Interview with Dexter St Louis

Dexter St Louis is easily the best player to ever come out of the English speaking Caribbean. I got the chance to speak with him via Skype from France to have a little talk about the game and some of his exploits.

Petermoo: Dexter, when did you realize you could become a good player?
Dex: At age 15 I won both National junior and senior titles, it was then I realized I could probably go a bit further than the guys who were older than me . Guys like Lionel Darcieul and Derek DaSilva. Of course it depends on how hard you are prepared to work but it is at that time I saw I had the potential to become a great player.
PM: When did you decide to go overseas to develop your game?
DSL: Right from there I knew I had to move to the next level. I got a sponsor who worked with me to get me to play a couple overseas tournaments in the USA and such. I stayed about a year and a half in the USA.
After that I got a Trinidadian company to employ me, not to work, but to allow me to focus on  my development as a player.
They decided to send me to a couple of tournaments including one in Martinique. I was able to win this tournament which had players from France and several other countries and its from there I got the opportunity to play professionally in France.
As a matter of fact, I got the offer the same night I won the tournament.
I got an oppurtunity to train in Germany for 5 weeks and then a 2 year contract in France.

PM: Who do you play for in France?
DSL: I play for a small club in a small city called Agen. I like their philosophy and their goals. A lot of clubs don't have an objective, but this club does.
PM: Tell me about your equipment. What are you using now?
DSL: Basically I use Joola equipment. My blade has always been the Yasaka Gatien (old model) since 1996 but my rubbers are Joola Energy.
PM: So Dexter, between friends, do you boost your rubbers? Do you ever feel the need to put in a little juice or speed glue on?
DSL: No, No, No, I boost my arm in the gym (Laughs). I don't ever boost .
PM: Dex, you never feel a little off and boost up no time?
DSL: I can tell you, there is a famous Chinese player, (he told me the name, but i'm not telling), I was training with 2 years ago and I saw he wasn't playing too well, so he went to go and hide and do a little boost and at the same time he was asking me and was surprised when I told him I wasn't boosting.
He didn't want me to know he was boosting either.
I see quite a few of the young players here in France boosting, but here's the thing, I do a couple of bench presses after training, that's my boost.

PM: Okay lets switch up. Dex, I remember seeing you at commonwealth games 2002 in Manchester England, sensationally defeating England's two best players and Segun Toriola, the best African player. What do you consider your best victory in the sport?
DSL: Peter, those were OK I guess, but English TT isnt really on the level of what we see in Europe. My actual best result was beating Christophe Legout 4-3. In 2005 in one of the biggest tournaments in France, he was leading me 3-1 and I came all the way back.
I won 13-11 in the last game.
That England victory was big for Trinidad but for me, not so big.
PM: And who was the best player you have ever faced.
DSL: I played Jorgen Persson.
PM: Really! How was that?
DSL: He beat me really easy. Its really a big difference at that level. For me a lot of people talk about Waldner, but Persson is something really special. Not only his power but he's a really smart, good power, clever service, everything.
PM: And what was the worse defeat of your career?
DSL: I lost to a Guyanese player, Matthew Khan in the Caribbean champs in Trinidad 6 years ago. Everything went wrong in that game. When you lose like that you think about going home and retiring.

PM: Caribbean TT is kind of weak now, what do you think is wrong with us?
DSL: Not kinda weak, Peter, weak. I think Jamaica has maybe two potential players, Trinindad two, Barbados none but I don't  think these youths have the focus we had.
PM: Name the players in Trinidad
DSL: Well I think Bob has a son who's good and there is a kid named Aaron Williams who is good. I think you have in Jamaica maybe Simon Tomlinson and the other guy, the big fellow (Kane Watson).
Peter these guys need plenty work.
I think people like you and Dibbs can still compete because TT isn't really a young mans game exclusively. Nowadays there are so many distractions, internet, blackberry etc you don't have the focus we used to have.
I would rather be old in this era than young in this era.

DSL: So Dexter, outside of table tennis, what kind of music do you like?
DSL: I listen to good Calypso, some from back in the 80's and 90's but 90% of my collection is Reggae music. I have a massive collection of Buju Banton, Sizzla Kalonji, U-Roy and Bob Marley.
PM: Other than than Trinidad, whats your Favorite  place in the world to visit?
DSL:I Love London.
PM: Well Dex, thanks for taking the time to speak with us.
DSL: Take care.

How to become a champion

I wrote this article two years ago for my friend junior player Michael Cai for a magazine he was producing  as an art project.
I'm reproducing it here because I guess it's still relevant.

