by Ian Marshall, ITTF Publications Editor

The expert on duty was Aleksey Yefremov from Belarus, no stranger to Lithuania; in October 2015, also with the backing of Olympic Solidarity, he had led and ITTF/PTT Level One Coach Education Course followed by a Coaches Seminar

A total of 12 coaches, representing six Lithuanian cities, attended the ITTF Level Two Course, of whom three were women; the initiative being an important aspect in improving the level of national coaches within the ITTF Coach Accreditation system.

Advanced techniques, physiology and psychology were the main educational topics of the course; two sessions per day involving both theory and practice were held with video presentations included.

“I was happy to see national team coaches attending the course. They made really a lot of effort to find time in busy schedule. The efforts paid off, all ten coaches who sat the exam passed with high marks. They fully understood the topics and expressed satisfaction with new things they could use in their daily work.” Aleksey Yefremov

Notably Rimas Balaisa, President of Lithuanian Table Tennis Association for 23 years, now Honorary President and a member of National Olympic Committee Executive, attended several sessions. He was delighted with the level of the course and proposes an ITTF Level Three course in near future.

Coach education completed, next on the agenda was the training camp staged in the Taurus Sports School Hall; six table tennis tables, some 300 balls plus water and fruit were made available for the eight boys and five girls who attended.

“The main target of the training camp was to teach players how to use practice in the best possible way. Footwork, consistency, explosive power, co-ordination, exercises with service and receive, physical preparation were all was included in the programme.” Aleksey Yefremov

Two sessions per day were held, the first from 9.30am to 12.30pm, the second from 3.30pm to 6.30pm.

“Lithuania has many young talented players; this kind of training camp gives them more motivation and a fresh outlook for future improvement. Also I was very pleased to work with the national coaches who came with the players. They showed a real interest and were motivated.” Aleksey Yefremov.

Pertinently, the ten coaches who had passed the ITTF Level Two examination assisted Aleksey Yefremov.