Stellan Bengtsson, the world-renowned Swedish table tennis player and coach has been living in San Diego, California, with his wife and business partner Angie since September 2006. Together they run "Stellangie" a table tennis coaching program that provides students a 'World Champion Training Experience'. Their company's philosophy is, "to improve the individual with our touch. Every player should feel we are their personal coach."

The couple settled in San Diego because, "Angie has her family here, the weather is nice and the city is cool," says Stellan.

The most recent news from "Stellangie", is that Stellan signed a sponsorship agreement with JUIC, making him the latest member of the Paddle Palace family. Stellan says he chose JUIC because, "JUIC is a very interesting company, the material is great and I have a very good impression of Mr. Shioda (JUIC's owner) and the Paddle Palace people. JUIC has a lot of good racquets and rubbers to choose from," Stellan added. "Right now I play with the JUIC Texalium blade with 999 Elite Tuned rubber on the forehand and Scramble on the backhand. I am also testing some very interesting new blades," Stellan explained.
"I glue the rubbers very carefully. I sand the edges of the grip so it sits perfectly in my hand and I keep the rubbers clean. The tuned up rubbers are good! They give a nice fast bounce with good arc, without loosing any of the feeling," Stellan noted.

"Stellangie" is quite active and looking to grow. "At the moment I am coaching two junior groups in San Diego. One younger group that we started a few months ago, and one a little older that we have been coaching about ten months," Stellan said. "The younger group plays two times a week and the older four times a week. I also have quite a few private students who are all different ages. Together Angie and I also do camps and clinics outside the San Diego area," Stellan added. "We hope we can develop that part of our business more. We really like to visit other clubs and think it would be fun to have a group of young talented players who really love to play and who want to do something outside the USA.">

Stellan's impressions of U.S. table tennis are positive. "The U.S. has a lot of good talent. Just as good or better than any other country. In my opinion there must be much more joint training among the players. If a lot of energy is put into the youth, the U.S. will have great teams for many years to come. It will take time and effort, but you will be rewarded," Stellan observed.

We asked the master coach to give us a couple of helpful hints that would improve a player's game. "A lot of players are only playing with their arm. By using the body they will get more power and keep consistency. Practice more drills, and not only play matches, but think about the situations in your match and drill on them," Stellan advised.

We also asked about the importance of the mental game. "The mental attitude is very important for all table tennis players. It is difficult to generalize but the trust of your training and a good scouting of your opponent helps you gain and keep confidence. How you approach a match is, of course, different from opponent to opponent, as every player has his/her unique method," Stellan observed.

Look for many more tips and opportunities to learn from Stellan from the Paddle Palace catalog and at the Paddle Palace web site.
You can email Stellan at stellangie@hotmail.com