International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Level III Coach and Course Conductor, Christian Lillieroos, is currently in Guyana for Titans Table Tennis International High Performance camp being staged at the Red Cross Guyana Headquarters, Kingston.
The camp started on November 9 and according to the travelled Lillieroos, the players have shown great adaptability to the new techniques after being nervous at first interaction. Also, their ability to hold to up five hours of intense training per day is impressive.
At a press briefing Wednesday, Lillieroos, who has travelled to 50 different countries to do similar activities and coached 20 different national teams, explained that participating in High Performance camps is imperative for players who have ambitions to play professionally.
With majority of the players being cadets (age 10 -15), the coach stated it was necessary now to give them this exposure since the older they become, the harder it is to correct errors.
“You can be playing at 100mph just nine feet part, so it imperative you have a good reaction time. It is a sport with a very high level of science,” the coach stated.
One area of concern for Lillieroos is the lack of variety in serves. “The serves are just not good enough; they need to have a high level of spin and good deception.”
He contended the familiarity in opponents and a lack of exposure as causes for the below par serves.
According to the President of Titans Table Tennis Club, Dwain Dick, the core idea of the camp was to develop a better structure at the club by an expert so they can implement a programme for the young players.
Ramdeo Kumar of Beacon Café stated the sponsors support was most crucial in pulling off this venture. Kumar, a member of the club, thanked JGS Business Services, Bistro Café, Courts Guyana, Payless Variety Store, VIVA Water and West Indian Sports Complex for their support.
Kumar added the camp will be held annually as they have noticed great talents within and outside of the club for which they seek to invest and develop the sport in Guyana.
Additionally, Adam Rahaman, Brand Manager of Whizz, stated the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Company was quick to support to the tournament given the knowledge of how hard the players would work to represent Guyana.
Public Relations Officer of the Club, Daniel Thomas, said their work is to compliment that of the Guyana Table Tennis Association and it was quite fortunate that there is clash with the two foreign coaches since the more expert input players get the better.
Currently, Cuban Coach Osdani Romero Garcia is working with local players via the GTTA. Thomas indicated they planned for Lilleroos to come Guyana long in advance and were totally unaware of the possible clash.
In the future, they hope to hold the camp at a different time to allow overseas players to attend.
The camp is being held from 06:00h to 08:00h then 16:00h to 18:30h, followed by a different session from 18:30h to 20:00h.
