Paton trains with robot for Oz | Oamaru Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Oamaru

Emma Paton has been training  with a  robot in preparation for the Australian Deaf Games in Geelong this week.

While it may be New Zealand's off-season, Emma has kept her skills sharp with eyes on the Australian nationals.  Finding adequate training partners in Oamaru isn't always  easy - especially when many are in holiday mode. However,
the Paton family invested in a table tennis robot last season to help Emma keep  good form in the off-season.

The robot attaches to the opposite end of the table a player is hitting from, and shoots balls towards the player like a cricket bowling machine.

Running either side of the shooter are net wings that stop the balls, and allow them to filter back into the catcher feeding the shooter.

Emma, who has cochlea implants to aid her deafness, said the robot also had speed and spin settings to give her a tougher training or a skill-specific session.

"It is really helpful for me in my training. Sometimes it is hard to get coaching or people to play against in the off-season, but the robot allows me to keep training.

You can make the ball come out faster or make the ball spin, or it can shoot it at you at different directions, so you don't know where it's
going to go."

Emma, aided by her mother, Dale,  will fly to Australia tomorrow as a member of the New Zealand Deaf Sports Federation.

There she will compete in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles over  two days of competition.

She will have to play without  speech processors she uses with her cochlea implants. Hearing devices can't be used under competition rules.

Emma said she had been training without her  processors to help  adjust to not hearing the sound of the bouncing ball.

The Geelong heat may also  be  tricky  for her.  Forecasted temperatures for Geelong this week range from the mid-20 to mid-30C.

Athletes from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Cook Islands will be competing in individual and team sports at the week-long Australian Deaf Games.