Episode 10 of Talkin' Smash is here! It's a little bit of a longer episode, because well...we can't help ourselves when it comes to talking about table tennis!  Max Kogler, CEO of PingPod, joined me to talk about bridging the gap between social and pro table tennis. We talked about the conception to construction phases of PingPod, and how their digital, coaching and technology strategies are helping make table tennis more accessible. In Episode 10 I was joined by PingPod CEO Max Kogler to talk about bridging the gap between social and pro table tennis! Learning more about PingP ..read more

I had the pleasure of sitting down with long-time JOOLA Athlete and Brazilian Olympic Table Tennis player, Thiago Monteiro. He was coaching at the Pan Am Cup in Texas, so it was a great opportunity to fly him out and have him with us here at JOOLA HQ in Rockville, MD! Thiago Monteiro joined me to talk about his career and  legacy in table tennis - Talkin' Smash Episode 9! Thiago spoke about his career from the early beginnings, and I was particularly interested to hear about how he made the decision to move to Europe. At the time there weren't really any role models to follow ..read more

To kick off Talkin' Smash in 2024, there's no better guest than Dan Ives. Dan is a great friend of mine and we have been moving independently in the same circles for many, many years as content creators and people who are extremely passionate about table tennis. I joined TableTennisDaily quite early on and was also the Facebook Page Admin for a small stint in the very beginning. Time has flown for both of us.  Talkin' Smash Episode 8  with Dan Ives from TableTennisDaily From those early days the brand now boasts it's own team series in the British League, an organized 8-tea ..read more

Episode 7 of the Talkin' Smash Table Tennis Podcast powered by JOOLA, was another specialized topic - one I hope may help those out there suffering from table tennis or sports-related injuries and trying to find ways to improve their situation. I sat down and spoke with Sophia Klee, a rising star in German and European women's table tennis.  A pleasure to be joined by Sophia Klee to talk about coming back from an injury in professional sport Sophia had a great start to her playing career, with incredible success in the European Cadet age group. She was, in 2017, champion of the ..read more

 I was at the JOOLA North American Team Championships a couple of weeks ago, a perfect opportunity to get my friend Ryan Willard to sit down face to face with me this time. We sat together on the main tournament court with hundreds of players around us, competing on 167 tables. It was the perfect environment to talk about the atmosphere of live table tennis events.  Ryan Willard joined me to talk about the haves and have nots of live table tennis events! This is a topic I have gripes with. I think digitally table tennis presentation has improved a lot, the investment into c ..read more

It was great to have Lily Zhang back on the podcast. She is a fun guest, but also a 3-time US Olympian and a 6-time US National Champion! Lily and I spoke about Overcoming Challenging in Serve Receive. It was a fitting follow-up to the previous episode where Craig Bryant and I spoke about Serve Practice Habits! Talkin' Serve Receive with Lily Zhang This year Lily had written some more blog posts about her experiences in specific WTT events or matches. One of the ones which stood out was her blog about competing in a match against Japan's Mima Ito and Taking on the World's Best at WT ..read more

Already bouncing around some different topics and I have been doing my best to get the best possible guests to match with specialist topics. That being said, this Episode 4 Podcast was also a perfect match. Talkin' Service! with Craig Bryant. No better man for the job than @thettserviceguy (on Instagram). My guest for Episode 4 is Craig Bryant, a service master instructor! Craig is a former England international and a reputable coach. His 4 Killer Serves to Destroy Your Opponents YouTube video with Tom Lodziak was a hit for the online table tennis crowd. The video garnered an impress ..read more

 We are getting some air under our wings with the new Talkin' Smash Podcast powered by JOOLA. In Episode 3, my guest is Kevin Finn - the founder and trainer behind Peak Performance Table Tennis. Kevin is a certified Strength and Conditioning coach and a published Author. We chat about physical training in table tennis, some of the misconceptions and what good habits to build and consider.  Kevin Finn is my guest on Episode 3 of Talkin' Smash! Kevin's book Peak Performance Table Tennis - Unlock Your Potential and Play Like the Pros was released in November 2021, and his ..read more

 In episode 2 of the Talkin' Smash Podcast powered by JOOLA, I was joined by three-time US Olympian and six-time US National Table Tennis Champion Lily Zhang. We had a great discussion about different periods of Lily's playing career, living in different places and the pros and cons of living abroad vs. living at home in America.  Lily Zhang joins Matt Hetherington on Episode 2 of the Talkin' Smash Podcast powered by JOOLA Zhang's career, post-university graduation, saw her experience an array of different training experiences. For the first year away from home she bounce ..read more

In the first ever episode of the Talkin' Smash Podcast powered by JOOLA, I'm joined by one of my friends and a recognizable face in US Table Tennis - Ryan Willard. Commonly seen as an MC/Host and one of my favourite co-commentators, Ryan's journey in the sport spans from being first exposed to the sport at SPiN New York, all the way to hosting the World Table Tennis Championships. Honestly being a part of this journey with Ryan has been pretty amazing. He was literally hosting a social/pro competitive table tennis night at SPiN in New York City, and gradually over the years brought somethin ..read more