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Table Tennis - Skills Enrichment and Increasing Physical Exercise

Fri Jun 14 2024 - Thu Oct 31 2024To reduce the level of stress in the final year of the IB, I would like to focus more on a sport that primarily targets strategic thinking over physical demands.

Focus and Aim

To reduce the level of stress in the final year of the IB, I would like to focus more on a sport that primarily targets strategic thinking over physical demands.

Learning Outcomes

Addressed Learning Outcomes:

  1. Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.
  2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
  3. Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.
  4. Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
  5. Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
  6. Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.
  7. Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

CAS Hours

CAS Stages

Preparation and Planning

Plan a flexible schedule of table tennis activities, with moderate levels of exercise to ensure the output of calories.

Selectively watch tutorials from Chinese media platforms to refresh on the theoretical component of the sport. Then, produce an adequate plan of which skills to brush up on and when.

Action

On weekends, execute the schedule and play with a companion. Each time, learn from past mistakes in order to improve and perform better in the next session.

In school, take advantage of the everyday hourly break to engage in the sport. At the end of each week, I will look back at the plays in the week to summarize my weaknesses and seek potential improvements.

Evidence

See all records here

Reflections

30/06/2024

I've strengthened my coordination and strategic thinking, especially in refining my serves and backhand, through continuous practice in regular 10 minute slots. Collaborating with my peers in matches has honed my skills of learning from each others' styles, analyzing them, and fine-tuning my own.

Playing table tennis reveals the global cultural differences in sports techniques. Western players typically focus on power and range, while Eastern players emphasize speed, control, and consistency. Learning and incorporating these varied styles highlights the importance of cultural exchange, enhancing understanding and respect for different approaches, and promoting international cooperation and appreciation of diversity.

Reflecting on my choices in matches, there was a moment when my opponent made a close call that I initially disagreed with. Rather than contesting it, I chose to trust their decision and continue the match without conflict. This experience underscored the importance of fair play and respecting the integrity of the game, showing me that upholding sportsmanship sometimes requires prioritizing mutual respect over personal disputes.

31/07/2024

Returning to China for the summer holidays, I had the opportunity to play table tennis with a friend of mine whose parents set up and are running a table tennis club. There, I exchanged knowledge and skills with the players who are above my level and learned about the professional training and competition system in China. This experience highlighted the importance of global engagement in sports; the Western system of training and competitions is vastly different from what players and coaches undergo in China. Having the conversation with the peers and professionals working in the industry allowed me to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of each system from the broad operational overview to the concrete details such as training schedules, habits, and mental aspects.

13/08/2024

This month, I was actively playing with a peer of mine here in Spain, who, unlike myself, attended professional training before. A few games led to the ephiphany that not only am I lacking in the technical aspects of the sport, but also in tactics. With this in mind, I have decided to exploit online tutorials to strengthen both my theoretical and practical knowledge of the sport.

On the 11th, having played three hours consecutively was a physical challenge as well: Apart from the difficulty in monitoring and controlling hydration, I also found it harder to maintain focus and precision of the shots in the last hour. Nonetheless, I was able to finish the session with a few games played and a few more lessons learned therefrom.

20/09/2024

Returning to school, I have been able to play with and learn from other peers as well, during the lunchtime and breaktime. This really challenged my critical thinking in sports: Each opponent has different styles of playing and thus different strengths and weaknesses. I have learned to adapt to these different styles by exploiting the weaknesses of each of my opponents respectively. This again reinforced the subtle fact that table tennis is much more than physical exercise - it is a mental game as well.