Blogs

Larry Hodges' Blog and Tip of the Week will normally go up on Mondays by 2:00 PM USA Eastern time. Larry is a member of the U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Fame, a USATT Certified National Coach, a professional coach at the Maryland Table Tennis Center (USA), and author of ten books and over 2100 articles on table tennis, plus over 1900 blogs and over 600 tips. Here is his bio. (Larry was awarded the USATT Lifetime Achievement Award in July, 2018.)

Make sure to order your copy of Larry's best-selling book, Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers!
Finally, a tactics book on this most tactical of sports!!!

Also out - Table Tennis Tips, More Table Tennis Tips, Still More Table Tennis Tips, and Yet Still More Table Tennis Tips, which cover, in logical progression, his Tips of the Week from 2011-2023, with 150 Tips in each!

Or, for a combination of Tales of our sport and Technique articles, try Table Tennis Tales & Techniques. If you are in the mood for inspirational fiction, The Spirit of Pong is also out - a fantasy story about an American who goes to China to learn the secrets of table tennis, trains with the spirits of past champions, and faces betrayal and great peril as he battles for glory but faces utter defeat. Read the First Two Chapters for free!

April 29, 2024

Tip of the Week
Forehand or Backhand Receive in Doubles.
(Excerpt from Table Tennis Doubles for Champions by Larry Hodges. April is Doubles Month!)

Weekend Coaching
Saturday was “Forehand Down-the-Line” day, as I worked with a number of players on that. They’d hit or loop forehands from their wide forehand down the line to my backhand, working on consistency and placement. It means adjusting their foot positioning a bit (right foot more back), turning the shoulders back, and taking the ball a little later than usual so they could line up the shot. I often put a ball net on the table, restricting them to hitting on only half of my backhand court, so 1/4 of the table, or 15 inches. I told them to focus on keeping the ball toward the table-edge side of those 15 inches – if they missed, I wanted misses going too wide, not toward the middle of the table. This is how you learn to play the ball wide when going down the line.

One variation – I put a target on the wide forehand side, such as Froggy. They have to hit five down the line shots, and then they get one crosscourt shot where they try to hit poor Froggy.

There are two reasons for practicing down-the-line shots. First, because in games you want to use the whole table so the opponent has to cover the whole table, and to do that you need to be able to play wide in both directions, crosscourt and down the line. Second, to quote USTT Hall of Famer David Sakai, who I used to practice with regularly, “If you can attack down the line consistently, then crosscourt is easy.” And it’s true – crosscourt, the table is about 10 feet 3.5 inches, while down the line it’s only 9 feet, so you have a shorter target. If you can attack down the line, then that extra 15.5 inches crosscourt looks HUGE! (I just realized I’ve really written a Tip of the Week here. Yes, it’ll probably show up as one in June. I’ve written all the Tips for May. UPDATE - I spent Monday afternoon working on Tips, and wrote four more for June, including expanding on the above for one of them.)

Table Tennis Doubles for Champions – An Interview With Larry Hodges
Here’s the interview and feature on my recent book, from Racket Insight (by David Bruce), where I answer twelve questions about Table Tennis Doubles for Champions, ranging from questions about the book, doubles strategy, and modern doubles play. (It mentions my other books – here they are!)

Illegal USATT Chair
It’s now been 449 days (64 weeks as of yesterday) since USATT elected Richard Char to an illegal third term as chair of the USATT board on Feb. 6, 2023. I’ve twice emailed the board on this. I blogged about it on Feb. 12, 2024 and Feb. 19, 2024. History will not look fondly on this chair and a majority of the current board that has gone along with it, nor the CEO who wrote an email supporting this. Neither will voters in the USATT elections this Fall. (Plus, of course, the CEO shouldn’t be involved in decisions about who chairs the very group she reports to.) I’ve blogged about various USATT issues quite a bit, and will do so again as the elections approach.

ICTTF News
Here’s the first issue, April 2024, from the International Classic Table Tennis Federation and Steve Claflin, chair of the ICTTF. (Classic here means hardbat, sandpaper, and wood.) I’ve got a few articles in it. Here’s the newsletter signup page so you won’t miss any issues!

Table Tennis and Sports Psychology with Dora Kurimay
Here’s her home page, where you can learn more about what she has to offer, as well as receive two free ebooks. She just sent out her April Newsletter – here’s where you can sign up to receive them. Dora is both a championship table tennis player and a sports psychologist. I’ve used her book “Get Your Game Face On Like the Pros!” as a reference book for the many sports psychology sessions I’ve run with kids in the MDTTC training program.

Signed Blade from 1981 World Table Tennis Championships in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia
The blade is for sale, jammed with autographs. (For example, side one includes Istvan Jonyer of Hungary, the 1975 World Men’s Singles Champion. Look it over and see if you recognize others.) If you are interested, email Dzafer Buzoli. Here are pictures:

Andrzej Grubba | The Most Entertaining Table Tennis Player Of The 80's
Here’s the video (5:02). I watched Grubba play many times. Tragically, the great Polish star died in 2005 at the age of 47 from lung cancer, likely from the fumes from many years of speed gluing, which was legal during his era. (The speed glue increases the bounciness of the sponge, allowing much better and more powerful loops. But the fumes were toxic, and so were eventually banned. These days you get the same effect with the various “tensored” sponges.) Two interesting and related facts about Grubba – he likely had the best backhand loop in the world during his time, and he was likely the best opposite-hand player in the world – he was #3 in the world for 2.5 years as a righty, but was about 2500 as a lefty! The “tragedy” here was what’s the point of him switching hands and playing a lefty forehand when he arguably had the best backhand in the world? (One answer – you get more range by playing the lefty forehand, and it’s easier to smash high balls.)

Support Kanak Jha Make History at the Paris 2024 Olympics
Kanak is trying to raise funds on his GoFundMe page for his training for the 2024 Olympics. Can you help? Here’s a note from Kanak:

“I am Kanak Jha and I am USA’s top professional Table Tennis player. I started playing in California when I was 5 years old and my love and passion for the sport grew over the years and to pursue my dream of being a world class table tennis player I moved to Europe at a young age of 15. Through 8 years of hard work l managed to reach a world ranking of 19. Along the way, there have been setbacks, obstacles and hurdles and just recently I came back after 15 months of inability to compete. This resulted in a total loss of income for 15 months; however, with the dedicated help of my coaches, my sponsors & supporters, my friends and my family I have remained true to my cause and pursuit of my dream. With my story I hope to continue inspiring the young talent in the U.S. that with determination and hard work, dreams do come true.” [Three more paragraphs follow.]

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action!

USA Table Tennis Designates 888 Table Tennis Center as a National Training Center
Here’s the USATT article.

Butterfly Training Tips

New from Ti Long

New from PingSunday/EmRatThich

Disguising the Direction of Your Serve
Here’s the video (2:35) with Damien Provost/PongSpace.

The Smartest Win of Ma Long's Career!? World Cup 2024 Final: Tactical Breakdown
Here’s the video (6:06) from Table Tennis TimeOut

World’s Best Serve?
Here’s the video (3:12) from Pingispågarna.

Take a Bow: Ved Sheth’s Intrepid Debut Performance
Here’s the NCTTA article by Jia-Yu (Trinity) Sung

Best Points With Best Angle!
Here’s the video (3:57) from the recent ITTF World Cup in Macao, from Street TT.

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

New from ITTF

Bench Bouncing
Here’s the video (15 sec) – I counted 40 bounces. Can you do this against a similar object?

Ma Long, Lin Gaoyuan & Fan Zhendong Interact with Children
Here’s the video (2:01) as they pair up with kids and play doubles, from the MALONG Fanmade Channel.

Tenis de Mesa from Sevilla
As usual, there’s lots of new AI table tennis artwork from Tenis de Mesa from Sevilla. I’ll let you browse over them this time rather than my going through them.

Dog vs Cat
Here’s the cartoon – when dogs play cats you know the game is going to the birds.

Tears of My Ping Pong Opponents
Here’s where you can buy the mug at Amazon!

TableTennisDaily vs Pongfinity | BIGGEST MATCH EVER!
Here’s the video (27:54)!

Ping Pong Survival Game
Here’s the video (10:25) from Pongfinity! “We challenged 50 table tennis players in Bristol for a chance to win £100 if they beat all three of us!” (They only needed to score one point from each, and these were serious players.)

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April 22, 2024

Tip of the Week
Serve or Receive First in Doubles?
(Excerpt from Table Tennis Doubles for Champions by Larry Hodges. April is Doubles Month!)

