After a very successful training camp last July, Stellan and Angie are coming back to Salem this January. And we've made some changes in the scheduling so that it is easier to working people and students to attend.

First, if you're not already familiar with Stellan, he was the 1971 World Champion, who went on to a great coaching career in Europe (his students included Waldner, Persson, and Maze, among others). Stellan now resides in San Diego with his wife Angie, a former five-time women's US champion.

Here is what Sean O'Neill has to say about training with Stellan:

Stellan is by far the best coach I have ever worked with and I have worked with a number of the best Swedish and Chinese coaches of the last 30 years. His normal private lesson rate is $80 and his English is perfect.

I want to stress that if you are a serious player or coach you are missing an opportunity of a lifetime if you don't take advantage of this unique opportunity.

If I had to compare Stellan to another coach or player in another sport it would probably be John Wooden or Larry Bird. The only difference is he knows table tennis like few do and players like Persson, Waldner, Maze, Karlsson, Lindh all have Stellan's influence in their game.

I understand that taking 5 days off might be tough for people that work 9-5 but if there are any juniors that want to be taught be a world champion now is your chance. I would guess the 5 days of intense training would be the equivalent of probably 8-10 months of weekly lessons.

And here are some quotes from participants at our July camp with Stellan:

"I wanted to thank both of you for such an incredible training camp. I was pleasantly surprised at how kind and passionate both of you were in teaching table tennis." "I learned from one of the best TT players and coaches in the world about the game in general and how to improve my game the particular." "It was a wonderful table tennis training and a wonderful time with Stellan and Angie."

If you ever wanted real training, this is the guy you want for a coach and this is the camp you want to go to.

At our last camp, the schedule was Monday through Friday and we found it is hard for people to take off five days from work. So this time we have arranged for a 4 1/2 day camp that runs over a three day holiday weekend. The camp starts with a half-day session Thursday night, January 15, 2009. Then it runs all day on Friday through Monday, January 16-19, 2009. Monday the 19th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is a government and schools holiday. So, depending on whether you have that holiday off from work, you would have to take off Friday (1/16/09) and possibly Monday (1/19/09).