Table Tennis in Girona with Elisabeth Granados Artacho

 

I spent five days in Girona and had hoped to play ping pong every day. There was  a good looking club, the Tennis Taula Girona.  I contacted them well in advance and it seemed like they had a group that I could sign up for the week. When it got closer, I was told that they had cancelled the group since there were not enough signups. I was very disappointed.  After a series of emails where I tried to sign up for daily private lessons, they found an instructor for a private lesson on my last day. Oh well.  

I went to a huge public gymnasium in Girona, Catalonia, Spain.

My teacher was the talented, charming, and multilingual Elisabeth Granados Artacho.  She was a top player in her region for years but is now a teacher. She retired from competition sometime in her 30s. I think she is still in her 30s. 

Elisabeth Granados Artacho, Mi Maestro de Tenis de Mesa

The facility was fantastic and I really enjoyed the lesson  especially since I hadn't played or exercised in two weeks. Specifics:

Just like every teacher, she saw me failing to reset after every shot. I seem to watch my shots and wait. I should be resetting.  And like other teachers, she drilled me on short shots to be sure to get my foot forward under the table.

Slamming.  She drilled me on the difference between an aggressive top spin shot and a simpler slam. This was particularly new on forehand but she pushed it both on forehand and backhand.

My follow through tended to be a little exaggerated. She showed me how to keep it under control.

However,  she also pushed a few ideas that are a little different from what I have heard so I've got more to think about.

Forehand. She wanted me to turn more on my forehand. Drop my right leg further back and rotate my shoulders more. 

Backhand. Again, she pushed more body, not just arm. She wanted me to rotate my shoulders. It's more of a drop of my right shoulder and a rotate back of my left one. Then the body supports the shots so it's not just with the arm.

For off the side short backhands, she had be take a big step around the top.

I really enjoyed my lesson with her. I would have loved to have had one lesson daily for the week I was in Girona.  I'd like to say "next time" but honestly, how often do I get to visit Girona?

And I am working on my Spanish including  Las Palabras de Vocabulario de tenis de mesa. 

Table Tennis Status: A Year or so in...

John Edelson's competitive table tennis career has not gone great. 

I had been under the impression that if I took a few lessons and played hard / trained three times a week, I would become a competitive player.  Here's what that approach has yielded so far:

John Edelson's Table Tennis Rankings

Quick summary - My ranking started low and rather than improving, has dropped. I'm at the very bottom of the competitive rankings.  

I played in my first tournament in March of 2023 and I was encouraged by having a few wins. I was awarded a player rating of 1110 which I thought was a very respectable ratting. I played again in May and did about the same and my rating increased to 1118. I was thrilled. 

But the subsequent two tournaments, I have not done so well (in one tournament I didn't win a single match) and so my ranking is now down to 977.  In retrospect, my initial scores might have been a bit of a fluke since I played several players with no ranking at all and I beat them. Since then, I have played people with ratings and I suspect my current rating is a better illustration of where I fit in the competitive table tennis world. Basically, at the very bottom.

You can see my rating as it evolves here. 
You can look up any competitive table tennis player's ranking on the USATT website, here's a shortcut.

BUT, I am still working at it and my technique is improving. There's also the question of my fitness. When i watch myself playing, I am surprised to see that I am very low energy on the court. I look tired. Frankly, I often feel tired. So I'm trying to also get back in shape by generally improving my workout schedule, diet, weight, and mentality.

Stay tuned. For more background and to see what I look like as a player, here's another article  about my table tennis efforts.

BTW, I do still do some martial arts in the form of doing boxing-based circuit training at 9 Rounds in Ft Lauderdale. I usually get to hit pads but I no longer spar. Here I am with the speed bag.