Table Tennis Training � Pushing Yourself Further In The Amazing Game Of Ping Pong

Ping pong is a fun and exciting game, and best of all, it is fairly easy that practically anyone can play it. However, since table tennis is a breeze to play a lot of people do not see the need to get proper training for it. This is okay if you just want to have some fun hitting the ball once in a while, but if you really want to be good in the game, then you really have to take table tennis training.

A lot of people are hesitant to undergo table tennis training since it is somewhat unusual. Most people do not view it like swimming lessons that a lot of kids really go through. But like any sport, table tennis training follows a flow of discipline. Here are some things you need to consider when you plan to take table tennis lessons:

1. Frequency – the frequency of your table tennis training really depends on you – on what your goal is, how much you can commit, your urge to improve, your schedule, your budget, among many others. But generally, if you want to improve your game you should have at least one training session each week, and then another session to play as well. Lessons are useless if you do not practice what you learn. But playing too much can also be counter productive. You have to carefully study your schedule and spell out how much you can devote for your table tennis training. Stick with the schedule you have set to ensure that you would be getting the most from your training.

2. Duration of the training – how long you train is another consideration. It is usually recommended to train for just an hour to an hour and half like other kinds of sports. If you go longer than that, your concentration can suffer and you might even grow tired of the sport instead of loving it.

3. Training style – the type of lesson really depends on your level as a table tennis player. If you are a beginner, you should have a good foundation on the technique for hitting the table with the ball. This sounds to be too basic a task, but it is the very foundation of table tennis and a lot of amateur players miss out on this one. Table training should be mastered really well for other techniques to be learned. This level of training decreases the chances of your hitting the ball into other directions.

Once you are able to ground yourself with table training you can work on the next most important strokes for your training. These include the backhand counterhit, the forehand counterhit, the backhand push, the forehand push, the serve, and the serve return. Without these things you cannot expect to move to the next, intermediate, level of table tennis playing.

You can also include in your table tennis training some of the fun stuff – the tricks of the trade that make table tennis all the more exciting. This includes the lobbing, smashing, the forehand loop and the backhand loop. Soon enough you can mix these strokes up to give an impressive game.

4. Attitude – no matter how much training you take for how long and what kind, you would not succeed in table tennis if you do not have the attitude to follow through. Table tennis is very much a mental sport as it is a physical sport. You mind has to be very active as everything happens quickly, even quicker than in most other types of sports.

The attitude is also very much important during table tennis training. You have to focus on what you are training for at a certain time. You should set your mind to learn the strokes, that you are practicing. You should also pay attention to your trainer or your training partner. You might have to take turns feeding balls to each other and when it is your turn be good at it as you would hitting the ball. You can learn from all aspects of training if you put your mind to it.

Table tennis training may not really be that important for most people. But if you really want to be good in this game, it is something that is inevitable for you to go through.

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The Real Secret To Quickly Buying An Electric Scooter

If this doesn’t get you excited, then nothing will! Electric scooters can be bought for sometimes as much as 50% off if you can be just a little patient and know where to look. Electric scooters are incredibly fun these days, and they’ve seemed to have taken the world by storm. I see several of them all the time riding up and down my street here in Houston, and I’ve read that they are popular in many European countries.

What a lot of people don’t know is that there is a way to get your new electric scooter a discount using an old tactic in a slightly new way. It’s called price comparison (and a little bit patience). Yes, this is an old tactic, but it still works. And it works really well. The internet makes it really easy to do this as long as you put in just a little leg work. Here’s how I would go about looking for a new electric scooter.

1) Start at Froogle.com. This is Google’s shopping search engine where you can look for whatever it is you need. Try searching for ‘electric scooter,’ ‘electric scooter sale’ or even ‘electric scooter discount.’ This should yield an impressive number of electric scooter retailer competing for your business. Write down the best prices and deal you see.

2) Run the same searches on regular Google.com. Pay attention to the right hand side ads. Generally, the right hand side ads are ‘sponsored ads’ which vendors pay a lot of money (often over $1/click) to place their ads on the right hand side of the results for certain keyword they bid on in a sort of virtual keyword auction. Visit some sites and write down the best deals you see here.

3) Run the same searches on Yahoo.com. Pay attention to the right hand side sponsored ads. Yahoo owns Overture which handles their pay-per-click business. Often you will find different vendors advertising on Yahoo than Google. You want to compare as many different electric scooter companies as possible. They more the bestter. This is why it is worth visiting Yahoo, not just Google. Visit some sites and write down the best deals you see here.