Support Kanak Jha Make History at the Paris 2024 Olympics
Kanak is trying to raise funds on his GoFundMe page for his training for the 2024 Olympics. Can you help? Here’s a note from Kanak:

“I am Kanak Jha and I am USA’s top professional Table Tennis player. I started playing in California when I was 5 years old and my love and passion for the sport grew over the years and to pursue my dream of being a world class table tennis player I moved to Europe at a young age of 15. Through 8 years of hard work l managed to reach a world ranking of 19. Along the way, there have been setbacks, obstacles and hurdles and just recently I came back after 15 months of inability to compete. This resulted in a total loss of income for 15 months; however, with the dedicated help of my coaches, my sponsors & supporters, my friends and my family I have remained true to my cause and pursuit of my dream. With my story I hope to continue inspiring the young talent in the U.S. that with determination and hard work, dreams do come true.” [Three more paragraphs follow.]

Little known fact – I was one of Kanak’s early coaches! Well, sort of. When he was about ten, at a tournament, I taught him and a few others, in a "group" session, how to blow the ball up and sideways so that it just floated in the air. I also coached against him in tournaments probably a dozen times. I knew exactly how to play Kanak when he was a junior, studying numerous videos. Alas, whatever weaknesses I found back then are no longer weaknesses.

This year is also the thirteenth anniversary of “Servergate,” the most ridiculous umpiring fiasco I’ve ever been involved in as a coach. At the 2011 US Nationals I was coaching Tong Tong Gong in the Cadet (Under 15) Boys’ Singles semifinals against Kanak. (Kanak was a true prodigy – he was only eleven at the time. Tong Tong went up 4-2 in the fifth with the serve, so he had all the momentum going for him. He did his usual forehand pendulum serve, and Kanak missed it – but the umpire yelled, “Fault!” What the heck? He claimed Tong Tong had hidden the serve, which didn’t happen. We even had video showing the serve clearly was not hidden from the opponent at any point during the serve. He had served the same way he had the whole match. But there was nothing we could do, and so instead of leading 5-2 in the fifth, Tong Tong led 4-3. Flustered and forced to change his serving motion (and we’d already used our timeout), Tong Tong lost seven points in a row to 4-9, and the match, 11-8 in the fifth.  

Afterwards, we were all over the umpire for this call. The referee asked him what happened, and in front of us, the umpire said, “He hid the ball from me.” The referee (and me, very loudly) explained that the rule was the ball couldn’t be hidden from the receiver, not the umpire, and that it was entirely legal for Tong Tong to turn his back to the umpire as he served as long as he didn’t hide the ball from the receiver – and since his shoulders only pointed at the opponent and didn’t dip in to hide the ball, the ball was not hidden and the serve was legal. (Plus, of course, if the umpire thought doing so was illegal, why didn’t he call it earlier since that’s how Tong Tong served every point of the match?) Alas.

And now Kanak wants money from me??? :) (Go to his GoFundMe page to find out how much I and others have donated.)

ITTF World Cup Coverage
Ma Long and Sun Yingsha are the Champions! (See also Ma Long Secures Third World Cup Title in Macao by Steve Hopkins.) Here are complete results and ITTF coverage.

World Table Tennis Day
Tomorrow (Tuesday, April 23) is World Table Tennis Day. See all the activities that are going on that date, and join in the fun! “World Table Tennis Day (WTTD) has been celebrated annually in April since 2015. It is the day we celebrate table tennis, as well as the universality and social inclusiveness the sport represents. World Table Tennis Day is celebrated on 23 April, honouring Ivor Montagu, organiser of the first World Table Tennis Championships in 1926 and the founder and first president of the ITTF. WTTD celebrates the joy of playing table tennis for fun, bringing people together, focusing less on competition and more on participation and enjoyment.”

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action!

Butterfly Training Tips

New from PongSpace

3 Different Forehand Techniques
Here’s the video (2:07) from Pingispågarna. Three ways to dominate with the forehand!

Lin Gaoyuan and Fan Zhendong Performing Services of Different Distances and Rotations
Here’s the video (3:24) from Performance Biomechanics Academy Table Tennis.

Xu Xin's Counterattack Symphony: Precision, Power, and Pure Table Tennis Elegance!
Here’s the video (8:11) from Street TT.

New from Table Tennis Central

New from PingSunday/EmRatThich

New from NCTTA

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

Countdown is on: 100 days to Paris
Here’s the ITTF article.

Ian Seidenfeld at the Team USA Media Summit
Here’s the video (21 sec).

Throwbacks from the Past from Table Tennis Media

A Field of Kids Training in China
Here’s the video (14 sec).

Tenis de Mesa from Sevilla
New AI table tennis artwork from Tenis de Mesa from Sevilla. (Click on the image to see the next one.)

5-in-a-Row Challenge w/ Amy Wang & Lily Zhang!
Here’s the video (1:29)!

What Just Happened?
Here’s the video (17 sec)!

I’m a Table Tennis Player, Of Course I...
Here’s the video (18 sec)!

Magnetic Ping Pong Racket and Playing in a Pool
Here’s the video (8:01) from Pongfinity!

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April 15, 2024

Tip of the Week
How to Play Doubles with a Much Stronger or Weaker Player.
(Excerpt from Table Tennis Doubles for Champions by Larry Hodges. April is Doubles Month!)

Weekend Coaching
Had an interesting experience with two of our junior players, both about ten and still relative beginners. They were struggling to even hit three forehands in a row together – their shots just flew all over the table. So I hit with them, taking turns. Immediately they both were able to hit 50 or more in a row, mostly keeping the ball to my forehand corner, no problem. After a time I put them together again, and again they struggled. The problem was their feet weren’t “active,” and so whenever the ball wasn’t exactly where they were standing, they’d reach or lunge after it. So, yes, we spent a bunch of time working on getting their feet more active, including pointing out the obvious, “We do all these footwork drills so you can learn to move to the ball!”

I continued my tradition of having a new name every weekend. This week when they asked my name (since “Coach Larry” is in prison for cheating), I said it was Isserbad. At first they couldn’t figure out what that meant – until I had them call me Coach Isserbad. Say it out loud!

I also had a private session with Navin Kumar. A lot of the focus was on really deadening the ball when blocking against loops, as this allows you to keep the ball on the table over and over. Sometimes he blocks the ball too straight on with the long pips, and so it’s like he’s just hitting with wood – so we’re working on chopping down on the ball, i.e., chop-blocking with the long pips (no sponge). We also worked a lot on smashing. Here are two videos he took:

The Next Hodges Book: Table Tennis Doubles for Champions
My newest book is featured at Butterfly! It also includes links to all ten of my books that Butterfly sells. Their inventory is running low – make them order more! Here are the books of mine that they sell:

  • Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers
  • Table Tennis Doubles for Champions
  • Table Tennis Tips
  • More Table Tennis Tips
  • Still More Table Tennis Tips
  • Yet Still More Table Tennis Tips
  • First Galactic Table Tennis Championships
  • Professional Coaches Table Tennis Handbook
  • The Spirit of Pong
  • Table Tennis Tales and Techniques

National Collegiate Table Tennis Championships
They were held this past weekend, Apr. 12-14, in Eua Claire, Wisconsin. Go to the NCTTA page for lots of coverage!

Kanak Jha
He’s back and he’s winning! Here are some links:

Dan Seemiller’s Top Twelve Table Tennis Moments
Here they are, from Eastern Kentucky Table Tennis.

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action!

Butterfly Training Tips

New from Pong Space

Talkin' Smash by JOOLA Ep11: The Difficult Task of Handling Pressure in Matches | Vitor Ishiy
Here’s the video (31:17) from Matt Hetherington.

About Rubbers and Why I Don't Talk About my Equipment
Here’s the video (16:48) from Olav Kosolosky, former finalist in Men’s Singles at the Belgium Nationals.

Ma Long and Fan Zhendong and Other Elite Table Tennis Players: Decoding the First Two Balls
Here’s the video (3:35) from Performance Biomechanics Academy Table Tennis.

Motivation to Break Guiness World Records
Here’s the video (8:23) from Ti Long.

Ask the Coach
Here are the latest questions and answers from PingSkills.

New from Street TT

A Sabbatical of “Anything Besides Table Tennis” Lifted Amy Wang From Her Lowest Point to the Paris Games
Here’s the article from Team USA.

World Ranking Table Tennis
Here’s the new page where they update the world rankings every day.

New from Steve Hopkins

New from USATT

New from ITTF

Tables Tennis?
Here’s the video (16 sec) as they take a lunch break.

Tenis de Mesa from Sevilla
Here’s their Facebook page, which has lots of good table tennis stuff. But what jumped out to me are a series of nice table tennis artworks they’ve been posting. (I’m guessing some is created with AI.) Here are some – if there’s a number in parenthesis, click on images to see others! (When I post to images in Facebook, I normally also link to the non-Facebook version, which you get by right-clicking and releasing on “Open image in new tab.” But there are too many here, so you’ll just have to get a Facebook account! It’s easy and free.)

