Pfarrkirchen. The German Table Tennis Association’s (DTTB) “taster mobile” – invited by the table tennis section of TuS 1860 Pfarrkirchen and supported by its volunteer helpers – in the person of coach Ulrich Eckert offered the 130 children of the six fourth-grade classes of the primary school “lessons” full of table tennis sport and hands-on fun.
Putting this initiative of the table tennis section into practice was made possible by the goodwill and support of primary school headmaster Matthias Altmannsberger. Whatever was needed for it beyond the equipment already in the Alexi hall, coach Ulrich Eckert fetched from his “rolling equipment room” – including exercise objects, the table tennis robot as well as enough table tennis rackets and plenty of balls.
Table tennis tables and materials for several stations plus a skills course were set up – on this table tennis activity day, coach Ulrich Eckert was assisted as helpers by section head Wilhelm Kolb, Peter Wolfrum, Rainer Appelt as well as youth leader and coach Felix Moschenski. Ready to go!
Classes 4b with teacher Martin Jørgensen, 4c with teacher Petra Mack, 4d with teacher Eva-Maria Resch, 4e with teacher Catherina Gehring and 4f with teacher Tinas Brunnmeier each had a “table tennis lesson” in the gym, while for the all-day class 4a with teacher Claudia Wallner it was a “table tennis double lesson” after the lunch break.
Table tennis motivator Uli had them do coordination and balance exercises for the “warm-up” – not so easy, after all, to hop on one leg while tossing up a soft ball or table tennis ball and catching it again. As a step up came racket and ball exercises – during the slalom run through the cone course, the table tennis ball was not supposed to roll off the racket!
Now, divided into smaller groups and rotating between the stations, it went to the table tennis robot, feeding and returning, target shooting at the can pyramid, and balloon fun with table tennis rackets. Guidance was given (apart from the purely fun station), for example, on the correct racket grip, the right stance at the table tennis table, and paying attention to the incoming ball that had to be returned – whoever hit it time and again and then got it onto the table could tackle placement. What is essential in table tennis, and also beneficial for many other demands, is hand-eye coordination.
Besides the longer playing time at the stations, the double lesson also allowed for the combination of “feeding/returning and table tennis robot” at two tables, as well as the popular “round-the-table” game to finish.
Everyone had a lot of fun, as coach Uli and the helpers from the TuS table tennis section were loudly assured by the schoolchildren after each “table tennis lesson”. Primary school headmaster Matthias Altmannsberger was very pleased about the successful “table tennis taster day”, which went off so well, and thanked coach Ulrich Eckert and the TuS table tennis section for carrying it out. Section head Wilhelm Kolb expressed his thanks to the head of the primary school and the teachers for making the event possible, to taster mobile coach Ulrich Eckert for his varied and motivating organization – and especially to the children for their eager and enthusiastic participation! – lb
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