4) Now visit Ebay and run a search for ‘electric scooter’ and ‘electric scooters.’ Write down the results and watch some auctions for a week or so. Write down the prices you see things being sold for. You can usually press the ‘watch this auction’ in MyEbay as a sort of bookmark so you can watch all the sales that happen for particular items.

5) Come back in 2 weeks and do it all over again. At the end of this you will be able to know that you’ve done a lot of research and you will know where the best deals are.

Overall, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could save more than 50% on a new electric scooter doing this. After all, you did the work: you are entitled to getting paid for it. There are more tricks than this, and this isn’t all of it. But it’s a start to getting you your new electric scooter.

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Golf in Orlando: Attending the Legendary Father Son Challenge Tournament at Champions Gate

After our exciting round at Mystic Dunes, it was only mid-afternoon on a gorgeous day with blue skies, so we decided to take a 10 minute drive and drop in on the Father Son Challenge at Champion's Gate, which has been held for the last 3 years at this golf course in the South part of Orlando. You can't miss Champion's Gate, when you first get off exit 58 on the I-4, the impressive main entrance gates to Champion's Gate are right there.

The Father Son Legend is truly a walking Hall of Fame of golf, and it's a celebration of the sport as well as of the bonds of family. Famous golf professionals of the present and the past play with their talented sons and daughters, and all of them share a passion for the game.

This year's line-up included Jack and Jackie Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and his grandson Sam Saunders, Vijay Singh and 15 year old son Qass, Mark and Shaun O'Meara, Craig and Chris Stadler, Bob and David Charles, Raymond and Robert Floyd (Raymond has won the Father Son Challenge 5 times since 1994 together with his sons Robert and Raymond Jr.), Hale and Steve Irwin, Tom and David Kite, Bernard and 15 year old Stefan Langer, Davis Love III and his 12-year old son Dru, Johnny Miller and Johnny Miller II, Larry and Josh Nelson, Curtis and Tom Strange, Lee and Daniel Trevino, Fuzzy Zoeller and his daughter Gretchen.

We parked our car and approached the club house. Just as we were walking towards the stands on the 18th hole, Davis Love III had finished his round and was coming towards the club house. It is really an amazing experience, seeing all these world famous celebrities and icons of the sport, up so close and so relaxed in this unique tournament format.

The rules of playh are based on a Scramble Format, which means that on each hole, each player drives and the best drive is selected. Each player then plays a second shot from the spot where the selected drive lies, and the best second shot is selected. This process is completed uniti the hole is completed.

When we were there we also saw golf greats like Vijay Singh, Mark O'Meara and Lee Trevino finish their rounds. It was great seeing Vijay, relaxing after his final putt with a coffee in hand, awaiting the arrival of his son on the last hole and watching his son's last putt of the day. Because this tournament pairs up the great players of golf with their sons or daughters, it really gives you a much better feeling of these professionals as human beings, and according to Allan Findley, General Manager of Champions Gate, many of these players truly relish this event, which allows them to celebrate their sport as a family away from the pressures of the PGA Tour.

We really enjoyed the atmosphere at the Father Son Challenge, and it would have been great to see some of the other legends of golf, like Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, in person. Unfortunately we have an extremely tight schedule and will be unable to come back on a second day, but it was a great experience, getting a first person look at this "Walking Hall of Fame" of the game of golf.

Beyond Breathing...Managing Your State Of Mind On The Golf Course

Beyond Breathing.......Managing Your State of Mind on the golf Course.

I'm sure every golfer recognizes the importance of managing their state of mind on the golf course. The aim of this article is to provide you with a variety of techniques to manage your state on the course. This article goes beyond solely using breathing exercises for better golf and highlights that improving your respiration (breathing) is just one of many ways to manage your state on the golf course!

To begin, it's helpful for you to become aware of what your intention is for playing golf. This is important as your intention drives your behaviour. Sometimes increased focus and flow can result from simply reminding yourself of your intention for playing. Intention for behaviour operates at a much deeper and higher logical level than behaviour, which means when you're clear about your intention to play golf, your behaviour will automatically become more focused. Using the analogy of shopping for food for example: Have you ever noticed the difference between going into a supermarket with a prepared list of items (your intention for shopping), as compared to walking vaguely through the supermarket not sure about what groceries you want? Of course, I’m sure like me, you become more focused when your intention for shopping is clear (having the shopping list). With the list of foods you want already determined your mind will begin filtering through your senses for those items. !

You can move through the store confidently and quickly. A very similar thing happens after becoming clear about your intention to play golf, when your intention is clear, your mind starts filtering and focusing on satisfying your intention.