How to become a table tennis champion
I am often asked by people who know me through the sport of table tennis how it is that the sport is still dominated by two old dinosaurs (myself and Joseph Dibbs).
How is it that these two, past their prime guys have featured in the National championships finals for each of  the last four years in a row despite the presence of so many younger talented rivals?
I believe that for these players to become champions, they need to focus on not just improving their skills at the table, but indeed they need to acquire the specific skill set that it takes to not just impress in tournaments, they need to learn how to become a champion.
For many years, I too used to go to tournament after tournament happy to impress and lose close games.
Happy to come close to winning, satisfied with the many runner up and semi finals trophies. In fact; beating everybody in practice matches, ruling the tables but never winning tournaments.
Today's promising youth seem to be following this trend.
Many of them are talented, actually more talented than, Dibbs or myself ever were and so in order for them to break through the glass ceiling and since I am near the end of my competitive career, I have decided to give a few pointers to these poor sops so they can finally step out from the long shadow that covers them all.
(Motivation for my young rivals LOL)
Here are some of the key pointers that will help you to take your game to the next level and make you into the next champion.

Respect your opponent: Many of you lose to opponents who are not as flashy as you are. They do not make as many spectacular shots as you do, so you don't respect them. The problem is that they are beating you time and again because you don't realize that in table tennis all points spectacular or not, are the same. If you respected your opponent, you might learn something about the game. I know something about every player who I am going to face, I never under rate their chances I treat each opponent as a potential upsetter and I give them no chances by being careless.
Conserve your energy especially for long tournaments: Too much energy is wasted knocking up throughout tournaments with the player going flat in the later stages of the tournament no matter how fit he thinks he is. I expect to go deep in every tournament I play, so I dont waste energy which I know I will need in the finals.
Pay attention to defence; offence is easy: I discovered when I play in major championships such as the worlds or other big games, your opponents tend to be as skilled or to tell the truth, far more skilled at serve and attack than the people who we normally play in Jamaica. This means that you will often find yourself on the defensive whether you like it or not. If you do not have a decent defence, you cannot create the opportunity to counter attack and your stay will be very short indeed.
Actively practice serve and attack and receive of serve as an integral part of training; I think far too much time is spent on open play by our youngsters as this is the more enjoyable part of table tennis and certainly the part which is also pleasing to watch. When I was younger, I felt that if I could get into the open play phase with any player, even a world ranked player, I would have a chance. The trouble is, good players never allow inferior servers, or receivers to get into open play; they destroy them in the first three balls.
Learn from your defeats: If every time you lose, you learn from the defeat and approach your next training session with correcting your weaknesses for the next match, you will definitely improve and are well on the way to becoming a champion.
Become a student of the game; Watch as much table tennis as you can. There is so much information and video material available now that I often wish I were just learning the sport again. I think its easy to become world class nowadays as you can learn from watching the techniques of the very best players in the world at the click of a mouse.

Chinese rubber vs Euro rubber

You cant help but notice that table tennis is dominated by the Chinese. You cant help but notice that every Chinese player in the world top 100 and pretty much every Chinese player you know is using the same equipment.
They're all using Chinese rubber.
What is it about Chinese rubber Hurricane, Globe, Haifu , but mostly Hurricane that has the worlds best players all using it?
I remember the last time I worked with our national teams coaches they were all encouraging me to switch from Japanese rubber to Chinese.
I will cover that experience later.
I ran into an interesting post on mytt.net recently on the subject from a players point of view and with the kind permission of forum buddy Mahmoud I repost his experience here.

After my first year playing table tennis competitively I decided to try a chinese rubber.

I had always wanted to use one, but the problem with my bank account, shipping costs and the waiting was a burden to me, until I found a site in my country that sells a range of chinese rubber (729, galaxy, dhs, etc... but non from the provincial ones).

I placed the order after one of my teammates got 729 sniper 3. He let me try it and boy was it a real pleasure to play with.

So I got myself 729 transcend, a red 2.0 thickness.

My impressions:

I really really regret that I didnt start playing TT with a chinese rubber, I would have saved so much time, effort and frustration.

Its VERY controllable and VERY dynamic. 729 transcend is not a high-end/very high quality sheet but its too good for the price, ~12$.

- Its not heavy and its not hard, not soft either. I think its as hard as M2.

- Fast on strong smashes (WITHOUT over-throwing the ball like with euro/jap rubbers) and Slow on slow and short pushes or flips= dynamics (for me).

- Extremely spiny, I would say even more than BlueFire/Tenergy.

- Throw angle: It really depends on the way you use/hit the rubber. That means, because of the tackiness AND increased control, you REALLY can make the throw either high or low, not only that... Even the direction of the trajectory.

