JOOLA USA

There are several things that have struck me as I have been watching the US team play and some other matches in both Division 2 and Division 1. First, of which is that no player that is developing a modern game hits on the backhand. Yes, they may punch block at times, but when attacking or counter attacking the vast majority of shots is the backhand loop. So if you are a playertrying to develop your game to the highest level, you definitely need to be spinning on your backhand. So my game with a backhand smash is definitely a little outdated.

            Related to this is the technique of spinning the return of serve with a backhand over the table. This is something I believe Han, Mark and others in the US already do, but I don’t really. It is definitely a good weapon on serve return. Something that should be practiced more by most young players as well as a better drop on return of serve.

            The other interesting thing is the number of illegal serves that I am seeing. From Some players spin the ball on the high toss serve, some throw the ball back nothing close to near vertical, others hide with the shoulder, and what seems the most common is hiding with the forearm. No matter what rules are put in place players will do anything they can to get an advantage unless stopped by the referee.

            All in all my impression of the Worlds so far is that it is interesting. There are definitely a lot of countries that take this sport more seriously than the US. If we are ever to compete there needs to be more full time table tennis centers, more foreign coaches introduced to the US, more international competitions, and more way for US players to make money apart from coaching.

            One of those ways is to have more US Citizen only type prize money, something like the All Star Series from before. It is something that Danny has talked to me about and has been proposed before the board before too. If  four star tournaments had both an open event and an event only open to US citizens then there would be a way for the elite players to start to make more money at tournaments. US players would know who there competition would be going into the tournament, and I believe would make it more likely for those deciding whether or not to travel to tournaments. It would also give our rising juniors more matches at big tournaments and more chances to win against our top men.