Bengtsson Stellan (Sweden) - 70!

[Der_Echte]

Coaching/teaching is beyond materialistic accolades.

Tony just said something that is prophetically deep and timeless...Tony gets it.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Wouldn't he rather live in one of the TT powers and train more upcoming players? He could live and train players in Germany, France, or Sweden, etc.

It feels kind of a waste that he trains players in San Diego of all places. I don't think America is going to produce many future stars.

Don't discount future US upcoming veteran star Victor Moroga. I am sure you will know him as well. He is the western dude who plays chinese c-pen with that awesome RPB.

 

[wahon]

Michael,

He chose to live in an area that is not the most popular for TT (San Diego)

How do you figure ?
I heard the club in Balboa Park (or something) was one of the biggest & most inexpensive clubs in USA
This was before COVID but do not know the status now
I also heard they had a very big league.
I live in Northern California, so I don't know the full story. Someone can verify

 

[wahon]

I know he switched to pips on his backhand later in his career. But not sure which brand

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Hey I'm not criticizing him at all. If he finds joy and fulfillment from training American TT players, then I wish all the best for him.

I just think its slightly unusual for him to choose a place that is not really a hotspot for global TT when he could have chose Germany, France, etc. Imagine if he was coaching Lebrun. In America, if you say you are a TT player, people still laugh at you. It is not considered a real sport compared to basketball, football, baseball, etc.

If Ma Long or Timo Boll retired and decided to be a coach in Kyrgyzstan, I wouldn't have anything against it. I would just find it a slightly unusual choice.

 

[wahon]

Hey I'm not criticizing him at all. If he finds joy and fulfillment from training American TT players, then I wish all the best for him.

I just think its slightly unusual for him to choose a place that is not really a hotspot for global TT when he could have chose Germany, France, etc. Imagine if he was coaching Lebrun. In America, if you say you are a TT player, people still laugh at you. It is not considered a real sport compared to basketball, football, baseball, etc.

If Ma Long or Timo Boll retired and decided to be a coach in Kyrgyzstan, I wouldn't have anything against it. I would just find it a slightly unusual choice.

What makes you think tabletennis was his primary consideration in moving to USA ?
His wife is from USA. Maybe they decided this as a family as to which was the best place to live for them and children (at a certain age) .
Or maybe he saw trying to make USA a TT power was a worthwhile challenge & not take the easy way out to Germany or France etc ?

 

[Michael Zhuang]

What makes you think tabletennis was his primary consideration in moving to USA ?
His wife is from USA. Maybe they decided this as a family as to which was the best place to live for them and children (at a certain age) .
Or maybe he saw trying to make USA a TT power was a worthwhile challenge & not take the easy way out to Germany or France etc ?

Well certainly, if your wife is from Kirghizstan, then there is nothing unusual about moving to Kirghizstan. So that is a perfectly reasonable reason to move from a hotbed nation to a non-hotbed nation.

I didn't "think", as you say, that his primary consideration was TT. I just had no other information.

Actually my close friend's son trains in his TT school in San Diego. Not a super serious player, just more of a hobby. So given his legendary status and world class expertise, it just seemed that he is overqualified in training hobbyist players.

 

[wahon]

Actually my close friend's son trains in his TT school in San Diego. Not a super serious player, just more of a hobby. So given his legendary status and world class expertise, it just seemed that he is overqualified in training hobbyist players.

SERIOUSLY ?
Is this kid the ONLY player at Stellan's school ?
Are ALL the students at his school hobbyists ?
You may want to goto USATT ratings page or OMNIPONG and browse for players from his school and look at their ratings

What you are saying is like saying that Bill Belichick or Phil Jackson should not conduct school coaching camps in the summer

 

[Michael Zhuang]

SERIOUSLY ?
Is this kid the ONLY player at Stellan's school ?
Are ALL the students at his school hobbyists ?
You may want to goto USATT ratings page or OMNIPONG and browse for players from his school and look at their ratings

What you are saying is like saying that Bill Belichick or Phil Jackson should not conduct school coaching camps in the summer

Now you are contradicting yourself. First you say that the reason for choosing USA is because of his wife. This makes perfect sense to me.

Now you are trying to argue that his school has world class elite players and that USA is a top choice for coaching elite talent.

Anyways, I'm glad that he is enjoying his life with his wife in his wife's country. I lived over 10 years in my wife's country as well, and now she has spent 1 year in my country.