When the Cat is Away...
Here’s the table tennis cartoon!

Adam vs. Enzo Angles
Here’s the video (13 min) from Adam Bobrow, where takes on the best player from Major League Table Tennis!

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April 8, 2024

Tip of the Week
Top Ten Things to Remember in Doubles.
(Excerpt from Table Tennis Doubles for Champions by Larry Hodges. April is Doubles Month!)

Weekend Coaching and My Short Stint as Head Tactical Coach for the Chinese National Team
I only coached one group junior session this past weekend (Beginning-Intermediate group) – our other coaches need the hours more than I do! I fed multiball for most of the session, then hit live with players the last 15 minutes or so. At the start we did a group shadow-practicing session, which is a good warmup, where we put the players through a series of stroking and footwork drills. Key things to remind players when they do this:

  • Lively feet;
  • Cover the wide corners when moving side to side;
  • Take a full stroke, with full shoulder turn on forehand;
  • Imagine you are hitting a real ball.

As always, footwork is key to all drills. Active feet are a must. As I said to one player during the session, “Your feet should move like rabbits, not dead hamsters!” Meanwhile, I continued our weekly “What’s your name, Coach?” joke. This weekend I explained that my name was Esargrate, and even spelled it for them. I told them to call me Coach Esargrate. (Say it out loud. They figured it out quickly.)

On a side note, remember how in last week’s April 1 blog I announced that China had hired me as the Head Tactics Coach for the Chinese National Team? Alas, when they picked me up at the airport I explained to them how I planned to convert the entire Chinese Team to the Seemiller grip. I was joking! But they have no sense of humor, and I never made it out of the airport. They put me on the next flight back home, alas. (If you look at the first letter of each line in last week’s blog, what it spells out is purely coincidental.)

Now go and enjoy the eclipse – and see my Butterfly Eclipse cartoon at the end below!

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action! They have two events left this season, a West Division event in Wichita, KS, Apr. 5-7, and the Championship Weekend at Loyola University, Chicago, IL, Apr. 27-28.

Butterfly Training Tips

New from Pingispågarna

New from Ti Long

New from PongSpace

New from Performance Biomechanics Academy Table Tennis

The Dark Arts of Serving
Here’s the article by Tom Lodziak.

Roadmap to Learning Forehand Counter from Scratch
Here’s the video (20:43) from Drupe Table Tennis.

New from Ping Sunday/EmRatThich

Ask the Coach
Here are the latest questions and answers from PingSkills.

New from National Collegiate Table Tennis Association
All articles by Michael Reff.

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

Post Olympic Trials: A Thank You Note
Here’s the article by Rachel Sung.

Navigating The Role Of An Olympic Alternate
Here’s the article by Sally Moyland.

Coach Mingwei Ju: Shaping Young Talents and Building Community
Here’s the USATT article from Table Tennis America.

New from Table Tennis Media

New from ITTF

Frog Pong

Hypnotizing Ricocheting Ball
Here’s the video (15 sec)!

Someone Said Table Tennis is an Easy Sport
This is what happened to them! (Here’s the non-Facebook version.)

Table Tennis Daily Takes on the Butterfly Legends
Here’s the video (28:09) as they play (with a 3-0 spot) against Michael Maze, Kalinikos Kreanga, Werner Schlager, and Zoran Primorac.

Butterfly Eclipse
Here it is! I didn’t know they made ping-pong balls that big.

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April 1, 2024

Tip of the Week
What Makes a Great Doubles Partnership?
(Excerpt from Table Tennis Doubles for Champions by Larry Hodges. April is Doubles Month!)

=>BREAKING NEWS - I’ve Been Hired as Head Tactical Coach for the Chinese National Team
After 48 years coaching in the US, next week I start my new job coaching the top Chinese
professional players as the new Head Tactical Coach for the Chinese National Team. I’ve
reviewed videos of their players for months, and after weeks of emailing back and forth,
I wrote up a detailed report with my tactical analysis last week to China’s head coach,
Liu Guoliang. He read my book, Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers, and says he’s its biggest
fan. I look forward to working with Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, Wang Chuqin, and the
others. I fly to Beijing on April 8 – I’m already packed. So, to all my fellow coaches and
other US friends, when you next see me, I’ll be coaching China. They’ll use my tactics against
Lily Zhang, Amy Wang, Kanak Jha, Nikhil Kumar, the Naresh brothers, and other US players.
Sorry! (The whole Chinese team is now required to read Table Tennis Doubles for Champions!)

Table Tennis Doubles for Champions
What, you mean you still haven’t bought my new book!!!??? I’ve been patient with you, but if you don’t buy it today, tomorrow you will be docked 100 rating points.
=>SPECIAL NOTE – if you have a table tennis site and would like to feature or review the book, let me know and I can send you a free copy (print or pdf).

US Junior Trials – Part 1
I flew down to West Monroe, Louisiana, March 24-30, for the first of the two US Junior Team Trials. (Part 2 is at the 888 Club in Burlingame, CA, May 24-27 – I expect to be there.) Here are complete results of Part 1. The tournament ran well, run by Vlad Farcas with referee Linda Leaf. They even provided me with a chair when I explained that (when spectating and not coaching) I couldn’t sit in the bleachers for more than five minutes without straining my back, since they had no back support. The hotel was a seven-minute walk away. The playing facility was excellent, with good lighting and flooring, and extra tables for practice. On the down side, getting to West Monroe is tricky – not a lot of flights going there.

Here are two USATT articles:

I ran into difficulties prepping our players before the Trials. Why? Let’s see, first I injured my neck while chopping to a player (to prepare him for a chopper at the Trials), and wore a neck brace for four days, until four days before we left for the Trials. Then, the day before leaving for the Trials, while stepping a barrier, I put my foot down wrong and sprained my right ankle. I hobbled around for the rest of the session, then went straight to Walgreens, where I bought an ankle brace that I would wear throughout the Trials. It worked – I was able to play, though I had to wear running shoes for the extra support, which felt like playing on stilts. While the ankle problem made movement and forehand shots tricky, it didn’t affect my backhand blocking, and so I ended up doing lots of that – my backhand blocking in a drill is still a wall. Another problem is that since I was favoring my right ankle, it put pressure on my knees and back, which also began to hurt. But I survived.

We had six players from MDTTC competing – Stanley Hsu, Mu Du, Ryan Lin, Winston Wu, Richik Ghosh, and Carmen Yu. I coached all but Ryan and Carmen in some matches, along with fellow MDTTC coaches Cheng Yinghua and Wang Qingliang. Coach Lai from Taiwan coached Ryan. (Ryan spent much of the last year training in Taiwan.) Carmen was coached by her dad, Thomas Yu. As usual, there were many ups and downs. It was jaw-dropping watching some of them pull off great wins and then lose to seemingly weaker players – playing in a Trials isn’t easy! Lots of pressure. Stanley (15) won the Under 17 Boys’ Trials and finished sixth in Under 19. Mu Du (15) finished sixth in Under 17 Boys. Carmen finished third in Under 15 Girls and sixth in Under 17.

As usual, I spent a bunch of time watching videos of opponents and taking notes. I also brought my giant racket case, the one with six rackets of different surfaces. All but the hardbat racket have regular inverted (Tenergy) on the reverse side. I used two of the rackets to prepare players for opponents, the long pips chopping racket and the short pips racket. The six rackets had:

  1. Long pips with thin sponge (chopping blade)
  2. Long pips with no sponge (push-blocking blade)
  3. Medium long pips
  4. Short pips
  5. Antispin
  6. Hardbat

As usual, lots of tactical issues came up. Here are a few.

  • One opponent ate up any serve that went the least bit long, even ripping serves that were half-long, where the second bounce was right over the white line – he had enough power to right over the table. So we had to go to shorter serves. Fortunately, the opponent didn’t have a good short game, and so returned the short serves long, which gave my player the attack. Many of the short serves were no-spin and were popped up. He started leaning in over the table as my player served, so a few sudden deep serves paid off.
  • One bad loss came about for one simple reason – the opponent would serve backspin, my player would push long to the backhand, and the opponent would backhand down the line. The backhand loop itself wasn’t that strong, but my player felt uncomfortable against it and missed it over and over, leading to a close loss.
  • One of Stanley’s opponents had short pips on the forehand. Before the match I pulled out my short-pips racket and warmed him up with it for 20 minutes. It paid off.
  • There was a lot of focus on ball placement, both for rallies and serves.
  • Heavy pushes to the backhand were effective in a surprising number of matches, but not always. Against short serves, it’s almost always best to mix in short and long pushes, and flips, and adjust the percentages based on the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, and their serves.

US Olympic Trials
Here are the results. Here are some links. (I wasn’t there.)

