Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Complete Table Tennis Strokes Course

Complete Table Tennis Strokes Clinic

Introduction: I'm going to try and cover almost every single stroke in the game;
Forehand and backhand looping, pushing, serves, serve returns, flips, drop shot, blocking,
counter topspin and chopping.

Highlight video from last clinic: http://youtu.be/e-K8Y6cmu-0

Coaches: Tim Aikey, Brian Yoder and several other coaches that have completed the
International Table Tennis Federation Coaching Course.

Where: Pure Pong in the pearl, 1315 NW Overton St. Portland, OR 97209.

Time: This Saturday, March 29th 11am-3pm

Equipment Sponsor: Paddlepalace.com is the official ball sponsor for my clinics.
They are located locally at 7637 SW 33rd Ave, Portland, OR 97219 or you can visit them
online. They have everything table tennis, balls, paddles, robots and clothing!

Clinic Format: Lectures will be kept brief but thorough(around 5 minutes). Then you
will have 15 minutes to practice what was discussed in the particular lecture. After that
everyone will be called back in for another lecture and then it continues back out for drilling.
Last 20 minutes will be ladder style matches, you try to implement the newly learned
material into your game. Make sure to bring in a notebook so that you can jot down any
personal feedback you get. I'm going to make sure that everyone is matched up with
someone of equal skill level.

Cost: The cost of the clinic is $60. To enter or if you have any questions my email is:
Aikeyt@gmail.com. You must email me to enter the clinic. Email is highly preferred, but if
you need to call (802) 233-5852.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Paddle Palace 2014 Backhand Loop Clinic

Time: Super Bowl Sunday, February 2nd 3-7pm @ THPRD.15707 SW Walker Rd, Beaverton, OR 97006
Coaches: Tim Aikey, Thomas Kung, Brian Yoder. All coaches have completed the ITTF level 1 course.
Sponsor: I want to thank Paddle Palace for supporting my clinics and supplying Orange Nittaku Top Balls. I would also like to thank Portland Table Tennis Club for their support and continuing to promote table tennis.
Last clinic highlight video, check it out: http://youtu.be/JCkcVzq4VPc
Cost: $60.00 for four hours. Contact me Tim Aikey,Aikeyt@gmail.com to get into the clinic.
Required level & Partnering: This Clinic is open to everyone. Super basics will not be covered. Make sure to bring water and a couple of towels, there will be a lot less lecture and a lot more drill / play time in this clinic. Players will be partnered up with similar skilled players. Top 20 players will get into the clinic.
Overview: This clinic will be mostly drilling with lots of feedback from the coaches. Backhand loop vs everything! We are also going to cover backhand flip (backhand loop over the table), backhand serves and quickly going over one of my favorites “the push”.
Specifics covered:
1) Backhand loop vs underspin, how to loop vs heavy underspin, light underspin and dead ball. Tricks to finding consistency with this stroke against any ball.
2) Backhand loop placement strategy.
3) Knowing your options and your opponents options after you backhand loop.
4) Foot work knowledge for backhand loop, where you should be in relation to the ball and how to move there.
5) Well also be going over the coaches favorite backhand serves and having them share some serve strategy and or deception tactics they personally use.
6) Backhand loop vs serve; this is a very special strokes and in my mind the most mistakes are made here. We will go over what you do want to do and what you want to avoid doing when you are receiving a serve.
7) Backhand flip, at the pro level this stroke is used on any short ball now, even on the forehand side of the table. We will go over exactly how to execute this stroke, where to place the ball and how aggressively you should play the ball.
8) Super tricky serve and 3rd ball that your opponents will have no idea whats going on. I covered this one in the last clinic and I would like to cover this again I feel like this is something that people need to know about.
9) The importance of a good push, how to and why.
10) Playing 5th ball with backhand, how the 5th ball is properly played.


Recent changes to my clinics due to players requests from my post clinic questioner:
1) Lecture times are going to be a maximum of 7 minutes. This will allow for maximum play time and for coaches to give personal comments as much as possible.
2) Drill time will be 15 minutes.
3) Two time blocks of ladder style match play.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Paddle Palace 2013 Advanced Serve & Serve Return Clinic

Check out the highlight video of the last clinic on forehand loop. 

Time:Sunday, December 29th 3-7pm @ THPRD.15707 SW Walker Rd, Beaverton, OR 97006

Coaches: Sean O'Neill (2 x Olympian) & Tim Aikey (Oregon State Champion). Also some assistant coaches to help with video recording / coaching.

Sponsor: Paddle Palace, Orange Nittaku Top Balls.

Cost: $60.00 for four hours. Contact me Tim Aikey, Aikeyt@gmail.com to get into the clinic.