- Sponge/TopSheet: as for 729transcend, its very tacky AND grippy,mid hardness. Sponge softer than the topsheet, it doesnt bottom out of direct hits.

Me, being a fan of the new generation of TT players especially Ma Long and Zhang Jike, I usually try to play like them, smash like them.

After playing with a chinese rubber it really was evident to me why Ma Long/Zhang Jike can be that offensive with this enormous control and why Mizutani and Ovtcharov cant compete with them (to some extent) because tenergy is way too fast and uncontrollable... But I am in no position to think I am right or not.

The only problem I have gears. Being an ex-euro/jap rubber, I am used to play somehow lazy, meaning my blocks were the duty of the rubber rather than mine.

I used to just place the paddle and rubber's activeness was enough to pop the ball back to the other side. With chinese rubbers its a totally different mentality, since they are tacky, slower/more control (and also may be hard) the ball the doesnt pop out on lazy blocks or pushes.

Chinese rubbers really encourage you to play literally as active as the Chinese National Players are playing. Me, I love playing active, so it really suits my game... This might be a problem with an older player, or those with back problems.

The statement of ''red chinese rubbers are less tacky than the black one'' is totally true 

If there is anything I would want to emphasize on is:

Please stop thinking if you dont have a euro/jap expensive rubber you are not a good enough player or not scary enough. They are really fast even for international players.

Give any chinese rubber a try and see for yourself... Do not choose the most expensive of all, just a humble good enough black rubber and witness how much control you will have over your shots, their directions, throw angle, spin, speed...

I am saying in a friendly way, so please dont be offended.

Fuarnado Roberts....The first Caribbean Champion

I first saw Fuarnado Roberts sometime in the late 1970's when I was just seeing the game played at a high level for the first time. As a boy, I had made the 3 hour drive from rural Jamaica, Port Antonio to be exact all the way to Kingston just to watch the Lovebird tournament, a predecessor to the Pro Tour, a unique tournament featuring the worlds best players and a few pretty decent ones from Jamaica as well.
Here amidst such stars as Stellan Bengsston, Kjell Johanssen, Stellwag, Dragutin Surbek, Karakesevic, Desmond Douglas and Dan Seemiler was a homegrown Jamaican holding his own.

Playing against 1971 world champion, Stellan Bengtsson, one of the most feared attacking experts of the day, this throwback old style chopper more than held his own. Roberts was able to chop back Bengtssons loops from long range, every now and then mixing in the floater and whenever Bengtsson made a drop shot, would run in and pick hit, often with the no look backhand shot, this against a world champion, and in front of a loud and raucous home crowd!

And it wasn't the first time.

Legend has it, several years prior, the then reigning world champion Richard Bergmann was vacationing in Jamaica when a brash young native, Robbie turned up at his hotel, with the media in tow, publicly challenging him to a duel. Bergman took the bait and in front of a crowded Oceana hotel ballroom and the media proceeded to get served Jamaican style.

So incensed was Bergman that he promptly went into training when he got back to England and came back to Jamaica better prepared to exact revenge.

Robbie would then migrate to the USA where he became captain of the USA team to the Birmingham worlds and was instrumental in the careers of USA greats Danny Seemiler and the Boggans.

I next saw Robbie many years later when he returned to live in Jamaica. He hadn't played in years but he wanted to knock and I was one of the first players to play him. within a few minutes of playing all the elements were there, the graceful movement, the deception, the spin and yes, even the pick hit shot.

 Our association grew after that. We worked together to win many titles, league titles,  national championships playing for JCYA, Utech among others.
Robbie maintained his presence in Jamaica table tennis coaching directly many champions, in particular Ludlow Bailey, Michael Cai and myself.
Robbie coached from the prep school level all the way up to the senior level with equal commitment.

The mystery with Robbie for me, which I guess I will never figure out is this. Why did Robbie not raise any defensive players?
I've seen him teach penhold, shake offensive, pips,  but of the hundreds of students I saw him coach, I never saw him teach anyone to chop.
Now why do you suppose that was?

Tenergy 80 released!

OK, so if I could have stocks in any company in the world, any company do you know what company that would be? Given that Apple stock is virtually unobtainable, my next choice would be Butterfly (Tamasu Japan).
These people have to be the marketing geniuses of the world. Seriously, they have a virtual lock on the table tennis market. They make the most popular rubber on planet earth, the most expensive sheet ever made, pretty much every player has tried it at one point or another and many have chosen to keep it.
I'm talking about Tenergy 05 of course.
So what does butterfly do to continue their dominance?
They continue to release variants.
First there was T25 then T64.
After that, they started to release all the rubbers in Fx versions so now we have T05, T25, T64, T05FX, T25FX, T64FX.
They did the same thing with marquis player Timo Boll.
The Timo Boll TBS blad was so popular, so ubiquitous, they decided to release TBALC, TBZLF
ad infinitum.
Genius.
So for those that have tried all the Tenergys, and in time for the holiday season, out comes Tenergy 80.