Breathing can be used to induce a variety of different mental states and can be used to rehearse calming and centring your attention. To do this, diaphragmatic breathing techniques are beneficial. The idea is to practice those techniques away from the golf course so you’ll have the ability to use diaphragmatic breathing naturally whilst competing. I would like to highlight that an optimal state for golf is a product of fluid conscious / unconscious interface. What do I mean by this? Well, can you remember a time playing golf when you pictured the shot you wanted to hit, and then you automatically got a feeling for how you needed to execute that shot? That’s an example of a state where you’ve demonstrated excellent conscious / unconscious interface. Sometimes breathing can help you to access that state but this is not a given, and is just one of many ways to access an optimal state. By taking advantage of the social nature of golf, more often than not you can access an optimal state simply by enjoying conversation between shots! Laughing and enjoying yourself on the course between shots will do just as much to support high performance as any technique ever will!

It’s useful to understand that every mental state you experience on the golf course is a combination of the way in which they you're holding yourself (your posture), your respiration (breathing patterns) and how you're organising your attention through your senses (both internal and external). Generally speaking, when a golfer becomes unresourceful on the golf course it’s because their attention shifts internal and they start talking to themselves inside their heads....’urrrggghhhh, I should’ve done this' or 'I buggered up that shot' etc. You can deliberately shift your attention during play if you feel you need a method other than simply enjoying conversation:

- Observe how the trees move in the wind, feel how your feet feel on the ground as you walk, notice if you can smell the grass on the fairways, or listen to the birds chirping. This is a proven way to shift your attention whilst also giving yourself a break between shots. Jack Nicklaus was famous for 'Smelling the flowers'. That was Jack’s way of using his attention in a highly useful and simple way, and we’re all aware of Jack’s golfing records. Of course maintaining an optimal state was one of many skills in Jack’s bag of tricks, but I’m sure his simple ‘Smelling the flowers’ technique didn’t hurt his liking for winning majors.

The final method I’d like to outline in this article is ridiculously simple, yet amazingly effective. It is a technique to be applied away from the golf course so that you can become better at managing your state on it. I’ve developed this technique by applying learning’s from New Code NLP.

1) Recall a time when you were playing golf in the past we’re you were not in an optimal state, and would like to improve your state for a similar situation in the future.

2) In your mind’s eye, imagine you’re a coach sitting inside the clubhouse during that situation, and you’re overlooking the golf course through glass windows. Imagine watching a student golfer of yours who looks remarkably a lot like you playing on the golf course. Observe the pace and way that he moves as he walks between shots and moves through his pre shot routine. Observe the way he holds his posture when he prepares for his shots. How does he move when walking up to his ball? Observe if you can, the way he is breathing, observe how he is placing his attention, does he look focussed, confident, calm and so on.

3) Next, I want you to imagine that as the players coach sitting inside the clubhouse, you have the magical ability to give the golfer advice on how to improve his/her state. For example, if you want the player to go through his pre shot routine more precisely, then watch as that player now changes what he/she is doing in order to go through their pre shot routine as advised. You may instruct the player to become more focused, relaxed or calm as they choose their shot selections. Observe from inside the clubhouse as the player changes his/her behaviour to incorporate those improvements into their behaviour. Keep making suggestions until you believe that the player out there, who looks remarkably like you, is in an optimal golf state. Do this until you’re convinced that that player is ready to play their best golf.

4) Think of an adjective that effectively describes the state of that player now. For example, it may be confident, relaxed, calm etc.

5) Continue observing the golfer as the coach from inside the clubhouse, and notice how their new and improved state influences their performance on the course. Become aware of the learning’s you’ve learnt from this exercise and ask yourself if you could have access to those learning’s for future rounds of golf, would that be useful? If the answer is yes, you can use the adjective you came up with during step 4 of this exercise to remind yourself of your optimal golf state in the future.

6) Finally, when you have time, watch some professional players on television and use adjectives to describe their states, notice fluctuations in state from player to player and also fluctuations in state from one player during the course of the round. For example, what adjective would you have used to describe Tom Watsons state when preparing for his tee shot on the 72nd hole at the Open, compared to his state on the 2nd tee of the playoff. Are the adjectives different? If so, if you were his coach, what advice would you give him to better his state for a future situation, say at St Andrews in 2010? I’ve used the Watson example to demonstrate that this process can be used for your advantage whether you’re a beginner or a golfing legend like Tom Watson. Of course, like any golf skill, you’ll become better at this with practice. I recommend you use this process whenever you want to get some perspective on your performance on the golf course. It can also be used for becoming aware of technical improvements you may want to then discuss with your coach.

That concludes this article,to get your FREE copy of chapter 1 of my Golf Psychology Drill Book, visit http://www.stevenlathamgolf

What is the worst "Lie" in golf?

