentioned in my preparing for a new season video, I've discovered that I was missing a vital link in the chain for my forehand loop technique. You can find out what I was doing wrong, and whether you might be doing the same thing here - forehand loop technique - better use of waist and legs.
Friday 11th September 2009
Coaching group member TraditionalTradesman asked an interesting question about hitting with long pips, and the correct use of the wrist and direction that the swing should go - up or forward? My answer was a bit long to type out, so I've put it into a video instead.
Wednesday 9th September 2009
OK, brace yourself people, because I'll have a whole lot of videos coming at you in the next few days, starting with my preparing for a new season video. I'm currently making my plans for next season - analysing last year, planning for next year, and working out training plans and routines, so I thought I'd video the process and share it with you all. First up is the general overview video and my discussion on the year gone by.
And don't panic, I'll still be doing the other course stuff, I just thought that now would be a good time to share my prep work for next year.
Tuesday 1st September 2009
The lobbing video is now up for the perusal of Month 3 members.
Friday 28th August 2009
I've added the Dropshot vs Backspin and Topspin video to the site, along with some comments in the video about my forehand loop technique in this particular vid.
Wednesday 26th August 2009
The How to Win at Advanced Level video is now up. I'll be doing the drop shop and lobbing videos tomorrow, so keep an eye out for them then.
Tuesday 25th August 2009
The How to Win at Advanced Level video is done, just converting and uploading to go. I've got to head out for practice, so it will be up later this evening, when I get back.
Monday 24th August 2009
I've added a small video on serving fast with long pips to the serving with long pips/antispin page, on the suggestion of a group member who wanted a bit more demo of the techniques.
My training partners both took last week off, and I didn't have any local pennants, so I didn't get up to the WATTA centre last week, hence no training videos. But they are back on deck this week, so more technique videos will be on the way. Oh yeah, and I'm halfway through the How to Win at Advanced Level video, so look for that late tomorrow afternoon, most likely.
Wednesday 19th August 2009
As promised, the long awaited serving with long pips/antispin video.
Oh yes, on another note, I was interviewed by one of my local radio stations today, for a suburban sports star award (I was sneakily nominated by my sister!). Quite enjoyed the experience, and got a sports shop voucher to boot. Even got a plug in for our local table tennis centre!
Tuesday 18th August 2009
Here's the footage (with commentary) from my Men's Singles final on Friday. Today I'll also be working on the Serving with Long Pips/Anti that I had neglected to include in my serving video, so that should be up by late tonight or sometime Wednesday. Time to get things rolling along!
Friday 14th August 2009
Yes, I know I've been a bit slack this week. This is because:
(a) I'm fundamentally lazy; and
(b) the main local tournament for the year is on this week, and I've been playing most nights.
On the bright side, I made it through to the finals of the Mens Singles and Mens Doubles, still playing a close up to the table style. I'm surprised at how well I'm playing actually - I didn't have high expectations coming into this tournament. But I've been playing a little better each day as I start to get more used to the rubber and the style, culminating on Wednesday night where I managed to beat 3 strong players in a row to make it to the final, which is tonight.
I'll take my video camera along and get some footage to share of course. I'm playing my training partner (and fellow long pips user) Colin Bowler in the final, which could be interesting. He's a long pips defender with great serves and a good forehand attack (using plain old 1.5mm Mark V on a defensive blade), while I'm now standing up to the table with my long pips and a speed glue replacement rubber, so anything could happen really! But win or lose, I'm pretty happy really.
After tonight, I haven't got any table tennis for the next couple of weeks, so I *promise* I will pull my finger out and get going with the videos you are waiting for. I'm also going to start planning my campaign for next year, so I thought as a bonus I'd video the process for those who are interested in how I'm going to map out a strategy for next year.
Anyway, wish me luck - I'll let you all know how things turned out tomorrow.
Monday 10th August 2009
The second of the match analysis videos from the 2009 Maccabi Challenge is now up.
Friday 7th August 2009
The Long Pips Advanced Chopping - Heavy Backspin and Float video is now up.
