Table Tennis I: The action of the Game
2009 Holiday Special Sports Part 10

Today, I will be talking about the last sports that I have shot during the holidays, Table Tennis! It's perhaps one of the most memorable shoot during the holidays as well. I was covering 6 days of AYG Table Tennis action at Toa Payoh Sports Hall. It's also my first long-term sports coverage and I really learn a lot and sweat a lot during these few days.
Shooting a multiple day event is a real test of stamina. Learning when to rest and teamwork now comes in. Shooting in a team of two (with my buddy;)), it's important that you place trust in your teammates and just rest when it is time to. If you think that resting is going to let you miss a terific shot, then I can say that you are going to miss more fabulous shots when your eyes and body give way to fatigue.
Shooting a multiple day event is not all about fatigue and teamwork but it also makes you critically evaluate and improve. After shooting for some time, we realise that shots are getting repititive as we understand the games and the players better. Players do the same action and we can have a few shots of players doing exactly the same thing but at different times. In normal one-off shoots, one will not feel like this because the time duration is simply too short. So how?To get more variety, we started exploring different angles. Going up into the balcony area, trying to shoot from the side. We tried waiting for more varied action but they dun always come. More importantly, we started looking for pictures that speak more than action...

[Continue on Part II...]