Ping Pong Leadership: 18 Principles to Succeed at Any Table in Business, Sports, and Life
Here’s the new book by Justin Bookey, 293 pages. I’m in the book, where I told Justin about a match I once played where I used all sorts of theatrics, faking difficulties and missing on purpose, to convince the opponent to keep chopping (which I was very good against) rather than attacking (where he might have challenged me). The section is titled, “When Deception is Fair Play.” Here’s the book’s description from Amazon:

Tens of millions of people worldwide enjoy ping pong on some level. And if you’re looking to enhance your leadership skills, ping pong offers surprisingly relevant lessons for success.

Justin Bookey has spent decades in both worlds. As an Emmy-nominated content creator and strategist, he’s worked with leaders at global companies to accomplish their business goals. As a competitive table tennis player, he’s trained with national and world champions and won medals at the US Open.

Those two worlds rarely overlapped—until Bookey realized that the core principles he learned while training to compete at the table also apply to success in business and leadership.

In the 1970s, the leaders of the US and China famously used friendly table tennis matches as a first step in thawing decades of icy relations—an effort dubbed Ping Pong Diplomacy. Ping Pong Leadership takes the next step, showing leaders of all types how to envision and create meaningful change, from small business to the Fortune 500 and broader communities.

Along with exclusive insights from leaders in commerce, culture, and technology, this book distills lessons from the world’s most-played sport into 18 actionable and unforgettable “Pong Principles.”

For leaders, entrepreneurs, and competitors of all kinds, Ping Pong Leadership is a powerful guide to success at any table.

Dana Hanson RIP
The long-time table tennis aficionado left us two days ago. Here's In Memory of Dana Hanson by the Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina Table Tennis Community. Here’s what USTT Hall of Famer Sean O’Neill wrote of him on Facebook:

The entire table tennis community lost one of our greatest supporters and lover of the game with the passing of Dana Hanson this evening. Dana played out of the Richmond Table Tennis club, but was a regular at the US Open, US Nationals and United States Table Tennis Hall of Fame annual dinners. Dana loved to play singles and doubles. Condolences go out to the members of RTTC, Moni Rot, and David + Donna Sakai who were close friends of Dana. Our sports brings together players of all kinds, young and old, big and small, and kind and generous. Dana possessed all of the best attributes of our game and he will be sorely missed by all that had the pleasure to hid the ball and play a match against him.

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action! They have two events left this season, a West Division event in Wichita, KS, Apr. 5-7, and the Championship Weekend at Loyola University, Chicago, IL, Apr. 27-28.

News from All Over
Since I’ve been away two weeks (coaching at US Junior Trials), as I often do when I’m away for more than a week, rather than try to list every interesting article, here are links to some of the main news and coaching pages that have been active in that time, and you can pick and choose.

Chop Block in Table Tennis: How-To & When To Use It
Here’s the article by Alex Horscroft at PingPongRuler.

Fan Zhendong Slammed
Here’s the article from the South China Morning Post (in English). The full title is, “Champion China table tennis player slammed for losing crucial Singapore game after ‘joyfully singing’ at Taylor Swift gig.”

Chess at Light Speed
Here’s the article from the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, WA. The full title is, “Ping-pong players from all skill levels, ages and countries of origin flock to play ‘chess at light speed’ in weekly club gathering.”

The Talent Has Arrived
Here’s where you can buy this table tennis shirt at Amazon!

Crowd Pong
Here’s the cartoon!

It’s Safe to Say I’m Winning: Rwanda Ping-Pong
Here’s the cartoon! (Here’s the non-Facebook version.)

Beat Me, Win $100 [China]
Here’s the video (15:20) from Adam Bobrow!

Tennis Stereotypes
Here’s the video (9:08) from Pongfinity!

Non-Table Tennis -  Confederate Cavalry on a Plane
My humorous science fiction story, “Confederate Cavalry on a Plane” was published at Metastellar on March 20. A physics professor and his student on a passenger plane argue about the possibility of infinite alternate universes, while being robbed blind by a bratty kid. The professor bets the student that even the most unlikely event possible must happen, leading to three very confused Confederate Cavalry charging down the aisle of the plane.

***
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March 18, 2024

Next Blog on April 1
Not an April Fool’s Joke! I’ll be out of town, March 24-31, coaching at the US Junior Team Trials. See segment below. So no blog or tip on March 25. 

Tip of the Week
Let’s Talk About Shoes.

Table Tennis Doubles for Champions
It has come to my attention that you - yes, YOU, the one reading these words - have not yet bought a copy of my new book, Table Tennis Doubles for Champions. I know who you are. I have a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long table tennis career. If you buy the book now that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you and I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will beat you in ping-pong and take your rating points. (Oh My God, Liam Neeson has Taken my words and used them in his movie!)

Weekend Coaching, Neck Injury, and a Lot of Blocking
As mentioned in my blog last week, I injured my neck last weekend while coaching. (I was chopping to the student and wrenched it.) I was in a neck brace Mon-Wed, and part of Thursday. I debated whether I could coach this weekend, but it seemed a lot better by Friday, so I came in. While it was still stiff and I had to be careful, I was able to coach. Of course, a lot of coaching is walking around and yelling out tips (“Move your feet!”), and feeding multiball, which weren’t a problem. I had to be careful with both forehand and backhand looping as both put a strain on the neck. But what I could do with no problem was block. For our top group (1800-2550), I spent two hours blocking to a rotation of players, ranging from 1800 to 2200. There were times where my block felt like old times, and nothing could get past me. (Then the player would loop at a wide angle that I couldn’t get to, which would be a wake-up call that my feet aren’t as fast as they used to be.)

At the end of the session with the Intermediate Group they played up-down tables, games to 11, with a one-point tie-breaker at 10-all. There was one player who, over and over, served short backspin, opponents would push to this backhand, and he’d step around and forehand loop and dominate the points. He had a one-point tie-breaker with another kid, and it happened again – serve, push to backhand, step-around forehand loop which won the point. I pulled his losing opponent aside (age 11) and pointed out that he’d been pushing to the backhand over and over, and asked why. He said, “Because his forehand is good, so I want him to play backhand.” I asked him if that had worked, or had the opponent just forehand looped from the backhand corner, since he knew the push return would go there. That’s when it hit him what the problem was. I told him next time he played someone like that, fake a push to the wide backhand, and then, at the last second, push to the wide forehand. I told him not only would it likely be a winner, but then the opponent would have to watch for that – and THEN you could push to the backhand and he wouldn’t be so quick to step around. The kid then moved down a table and played someone else – and on the first point, he did exactly what I’d suggested – and the kid he was now playing also had stepped around, and so the push to the forehand was an ace!  

US Junior Team Trials
I’ll be coaching at the US Junior Team Trials next week in West Monroe, Louisiana. (If I put down “West Monroe, LA,” many will think it’s a suburb of Los Angeles.) I fly down on Sunday, March 24 (the last day of the US Olympic Trials at the same venue), we have a practice day on March 25, then the Trials are March 26-30. MDTTC has five players in the Trials (Stanley Hsu, Mu Du, Ryan Lin, Winston Wu, and Richik Ghosh) and three coaches going (me, Cheng Yinghua, Wang Qingliang, plus a guest coach from Taiwan who will be coaching Ryan Lin). This is the first of two Junior Trials, with Part 2 at the 888 TTC in Burlingame, CA, May 24-27. You can see the results each day at Omnipong – see 2024 US Junior National Team Trials - Part 1.

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action! They have two events left this season, a West Division event in Wichita, KS, Apr. 5-7, and the Championship Weekend at Loyola University, Chicago, IL, Apr. 27-28.

Mental Training Tip: Focus on the “WIN” to Help You Win
Here the article by Tsz Lun (Alan) Chu, Ph.D.

Fethomania
With Stefan Feth and Larry Thoman.

  • FETHOMANIA 5: Drill 1 (52 sec) - Forehand Topspin against backspin that comes half long to Forehand. (I linked to this one on March 4.)
  • FETHOMANIA 5: Drill 2 (53 sec) -  Backhand Topspin against backspin that comes half long to Backhand.
  • FETHOMANIA 5: Drill 3 (57 sec) - Forehand flip against short backspin in Forehand to Forehand or Forehand.
  • FETHOMANIA 5: Drill 4 (57 sec) - Backhand flip against short backspin in Backhand to Backhand or Backhand.
  • FETHOMANIA 5: Drill 5 (54 sec) - RANDOM HALF LONG BALLS all over the table and Forehand Topspin.

Butterfly Training Tips

How to PLAY against LEFT-HANDERS
Here’s the article (8 min) from Pingispågarna.

How To Return the Sidespin Serve Tutorial
Here’s the video (6:31) from Nick Rudd.