Tuesday 4th August 2009
The first of my match analysis videos from the 2009 Maccabi Challenge is now up. This is part of the Month 4 content, so I'll send out my payment requests for Month 3 now, and those students who make their payments for Month 3 will be given access to my Maccabi analysis videos while I finish off the Month 3 content. Those who don't want to continue with the program can get the rest of the Month 3 materials as I put them up in the next week or two.
I've taken the video footage for the long pip push producing float against backspin video, and the long pip advanced chopping (for float and heavy backspin) videos. These will need a bit of editing, but I've been asked to put out the local newsletter in the next couple of days, so I may not get these up until Wednesday night/Thursday morning. But they are definitely on the way, so check back then.
UPDATE: The long pips push vs backspin to produce float balls video is now up.
Monday 3rd August 2009
I did quite OK at the Maccabi Challenge tournament yesterday. I had a couple of wins and my losses were pretty close games, so I'm happy that I can probably be competitive with the other top WA players using this close to the table style. I've got a few points to work on, which I'll discuss in future videos.
More importantly, my legs have pulled up very well after the tournament - not really sore at all. So I think that this style should be much more forgiving on my joints and tendons, or whatever is getting sore when I defend.
I'll have some videos from the Maccabi open in the weeks to come (I'll put them in the Month 4 content), and tonight I'll be back at the WATTA centre to do some filming of more technique videos, so I'll be looking to do the long pip push vs backspin to produce a float ball video, and the long pip advanced chopping video as well. I'll get the first of these up on Tuesday afternoon, barring any hiccups.
I will probably move the other videos that I haven't completed yet into the Month 4 content, but all my current students will still get access to them without needing to pay for Month 4, so don't worry - you won't need to pay extra for what I originally had planned for Month 3!
Thursday 30th July 2009
The long pips chop/block vs topspin video is now up. I'll be down at my local centre on Sunday and Monday, so I'll do more technique videos then. We are finally getting close to finishing Month 3.
Tuesday 28th July 2009
OK - finally got the first of the new videos up on the site. This is a match analysis of Colin and me playing last week. You'll see I'm now using a close to the table style, as I mentioned in my last post. I've included some slow motion replays of my chop/block technique during the match for you to study.
Tonight I'll shoot some video of my basic chop/block techique from the side and front views, against the robot, so I'll probably have that available for you guys by late Wednesday, all going well. If I have time tonight I'll do the push with long pips vs backspin to produce a float ball, and maybe the advanced long range chops with long pips to float the ball and produce a heavier backspin than normal, otherwise I'll probably film this Thursday or Friday.
Saturday 25th July 2009
I've nearly finished clearing off my laptop hard disk - I'll finish that off today, thank goodness. Tomorrow is a family day, and then Monday I'll get started on the latest videos. I've already shot some footage showing both the chop/block against topspin and a demonstration of how I play the close up to the table game against a player of my level, so these will be first cabs off the rank, followed closely by the rest of the Month 3 stuff.
Oh yes - I nearly forgot to fill you in on what the fun thing I did on Wednesday was all about. For all you Aussie ABC TV watchers, the show "Can We Help" sent a crew down to do some filming to answer the question "Why do professional table tennis players use such weird and wonderful grips?". Giovanni Cnapich, my partner Nita and I had a great time helping out with demos and answering questions, while Peter Rowsthorn from Kath and Kim ran amok doing all sorts of silly stuff which cracked us up. It should be on the TV in a couple of months - they'll let us know when it's due to air - it should be a fun segment!
Tuesday 20th July 2009
I'm getting stuck into catching up with everything that I missed while I was away, and I'm slowly getting there. At the moment the big holdup is the process of freeing up space on my laptop to be able to process new videos. I need to shift around 150GB of videos from the Aussie Open, plus make a backup copy (being an ex IT person, I'm a bit of a backup freak). So around 300GB saved onto 4GB DVDs means around 75 DVDs, and at 15min or so per DVD (i.e. around 4 DVDs per hour) you can start to see why it's taking a while!
Anyway, I'll hopefully be shooting some video with Colin tomorrow, and once I've got enough hard disk space free I'll start converting and editing. So rest assured that I am getting started again, and the last videos for Month 3 will be on their way to you very soon!
