OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Well, what a night! Ballarat Table Tennis Association had the great pleasure of having Petr Korbel and the national Australian coach, Jens (forgot his surname) visit for the night.

The first part of the night was questions and answers, which were very enlightening on many levels.

The second part was a demonstration of various techniques and strategies between Petr and Jens. I did manage to get plenty of this on video, but it might take some time for me to work out how to get it from my computer onto the forum. Plus, it will need some editing to keep it interesting. I do have access to Adobe Premier Pro, but it's not a program I have a lot of experience with.

The last part was an invitation for Ballarat members to have a hit with the five-time Olympian. This was an absolute buzz!

I managed to get about 3-5 minutes of coaching from the master on my backhand and forehand strokes. In particular, he showed me little tweaks to improve my forehand technique. Plus, my brother (who took the photo below) filmed my session with Petr on his iPhone, so I have something to refer to.

He is a genuinely warm and giving individual, and this was shown by his encouragement of a small pool of juniors he had a hit with.



I'm in this photo. I wonder if you can guess?

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

Nice picture.... yes I can see you

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
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I thought you would.

An interesting fact that was brought up about why the Chinese are so dominant in the sport is that they have 250,000,000 registered players (compared to Australia's 8,500). Petr said that if you look simply at these numbers it is plain to see that from such a massive pool of registered players you end with 100 elite players and 10 ending up being the best in the world. He did mention that China has an unparalleled infrastructure to support their beloved game, so it should come as no surprise that they are the best players in the world.

Regardless of that, Petr mentioned that the highlight for him in his table tennis career was playing in the German Bundisleague (Not sure if that's even close to right spelling). He played for 20 years in the top division, and five of those years were spent playing in the very top team. He remarked on how good the European system is for maintaining a healthy career for table tennis professionals.

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

Sounds like a great night Oskar. Tis a pity he didnt get to play an exhibition for you however. When he handled our club champ (who is pretty good and hits very hard) with such ridiculous ease it really puts things into perspective as to how good Korbel is.

Korbel was also at the HWATT camp during the late December or early January period a few of my friends went to it and met him.

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Victas Dynawood Power
Tibhar MX-P
Victas V15 Limber

It was a bit disappointing that our club champ didn't put his hand up to have a play. Maybe this should have been organised before hand, but how the night panned out benefited the mere mortals such as myself.

All I can say is 'more, please'.

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

I see a couple of ex victims I've played in the photo. Korbel not one of them unfortunately lol

_________________
Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

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Weapon 1: Andro Kinetic Supreme Hinoki/Zylon OFF-; Andro Hexer HDs (FH 2.1/BH 1.9)
Weapon 2: Ross Leidy 'Smokey'; Friendship 729-5s
Club1: Daylesford - since 2010
Club2: Ballarat - since 2011
Blog: A Naked Bear

I see familiar faces (including Oskar) but no victims.I think I have only played (and victimised ) one guy from Ballarat, Lyle. And I don't see him there. I do see 2 forum members in the pic

Jens last name is Lang, btw Oskar. He seems like quite a decent bloke as well. I had a brief chat with him as well as Petr. Both decent fellows.

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

The red head kid plays country week he's on 1000 points or so. There's a infamous vet or two up the back. Might have played one of the guys in front too

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Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm

Nice picture Foam, I recognise everyone but 2 adults and the 3 young kids.

How many attended the session? The reason I ask is because Claire from Geelong wanted to take about 4 juniors to Ballarat to attend this event, but she was told that is was "fully booked". So she went to Croydon, which is about 2 hours drive coming from Geelong! Korbel was in Croydon last Tuesday.

What struck me most was his body position in relation to his shots, his centre of gravity remains low and his backswing always starts way down. Did he demonstrate his "chiquita" return of serve off a short backspin?

Very humble, low key and pleasant fellow.

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BTY Timo Boll Spirit
FH: Tibhar Aurus 1.7mm
BH: Tibhar Aurus Soft 1.7mm

Nice to see you again arlene!

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

+1!

Arlene always pops up when you least expect her to

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

Hi Haggisv - thanks.... but I always check this website, not just a frequent poster

Hi Reb - Hope to see you at Dandenong Vets this coming March 10, I need to get my revenge

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BTY Timo Boll Spirit
FH: Tibhar Aurus 1.7mm
BH: Tibhar Aurus Soft 1.7mm

Hey Arlene you won last time you played Reb didn't you? at MSAC? I thought you guys were 1-1 now or did Reb get you again at Croydon or something?

_________________
Donic defplay senso
Haifu whale soft (grips-euro)
Nittaku pimplemini 1.0mm