New from PongSpace

New from EmRatThich/PingSunday

New from Ti Long

New from Performance Biomechanics Academy Table Tennis

New from Taco Backhand

Ask the Coach
Here are the latest questions and answers from PingSkills.

Dan Seemiller’s Top 12 Table Tennis Moments (in his own words)!
Here’s the article from Around the Table. They are doing two per week, so they only have moments 9-12 so far. And perhaps pick up a copy of one of Dan’s books!

Talkin' Smash by JOOLA Ep10: Bridging the Gap from Social to Pro Table Tennis
Here’s the video (63 min) from Matt Hetherington with PingPod's Max Kogler.

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

United States Coastguard Becomes NCTTA Sponsor!
Here’s the article from the National Collegiate TTA.

New from ITTF

Ping Pong Greeting Cards
Here’s where you can buy them at Fine Art America.

T-Rex Hates Table Tennis
Here’s the shirt at Amazon!

Cow Pong

Two Nancy Cartoons that Feature Table Tennis
Both involve playing in Nancy’s crowded basement with Sluggo.

Hide and Seek Pong
Here’s the video (7 sec) with Marek Záškodný!

5 Best Shots In Table Tennis History Recreated!
Here’s the video (8:56) from Table Tennis Daily!

Non-Table Tennis – The Personary
My very short fantasy story, “The Personary” (500 words) was published last week by New Myths Magazine. If a person goes to the library to read books, where does a book go to get a person to read it? Why, the Personary! And what if adventurous books have to avoid bullying books to get to the Personary?

My humorous science fiction story, “Confederate Cavalry on a Plane” (4700 words) was published at Metastellar on March 20. A physics professor and his student on a large passenger plane argue about the possibility of infinite alternate universes, while being robbed blind by a bratty kid. The professor bets the student that even the most unlikely event possible must happen, leading to three very confused Confederate Cavalry charging down the aisle of the plane.

***
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March 11, 2024

NOTE – due to a neck injury (see “Weekend Coaching”) I can barely hold my head up straight. So, I’m doing a shortened version of my blog this week, where I’m skipping all the usual links. (I’ll catch up with them next week.) Much of the below was written in advance. The rest I painstakingly typed this morning.

Tip of the Week
The Four Types of Defense.

Table Tennis Doubles for Champions - NOW ON SALE!!!
My new book is out at Amazon!!! It’s 133 pages, with 109 pictures and illustrations. There have been many instructional books on singles, but rarely more than perhaps a few pages on doubles. So, if you like doubles, this is for you! (I’ve won a lot of doubles titles, but more importantly, I’ve coached a lot of doubles champions.) Chapters include:

  • Great Partnerships
  • The Start of a Doubles Match
  • Serving in Doubles
  • Receiving in Doubles
  • Rallying in Doubles
  • Positioning & Footwork – fully illustrated
  • Secrets from the Pros – see list of interviews below
  • Tactical Doubles Stories
  • The Wacky World of Doubles – the funny side of doubles
  • Doubles Rules
  • World and Olympic Champions – complete listing

The “Secrets from the Pros” chapter includes interviews, tips, and features on great doubles champions such as Stellan Bengtsson, Gao Jun, Nikhil Kumar, Amy Wang, Jasna Rather, Dan Seemiller, Sean O’Neill, Dell & Connie Sweeris, and Dave & Donna Sakai.

The book had an incredible Editorial Board, a virtual Who’s Who of table tennis, that edited, made suggestions, and improved and approved the book. In alphabetical order, they are:

  • Angelita Bengtsson, 4-time US National Women’s Doubles Champion; member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame and the Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.
  • Stellan Bengtsson, World Singles and Doubles Champion; long-time Swedish National Coach; and member of the US Table Tennis Hall of Fame
  • Mark Dekeyser, 40 years’ experience in singles and doubles; edited previous TT books by Larry Hodges; and author of “The No. 1 Brain Sport” in Active Seniors Digest.
  • Sean O'Neill, 5-time Men’s Singles, 5-time Men’s Doubles, and 6-time Mixed Doubles US National Champion; Two-time Olympian; member and president of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame.
  • John Olsen, USATT (State) and ITTF certified coach; Virginia State Open Doubles Champion; 16 gold medals in doubles (never lost) at the Virginia Senior Games and Northern Virginia Senior Olympics; one silver and two bronze medals for doubles at the National Senior Games.
  • Dan Seemiller, 5-time Men’s Singles, 11-times Men’s Doubles, and 8-time Mixed Doubles US National Champion; former long-time US Men’s Team Coach; member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame.
  • Dell Sweeris, 4-time Mixed Doubles and 3-time Men’s Doubles US Open Champion; long-time US Team member and US National Coach; member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame.
  • Dennis Taylor, USATT General Counsel for 18 years; past USATT Board Member; past chair of the USATT High Performance Committee; and member of the US Table Tennis Hall of Fame.

Get your copy now! And if you like it, give it a nice review at Amazon. If you run a table tennis site and would like to do an interview or other feature of the book, email me. If you are a table tennis distributor, email me for the wholesale price list. (Here’s a listing of all my books.)

Weekend Coaching and Neck Injury
I had a busy weekend, coaching in four group sessions and one private session. Saturday went well until near the end, when I did a private session with Richik Ghosh (age 9, rated 1844) to help him get ready for the US Junior Trials at the end of the month. (We’ll do two more the next two Saturdays.) My neck had been bothering me for a few days, but it wasn’t so bad. During our session I strained it – and soon afterwards I could barely hold my head up straight! It got worse and worse. On Sunday morning I debated whether I could even go in, but decided I had to. But I couldn’t do any actual hitting or even demonstrate shots, could only feed multiball and walk around coaching in the two group sessions that day. I tried to keep my head up straight, but that was painful and so often my head was tilted sideways and forward, to the amusement of the kids.

I’ve had this same neck injury twice this past year. Both times it took about a week of rest to get better. I probably won’t bother seeing a doctor, but I ordered a neck brace from Amazon that should be coming in today. I had one before but I can’t seem to find it.

Some of the focus for the day was on staying closer to the table. Some of our kids like to back up, while others naturally stay at the table. It’s best to be able to play from all distances, while favoring staying at the table. Giving up the table too easily by backing up is almost always a mistake.

We now have an ongoing tradition that I have a different name every session. It’s reached the point that I have to brainstorm for new names. On Saturday, I explained that when I was born, my parents took one look at me and said, “You’re Ugly!”, and the doctor thought that was my name, and put that down on my birth certificate, and my name is Coach You’re Ugly. (Yes, the kids called me by name, over and over.) On Sunday I explained how when I was born, parents though I had a pretty nose and so named me Nose, and that of course my last name is Table Tennis, and so my name is Coach Nose Table Tennis. (Say it out loud.)

US Nationals Entry Form
The entry form is up and you can now enter at Omnipong. It’s in Huntsville, Alabama, July 3-7. I’ll be there, both coaching and playing. As I’ve done every US Nationals and Open starting in 1999, I proofed it for them. (I’m that weird type who can read a book, and on page 350 will point out something that contradicts what was said on page 50, plus I’m a long-time editor, among other things.) I just noticed that a few of my edits didn’t get made – I just emailed them.

USATT Magazines, 1933-2014
Vince Mioduszewski has made it his latest mission to collect and put online every USATT Magazine every done. I’d helped by putting together a listing of every USATT Editor in our history, dates they were editor, and the number of issues they’d done. (There have been a total of 556.) I also put online all 71 issues that I edited. Vince you may remember was also behind putting the results of every US Open and Nationals online – the USA Table Tennis Results History.

He's started to scan some of the old issues he has, including eight from 1935-1938. He sent them to me, and I put them online and created a page with links. Here it is, the USATT Magazines Historical Listing! As of now, it only includes the 71 issues I did and the seven he’s scanned so far. Later we’ll get more, though he’s told me he’ll be really busy for a while and may not be able to get to scanning the rest for a while.

USATT Magazines, 1976-2014
I started playing and joined USATT in 1976. I received every USATT Magazine during that time, but somehow, along the way, lost a few of them. The last year or so I’ve been trying to complete my collection for that period – and I finally got the last one missing! Mike Babuin sent me a copy of the May 1989 issue, and so my collection is complete for that time period. Of course, there were lots of issues before 1976, starting in 1933, but I’ll let someone else collect those. Here’s a listing of my complete table tennis memorabilia collection, including the magazines. (They stopped doing USATT Magazine in 2014.)

NPR Puzzlemaster Will Shortz Says He Is Recovering From a Stroke
Here’s the article from NPR. Will is the owner of the Westchester TTC and a member of the USATT Board of Directors. Will said, "Hey guys, this is Will Shortz. Sorry I've been out the last few weeks. I had a stroke on Feb. 4 and have been in rehabilitation since then, but I am making progress. I'm looking forward to being back with new puzzles soon.”

Intense Table Tennis Training – with Wheels
Here’s the video (33 sec).

Extremely Hard Ping Pong
Here’s the video (8:08) from Pongfinity! Now they’re playing with holes drilled on the table.

Non-Table Tennis – 200th Short Story Sale
I had a major breakthrough this past week – I sold my 200th science fiction/fantasy short story. (That includes 156 original sales and 44 resales.) The story was, “Two Democratic Civilizations Passing in the Twilight of the Boondocks of the Galaxy” to Ahoy Comics. (It’s my second sale to them.) A huge ship of galaxy-wandering snake-like aliens shows up, and since they outnumber humans (it’s a big ship and they’re crammed into it) and since they worship democracy, they claim Earth as their own . . . and give us one hour to leave.

Another story of mine, “A Tale of One City,” went up at Flash Fiction Magazine this past week. It’s sort of a takeoff of “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens and the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. What happens when a developing but average writer starts a mass movement that worships averageness, and condemns all that is great or poor – but runs into the problem of how to grow a mass movement that condemns your very success in growing it?

***
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March 4, 2024

Tip of the Week
The Definition of Insanity and Its Table Tennis Implications.

2024 US Table Tennis Hall of Fame Inductions
Here’s the announcement! Inducted this year are Glenn Cowan as a player, Stellan Bengtsson and Dennis Taylor as contributors, and Patty Martinez-Wasserman the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner will be held on Oct. 10 at the Houston International TT Academy, in conjunction with the Si and Patty Wasserman Jr. & Open Championships on Oct. 11-13. (I expect to be there, both for the HoF Inductions & dinner and to coach at the tournament.) I’ll be doing the Hall of Fame program booklet, as I’ve done since 2009. Already started on it! (On a side note, both Stellan and Dennis are on the Editorial Board for my upcoming book, “Table Tennis Doubles for Champions,” which should be out by the end of March.) Here are the honorees:

  • Glenn Cowan was on the US Ping-Pong Diplomacy Team to China in 1971 where he is credited with making friends and exchanging gifts with Zhuang Zedong, which helped lead to Ping-Pong Diplomacy. (He was the only player on the team not yet inducted.)
  • Stellan Bengtsson had a stellar career as a Swedish player (1971 World Men’s Singles Champion, 1973 World Doubles and Team Champion, many-time European and Swedish Champion) as well as a coach, both in Sweden and then the US. For the US, he was instrumental in coaching Jimmy Butler and numerous Para players. [NOTE - As noted in the announcement, Stellan will be inducted with the 2025 Class due to travel concerns.]
  • Dennis Taylor was the USATT pro-bono lawyer for 18 years, a member of the board of directors, and chaired a number of committees, including the High Performance Committee.
  • Patty Martinez-Wasserman has won a zillion titles, including three-time US Open Women’s Singles Champion, and even more titles through the years in various senior events, including a total of 14 medals (7 golds) at the 2023 US Nationals and Open.

MDTTC Open
Here are the results of the tournament at my home club in Gaithersburg, Maryland. There were two notable breakthroughs in this tournament. First, Stanley Hsu, 15, who recently achieved an even 2500 rating, won Open Singles. He’s won a few before, but what’s notable is that he upset Bruno Ventura Dos Anj in the final, rated 2571. (Bruno is one of Stanley’s coaches and practice partners.) The other breakthrough was 9-year-old Ritchik Ghosh’s performance. He came in rated 1632, and won both Under 1900 and Under 2000! Along the way he won 13 matches in the two events, including players rated 1743, 1852, 1877, and 1925, losing only one game to these players, and had no bad losses. I coached him in six of his Under 1900 matches, and he easily won them all 3-0 – I kept waiting for a real match to break out where he might actually need me! His focus is very good, so my coaching is mostly about serve, receive, and ball placement. (He can go from focused champion at the table one minute, to joking around playing other kids on the mini-table the next.) I’ll likely be coaching him at the US Junior Team Trials in West Monroe, Louisiana, March 26-30, where he’ll be in Under 11 and Under 13.

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action!

Butterfly Training Tips

Tips & Tricks, How to Read and Return a spinny SERVE
Here’s the video (6:19) from Pingispågarna.

New from Ti Long

Do You Practice Returning Serves? If Not, Why Not?
Here’s the article by Tom Lodziak.

Sports Psychology by Dora Kurimay
Here’s her blog page – lots of topics! Here’s her sports psychology books and videos. Who is she? Here’s her bio.

New from Jon Gustavson
They are at his blog page.

  • Roll the Low Ones -Hit The High Ones
  • The Student of Table Tennis
  • A Sticky Situation

Roadmap to Learning the Strokes – Introduction
Here’s the video (5:01) from Drupe Pong.

Attacking with Long Pips
Here’s the video (1:38) from PongSpace, with World #13 Yang Xiaoxin.

New from PingSunday/EmRatThich

New from Performance Biomechanics Academy Table Tennis

Backhand “Ghost” Serve
Here’s the video (13 sec), where the heavy backspin serve bounces back over the net. I can do this with my forehand pendulum serve, but not on the backhand side – though with practice I think I could do it. Developing these types of serves are an excellent way to develop heavy backspin and control. They aren’t too effective against top players, who see it coming and run to the side of the table and (as the ball bounces backwards) kill it! I have seen a few players use this against kids, which I find unsportsmanlike.

Passing the Torch: Modernizing Olympic, Paralympic, & Grassroots Sports in America
Here’s the report. While table tennis is only mentioned in passing, one of the two co-chairs of the report is USATT Hall of Famer Han Xiao. (He was from my club, MDTTC.)

Barbara Wei at the Worlds in South Korea
Here’s the video (75 sec) – she was there doing coverage and play-by-play. (She’s another former long-time junior star from my club!)

Singapore Smash Preview: Could this be Three in a Row for Fan?
Here’s the article by Steve Hopkins.

2025 NCTTA Champs Returns to Rockford Stage After Over a Decade
Here’s the article from the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association by Michael Reff.

New from USATT

New from ITTF

Point of the Tournament - Busan 2024 World Teams Table Tennis Championships Final
Here’s the video (52 sec) from Tony’s Table Tennis.

1 Man vs. 4 Pro Women
Here’s the video (12:30) from Adam Bobrow!

Ep2. Ping Pong With Pineapple | 24 Hours with Roger: Shanghai Edition
Here’s the video (4:14) where tennis great Roger Federer takes on 7-year-old Chinese girl!

Polar Vortex vs. Hotter Summers: Climate Change is a Hoax
Here’s the cartoon that mocks the climate change deniers.

Nancy Playing Table Tennis
Here’s the cartoon!

Watching the First Point Between Two Choppers
Here’s the Titanic video (4 sec)!

The PongFather & The Phoenixville Table Tennis Club, Karaoke 2024
Here’s the video (3:56)!

Non-Table Tennis – Eternity and the Devil
I recently sold a science fiction/fantasy story, “Eternity and the Devil,” to the anthology The Devil You Know Best. It goes on sale tomorrow (Tuesday, March 5). There’s also an online Launch Party on Tuesday at 8PM Eastern Time – I’ll be on it, talking about my story. This is actually the fourth time I’ve sold this story! It was published in various anthologies and magazines in 2009. 2012, 2017, and now 2024, and I’ve been paid over $1,000 for it. (Not bad for a 5,000-word story, about 23 pages double-spaced.) The story is a twist on the "Deal with the Devil" story. A physicist sells his soul to the Devil so he can solve the Grand Unified Theory, which he uses to greatly benefit mankind – he’s a good guy. At the end of his life, when the Devil shows up to take him to Hell, the scientist escapes into the future in a time machine he created using what the Grand Unified Theory. He has numerous stops as he goes a trillion years into the future, pursued by the Devil. At each stop, he is surrounded by billions of systematically tortured souls in Hell - including his long-suffering girlfriend, who he is determined to save.

I split my time between my TT and SF worlds. Recently I’ve had a plethora of science fiction & fantasy short story sales, selling three in Feb, three in Jan, and two each in Dec and Nov, and Oct. Several of them are coming out soon – I’ll post links when they do. Some have TT in them!!! Here’s all my short story sales – all 199 of them! #200 should come any time now.

***
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February 26, 2024

Tip of the Week
Be the Lawnmower.

Table Tennis Doubles for Champions
Last Wednesday I sent the draft of the book to the Editorial Board. They are supposed to get back to me by Monday, March 11 with any edits, suggestions. They bring a wide range of talents to the job, from table tennis to editorial expertise.

Who is this Super Seven? Stellan & Angie Bengtsson, Mark Dekeyser, Sean O'Neill, John Olsen, Dan Seemiller, and Dennis Taylor. That’s a pretty nice group. (Edit- it's now the Great Eight, with Dell Sweeris joining the Editorial Board.)

