Coaches Seminar

By Jef Savage

At the invitation of Dan Seemiller, USATT National Men’s Coach, we gathered from all four points of the compass at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Twenty coaches, all with a common purpose: to improve our coaching skills and techniques for the benefit of our athletes – and maybe along the way improve our own games.

The invitees were mainly Club or State level coaches. The Seminar was scheduled for three days, from Friday afternoon to Sunday lunchtime. I had been looking forward to this since calling Dawn Simon at USATT to register. As I flew into Colorado Springs I could see a spectacular view of what I would later be told was Pikes Peak, sprinkled with a light frosting of snow. After a short trip from the airport in the company of the Stanford Ladies Swimming Team and Bob, our driver, we pulled into the very impressive USOTC. As an early arrival, I asked at reception if any of the other Coaches had arrived yet. I was told that "two guys" were in the room next to mine. So after taking a few minutes to settle into my room, I ventured to meet these "two guys." The door to their room was partially open when I knocked, not knowing what to expect; to my surprise and delight, these "two guys" were Dan Seemiller and Coaching Chair Mark Nordby! Dan was stretched out on the lower bunk bed and Mark was sitting at a desk busy with paperwork – a pattern which was to be repeated. Mark is an organizer who likes to make sure everything is prepared and ready. A characteristic he and I share! In coaching, good preparation is everything. After exchanging pleasantries, we agreed to meet for dinner.

Wow! Me, dining with a living legend and his partner in "crime." Well, I missed the deadline and went too early. A tendency in my looping game as well! As I was finishing my first course in the excellent restaurant, I was joined by Dan, Mark and two other coaches who had just arrived. After a very pleasant evening, which set the tone for the Seminar, I went to bed.

The following morning, after a wonderful English breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast, bacon, fried potatoes and coffee (and you thought this was only an American breakfast), it was time to get to work. No playing table tennis yet! The tables had to be transported from the local club to the OTC. So six of us were off to get them. Well, Dan, Mark and myself (who volunteered for the most dangerous part of the mission), went to pick up Big Red. Big Red was the truck we used to pick up the tables. So there I was, the filling in a sandwich with Dan driving and Mark giving Dan driving advice as we bumped along. I am as happy as Pig in a mud hole! Well, the truck was a beast to drive, and between Dan and Mark we made it to the club. I did offer to photograph the action if we rear-ended someone or ran a red light, but fortunately Dan had mastered the beast and we didn’t have any trouble. Well there we were, six table tennis nutters (English slang for lunatics), moving tables and securing them in the truck. We would have won Gold Medals for cooperation and excellent team work in the World U-Haul competition. After a slow, safe return trip, the next challenge was for Dan to back up Big Red into the loading bay. Dan almost got the truck in straight, but it was a little to the left; well that’s Dan’s playing style. With the tables unloaded, it was time for lunch and another gastronomic treat! It will take me a few days to shed the extra pounds! Mealtimes were fun with everyone. Through the day more coaches arrived and soon everyone was there.

Now we get down to the serious business. The first session was a review of the book "Train to Win." After introductions from Dan and Mark, all the guest coaches introduced themselves. The book review was fascinating as Dan and Mark chose and introduced the golden nuggets, explained and commented upon them. The value of each topic was explained and illustrated with personal experiences. It was very clear that they worked well together as a team, making the learning both relevant and fun. This brought us to dinner, and another chance to enjoy the excellent food in the restaurant……..

After dinner it was time to see some videos of the best players in the world, to watch their stroke production. This will be very useful for coaching strokes. Dan and Mark gave very useful comments for each video segment on each player and stroke example. Very, very useful. All too soon it was over and time to retire. What could top this tomorrow?

After another wonderful breakfast dressed in full kit (English for playing clothing), we gathered in Gym One. It was colossal, and divided into three full-size gyms! This morning’s topics were a techniques review, discussion, and a demonstration by Dan and Mark. This was to be followed by each coach being videotaped demonstrating the strokes, to be used in a group review later. Guess what happened next! Lunch, and another excellent meal in the restaurant. After an opportunity to visit the gift shop it was time for some fun – we got to PLAY!

A small round robin competition with a different challenge. The challenge was to put two or three new things we had learned this morning into practice, as well as try to win the Round Robin. Dan and Mark were to look for those who put these ideas into practice. This was the prize for me – I would excel at learning. This I might win. So I set my objectives: to attack the serve, to keep on the balls of my feet when receiving, to choose the right stroke for the incoming shot, and to play with maximum intensity. Well, the first three went better than I could have hoped, but for the last one I ran out of energy. Even so, Dan and Mark put me into the top three for this competition. I was well pleased, because I had educated my mind and body in areas I desperately needed to improve. A lesson well-learned about motivation that will now be more valuable to my students. Time for dinner – you know what comes next! After dinner we chilled, watched some football and retired for a well-earned night’s sleep.

Sunday dawned bright and clear, with frost on the ground and snow on the mountains. Time for the coaches’ critique. Uh – oh! What would they say about me? As much as possible was my hope. I was ready to take notes to improve these areas later for my students and myself. Well the most important lesson I learned was to select the ONE most important area for improvement and work on that. The other areas can come later. Too many areas at once would confuse athletes with technique overload. A point well taken. As coaches, this is a critical area of our job, to zoom in on the critical area for most improvement.

And so, a wonderful experience all too soon came to an end. It was time to fly home with more knowledge, expertise and skills than I arrived with.

Here in the USA, we need more coaches. If you are interested in helping to promote and develop our sport, and the competitiveness of the USA, then contact Dawn at USATT for details (719-578-4583 or admin@usatt.org).

If you get the opportunity to work with Dan and Mark, TAKE IT. They are excellent to learn from, pleasant to work with and interesting to listen to.

It remains for me to thank all my fellow coaches for their camaraderie, humor and earnestness of sharing, to Dawn Simon for administration, to Mark and Dan for their enthusiasm, organization, expertise, insights and personal encouragement to us all, but especially for their friendship and the fun we had together with them.

Ratings, what ratings? We had FUN, seriously!

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