Coaching
Alex Heske
From 2011 to present, Alex Heske has been giving back to the community by teaching table tennis in Norwalk, Cerritos, Los Alamitos, and Northridge, CA. His 30 years of experience, achievements in tournament events and 2200 playing level gave Alex the edge of expertise to mentor and train beginners to advanced level of players at different ages.
In 1983, Alex started his interest in table tennis and was mentored by a local German player in Mar Vista at age 13 years old. His dedication to practice 25-30 hours per week gave Alex the opportunity to analyze and dominate opponents using his fine-tuned forehand loop against the backhand chop. He adapted his playing strategies and techniques from the European spinning style of Jan Ove Waldner and Mikael Appelgren. Alex incorporates the importance of proper footwork, mental toughness and execution of various strokes while focusing on consistency, patience, discipline, strategy, and physical fitness. Also, he was inspired by other well known world class players and adapted some of their playing styles like Gabor Gergely, Andrzej Grubba, Jean-Phillipe Gatien, Koji Matsushta, Timo Boll, and coach Wei Wang. Alex attended training camps with U.S. Olympic team members such as Sean O'Neil, Diana & Lisa Gee and Lan Vuong.
From 1984-1993, Alex participated or coached tournament events, training camps and facilities as follows: U.S. Open and Nationals, Amateur Athletic Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, The World Games for the Deaf and Budesliga Tischtennis League (DTTL) - Dusseldorf, Germany.
Alex can be reached at (310) 874-5698 or by email at aheske@yahoo.com.
Ray Garcia
Ray Garcia is a USATT certified Club Level Coach since 2005. In his first USATT tournament in December 2001, Ray was given a USATT rating of 995. Four and a half years later, on his 17th tournament, his rating went up to 1824. Today, he is rated 1813. How did he do it? Through his exposure to many players and coaches like Fan Yiyong, Wei Wang, John Tran Thach, Barney Reed Jr., Gaolin Tang, Jan Ove Waldner, Jorgen Persson, and many others, Ray developed the right strokes and learned how to effectively teach it to others. He can identify your bad habits, faulty strokes, and weak footwork. He can help and provide you with the perfect equipment for your level of play.
Although Ray is passionate about table tennis, his real passion is teaching people about Jesus Christ and His offer of eternal life (no fee for that!).
You can reach Ray by calling 562-301-2162 or emailing him at RayGarcia@MCTVchurches.org.