Ping Pong (Table Tennis)

My Activities

Aug. 2006-present: UA Table Tennis Club (TTC) at UA's SRC (Wed. (7PM-9PM)/Fri. (4PM-7PM League)/Sun (3:30PM -6:60PM) for Fall 2009, http://urec.sa.ua.edu/) or at UA's Ferguson Center (http://ferguson.ua.edu/eventscheduleapr.asp).
Oct. 2002-Jul. 2006, Memphis Bluff City Table Tennis Club, every Tuesday and Thursday night, occasionally Sat. afternoon.
Sep. 2001- Aug. 2002, Salt Lake City Table Tennis Club, every Friday night.
Jun. 1999-Aug. 2001, WSU Table Tennis Club (TTC), every Friday and Sunday. (served as the president of TTC March 2000-June 2001)

Clubs

Find a club here. Another Site.
Atlanta

AGTTA: http://www.agtta.org/
Yang: http://ysgttc.com/default.aspx

Alabama Sports Festivals: http://www.alagames.com/index.php?page=sport_tabt
Battle for Bama: http://www.battleforbama.com/
(one hour drive) Star Used Cars, 2497 Morgan Rd, Bessemer, AL 35022-5034
(one hour drive) Roebuck Recreation Center, 8920 Roebuck Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35206-1524.
(one hour drive) Bumpernets, (Riverchase Galleria Mall; 2000 Riverchase Galleria Ste 179 & 181A; Birmingham, AL 35244; 205-987-2222), WEEKLY TOURNAMENTS; Table Tennis (Ping Pong) Tournament; Every Friday Night; 7:30 - 10 PM; $5.00 Entry Fee;
(two hour drive) North East Alabama Table Tennis (NEATT): (old) http://www.neatt.us/ The club meets at the Anniston Army Depot Gym; Tuesdays 4pm till 9pm. 7 Frankford Ave. Anniston, AL 36201
(2.3 hours drive) North Alabama Table Tennis Club: (Brahan Springs Rec. Center; 3770 Ivy Ave. SW, Huntsville, AL 35805; 256-883-3710); Thursdays (or Wednesdays, During mid-November, December, January and early February) from 6 pm until 9 pm ; Satellite meeting: Tuesdays from 6 pm until 8:00 at The Aquadome, 1202 5th Avenue SW, Decatur (256) 351-7793.
Bluff City Table Tennis Club, Memphis, Tennessee. Location: Evergreen Presbyterian Church, 613 University St., Memphis, TN 38107. Contact person: Denis Fritchie (901-626-9762). ~~$1.00~~ $2.00 per visit.
Wasatch Front Table Tennis Club, Salt Lake City, Utah. Location: Riverside Stake Gym, 947 W. 200th N., Salt Lake City, UT 84116, Contact person: George Majors. Contact phone: 801-596-7128 (H), 801-467-9423, Ext. 12 (W). Every Friday night from 5:00PM-11:00PM. $2.00 per visit.

Ma Lin Interview

No, you can’t play with that much pressure. You would not be able to play your game if you approach an event like that. -- Ma Lin
In an important tournament like that, if you had not reached the right level of excitement and did not have the strongest desire to win, you could not play the best game you were capable of playing. -- Ma Lin
I went back to Beijing, and I had a week of adjustments. I also summarized my difficulties and targeted those in my training. --Ma Lin
At any given time, there may be one player who is best physically and mentally, and that player will have the best results. -- Ma Lin
We have to work on our footwork, and how to initiate the 3^rd ball attacks. --Ma Lin
Wang is a little weaker in defense, and he is a little slower in his 3^rd-ball attacks than the other penholders. --Ma Lin
In actual competition, there are many factors that affect your performance, so you can’t always play at the level you reach in training. There are many sources of pressure that will make you want to play safe. That is one of the reasons I don’t do as well in important events. I am now trying to work on this in a more proactive way. Even if my skills do not improve any more, I can still accomplish a lot by simply solving these problems. --Ma Lin

My Comments

Ping-pong is the only one on which I am sure that I will not regret for spending time now after my retirement. --Yang Xiao
I love playing ping-pong recent years since it makes me sweating. --Yang Xiao
The excitement comes when I see my making progress very-very slowly over time. --Yang Xiao
I do not know whether I could survive now if I had not found a sport to play regularly; I believe that a person must find a sport/other to do physical exercise regularly to keep healthy especially over some age, and I believe that ping-pong is an excellent sport especially as age increases- it is a life time sport. --Yang Xiao
I love pingpong since I am not good at it yet. --Yang Xiao

Links