Congratulations to Carlos Marin of Honduras for his contribution to the Coaching Forum contest. The winning entry is listed below for your review and implementation into your training program.

Carlos Marin
Honduras

I found out that the fast loop thrown by the robot is very good since it has a lot of spin but is not like a real fast loop thrown by a player in real competition. This is because in real competition when a player strikes with a powerful topspin the ball usually comes from under the table, up over the net and down to your side of the table. The robot throws you the topspin from above the table (since it's mounted on the top of the table) directly down onto your side of the table. I achieved a very good and accurate topspin by dismounting the Robot from the table and putting it on top of a box about 10 inches from the floor and about a meter and a half from the table. You would'nt believe the accuracy of the topspin compared to the one in real competition. This way the ball comes from a position lower than the table so the loop is accurate, then it goes over the net to your side of the table, just like in real competition. If you put the oscillator on it's even better. You get the same effect for backspin simulating a game against a chopping player.


Tech note: This is a very good tip and shows the versatility of robot and how it can be adapted to simulate many different shots in the game. Of course, when you use the robot in this manner, the recycling net feature is of little use, but you still get a hundred or so high quality shots to practice against before you have to stop and pick up the balls. Another suggestion to make this idea work better is to buy an extra Connector Cable (part# 2000-220) and two 5-pin Connectors (#2000-218). Solder the leads on one 5-Pin Connector to the corresponding leads on the other 5-Pin Connector to form a connector for linking two Connector Cables together. Now with this longer cable you can place the robot in numerous positions in back of the table and still have the Remote Control Box handy at the player's end of the table.