Let us begin with a few myth busters, shall we.

Myths -

1) If you have a perfect golf swing you'll have a perfect game.
2) You can buy a better game
3) Technology has lowered golfers scores

Most every golfer subscribes to these beliefs in one way or another. The entire golf instruction, training aid, and golf club making market bear this out. Golf magazines, tv shows, and article after article offer tips, fixes, cures and virtually every imaginable training aid conceivable to craft the perfect swing. All with the pretense of helping you play better golf.

Well has it worked? Let's take a look...

In 1978 75% of all golfers never broke 90 - so barely 25% ever shot in the 80's.

In 2004, a full 26 years later, after the advent of 460CC drivers with 45" multi-kick point shafts, cavity back irons, balls that prevent hooks and slices, and world class instruction from the smartest minds in the buz, that number has been increased by a wopping 3%!

Now a full 28% of all golfers has broken 90! But hey, let's cut the industry some slack, there's only been 90+ billion spent on golf equipment over that time! That doesn't include lessons or training aids! All that technology and collective wisdom and this is how far we've come...impressive, huh.

Seriously, any other business that produced numbers like these for their customers would be out of business! But the golfing public has an insatiable appetite that an ever growing horde of manufacturers and marketers are more than willing to feed.

Ok, do you want to pay me now or later for the moral booster? What? This doesn't get you pumped about your prospects of dropping your handicap by 10 strokes by buying the next training aid?

You mean to tell me you're not going to do that $2,500 re-shafting, ball changing, loft angle adjusting, launch angle increasing, club-fitting session you had booked for next Saturday? Hmmm, was it something I said?

As golfers we are bombarded with instruction tips, training options, and product offerings that'll have your head spinning faster than Paris Hilton after swizzeling a half dozen Crantini's.

So where's the moral of this myth busting story? Do we all just give up trying to improve? Absolutely not. We all need to fulfill that important human craving of getting better at what we love. Yet where we place our attention to achieve this goal is what has to change. Our core beliefs about what causes improvement should be based on reality not myths. They should empower us, not encourage wishful thinking and needlessly empty our wallets.

"So if it isn't gear that makes us better maybe it's lessons," did I hear you say? Certainly lessons are an asset and obviously accelerate your skill development yet they're not absolutely essential. Ask Lee Trevino, Jim Furyk, Chris Dimarco and countless others who are self taught. And I think we can all agree that there isn't much "pretty" about any of their swings.

Do you think any of them were intent on crafting the perfect swing? Yet if we look at things from a different perspective maybe they do have perfect swings. Why? Because they work! Golf ain't a beauty contest.

In the final analysis there is only one area that promotes the quickest and most lasting change in any golfers game. And what's interesting about it is this is the only area that doesn't cost a penny to use yet almost no-one uses it!

That area is the often quoted 6 inches between your ears! Your mind. The mental game. Using your mind in a strategic, methodical and focused way is the surest method of lowering your scores. Period.

If you want to run out and spend $500 on a new driver and another $1000 or more on irons to make you play better, feel free. You might be that one in a million that changes the statistics. I realize we'll all buy nice gear once in a while but we can't buy it with a belief that this will seriously lower our scores.

Needless to say, my articles won't be sponsored by Taylor Made or Nike any time soon! I don't help sell much golf equipment! No, my approach to lowering your handicap, improving your swing, and increasing your satisfaction leans towards inner change before outer gains.

True improvement only arrives when we first assess where we are in relation to our goal. Then we must take an inventory of all the things that have actually produced measurable results. Which means no denial! We can't hope to move our game to the next level by hanging on to a lie, now can we? If you do then that's what I call a real "hanging lie". Ok, that was a cheap pun but it was there for the taking...

Each and every one of us has the innate ability to tap our own potential and transform any part of our lives, including golf. We just require the right road map and a good compass to keep us on target.

It's time to wake up and smell the napalm or the myths that cloud our brains will keep us believing we can buy a better game.

Golf - Score Card Rules

It seems that almost every golfer has a hard luck tale to recount about a prize that they would have won, had they not been disqualified for a mistake concerning their score card. Of course, there is no requirement to complete a score card in match play, so the following only applies to stroke play situations. Rule 6-6 and the Decisions thereon contain most of the important information concerning the score card.



