Joshua Roberts trains with Zhang Yining

Last week the annual French Identification camp for children aged 8-11 took place in Fontaines near Lyon. The camp was mostly made up of the best French talent for this age group. The remainder of the participants were selected through the EuroKids programme and included players from Belgium, Czech Republic, Cyprus and Wales. Joseph Roberts was the participant selected to represent Wales at the training camp who travelled with coach Greg Price

Training commenced on Day 1 with the emphasis on improving techniques and maintaining a high level of consistency. The following day saw the arrival of two times Olympic and World Champion Zhang Yining. Day 2 focused on service practice and match preparation in readiness for the competition the following day

On Day 3 the competitions for each age category commenced with Zhang Yining observing the matches. Joseph Roberts participated in the boys’ 2003 age category. The standard of competition was very high. Joseph performed well throughout the day and finished 6th out of 8 players. However, this final position does not reflect how well he played on the day. Joseph had a number of very close battles including narrowly losing in three five set matches. On another day, Joseph might have finished in the top three positions

For the last three days of the camp, it was back to the hard work of training. On Day 4, each player was given the opportunity to have a 20 minute multiball session whilst receiving expert coaching analysis from Zhang Yining. This experience was invaluable to Joseph’s development. Zhang Yining assessed Joseph’s techniques and gave detailed feedback on areas in which Joseph can improve

On the last two days of the camp, players were given the opportunity to work on specific areas to develop identified by Zhang Yining. Specific multiball exercises were set by the coaches to work on improving these identified areas of each player’s game. Joseph Roberts worked hard in training to improve and work on the coaching tips given by Zhang Yining.
Overall, an excellent training camp and a worthwhile experience for the development of Joseph and Welsh table tennis.