OOAK Table Tennis Forum

In celebration of OOAK forum's 10th Anniversary , I've asked a few people if they were willing to do an interview with us. I'm thrilled that Kees has kindly agreed! Kees is well know here in the forum, especially for his very comprehensive reviews, his analysis of some games style, and of course his detailed guide on Re-Impact blades amonst other things.

So ask your questions here, and after a week or so, I'll collate than and pass them onto Kees, so that he can answer them when he has time.

Note that I've made it clear to the interviewees (Kees), that he can choose to ignore any questions that may be inappropriate or of a personal nature, as we're not all comfortable to share our personal life with the public.

So what questions do you have for Kees?

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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
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

- What caused you to love Short Pips to the extent to get real good at 'em?

- Which 3 players/people in the last few decades have done the BEST and WORST for TT and why?

- If you could influence ITTF to make 5 rule changes that would have effect for a minimum of 20 years forward, what would you choose?

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Nexy Batos ALC - FH Tibhar MX-K - BH Tibhar FX-S
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Hit us up on FB or the Forum

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You describe yourself as researcher, novelist with interests in psychology and philosophy and table tennis.

1. What came first, your interest in table tennis or your interests of psychology and philosophy
2. When you play people competitively at table tennis, do you take the approach of trying to figure out their strengths and weaknesses first and then exploit what you've learned or do you "play your game" and only if that's not working, change your approach?
3. You don't list what equipment you use. What's your favourite setup right now?
4. I've always associated you with your knowledge of Short Pips and was surprised to find that you've been most active on the "The Dream / Re-Impact blades / Achim Answers Questions" within the Blades section of the forum. What type of equipment fascinates you the most and why?
5. What's your favourite colour?
6. How did you get started in playing table tennis?
7. When choosing a setup what factors do you consider and in what order would you place them in terms of importance?
8. Have you had anything published commercially which you can link us to please?
9. When you conduct your research, who do you approach it. What factors / processes do you consider necessary for you to go through to try and ensure unbiased research / outcomes
10. In terms of importance to you, what order would you put these 6 things and why would they be in that order "Significance, Certainty, Contribution, Love and Warmth, Uncertainty, Personal Growth"
11. What's the most difficult style of table tennis player for you to play against and why?
12. If you were to build a top quality table tennis player to compete on your behalf, in a "winner takes all" competition, what characteristics and skill set would you choose for your player
13. Have you ever video'd yourself playing table tennis and if yes, what were the first thoughts that went through your mind?

Thank you

I'd like to add the question about what to do to give table tennis in his country more acceptance and a higher priority, and does he think that the current subset of actions to support table tennis is appropriate?

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Red is blogging here >> http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=30522

What's the best setup and game style for older players 60+?

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The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

No matter how good you are at something, there's always about a million people better than you.
Homer J. Simpson

Anyone else?

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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
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

I remember a post about you having children? Maybe? What age did you have kids? Did it slow or help with TT?

As you have posted here before, health issues are preventing you from playing too much table tennis. How hard has this been on you, and do you still manage to keep involved?

At what point do you think players should change to more specialised equipment that enhances their style?

I know you've spent a lot of time testing Re-impact blades and talking to Achim Rendler. What do you think it would take for the Achim's business to be more recognised and successful?

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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
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Kees,

Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. It should be very interesting.

1. You have a vast knowledge of the science of table tennis. I assume that much of your knowledge comes from experience. Are there other sources for your background about the science of table tennis? Is part of that background from sports science journals? If it is, are there some particular papers that you would recommend reading?
2. What is your educational background? Do you have a university degree in engineering?
3. A few years ago, you wrote a fascinating article about the benefits of chopping with a soft blade that has vibrations, as these vibrations allow for a positive feedback. Compared to other feedbacks, such as a visual feedback, how important is the positive feedback through blade vibrations? I have wondered about this question because at the elite levels, e.g., Joo SaeHyuk and other Korean choppers, they like to use the hard Joo SaeHyuk blade with a hard Tenergy 05 rubber. This suggests to me that perhaps the vibrational positive feedback is not that important, at least at the highest levels.
4. Choppers tend to use a variety of set-ups on their forehand, e.g., hard blade/hard sponge, hard blade/soft sponge, and soft blade/hard sponge. One often hears that best choice is based on personal preference. Do you think it is possible to objectively claim that one type of set-up is optimal?
5. Years ago, most choppers used slow blades. It was commonly accepted that slower blades enable one to more easily control the ball. However, nowadays, most high level defenders use relatively fast blades, e.g., the Joo blade. Obviously a fast blade is easier for a modern defender to attack with, but I am not convinced that it is harder to chop with a fast blade. For example, it may be easier to perform chops with heavy backspin with a fast blade. Do you have an opinion as to whether it is easier to chop with a slow or a fast blade?
6. Do you see any important changes to table tennis equipment, rubbers and/or blades, in the upcoming years?
7. What is your prediction of the future of defensive table tennis?
8. Do you think that table tennis attracts more people with engineering/science/mathematics backgrounds than other sports?

Steven

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Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk
Butterfly Tenergy 80-FX 1.9mm
TSP Curl P1R 1.4-1.7mm
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Returned to table tennis September 2011
Canada National Team Member, 1973-1975
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1972-1987
Brickell Balsa/Birch 3-ply Blade
Yasaka Mark V 1.5mm
Joola Toni Hold AntiTopspin 2.5mm

Ok, I've sent a summary of the Question to Kees, who will hopefully answer when he has time, and then I'll post the Interview.

Any further questions may or may not be answered.

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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
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide