Davidson returns from productive Peru camp
Kelsey Davidson is back from a nine-day International Table Tennis Federation training camp in Lima, Peru and is raring to go and implement the techniques she learnt there. That’s the feedback from her father and coach, Richard, who accompanied her to Peru. He described the camp as an eye-opener for the younger Davidson, who is Jamaica’s Under11 champion.
“She learnt a lot of things to go forward with to improve her game and the quality of her game – to be more disciplined and focused in playing table tennis,” he said.
The panel of coaches present, led by former German national player and coach Eva Jeler, assessed Kelsey as having a good forehand, but also pinpointed movement as an area where the Jamaican could improve.
“We had to be working on that a lot. She’s still a bit short [and] she tends to stand straight up,” he added.
“It was a real eye-opener for her,” he said.
The camp, which is part of an ITTF HOPE development programme, was also a great experience for Davidson senior, coach at the Angels Table Tennis Academy, where Kelsey trains. He learnt a lot from Jeler and the other coaches present.
“I would encourage all my Jamaican coaches to just work hard next year and to try to have a child going to this championship so they can go and benefit from this programme.”
Kelsey was selected on the basis of her solid performance at the recent Caribbean Pre-Cadet Championships held in Kingston last month. She was second in the Under-11 singles and teamed with Lena Campbell to win gold in the corresponding doubles event.