Colin Wilson is probably the perfect guest for an episode of The Expert Table Tennis Podcast. As a player, he represented England for many years and is a double Commonwealth medallist. As a coach, he has worked with the English national team at all levels and trained some of the top players in the country.
On top of all that Colin also works with top business people and coaches to help them to continually improve their performance in a variety of fields. And… he has just opened Corby Smash Table Tennis Club – a full-time table tennis club with big plans for the future.

Colin Wilson Interview
I spoke to Colin for about 40 minutes a few weeks ago. He was already at Corby Smash TTC getting ready for a day of coaching the wide variety of players who were attending their summer training camp. During our conversation Colin shared a number of useful tips for players and coaches of all levels.
In this episode you’ll learn:

* How Corby Smash TTC came into existence, and why [1:15]
* Who is Colin Wilson [7:45]
* What are the underlying qualities of success in any field [14:15]
* How much (and how often) should you practice table tennis [21:00]
* Matches vs Training – Advice for beginners [27:00]
* How to play relaxed table tennis [29:45]
* More information about Corby Smash TTC [36:00]

Links from this episode:

* CorbySmashTTC.co.uk
* Corby Smash TTC (Twitter)
* Corby Smash TTC (Facebook)
* Marginal Gains with Sir Dave Brailsford (YouTube)
* Kaizen (Wikipedia)
* Carol Dweck – Mindset
* Aikido – Martial Art (Wikipedia)

Thanks for listening!
I really enjoyed speaking to Colin Wilson and I hope you enjoyed listening to the episode as well.
If you are able to, I would highly recommend getting in touch with Colin and the team at Corby Smash TTC. I am sure that they are going to quickly turn that club into one of the best in the UK and help many table tennis players in improve their performance and fulfil their potential.
The club’s emphasis on forensic practice and cascade coaching sounds particularly interesting. I’m sure that if you are a table tennis coach yourself, you’ve picked up a few interesting ideas from Colin that you can think about implementing in your own table tennis club.
What was your favourite tip from the episode? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought.
Please share the show
I know that lots of you guys are regularly sharing the podcast with other table tennis players all over the world. I just want to say thanks for all the help you’ve given me already! Please continue to support the show and subscribe on iTunes, leave us an honest iTunes Podcast review, share this episode on Facebook or Twitter, or simply just mention it to a friend. I appreciate your help so much!
I’ll be back in a month with Episode #39 – to be released 1st October 2016. My guest is still to be confirmed, so if you have any suggestions please leave a comment and let me know.

Jeff Plumb and Alois Rosario are the guys behind PingSkills, easily the most popular table tennis coaching channel on YouTube. They have been teaching table tennis to players the world over ever since they made their first PingSkills video back in 2007.
Alois Rosario is one of the best table tennis coaches in Australia, and has worked closely with the national team for many years. Jeff Plumb is a very high-level table tennis player who represented Australia at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

PingSkills Interview
To date, Jeff and Alois have produce 269 episodes of their PingSkills “Ask The Coach” show. In my mind, that makes them the table tennis Q&A kings!
I thought it was only right to get them one the show to hear about some of the most common questions they answer and also to give them the opportunity to answer some questions from ETT Academy members as well.
In this episode you’ll learn:

* The PingSkills story [00:30]
* What was the PingSkills “Power of Practice” Challenge? [05:15]
* Jeff and Alois’ views on talent, practice, and rates of learning [11:30]
* Their most popular “Ask The Coach” questions…

* What rubbers should I be using [18:45]
* How to return spin serves [20:00]
* How to “read” serves [23:30]
* Tips for “smashing” [26:30]


* Jeff and Alois’ answers to four ETT Academy member’s questions…

* How to correct bad habits developed during recreational play [30:15]
* Should we be using our backhand more, like the pros? [34:45]
* Advice for older table tennis players [39:15]
* How to avoid choking when you have a lead [43:30]


* What’s next for PingSkills [51:00]

Links from this episode:

* PingSkills.com
* PingSkills YouTube Channel
* Alois Rosario vs Italy (Video)
* The Power of Practice (Ben’s Video)
* Marcos Freitas – Table Tennis Skills (Video)
* The Expert in a Year Challenge
* Ask The Coach Show – Episode #269 (NEW FORMAT)
* PingSkills (Facebook)

Thanks for listening!
I really enjoyed speaking to Jeff Plumb and Alois Rosario of PingSkills. I hope you enjoyed listening to the episode as well.
Towards the start of the interview, we spoke about PingSkills’ #PowerOfPractice competition. Below are four videos showing the various table tennis skills you can try. The first is my own video after a week of practice bouncing the ball on the bottom of my blade.

Here’s Marcos Freitas showing off some of his table tennis skills…

Here’s Jeff introducing the Ping Skills #PowerOfPractice challenge and trying out the “table tapper” skill for the first time.

And here’s Alois practising the “spin catcher” skill…

I highly recommend having a go at these three skills. They will certainly improve your hand-eye coordination, as well as your table tennis “feeling” and control in your hand. On top of that, they are great for teaching you about the ups and downs of learning in gene...

