Suggestion to make a champion

Dear Jeff,

Thank for everything you have sent for last one year over internet. I have a completely different question. I will be so glad if you please give me some advice.

1. I have a son 12 years old and I made him start playing TT when he was 8. He is reasonably good now and has own few club tournaments locally.

2. My dream is to make him become Bangladesh National Table Tennis Champion. As you know the standard of Bangladesh Table Tennis is not high at all and with some special effort I should be able to make him Champion. I would consider me to be a failure if I could not take advantage of all these modern facilities properly and make him champion. National champion is a National champion and will be an achievement for anybody from his own country.

3. I have made him coached by an ex National Champion of our country. Now my son has leant more or less what he has to give. Now a day I can see that they are doing the same old things like rallying, smashing, blocking, playing matches at the same old way during their coaching session. For last 6/7 months I can feel that he is not improving or actually the coach has ran out of experience for the next level of coaching.

4. I feel if I could send him in your academy for few months then my son would have come back with a level that is much higher and he could beat all others of his age in Bangladesh. But sending him there, besides expenses, will be problem for his school (studies). He is in class six.

5. So what would be your suggestion at this stage I should do for him? My expectation is not very high. I just want to make him Bangladesh Champion, not Asian Champion or World Champion. I surely think the boys who are school champions in your country are good enough to be National Champions here.

Your suggestion will be highly appreciated.

Thanks and Best Regards

Capt.Munir

Hi,

Firstly, repetition is one of the keys to success.  The coach may be on the right track.

The second thing is perhaps sit with your son and see what motivates him and what he wants to gain from the game.  This is very important as the further he gets and the more time he is required to put in then the motivation must come from within or it will fail.

Think about what he needs to work on and perhaps sit with the coach and ask him ways that you see that can keep him motivated with training.  Coaches are often very willing to accept advice from others and see things from a different light.

The main thing is to identify the areas that need to be improved and then work on them systematically.

If you need help in identifying these let me know.  Without seeing him it is difficult to tell but I may have other suggestions.