#40 – Dan Seemiller: Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion

Dan Seemiller is an American table tennis legend. He is five times US Men’s Singles Champion, twelve times US Men’s Doubles Champion, and seven times US Mixed Doubles Champion. That’s pretty impressive, to say the least!

But he didn’t stop there… Dan transitioned to table tennis coaching and coached the US National Team for 10 years. He has also been USATT President and organized dozens of major tournaments. He currently working on the 2018 World Veteran Games, which will be held in Las Vegas.

Dan Seemiller Interview

What makes Dan’s story even more interesting is that he hardly received any coaching as a player. As a junior he trained with his brothers in “the barn” and they all developed their own unorthodox styles of play. Many ‘experts’ told him he would never succeed with such a different technique but Dan was determined to prove them all wrong… and he did!

In this episode you’ll learn:

  • All about Dan’s new table tennis book [1:00]
  • How Dan first started playing table tennis [4:30]
  • What Dan thinks about unique styles and challenging the Chinese [6:45]
  • Why Dan reached a higher level than his brothers [9:30]
  • When things really took off for Dan as a player [12:45]
  • What is the “Seemiller” grip? [16:15]
  • Dan’s strengths and weaknesses as a player [20:30]
  • How to identify bad habits vs individual styles [25:30]
  • How Dan became such a tactical competitor and his tactical tips [28:00]
  • What Dan thinks about combination rackets in 2017 [33:30]
  • Dan’s prediction for the next big change in table tennis strategy [37:00]
  • 2018 World Veterans Table Tennis Championships [39:30]
  • How to change your game/style as you grow older [42:15]
  • Why you should buy Dan Seemiller’s new book [46:00]

Links from this episode:

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Thanks for listening!

I really enjoyed speaking to Dan Seemiller and reading his unique table tennis story in his new book “Revelations of a Table Tennis Champion”. If you are interested in purchasing a copy for yourself you can do so here (US) or here (UK).

dan seemiller book

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I know that lots of you guys are regularly sharing the podcast with other table tennis players all over the world. I just want to say thanks for all the help you’ve given me already! Please continue to support the show and subscribe on iTunes, leave us an honest iTunes Podcast review, share this episode on Facebook or Twitter, or simply just mention it to a friend. I appreciate your help so much!

I’ll be back in a month with Episode #41 – to be released 1st March 2017. My guest is still to be confirmed, so if you have any suggestions please leave a comment and let me know.