Back in 2010, Dan McLaughlin decided he wanted to become a professional golfer. The only problem was, he’d never played 18 holes of golf in his life! He didn’t let that stop him, though.
He packed in his job as a commercial photographer and began “The Dan Plan” – 10,000 hours of golf deliberate practice. He’s now six years into his challenge so I thought now would be a great time to check in with him, find out how he is getting on, and ask him what he’s learned so far from his journey.

Dan McLaughlin Interview
Dan was actually a big inspiration to me and the Expert in a Year challenge. I reached out to him back in 2013 to ask for his advice and discuss some potential ideas.
This interview will be a little different to normal – especially as Dan has next to zero table tennis experience – but I hope that you find his story inspirational, and his dedication and work ethic infectious.
In this episode you’ll learn:

* Who is Dan McLaughlin? [00:30]
* How to stick with your goals and not quit [08:00]
* Dan’s golfing progress over the last six years [10:30]
* Should you work with a coach from day one? [15:00]
* How to break through a plateau [17:30]
* Where Dan is currently along his journey to 10,000 hours [21:30]
* Is it more difficult to learn as an adult? [27:30]
* Dan’s highlights from The Dan Plan so far [30:00]
* Dan’s low point from The Dan Plan so far [33:00]
* Which is best: repetition or random practice? [37:00]
* How to deal with “haters” [41:30]
* Dan’s top tip for aspiring professionals [44:00]
* What’s next for The Dan Plan? [48:15]

Links from this episode:

* The Dan Plan
* Dan McLaughlin (Wikipedia)
* Like The Dan Plan on Facebook
* Follow Dan McLaughlin on Twitter
* The Expert in a Year Challenge

Thanks for listening!
I really enjoyed speaking to Dan McLaughlin and I hoped you enjoyed listening to the episode. To learn a little more about Dan’s story and challenge you should definitely check out the video below…

What was your favourite tip from the episode? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought.
Please share the show
I know that lots of you guys are regularly sharing the podcast with other table tennis players all over the world. I just want to say thanks for all the help you’ve given me already! Please continue to support the show and subscribe on iTunes, leave us an honest iTunes Podcast review, share this episode on Facebook or Twitter, or simply just mention it to a friend. I appreciate your help so much!
I’ll be back in a month with Episode #37 – to be released 1st August 2016. I’m hoping to be joined by Alois Rosario and Jeff Plumb from Pingskills.

Alan Cooke is the Performance Coach at Table Tennis England. That means he works very closely with our national teams and travels with them to tournaments. If you watched any of the World Team Championships out in Kuala Lumpur you will have seen Alan corner coaching Paul Drinkhall, Liam Pitchford, and Sam Walker to an incredible bronze medal result.
As a player, Alan Cooke made his England senior debut in 1984. He won countless national titles and was consistently England #1 during his era. He reached a career high of 27th in the world rankings in 1990 and made a comeback to the sport in the 2000s becoming the over 40 world champion in 2006.

Alan Cooke Interview
Ever since Kuala Lumpur I’ve been keen to get Alan on the podcast. We were finally able to make it happen last week and had a chat about England’s remarkable and unexpected bronze medal at the World Team Championships back in March and their preparation for Rio 2016 (which is only a few months away).
I also asked Alan a number of questions regarding how non-elite players can prepare for and peak at a big tournament/event. Alan gave loads of advice for the build up, the tournament itself, and how to learn from your performance afterwards.
I know a lot of my listeners are really going to enjoy this one!
In this episode you’ll learn:

* Alan’s review of the World Team Championships [1:30]
* An update on Rio 2016 for Team GB [3:00]
* How Paul, Liam, and Sam prepared for Kuala Lumpur [5:00]
* The current plans for Rio 2016 [10:00]
* How and why to use periodization in your table tennis training [11:45]
* How to use goal setting for your tournaments [14:15]
* How to stay focused during a tournament [16:30]
* Alan’s coaching style and philosophy [19:00]
* What Alan says to the players in the corner [22:30]
* The correct mindset when facing “unbeatable players” [25:30]
* How to debrief, reflect, and learn after a tournament [27:30]
* Using video analysis to learn about yourself and others [31:30]
* What the plan is for Team GB after Rio [33:00]
* What separates top 50 players from top 20 players in the world [35:15]
* The future for English table tennis [38:00]

Links from this episode:

* Perfect 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships
* Team GB Table Tennis
* Rio 2016 Olympic Games
* Table Tennis England

Thanks for listening!
I really enjoyed speaking to Alan Cooke and I hoped you enjoyed listening to the episode. Here’s my favourite quote from the interview…
To be a good table tennis player you’ve got to be smart. You need to be thinking your way out of problems and not just trying to bludgeon your way out.
I also thought Alan’s emphasis on staying in the moment, trying to win the next point, and enjoying it was really important. That was clearly what the boys were doing out in Kuala Lumpur when they were all playing the best table tennis of their lives!
What was your favourite tip from the episode? Leave a comment and let us know what you thought.
Please share the show
I know that lots of you guys are regularly sharing the podcast with other table tennis players all over the world. I just want to say thanks for all the help you’ve given me already! Please continue to support the show and subscribe on iTunes, leave us an honest Show more...