It is the Committee's responsibility to provide each competitor with a score card containing the date and the competitor's name or, in foursomes or four-balls, the competitors' names (Rule 33-5). The competitor must ensure that their handicap is recorded on his score card. If there is no handicap on the card before it is returned to the Committee following completion of the players' round, or if the recorded handicap is higher than that to which they are entitled and this affects the number of strokes received, they are disqualified (Rule 6-2b). If they enter a handicap that is lower than that to which they are entitled the Committee will use that handicap to calculate their score. Note that the Rules require the full handicap to be shown on the card, notwithstanding the number of holes in the stipulated round or the competition format (e.g. four-balls are often played at ¾ handicap). Decision 6-2b/0.5 makes this clear. The player should hand their card to their marker at the beginning of the round and after each hole the marker should check the score with the competitor and record it.



Before the card is returned to the designated area (e.g. in a scorer's tent, the golf shop, or a competition box) the player must ensure that the gross scores for each hole are accurately recorded and the card has been signed by both the player and their marker. If a score lower than the actual score on any hole is returned, the player incurs the penalty of disqualification. However, if a score higher than the actual score is recorded, that score stands.



There are several common misconceptions about the score card. Here are the facts;

Only the marker and one player in a side have to sign the card.

Full signatures are not mandatory, initials are acceptable.

The marker and player may sign anywhere on the card, although obviously it helps the scorer if they sign in the correct spaces.

A different card from the one issued may be returned (e.g. when the original card has been saturated by rain).

No initials are required for alterations made to the card. The signature confirms all changes made.

It is not necessary to calculate the points scored in a Stableford competition as this is the responsibility of the Committee, as is the totalling of the gross scores for each hole and the application of the handicap. However, as someone who regularly checks competition cards at my club, I urge you to do so; it makes life so much easier for us scorers.

Surprisingly, there is no Rule making it mandatory for the competition date to be recorded on the card, but I recommend that it is, to avoid confusion.

A card may be marked by more than one person provided that each signs for the part of the round for which they are responsible.

The card must be signed by both the marker and player after the round has been completed.



Note that a Committee may not, as a condition of competition, require that competitors must enter their scores into a computer and so players cannot be penalised for failing to do so (Decision 6-6b/8). However, a Committee may introduce a 'club regulation' to this effect and provide disciplinary sanctions, such as ineligibility to play in the next club competition, for failure to enter scores in a computer provided for this purpose.



Good golfing,



Barry Rhodes

Do You Want A Good Best Golf App?

Do you love golf and have an iphone, ipod, or ipad? Then check out some of the golf games available for your device. There are many apps, but which ones should you consider. Below you will find a description of four golf apps you might enjoy.

If you have an iPhone, you may be wondering which best golf app you should download. The web contains thousands of links for you to visit and download iPhone golf apps right from your iPhone.

Four of the best applications for golf games are the Masters Golf Tournament, smartSCORECARD for oobgolf, Golfshot Golf, FreeCaddie, and Golf Moolah.

The Masters Golf Tournament was originally released on March 30, 2009. This app offers live video and live scoring application from the Masters Tournament, especially for Amen Corner for holes numbers, 11, 12, and 13. It also covers hole numbers 15 and 16 and Masters Extra.

The new featured group coverage debuts this year, and you will have an On Demand Video Highlights at the end of each day. The videos can be viewed with 3G, wi-fi connections and Edge.

SmartSCORECARD for oobgolf was released on November 2008. As one of the best golf app, it allows you and three more buddies to keep track of golf scores in real time and on its website. However, you must be a member to be able to get access to handicap, and other information related to golf.

You can also get fairways hit or miss whether on the left or right, distance off the tee, club used off the tee, sand shots, penalties and number of putts. The smartSCORECARD can show you the course layout. You can figure out shot distances with this golf app.

With Golf Shot GPS, you can enjoy GPS rangefinder with distances to the front, center and back of green. You can also get up to 40 professionally-mapped targets per hole, and GPS Aerial view with TouchPoint positioning.

Golf Shot is the number one provider of pre-mapped aerial image courses. Its scorecard features include a score of up to four golfers, simple score entry, rotated full-round traditional scorecard view, and stableford scoring.

If you want to play golf in another language, Spanish or Chinese, you should choose golf moolah. Golf moolah is deemed as the best golf app for iPhone because it has fully-detailed instruction on how to play each game, and you can send via e-mail the scorecard for bragging rights and other purposes.

It has 18 golf games you can play. A few of the game names are Super Nassau, Las Vegas, Hammer, and Nines. With this app you can be a beginner or a pro looking for fun. As you play all scores are kept.

The automated scorecard can be used for both wagers and non-wagers. You can use this app on the iPod touch also. Golf moolah has multiple games for unlimited number of players, making it to the top 4 best golf app.

There you have it. Five different iPhone golf games you can download and play. Check out the ones you like. Go to their web sites to get more detailed information.