The Expert Table Tennis Podcast

This is Episode #8 of The Expert Table Tennis Podcast with Ben Larcombe and Harrie Austin-Jones. This month we’re talking talent, practice, and why a few weeks ago Harrie almost quit table tennis altogether! If you’ve ever worried that you might be untalented and felt on the verge of quitting, this is the episode for you! I hope it’ll also be interesting for anyone who’s pondered the impact that natural talent has on your table ten...

Harrie’s not been very well this month so this is a special bonus episode of The Expert Table Tennis Podcast with Ben Larcombe. In this episode, I’m joined by Tom Lodziak for a chat about how to crush it as an adult beginner. Like Harrie, Tom didn’t start playing table tennis until his mid-twenties. Over the past 12 years, he’s worked hard to improve his game, move up the levels, and he now competes (very well, I might add) in the ...

This is Episode #7 of The Expert Table Tennis Podcast with Ben Larcombe and Harrie Austin-Jones. This month we’re discussing the quality and quantity of your training. This season, Harrie’s made some changes to his weekly training schedule. Instead of playing as much table tennis as possible, he’s going to focus on just three high-quality sessions per week. To find out why you’ll have to listen to this episode. Sponsored by… Power ...

This is Episode #6 of the Expert Table Tennis Podcast with Ben Larcombe and Harrie Austin-Jones. This month we’re chatting about the physical side of table tennis. Is physical training even important for table tennis? If so, what kinds of stuff should we be doing? Harrie has a background in physical power sports like rugby, sprinting and bodybuilding, so I wanted to pick his brain! Sponsored by… TableTennisUniversity.com Today’s ep...

This is Episode #5 of the Expert Table Tennis Podcast with Ben Larcombe and Harrie Austin-Jones. This month we’re chatting about the mental and emotional side of our sport. If you struggle to beat your nerves, handle the pressure of a big match or manage your crazy emotions at the table – and let’s be honest, that’s all of us, at one time or another – then this is the episode for you! Sponsored by… Eastfield Co. Today’s episode is ...

This is Episode #4 of the Expert Table Tennis Podcast with Ben Larcombe and Harrie Austin-Jones. This month we’re chatting about our favourite table tennis drills! If you’re looking to add some more table tennis drills into your training, this is the episode for you. We’ll be sharing some regular, irregular, multiball, and service/return drills. Sponsored by… Eastfield Co. Today’s episode is sponsored by Eastfield (my table tennis ...

This is Episode #3 of the new style Expert Table Tennis Podcast! This month we’re doing an end-of-season review of Harrie’s table tennis season and setting goals for 2019/20. We break the year up into three phases; pre-season (May-August), first-half (September-December), and second-half (January-April). We also speak in terms of process, performance, and outcome goals – I explain what that means in the episode. Sponsored by… Table...

This is Episode #2 of the new style Expert Table Tennis Podcast! I’m joined once again by my good friend Harrie Austin-Jones and this week we’re chatting about the ultimate beginner’s guide to table tennis. Harrie’s been playing table tennis for about two and a half years now so, in effect, I’m asking him… “If you could go back in time to when you first started; What would you tell yourself? What would you do differently? What do y...

After a two-year break, The Expert Table Tennis Podcast is back! From now on, I’ll be joined for each episode by my good friend Harrie Austin-Jones. This first episode (of what I’m calling “Season 2”) is your chance to get to know Harrie and his epic table tennis journey, so far. Sponsored by… TableTennisUniversity.com Today’s episode is sponsored by TableTennisUniversity.com (one of the other websites I run). Table Tennis Universi...

Sam Dance is a member of The Expert Table Tennis Academy (my online community) and has a fascinating table tennis story to share that includes some karaoke, Patrick Franziska (a professional German table tennis player), and lots of local league table tennis. From time to time I like to share the real life story of an ETT Academy member. I always find these really inspiring and I know you guys enjoy them too. Sam is the fifth ETT Ac...

Dan Seemiller is an American table tennis legend. He is five times US Men’s Singles Champion, twelve times US Men’s Doubles Champion, and seven times US Mixed Doubles Champion. That’s pretty impressive, to say the least! But he didn’t stop there… Dan transitioned to table tennis coaching and coached the US National Team for 10 years. He has also been USATT President and organized dozens of major tournaments. He currently working on...

Samson Dubina was last a guest on the show roughly 18 months ago. In that episode, we discussed his training and preparation for the Team USA Rio 2016 selections. Today, we’ll focus on TT-Flex! Unfortunately, Samson didn’t quite make it into the Olympic team but he’s had a fantastic 2016 – both as a player and a coach. In May he managed to achieve a career high USATT rating of 2619, a level that very few US-born table tennis player...

Colin Wilson is probably the perfect guest for an episode of The Expert Table Tennis Podcast. As a player, he represented England for many years and is a double Commonwealth medallist. As a coach, he has worked with the English national team at all levels and trained some of the top players in the country. On top of all that Colin also works with top business people and coaches to help them to continually improve their performance ...

Jeff Plumb and Alois Rosario are the guys behind PingSkills, easily the most popular table tennis coaching channel on YouTube. They have been teaching table tennis to players the world over ever since they made their first PingSkills video back in 2007. Alois Rosario is one of the best table tennis coaches in Australia, and has worked closely with the national team for many years. Jeff Plumb is a very high-level table tennis player...

Back in 2010, Dan McLaughlin decided he wanted to become a professional golfer. The only problem was, he’d never played 18 holes of golf in his life! He didn’t let that stop him, though. He packed in his job as a commercial photographer and began “The Dan Plan” – 10,000 hours of golf deliberate practice. He’s now six years into his challenge so I thought now would be a great time to check in with him, find out how he is getting on,...

Alan Cooke is the Performance Coach at Table Tennis England. That means he works very closely with our national teams and travels with them to tournaments. If you watched any of the World Team Championships out in Kuala Lumpur you will have seen Alan corner coaching Paul Drinkhall, Liam Pitchford, and Sam Walker to an incredible bronze medal result. As a player, Alan Cooke made his England senior debut in 1984. He won countless nat...

In many ways, you could say that Gavin Evans was always destined for table tennis greatness. He was born into a family where both parents played to a high-level and he had two older brothers who were both part of the England Youth Squad. Add to that Gavin’s immediate love of the sport and you have the perfect combination. He began playing at 5-years-old. By 11, Gavin had overtaken both of his older brothers and was beginning to est...

Sean O’Neill is one of the most knowledgeable and respected table tennis coaches in the USA. As a player, he represented USATT during the 80s and 90s, reaching a career high world ranking inside the top 100. In 1995, Sean transitioned to coaching and has worked with a number of top USA players, as well thousands of beginners and improvers. Among some of his students are former guests on the show Brian Pace and Tahl Leibovitz! This ...

William Henzell is without a doubt the greatest table tennis player Australia has ever produced. He has won the men’s national championships a record 13 times, consistently been ranked among the top 100 players in the world, and had some fantastic results representing Australia in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. Then, a couple of weeks ago, Will released a statement on Facebook announcing his retirement from competitive table t...