Christophe Legout

It was a great chance to hear one of the world's top players speak about Table Tennis today when Christophe Legout took a few minutes away from his preparation for the European Championships to speak to all the players about all things table tennis. Still ranked in the top 3 in France and with a great record as a player, he show everyone some tips about service and then spoke about his preparation for matches, about his physical training programme, about the importance of self motivation and not relying always on others to do everything for you.
Among the most interesting things was his belief that service must be placed at many different points on the table to be effective and that you can make the same spin but by using placement you can fool your opponent into making an error on the return.
His background was interesting also as he did not start playing till he was eleven. He was involved in Karate before that. Also the French athletics association asked him to compete for them. He was always physically fit so adapting to different sports was relatively easy for him.
It was also interesting that he keeps a dairy of every player he has ever played and the tactics for playing against them. Even the weakest opponent he puts a comment into the diary for them. He spoke also about being nervous in matches and how to combat that and how it can be that you are nervous in a simple league match but then in the olympics you can achieve a calm. state. Sometimes it is because some coach told you that this is important and it makes you more nervous.
He was a very interesting and passionate speaker about table tennis and is a great ambassador for the sport.

A croissant in Mosson

More the head cook than the head coach, I have cooked for the club players this week in France. As a result I have not seen so much action from the hall. but when I did make it there this morning, it was the usual hive of activity.
There are 48 players on the camp this week and the standard is high with Christope Legout, Leannart Werkling, Zhang Hongming as well as a host of other high level players. It is a an impressive line up of top players with a hard working atmosphere. Our players are tired now but that is understandable. No 8km in the morning and tournament tomorrow also. Happy days

The Bells, the bells...

It's different this season without Ghislain. The former head coach of MTT has retired now to persue other interests. He was still around for a chat in his own inimitable style. Still the same character he was. Got me thinking about past years at the training here and I put together a compilation of observations from those years. The photos is the bells from the local monastery in Boutonnet.

The bells of Sant Pierre are calling the faithful to prayer in the Butonnet district of Montpellier. The early morning air is hot and expectant. It’s the feast of San Maria and the streets are quiet and empty. Down the road, past the fountain and across the wooden tracks of the tramway there is a different kind of worship going on in the Gymnase Alain Achille.

The morning silence is disturbed only by the rhythmic sound of table tennis balls and Ghislain Rolandi stalks around like the high priest of le ping pong supervising the practice. The players have just returned from the traditional eight kilometre morning run and are facing two hours of hard training in the growing heat of the day. The hall oozes sweat and effort. This is not the place for the faint hearted.Like Ghislain says “Table Tennis is number One. Everything else comes after".

The coaches are forthright in their opinions and everyone knows where they stand. And if you are standing that’s your first mistake. You can practice your serves or do some physicals. Slackers are not tolerated. You earn the right to practice with good players by hard work and dedication. Whining prima donnas need not apply.

In the quiet University quarter of Boutonnet, it does not seem possible that such hard effort and high intensity training happens inside this Table tennis hall. Ghislan is rightly proud of the high level of the players and the number of people who come to Montpellier for this very reason. But he is ruthless in his assessment of the players.

"The amateur players who come here cannot expect to play with the professional players.It is not good enough for them to practice with players like these" he tells all the gathered participants. Always the straight talking approach which leaves you in doubt where you stand.

For the young players there is the advantage of having Stephan LeBrun taking the training. Stephan was No.7 in France and is still No.59. He is coach to the pro A team in Istres but played for Montpellier in the European Cup winning team of 2002. He is clearly an excellent coach and he guides the young players expertly through their routine.

Although the basic important things were the same there were some differences this year. No Paintball, but do you really want Ghislain chasing you through the forest with a souped-up pellet gun after doing three hours of training?? No Booster. But do you really want to be hurled around at a terrifying 90km strapped to the end of a large bar.

It's a daunting experience for your first time.You come to training. All these brilliant players are strolling into the hall. The bells are ringing from the local monastery like the chimes of Doom and Ghislain shakes your hand slowly and utters his usual greeting - Welcome to Hell!

Summer days 2

In Montpellier now at my second training camp of the summer. We have 8 players here and its a pretty hectic schedule with training every morning from 9 to 12 and then a long break for the hottest part of the day with training resuming at 5.30 to 7.30

We are staying in the Citadines again but this time in the one in the city centre. That is handy cos the tram stops literally outside the hotel and goes straight to the hall. So getting to and from training is simple enough

It s hot here at the moment about 35 degrees and the training is tough in these conditions and especially in the afternoon when the hall is really hot. Also tough is the 8km run every morning for the players before training. Everyone was a bit sore on Wednesday but now they are getting used to it.

