Oceania Champion Building Pathway to London

Over the past weeks we have been able to bring our good friend William Henzell into our homes, no not literally, via youtube. Now based in Austria, William (via TTEdge's youtube channel 'tabletennisedge') has been sharing his European experiences with all his supporters. From his first weeks starting off training in the inaugural Werner Schlager Academy in Schwechat, Austria, William shares his experience in returning to the intensity of full time training in Europe.

William's Log #1

William's Log #2

William also elaborates on his performance at the Austrian Open which took place at the Academy, he analyses his abilities throughout the matches and explains the feeling of returning to the Pro Tour and how different it is from his experiences playing in Europe in the past, when he was arguably fitter and faster and of course a bit younger, but for William's sake we won't take that one any further.

William's Log #3

A major point which William makes is how different this intensity is compared to his time spent back in Australia and the real difference between training full time and juggling training with a job. His 3rd video shows some of the physical training which is directed at the WSA.

William's Log #4

This video is centred around gym workout sessions and William gives us some insight into what he is feeling in terms of improvement in speed and movement around the table as a result of the physical programmes.

William's Log #5

The Swedish Open is a familiar competition for William who played in Sweden from a very young age. Here he elaborates on how tough the schedule is becoming between training, competitions and league matches. He also analyses some of his performance at the Swedish Open.

As William anticipates his upcoming team event, the Intercontinental Team Cup in Magdeburg, Germany, he talks about Australia's opponents and where the team stands against them. He specifically spends time speaking about how he will be preparing and what strategies he expects to need and areas he needs to avoid i.e fast open rallies etc where he felt he may be disadvantaged.

William's Log #6

William's final video to date (below) is a reflection of his performance at the World Cup Singles Event in Paris, France. Particularly he shares some of his disappointment with one of his matches which was crucial in his need to win the Event as the result went to set countback. He highlights his win over Gustavo Tsuboi and shares some clips of his matches while he speaks about his performance.

William's Log #7

So there you have it! That's William's journey in Europe to date, some great experience shared and definitely one to keep up to date with. I have really enjoyed this particularly as I myself will be moving to Europe in just over 6 months to train full time in the Czech Republic and I think for any player wanting to move to train overseas these videos have some real value. Best of Luck on your way to 2012 Olympic Qualification William and we will of course be following closely behind!

Image courtesy of ABC Adelaide