And even if his students are not likely to be on the pro tour, if he enjoys coaching them, then I'm very happy for him.

 

[wahon]

Now you are contradicting yourself. First you say that the reason for choosing USA is because of his wife. This makes perfect sense to me.

Now you are trying to argue that his school has world class elite players and that USA is a top choice for coaching elite talent.

Anyways, I'm glad that he is enjoying his life with his wife in his wife's country. I lived over 10 years in my wife's country as well, and now she has spent 1 year in my country.

And even if his students are not likely to be on the pro tour, if he enjoys coaching them, then I'm very happy for him.

I am not contradicting myself. I never said there are (or not) any world class players in his club. That is your mistaken or deliberately misleading interpretation.
All I was doing was questioning your possibly ridiculous suggestion that ALL players at his club are hobbyists, just because one player was a hobbyist.

Please come again. I enjoy going round & round in circles

 

[Michael Zhuang]

Well I started this thread because I had a question, and I think it is more or less answered. He chose to live in America because his wife is American, and because he can still do some level of TT coaching in America (even if he would be qualified to coach even stronger players).

I'm not buying the argument that his currently coached players are anywhere near the level of the players he could be coaching in Germany or France or Sweden, so let's not even go there. They are very good players who would be in the top 100 in America. Even though he is qualified to train and coach legitimate world class talent, he can still train good players at the high USATT level in his current situation. He seems to enjoy doing this, so I offer my congratulations to him.

And btw, my friend's son is not 1 single hobby player in the school. There are 30 or 40 players at his level who practice together in the same class. So yes, there may be some very strong players in the school. But there are also many hobby level players - this is a fact that I have confirmed. But again, if Stellan enjoys coaching these kids, then I bless him.

 

[wahon]

I'm not buying the argument that his currently coached players are anywhere near the level of the players he could be coaching in Germany or France or Sweden,

Thanks for your reply
Show me in my posts where I said he is currently coaching World Class Players at his school

so let's not even go there.

I never did. But you keep dragging me there

Please respond again though

 

[Der_Echte]

How do you figure ?
I heard the club in Balboa Park (or something) was one of the biggest & most inexpensive clubs in USA
This was before COVID but do not know the status now
I also heard they had a very big league.
I live in Northern California, so I don't know the full story. Someone can verify

Hi Wahon,

Some years ago, Stellan was working with the general TT club that plays at Balboa, but there were irreconcilable differences and Stellan was no longer there. I heard there was some bad blood going on and it is a real shame that class person and a world champion's vision and advice was nullified by those who are not near his class. I get it that we do not want rule by experts, but any reasonable person who saw Stellan's approach would agree it would be fruitful and produce results.

The "club" that plays at Balboa is not REALLY a club, but a giant hall that sets up a LOT of tables and players play matches for a few hours. Since this is the norm for 90% plus of all places that play TT, then we COULD say it is really a club. I was there YEARS ago and is still there today... mainly because they do not have an uber expensive lease and overhead to pay... and there are a few hundred recreational and serious players who wish to play for not so much money.

When I say a club, I mean an organized group of players with its dedicated facility open every day (or near it) for MORE than just a few hours that has coaches who train players daily, he club does member stuff, leagues and tourneys... players can show up every day to play. This description is much closer to what a real TT club is... we have damn few in USA, as it is damn expensive to lease and operate a facility in any USA city and do better than break even...

so Stellan went on to create his own "club" that really isn't a "club" but better... a REAL training center and hangout spot for kids. he hires many coaches and within a few years had so many children register for his development program that he reached capacity for his building infrastructure. His personal training sessions soon got totally booked and it is difficult to get in his personal training program right away without waiting.

THAT kind of development for a TT training infrastructure done is so short of a timeframe (only a few yrs) with such demand in an area of USA that is NOT the most TT friendly market, is especially remarkable and worthy of praise.

 

[Michael Zhuang]

What could be so dramatic to cause a permanent split between the Balboa club?

 

[Der_Echte]

Might not have been dramatic, but those in charge wanted something else than Stellan advocated and they were in charge, not Stellan, pretty much as simple as that if you boil it all down to the basics.

Stellan and many reasonable people would agree with Stellan's vision and plans, but those in charge didn't... and they were in charge... so if Stellan wanted to pursue his vision, he would have to do it outside the "club" that had inherent advantages in SMALL operating lease/overhead costs... despite that, Stellan still showed them... and showed the world it can be done in USA in not the best of places with expensive overhead costs.