Required level & Partnering: We're not going to put a minimum level on this clinic, but do know we will be focusing on advanced topics. This clinic is certainly good for players 2000+. Players will be partnered up with similar skilled players. Top 20 players will get into the clinic.


Overview: Serve and serve return are the most important parts of the game, after the serve and serve return you are either at a great advantage or a great disadvantage. Sean and I want to make serve and serve return a stronger part of your game so that the following balls are easy to attack instead of hard to defend. Being an advanced clinic we are going to be getting into the "hows" and "whys" of all the aspects of serve and serve return so that you can make the best choice possible. All the topics below will be covered. Time will be saved at the end of the clinic for Q&A, questions can also be asked during the lectures. Clinic structure will be lecture, drill, lecture, drill. We will also have two different time blocks of match play where players can try to put newly learned material into match play.


Service demo & lecture:
1) Spin deception, why and how to.2) Placement deception, why and how to.3) General serve placement and why and why to vary the placement.4) Varying spin and why and how to.5) Importance of variety of types of serves, many types of serves will be shown.6) Serving based on your opponents strengths and weaknesses, knowing what their options are based on what strokes they know how to execute.7) What serves i should be doing at the end of the game, 8-8,9-9,10-10 etc.8) Super tricky serve and 3rd ball that your opponents will have no idea whats going on.


Serve return demo and lecture:
1) Options on short serve, flips, drops, pushing, when, where, and in which cases.2) Options on long serve and also half long, looping and pushing and how to, when and when not.3) Super secret serve return that only the really good players know so that their opponents can't kill the ball, how it works and what happens.4) The biggest mistakes players make when returning serves that make it an easy win for their opponents.5) When to spin, when to smash, how to balance and why.6) We will go over all the tricks and ways of how to read opponents tricky serves.7) Tricks of how the top level players adjust to tough serves from their opponents.8) The importance of a good push, how to and why.9) How to return the super spinny side spin serves like the tomahawk and the pendulum serve, also smart placement on these serves and why.


Recent changes to my clinics due to players requests from my post clinic questioner:
1) Lecture times are kept as short as possible.2) Drill time will be 15 minutes +3) Two time blocks of match play.4) Private session with Sean O'Neill looking at your serves and or serve return.5) The drills will be recorded by an assistant coach of individuals and a private playlist will be made for each player. This allows players to see themselves doing the drills on camera. In addition to the recording either Sean or I will make comments on your playlist detailing either what happened or what needs to happen or worked on.


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Table Tennis Hybrid Clinic : Complete Overview: Basic + Advanced Strokes + Strategy

Coaches: Tim Aikey (Current Oregon State Champion), Sean O’Neill (former Olympian), Ang Pemba, Jim Hermann, Thomas Kung.

Where: Tualatin Hills Park and Rec Main Gym - 15707 SW Walker Rd, Beaverton, OR 97006

Time:  One Day, five hour clinic. Sunday, August 18th, 12pm-5pm.

Introduction: This clinic will be completely different than any other clinic that I have done so far.  We will have five high level coaches that have all just successfully completed the International Table Tennis Federation Level One Coaching Course.  This clinic will be perfect for beginner to intermediate level players, up to 1500 USATT rating. The great thing about this clinic is the student to coach ratio 4:1, so lots of personal attention.  Four of the five coaches will be presenting material and the other coaches will be able to add on additional information.

Clinic Format:  There will be a total of 20 people in the clinic, with four head coaches plus Sean O’Neill assisting the other coaches and giving personal instruction as well.  The information will be given in chunks of five to ten minute lectures / demonstration then drills will be about 15 minutes, this repeats for the five hours with some small breaks mixed in for water and some snacks.  Last 30 minutes will be ladder style matches, you try to implement the newly learned material into your game, while the coaches critique your game play.  Make sure to bring in a notebook dedicated for table tennis, you will have time for journaling. I’m going to match you up with an equally skilled partner as best as I can, hopefully different for each drill.

What will be covered:  Basic to advanced strokes, proper footwork for all strokes, how to move, game strategy, how to practice efficiently. The following strokes will be covered: forehand counter, forehand loop, backhand counter, backhand loop, pushing, drop shot, lob, fish, chop, smash and block. Services that will be covered; pendulum, reverse pendulum, tomahawk and backhand serve with how to make variations on all of them. Serve return and serve and attack strategy. Fourth and fifth ball attack / defend strategy as well.

Cost:  The cost of the clinic is $75 cash or check when you arrive. Balls are provided for the clinic. Bring a paddle, some will be available for purchase by request in advance as well.  To enter or if you have any questions my email is: Aikeyt@gmail.com. You must email me to enter the clinic.