The picture on the right shows the hall from the tram stop at Stade Philippides

Summer days

Good long time since I posted. Its been a busy summer (as usual!). After my short holiday in Spain I was straight off to Sweden with the Irish Cadet boys squad for a training camp in Halmstad.

Conor from Eastpoint was a part of that squad and the training was really good. Sara was there also and enjoyed great training including a day from Asa Svensson, Sweden's best ever female player.

Neil broke his arm on the last day! Hope you are feeling better now and making a full recovery, Neil

You can view the photos here http://picasaweb.google.com/jonner11

National Title for Sam

The National Junior champion ships were an altogether different affair than the Seniors. Obviously our main focus was on the Junior events but throughout the day no one seemed able to break out of the nervy, hushed atmosphere that characterised the event.

Sam was peerless in the Junior boys event. His play was not outstanding but he was coiled and poised ready to strike should anyone threaten his supremacy. Amazingly there was not much danger as many of his opponents seem to play against him with a sense of foreboding and a lack of real conviction that they were going to be able to upset the favourite. His semi final against Cory was always going to be tense but Sam was in form and his focus was excellent and this allowed him to control the game and ease his way into the final.

There he faced Sam Logue ,fresh from his good win against Ashley Robinson in the semi-final. There still seemed to be an almost reverent atmosphere in the hall; more suited to a church than a sports final. It was a sharp contrast to the frenzy of the Seniors. Still Sam went about his task with business - like fervour and raced into a one -nil lead. It seemed all over when Sam was 10-6 up in the second but Sam Logue fought back to 10-10. Sam reasserted his authority and took that set and the match. It was a convincing defence of his title accomplished without dropping a set.

Allez Gavin

Lots of Allez and a bit of VA Va Voom as well. We flew to Frankfurt airport but it was the Audi A4 that they gave us as the hire car that really was the star of the show!!

It was my first visit to the French League and Gavin turned on the style for the occasion. The opposition was led by world ranked Belgian international Phillipe Saive and they started strongly winning the first four games with only Nathanael MOLIN registering a win for Montpellier TTC. Gavin stepped up against the number 238 in France and in an exciting an close game won 16-14 in the fifth. It was great to see him play with such skill, maturity and confidence. He looked every bit the National champion as he clawed back the fourth set after being down 2-1 and then served and returned superbly in the fifth to fully deserve his victory. It was not an easy task as the player had pimples on his forehand and quite an awkward style.

When Olivier made it 3-4 it looked like it could have been a close game but after Saive beat Nat 3-1 the games slipped away from Montpellier. Gav stepped up to win his second singles of the evening 3-0 but the match scored finished at 11-5 for Metz.

It was interesting to see the match which was played in a good spirit in a nice hall with good conditions. Thanks to Nat, Olivier, Jean-guillaume, Eric and Dorian for making me feel welcome both at the match and at the meal afterwards.

View from the Bench

It was a tale of two benches. Sitting on the bench outside ALSAA as Gavin Maguire was there getting some air and eating wine gums to take away the taste of sick. Not ideal preparation for the National Championship final but that is where I found myself.

On the bench for the final I realised that when Alan Monks won the National in 2000 and 2001 I did not coach him in either final. I was away for the first one and in 2001 he played Brian Fitzgerald who was playing in our club at the time.

Gav Maguire is National Champion

Harry Houdini would have been proud of him, the Great Omani would have been a fan and I heard that David Blaine is looking for some tips. Gavin Maguire was down 2 sets to one and 8-3 in the fourth but he executed one of the greatest escapes of all time to snatch a shock win at the Irish Senior Table Tennis National championships held at ALSAA sports centre last weekend.
It did not look possible at that point that Gav would claim his first ever Men's title but he played superbly to fight his way back and defeat reigning champion John Murphy 11-7 in the fifth set.
The surrounding hype has been extraordinary. Amazingly Gav was quite sick during the finals and I have to say that I don't really recommend celebrating your triumph in the toilets getting sick. It had a kind of surreal feel to it as the media waited outside for interviews and Gav in no fit state to talk to anyone(except the toilet bowl!)
However this exceptional young man gathered himself together and gave two fabulous interviews before returning to the toilet for some unfinished business! Not to worry he made a full recovery in time to be able to enjoy his victory later that night. Well done to him for all that stuff!