The book is 133 pages (9x6 inch pages), with 108 photos or graphics. If all goes well, it’ll be on sale  and I’ll have copies printed by the end of March. I’m hoping to have copies with me on March 24, when I go to coach at the US Junior Trials in West Monroe, Louisiana. A number of people who helped with the book will be there. For example, Nandan Naresh helped in doing photo sequences of forehand and backhand flipping (and is in a number of other photos), and I’m hoping some of the photographers for the book will be there. I’ll also give copies to some coaches who helped in some aspects of the book, such as Gao Jun – she and I had a great discussion about doubles footwork last year, and she has a nice video on doubles (4 min). The US Olympic Trials end the day I arrive in West Monroe, so some of the people I interviewed for the book will likely be there, including Gao, Nikhil Kumar, Amy Wang, Jasna Rather, and others.

Weekend Coaching
Once again I split my time between feeding multiball to a rotating set of players, and then as a practice partner for rotating pairs of players, where they’d take turns hitting with me. Theme for the day was consistency, and so we counted how many shots they’d do in a row while doing a footwork drill. One thing they need to learn is that accuracy is part of consistency. If you are spraying balls all over the table in a practice drill, then even though they are technically hitting the table, they aren’t really controlling the ball – and in a game situation, where they don’t know where the ball is going as much as they do in a drill, this lack of control means outright misses. So I kept putting my water bottle in various places on the table and they had to keep the ball between that and the playing corner.

One issue that keeps coming up, and so I keep harping on, is recovery from the previous shot, especially with the forehand. If you hit a forehand from the wide forehand or wide backhand, staying balanced and returning back into position as you follow through is part of the technique. But the return-to-position direction and therefore technique is different depending on where you hit the shot. If a righty hits from the wide forehand, he follows through back to his left. If he hits a forehand from the wide backhand, he follows through to his right.

It’s become a local tradition that every weekend I get a new name. When I show up on Saturday morning for our Intermediate Class, the kids come running up to me, all excited, and ask, “Who are you?” And then I explain that whoever I was the previous week, along with Coach Larry, is in prison for terrible crimes, and I am Coach [Fill In The Blank]. This weekend I explained that my first name was I, my last name was You, and that my middle name was Hate. So, for the weekend I was Coach I Hate You. And if the kids had a question, they’d say, “Coach, I hate you.” In previous weeks I’ve had names such as Coach Hit Me, Coach Spit On Me, and Coach You Have The Best Forehand. I think next time I’ll be Coach You Have The Worst Forehand. (I should sit down and brainstorm on names for the next few months.)

World Table Tennis Team Championships
Here’s the home page where you can find results, etc. for the event held in Busan, South Korea, Feb. 16-25. Here’s the ITTF News page on the Worlds. As expected, China swept both Men’s and Women’s Teams – but the men’s team was down 1-2 in the semifinals of Men’s against South Korea, and in the women’s final they were down 1-2 to Japan. In the Men’s Final, China beat France (and the Lebrun brothers), with Alexis almost defeating Fan Zhendong:

  • Wang Chuqin (CHN) d. Felix Lebrun (FRA), 4,8,3
  • Fan Zhendong (CHN) d. Alexis Lebrun (FRA), -9,4,-8,10,7
  • Ma Long (CHN) d. Simon Gauzy (FRA), -7,2,4,6.

France defeated Taiwan in the semifinals, 3-1. Here’s the China vs. South Korea semifinal battle, with Lee’s upset over Ma Long giving Korea a 2-1 lead:

  • Jang Woojin (KOR) d. Wang Chuqin (CHN), 7,02,11,6
  • Fan Zhendong (CHN) d. Lim Jonghoon (KOR), 8,6,8
  • Lee Sang Su (KOR) d. Ma Long (CHN), 7,-4, 10,10,-6,4
  • Fan Zhen Dong (CHN) d. Jang Woojin (KOR), 6,7,10
  • Wang Chuqin (CHN) d. Lim Jonghoon (KOR), 5,7,6

On the Women’s side, in the semifinals China defeated France 3-0, and Japan defeated Hong Kong 3-0. In the final, China came from down 1-2 to defeat Japan:

  • Sun Yingsha (CHN) d. Miwa Harimoto (JPN), 5,8,4
  • Hina Hayata (JPN) d. Chen Meng (CHN), -6,8,9,12
  • Miu Hirano (JPN) d. Wang Yidi (CHN), 8,11,10
  • Sun Yingsha (CHN) d. Hina Hayata (JPN), 2,7,6)
  • Chen Meng (CHN) d. Miwa Harimoto (JPN), -4,7,8,7

=>Worlds Coverage by Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

There was a major controversy regarding Team USA. USA had clinched advancing out of the RRs and into the main draw – when disaster struck. Jishan Liang (USA) apparently did not turn his racket in to racket testing in time as he was using it to warm up for his next match. Normally rackets are tested before the match, but because of this, it wasn’t tested in advance. Jishan won his match against Kazakhstan which seemed to clinch USA advancing. But when it was tested afterwards, his sponge was found to be 4.19mm thick, over the 4.0mm limit. (I’ve been told they allow up to 4.04mm.) And so he was defaulted from the match, and USA did not advance.

USATT protested and put out two statements on this, but the default was upheld. I’ve linked the statements below to their Facebook pages, where there is a lot of discussion. (Neither statement has been posted on the USATT home page, only on Facebook. There’s nothing on the USATT News Page on the Worlds at all – no new news items since Feb. 16.)
Statement #1:

USA Table Tennis contests the decision at 2024 ITTF World Team Championships to disqualify Jishan Liang due to racket control issues in our pivotal match against KAZ. This decision robbed our Men’s Team of their hard earned place in the final 24 teams. We are challenging the call with the ITTF Jury Committee. We will expect a just and fair response from ITTF in the next day. We support our Men’s Team and congratulate them on their performance at the competition.

Statement #2:

At the 2024 ITTF World Team Championships, USA's men's team was poised to advance to the knock out rounds as long as they won at least 2 matches and 2 more games against Kazakhstan. Jishan Liang played against Aidos Kenzhigulov from Kazakhstan in the 3rd match and won 3-1, giving the US a 2-1 lead. However, he was disqualified because one side of his racket was 0.19mm over the thickness limit. Jishan’s racket VOC was within range.

USATT submitted the following 4 points to the ITTF Jury Committee to contest the decision to disqualify Jishan Liang.

Jishan Liang had competed with the same racket for 3 days of competition prior to the disqualification call on day 5. Prior to the test in question, his racket had passed all visual inspections.

The umpires and referees have no time log indicating Jishan Liang was late to turn in his racket prior to his match. Jishan was not informed his racket would be tested after his match because of the time in which he submitted it.

The announcement of the racket failing came after Nikhil had lost to Kirill, despite the test result occurring earlier. This did not give the US Men’s team an opportunity to adjust their play to account for a disqualification.

Jishan’s racket was tested 4-5 times before it was deemed illegal. The necessity for multiple tests raises significant doubts about the reliability and trustworthiness of the testing process itself. Jishan’s racket, which stayed with the umpires and referees overnight, got tested again today and it was within the standard. They also conducted two separate tests and the readings were different

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action!

Butterfly Training Tips

Serve Into the Cricket Goals
Here’s the video (20 sec). These are good targets to learn to serve into. (But you can improvise with other objects as targets.) A key thing is to serve faster against the deeper ones, slower but with more break against the closer but wider ones. (And today I’ve learned what a cricket goal looks like.

Basic Strokes - Backhand Drive
Here’s the video (17:09) from PingPongPlaybook.

New from Ti Long

New from PingSunday/EmRatThich

Talkin' Smash by JOOLA Ep9: The Career Journey from Brazil to the World | Thiago Monteiro
Here’s the video (33:32) from Matt Hetherington/JOOLA.

New from Performance Biomechanics Academy Table Tennis

Chuang Chih-Yuan Ball Placement vs Qiu Dang
Here’s the video (58 sec) from Drupe Pong.

Behind the Back Stroke
Here’s the video (3:54) from Pingispågarna.

How a Pro Table Tennis Player Packs
Here’s the video (3:43) from PongSpace.

Ask the Coach
Here are the latest questions and answers from PingSkills.

New from Tony’s Table Tennis Talk

Interview with Sid Naresh at the Worlds . . . While Hitting!
Here’s the video (43 sec)! This reminds me of my Hall of Fame Induction, where I had to be talked out of my initial plan, which was to give my acceptance speech while bouncing a ball on a paddle. Was told it would be too distracting. (And the way to calculate 19 x 65 in your head [while hitting forehands] is just do 10 times 65 [650], double it [1300] and subtract 65 [1235. Yeah, I have a degree in math...)

