Evelyn Simon is a coach at compass and focuses on player’s development in a supportive and peaceful environment. She works with talents like Annett Kaufmann to unlock their potential.

Since the 1st of November 2020, Evelyn Simon has been working full-time for compass, the foundation with the mission to support European talent as they make it to the top 10 of the world rankings. After six months of working with the foundation, Evelyn remarked that “it’s great to be able to focus completely on the long-term development and environment of a player without other commitments.”

Evelyn recently moved back to the area where she grew up as a child and teenager, setting up base in North Rhine-Westphalia, between Cologne and Bonn. The telephone interview’s beginnings are suddenly interrupted by barking, which turns out to be Jeronimo, a 10-week-old sheep poodle, looking for attention. Unfortunately for that cute little dog, Evelyn’s attention has already been booked for the next hour or two, to ensure she can talk about other youngsters who require her support and guidance in their development. She also works with them so they can grow into their full potential- but at the ping pong table.

Earlier in her coaching career, Evelyn worked under sports director Sönke Geil as a state coach in Baden-Württemberg. While she was given a lot of freedom to shape her daily work, she found some challenges within the state coaching system.

“I had nine great years, but a state association has its own structure and there are tasks that must be fulfilled. Sometimes certain goals are fundamental to the federation but not necessarily to a player who wants to make it to the top of the world.”

Evelyn with colleague Martina “Matze” Schubien at a training course in Sweden. Photos: Jens Fellke

At compass, she works less in the gym and instead is responsible for scouting players and then making sure that the development of the chosen talent is appropriately aligned with their high goals and expectations.

“Over the years I have realised how important the environment around the player is. That’s why my work has now expanded to include all areas, everything from supporting a talent’s family and home coach, technical issues, securing suitable training partners, short- and long-term goal planning or even meeting with schools or state associations or the DTTB (German Table Tennis Federation). My job is to create a peaceful and fruitful environment for the player – this ensures that they can focus on their improvement and development at the table, without any stress or friction from the outside.”

Two athletes on compass’ roster of players currently in Evelyn’s focus are Josephina Neumann, born in 2010 and Annett Kaufmann, born in 2006. Both played at the highest national level at a very early age, even when compared to players two or three years their senior.

“Both have the full support of their families, and both have a very emotional approach to the sport. They are very ambitious and willing to fight incredibly hard to win. The cooperation with the Neumann family and Josi’s coach Tobias Beck in Hesse has just begun. It will be very exciting.”

Evelyn has already been working with Annett for many years to resounding success. Annett is the first compass player to start beating top 100 players in the adult world rankings and recently, in the Bundesliga, the 14-year-old beat Petrissa Solja who is currently ranked at number 20 in world rankings.

When asked to describe the specifics of her coaching style with Annett, Evelyn was more than happy to elaborate: “My approach in the gym is always to ask myself: how can we benefit from every single session? When we trained with Annett on a daily basis, I made sure to only focus on particularly ‘difficult’ things when she came into the session 100% focused and ready. While this could work for a single training session, it is difficult to maintain such a maximum level all of the time. So when she had trouble concentrating, we adapted, and I changed things to get her as close as possible to 100% focus and attention. I had her do things I knew she liked and would re-energise her, like flipping, backhand kicking, or her receiving game.

When we trained legwork and I had the feeling that Annett was starting to find the exercise boring, I changed it frequently or added additional challenges. This replaced the monotonous mood of a ‘boring’ exercise with joy and curiosity. Of course, in the end, she was still doing legwork the whole time, but with a new enthusiasm!

I made sure to find out about her inner focus and inner energy. Of course, I always had short- and long-term plans for her development, but during individual training, I adjusted according to her rhythm and my assessment of her actual concentration and situation at the table.

Basically, I think it’s a natural duty in coaching to make sure the training motivates the player. I don’t believe you can blame a child for not being motivated because children are motivated. It’s a question of how you package the training so that you evoke their interest to discover more of the game, in every single moment.”

At work. Photos: Jens Fellke

Not taking care of problems can lead to big problems, says Evelyn. Players notice everything and interpret it, whether consciously or subconsciously. Therefore, if a coach shows disappointment, the player will notice and feel equally disappointed as well as guilty; if the coach has very high expectations and shows this openly, when they are not fulfilled, the player themselves may become disappointed or dissatisfied. Then comes the risk that their desire and motivation may be lost. And then the end is near because the player may stop playing.

“My way to prevent that is to open my heart. To honestly show the player who I really am. They have seen me happy but also deeply saddened and frustrated. I am an open book and transparent with my feelings. I show them I am only human so with me, they do not need to act, and they can be exactly who they really are. I think this creates a profound relationship, and that is the prerequisite for fully realising the potential that exists in the player’s personality and their athletic capabilities.”