I've also got a fun thing happening tomorrow before my training with Colin, but I'm going to keep it under my hat for the moment to build up the suspense. I'll fill you in tomorrow provided all goes well!
Sunday 19th July 2009
OK - I'm back!
I flew back home last night on the midnight horror flight, so I'm still a bit fuzzy around the edges at the moment. I've got a local tournament this afternoon - and I must admit right at the moment I'm not all that fired up to compete! Oh well, I'm sure I'll be OK once I get started.
I'll start catching up on the videos for the online coaching course as of tomorrow, and also sorting through the 30 hours or so of footage from this years Aussie Open. Then I'll start putting together the 2009 Aussie Open Finals Box set. There were some great matches (especially the Simon Gerada vs Justin Han semifinal - what a cracker!), so it should be a pretty good collection of top Australian table tennis talent by the time I'm finished.
OK - that's it for now - I really need another coffee (yawn!), so I'm off. But it should be full systems go on the coaching program from here on in, so thanks for your patience and get ready to go!
Monday 6th July 2009
Hi guys, I'm in the middle of the Australian Open right now - with my share of ups and downs so far. You can read about me and my teammates progress on my table tennis blog at my main GTTP site.Thursday 2nd July
Current Month 2 students, I've now given you access to Month 3 (that includes you Glenn, since I'll be away over east when your Month 3 comes due, I thought I might as well set you up now).
Month 1 students, you are now set up and good to go.
Current Month 3 students, I'm heading off to the Australian Open tomorrow night (Friday 3rd July), and I'll be over east for the next 2 weeks - one week of playing table tennis and one week recovering!
When I get back , I'll finish off the Month 3 course content and then I'll send out the payment requests for Month 3. So for simplicity's sake I'll probably make the end of July the end of Month 3. A bit slack of me I know but things have got away from me a bit in the last couple of weeks, between doing the local newsletter, setting up the new local website, and getting ready to travel over east as well.
The good news is that once I get back I shouldn't have any other major commitments that should get in the way of getting videos up on the site more regularly. Plus my Tuesday training partner is keen to continue so I should be able to twist his arm to help me with more of the demo videos!
So please hang in there until I get back (around Sunday 19th June), and when I do I'll get back into putting up the videos, hopefully along with some nice bonus footage from this years Aussie Open, provided nothing disastrous happens to my camera gear!
BTW, I should still have Internet access during the first week of my trip, according to the owners of the place we are staying at, so if you can't access the videos you can still drop me an email and I should be able to fix things up. The second week may be a bit tougher for me to get net access, so I'd suggest trying to download the videos this coming week.
Monday 29th June
Strange, I thought I posted some other posts between now and last Tuesday - I think they may have disappeared due to the server change at my ISP.
Anyway, here's the latest player analysis - this time for ChoplikeSyed. Tomorrow I'll be doing the long pip/antispin serving video, and hopefully I can twist my training partner's arm for some demo video footage too.
Tuesday 23rd June
I've finally remembered to link up the serving demonstration videos, as well as my article on the fundamentals of good serving. You can find both here.
I've got a couple more requests for player analysis', so I'll have a look at them tonight or tomorrow and put my thoughts up Wednesday or Thursday before getting back into more of the course outline content. And yes, I haven't forgotten that I still have to give you my thoughts on serving with your long pips or antispin!
Monday 22nd June
I've had a request for another player analysis over the weekend - so here it is. Also, I've put up the match analysis commentary video for my battle against John Tawadrous in the Ballarat Open.
Friday 19th June
The second player analysis video is up.
Thursday 18th June
The first player analysis video and commentary is now up.
Wednesday 17th June
The Better Serving for Combination Bat Players video is now up, and I'll be linking in the demonstration videos of the basic serves, and the Basic Guide to Serving article tomorrow morning. Then I'll get stuck into the player analysis' and the Greg vs John Tawadrous match commentary. I'm hoping to get them all done tomorrow, so fingers crossed.
Tuesday 16th June
Had a tournament on the weekend (I did OK - won the Men's Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and lost in the final of the Men's Singles to Gio Cnapich 4-2), but I was pretty tired and sore yesterday so I took a day off! My partner is currently lording it over me since she won the Women's Singles, Doubles, and Mixed Doubles, so she reckons 3 events and 3 wins is better than 3 events, 2 wins and a runner-up!