I Challenged The STRONGEST Ping Pong Hustler in New York!
Here’s the video (4:10) from Table Tennis Daily.

A Table for Two
Here’s the cartoon! (Here’s the non-Facebook version.)

20 Funniest Moments in Table Tennis
Here’s the video (8:06) from Wave of Trend!

World’s Most Dangerous Ping Pong Table (5000 Spikes)
Here’s the video (8:01) from Pongfinity!

AND NOW – Here’s my challenge to Pongfinity – I want to see them each go to a supermarket, pick out the best frozen fish they can find, and use that as a racket! (Flounder, anyone?) Suggestion - wear gloves while holding the frozen fish.  Afterwards they can have a fish fry.

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February 19, 2024

Tip of the Week
The Laziness of Simple Serves.

USATT’s Illegal Chair, USATT Assemblies, and Those Pesky Bylaws
I sent another email to the USATT Board regarding this. (I blogged about the issue last week, including a link to my previous email.) Just to be clear, I have zero expectation that anything will come of this – too many enablers on the Board. The point is they can no longer deny knowing about it. This abuse of power, as well as policy issues, will be among the big issues in the Fall USATT elections. The facts speak for themselves. The primary “defense” against this is the assertion that Char’s term started on Jan. 1, 2021 – but it’s argument by assertion, with no facts or logic backing it up. But there’s little accountability in USATT these days, and so they can do pretty much get away with anything. Normally the lawyers report to the CEO and Board, and the CEO reports to the Board which oversees everything, but these days it’s pretty much reversed.

I don’t like harping on the bylaws, but this has huge implications. The chair of the board is a powerful position. Later in the year I’ll write about some of the ramifications of past rulings from the current chair. I’ll also write about policy issues, which is what I really want to write about, when the time comes. I don’t know if I’ll be running for the Board this Fall or backing others, but the two big issues will be the abuse of power and policy issues. Much more on this as the election approaches.

But seriously, they don’t even follow obvious bylaws. For example (and this is just one of numerous examples), many years ago USATT began running the annual USATT Assembly at the US Open or Nationals, where USATT members could discuss issues with the USATT board and staff. A key aspect was that there would be a board meeting immediately afterwards so board members could discuss the issues raised. And so Bylaw 15.2 states, “The annual USATT Assembly shall be held in conjunction with a Board meeting.”

So, what happened? In 2021, they had the USATT Assembly at the US Open in December, but no board meeting. Why? At the USATT Assembly itself, I raised the issue, pointing out how easy it would have been to simply hold a Zoom meeting at the end of the tournament or the day after, i.e. follow the bylaws. Chair Char told me that it was inconvenient for the top players to meet during a major tournament.

Two HUGE problems here. First, USATT Bylaws are not things USATT should follow only when they are convenient; they are the rules for governing our sport. Second, I checked with several of the player reps and they denied ever saying they couldn’t attend such a meeting, and thought the Zoom meeting would be the perfect solution. Char promised to follow the bylaws and hold the required board meeting the following year, 2022, and so all would be well, right?

Nope. In 2022, they again held the USATT Assembly at the Open in December, but again didn’t hold the required board meeting in conjunction. I pointed this out again, and once again Char promised they’d do it the following year, in 2023. So, in 2023 the Assembly was again held in December at the US Open, and once again they didn’t bother with the required board meeting. So, for three straight years, despite knowing the bylaws require it, they have refused to hold the board meeting in conjunction with the USATT Assembly. All three USATT Assemblies were held in mid-December, at the US Open; in all three cases, the next board meeting wasn’t until early February the following year.

What are they showing us? 1) Utter contempt for following the governing rules of our sport; 2) Utter contempt for the membership; 3) USATT Assemblies are just for show. 

Note that it’s only a few USATT people who actually abuse the rules. Most of the rest just go along with it. (Alas, my pointing it out will only make them dig in their heels deeper.)

I am sickened to have to write these posts about USATT. I plan to ignore them for a time, since there’s not much we can do about it until the elections come up, and I’d just end up repeating myself week after week. (I have a variety of other topics to blog about.) There’s no accountability in USATT right now, but guess what an election is? Accountability.

Weekend Coaching
I fed multiball for about 15 minutes at the start of one session, but then worked one-on-one with players as a practicing partner the rest of the session. Focus was on consistency in footwork drills, and control. To work on control, I put my water bottle in the table, sideways, about nine inches to the left of the middle line on my backhand side. Anything that didn’t come to the left of the bottle was a miss. Once the kids know what they need to do, they become pretty good at it.

I’m always looking for ways to make the group sessions more interesting. Last week I saw a movie at a Regal theater, and they served my medium popcorn in a plastic Taylor Swift bucket. So I cleaned it and brought it to the club. After the session we had a competition. I put the bucket on the far side of a table, and had the kids line up on the other. They took turns trying to hit or serve a ball into the bucket. After a few rounds, two of them did it, and we then had a playoff, won by 7-year-old Crystal – who, it turns out, is a Taylor Swift fan!

Alas, as the session went on, including the contest at the end, I began feeling sick. By that night I had a full-blown nasty cold, which still won’t go away. (I did a home Covid test just to be safe, but negative.) No fever, but constant chills, aching teeth, countless Kleenex, constant coughing up stuff, and general feeling of extreme sickness.

Table Tennis Doubles for Champions
The first draft is done! That includes the page layouts, all 125 pages, including 103 photos or graphics. (Putting together graphics to demonstrate four types of doubles footwork took a LONG time.) I’ve printed it out for proofing. Because of my cold, I’m not sure if I’m going to get to it today, but hopefully early this week I’ll “finalize” it. I put that in quotes because I plan to send it to an editorial board. I’ve got 17 possible names on the list (!) and so haven’t decided yet whether to ask all of them or not. They’ll all be thanked in the Intro chapter of the book, as well as a signed copy. (If you are a National Coach or equivalent, with an interest in doubles, and wish to be on the Editorial Board, email me. Not everyone on the Editorial Board will be a National Coach or elite player, but I already have several who will double-check my grammar, etc.)

10 Best Table Tennis Books of All Time
Here’s the listing from Sports Foundation – I like the rankings!

World Table Tennis Championships
They are taking place right now, Feb. 16-25 in Busan, South Korea. Because I’ve been alternating between working on my doubles book and fighting a bad cold, I haven’t been able to see much of it. But one USA highlight was the USA Men’s Team defeating England, with Nikhil Kumar upsetting Liam Pitchford (world #25) and Paul Drinkhall (#101), with Jishan Liang also defeating Drinkhall. Nikhil went in seriously under-ranked at #379, but should go up a bunch after this. While I didn't see the matches, I'm guessing he dominated with his supurb receiving skills, ball placement, and overall shot-making efficiency. Here are some links:

=>Coverage by Steve Hopkins/Butterfly:

2023 USATT Coach of the Year Awards
Here’s the USATT News Item. Congrats to Gao Jun, Thilina Piyadasa, Hong Lin, Sean O'Neill, Vlad Farcas, and Lidney Castro (who coaches at my club!).

Major League Table Tennis
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You're Tearing Me Apart
Here’s the blog by International Referee Kagin Lee. It covers a rather interesting rules proposal coming up at the Worlds, and a semi-parallel situation from the past (the infamous Kim Taek See-Wang Tao match at the 1995 Worlds). I haven’t really studied the issue, but here’s the gist of it: “This testing would involve disassembling the racket and examining the discrete blade and racket coverings - after the match.” I’m a bit skeptical of this! Kagin explains why he too is opposed to the proposal.

Butterfly Training Tips

New from Ti Long

How to INSTANTLY Improve as a Table Tennis Player
Here’s the video (13:05) from Pingispågarna.

Coach Jon is Back
Coach Jon Gustavson put up three new blog items. They are: “Offense and Defense at Table Tennis Gwinnett,” “Table Tennis on a Budget,” and “The Great Table Tennis Paradox.”

New from PongSpace

New from PingSunday/EmRatThich

Ask the Coach
Here are the latest questions and answers from PingSkills.

The Prince Who Never Became King: The Best of Zhou Qihao
Here’s the video (1:41) of the world #24 from China, from TacoBackhand.

Nanhu Girls Table Tennis Team - Thank you Coach, Wish you a Happy Retirement
Here’s the video (7:26) from Tony’s Table Tennis.

301+ Table Tennis Team Names (Funny, Cool & Puns)
Here’s the listing!

Orban Wins
Here’s the cartoon. That’s Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary.

Ready to Play Table Tennis Anywhere with Passion
Here’s the video (52 sec)!

YouTuber vs. 4 Pros
Here’s the video (11:57) from Adam Bobrow! “What would happen if I challenge four professional players in a single game showdown?” He takes on Aditya Sareen, El Sayed Lashin, David McBeath, and Tyrese Knight.

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