I dont know much about it as yet, but based on the review I've seen posted at OOAK forum, the topsheet and sponge appear to be exactly the same as the other Tenergy rubbers.

The only difference seems to be in the pimple structure which while not being too different from T05 seems to have slightly rounded and tapered pimples.

I'm still searching to find out why Butterfly even bothered to release this variant (other than the obvious answer that EJ's will always buy whatever comes down the pipe from Butterfly especially if its called Tenergy whatever)

I need to get some shares in Butterfly .

(All photos copied from OOAK forum)

Nigel Webb doing multiball in China....

To get to the next level of table tennis, say from good club player to national team level its going to be necessary to do more than just a few single ball drills with your partners.

You need to invest in and do multiball practice with a good coach who understands the technique.

When I was actively working with the Chinese coaches we did a lot of multiball mostly based around forehand attack and pivoting.

Multiball allows you to groove and streamline your technique so that you are able to maintain a high degree of form and consistency even when fatigued or nervous.

Heres some video of my teammate Nigel Webb doing multiball in China.

Nigel is now playing professionally in the Spanish leagues.

Tenergy 64 my contentious review (2009)

Way back in 2009, I had gotten a chance to try out T64. I had waited a long time for my sheet to arrive and was very anxious hoping the rubber would be lighter and springier than the T05 I had previously tried.
my review back then was one of disappointment and I posted my findings, not knowing that Tenergy had such a religious following, I was bound to get flamed for saying anything unfavorable about the Tenergy series.
I still stand by my review for the most part, and here i republish it for the sake of posterity.


Website: https://sites.google.com/site/jamaicadonic/home

So we have been reading all the multiple reviews of Butterfly's Tenergy series in all the forums and we have heard about T64 which is supposed to be the drivers rubber and the fastest of the series yaddah yaddah yaah yaah.
So we combed the far corners of the earth for a couple of sheets of the holy grail of TT , from Iru to Dandoy to Teesports in the Uk to Megaspin to Butterfly USA. Everywhere we searched, the answer was the same "No T64 available, maybe next month maybe next month"
Whoever are the owners of Butterfly in Japan they must be rolling in the dollars and thanking thier lucky stars they were able to get speedglue banned. The demand for this stuff is amazing, where can I buy some of that Tamasu stock again?
So finally I got my sheets from Butterfly USA and I cut the somewhat lighter than T05 sheet to my trusted Gergely blade.
The sheet with 2.1 sponge looked somewhat a little thinner than 4mm total and it definitley made my setup overall lighter than before.

The topsheet feels softer than T05 whcih is probably because the pips seem a little wider apart altough bigger.
So today I took out the holy grail for a twirl and heres what I found.
My loops were like with T05 very spinny, the throw is a little lower than the exaggerated high arcing Timo boll loops T05 produced for me but still were too high.
The dwell time is still too pronounced, just like T05 the ball seems to stick in the sponge and then shoot out. My practice partner told me my loops were spinny but much slower than usual.
My back was beginning to hurt tring to produce my usually more penetrating drives while the guy blocking to me looked bored dealing with my lolipop loops.
The rubber produced a real nice glue sound all the time which I liked but seriously I was dissapointed with the lack of penetration.
I noticed a serious non linearness to the T64's performance, sometimes when I backed off and counterlooped I would produce a frighteningly powerful drive which seemed out of proportion to the modest swing I made and at other times I would underhit. I think this sponge is just too soft and springy to control reliably.
T64 produced real nice spinny serves. i got good bite on my backspins but I could not make put away drives because of the high throw. I had the same problem with T05 and I was hoping the T64 would be more of a  power rubber but really it is not.

Blocking for me was even worse. It was way too springy to control, I was blocking off everything that was spun hard.
And then, I tore it off.
Sorry to dissapoint, but to me this Tenergy 64 is a bunch of steaming crap. Butterfly you can go ahead and enjoy my $100, congratulations on a brilliant marketing strategy and best wishes to the poor EJ's who will continue to line up for and try all the Tenergys yet to come from T29, T88 and the best Tenergy of all T77.
I think this rubber will best be enjoyed by beginners and intermediate players , maybe females, but I dont think many advanced male players will like it.