I'm working on the serving videos today, got to find them and convert them to put up on the website (these are the videos I did for About.com, showing basic demos). Then I'll add an overview video discussing general serving principles etc.
Tomorrow I've got a couple of player analysis' coming your way, and a request to do a commentary video for my recent match against John Tawadrous. Depending on how long that all takes, on Thursday or Friday I'll get back into completing the rest of the outlined Month 3 content.
Friday 12th June
I've split the intermediate level video into two parts. The first part is Intermediate Level Play - Characteristics, and the second part, How To Win - Overview, has now been added - use the link above - both videos are on the same page.
Thursday 11th June
I've shot the How to Win at Intermediate Level video, now just got to convert it, edit it, compress it, and upload it. So it will be up either late tonight or early Friday. Considering my usual speed I'd say early Friday is more likely. But it is on the way, never fear!
Wednesday 10th June
Just added a member comment about the Brush Looping with Long Pips video, and my reply.
Tuesday 9th June
The short pip/long pip and short pip/antispin videos are now up. All going well, I'll be shooting the intermediate video tomorrow, so that will probably be up Thursday.
Monday 8th June
As pointed out by ChoplikeSyed, I had sadly neglected to discuss short pip/long pip and short pip/antispin users in my Beginners video. He also wanted to know what to do against other beginners who just put the ball back with no spin and take no risks themselves. So I've shot a video covering both of these issues today, and I'm converting and editing it now. So with luck it will be up in around 4-6 hours, or Tuesday morning if some unforeseen disaster strikes!
Next cab off the rank will be the Intermediate video, I promise. But I thought I should do a complete job of the Beginner videos first. Take a look at the short pip video even if you don't use short pips - there's some other nuggets in there well worth highlighting for your own game!
Thursday 4th June
The Beginners - How To Win video is now up for Month 3 members. Provided the feedback is OK, I'll go ahead with the Intermediate video on Friday or Saturday.
Wednesday 3rd June
I've shot the video for Long Pip/Antispin Beginners - What You Need To Do To Win. I'm in the middle of editing it now (would have been done sooner but took my sister and dad to see the new Star Trek movie - good fun!). With any luck should finish editing in the next hour or so, then just have to convert and upload - say 3-4 hours tops.
Monday 1st June
I'm happy to report that I'm once again healthy and raring to go - thank goodness! I'm in the middle of outlining videos at the moment, and will start shooting tomorrow, so look for the next video as of Tuesday night / Wednesday. Won't be long now!
Thursday 28th May
Please excuse me - I've come down with a cold on Wednesday and have been home in bed since then. I've got to muster up the energy for a 3 hour drive to Merredin on Friday afternoon, followed by a coaching session on Saturday, and a 3 hour drive home. That's probably going to finish me off for the weekend - so don't expect anything until Monday from me! Apologies everyone but I really do feel quite rotten at the moment.
Tuesday 26th May
I've had some members have problems in downloading the videos, and one or two who didn't know that you could actually download them to your hard disk permanently so that you don't have to download them every time you want to watch them! So here are some directions on how to download the videos for both Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Monday 25th May
I'm back home at last after a fun week in Melbourne, catching up with family and friends - including some friends from the One of A Kind Forum (hiya Mars63 and Rob!). Played in the Ballarat Open yesterday and did OK - losing 3-2 in the semis of the Men's Open 11-9 in the fifth to John Tawadrous, and losing 3-2 in the final of the O/30's Mens Singles to Mark Smith 11-9 in the fifth. I'm shattered today after the tournament and plane flight (and I've still got to play pennants competition tonight - sigh!), so today I'm just pottering around doing some computer housekeeping, and tomorrow I'll start looking at Month 3, I promise.
. So bear in mind that I'm not insanely vain (my site is only called Greg's Table Tennis Pages because I couldn't come up with a cool name!), it's just that it's usually easiest to share what I know by referencing how I learned it and how it worked for me.
. That pretty much covers everything really. But anyway, here's some examples:
- I'm working hard to bring this stuff to you and make a bit of money at the same time - help me out here people!
