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.)
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!
No More Blogs Until Monday - Cary Cup
I'll be leaving with Tim Boggan to drive down to the Cary Cup Championships around 4AM or so on Thursday morning, so no more blogs until next Monday. I'm helping with a clinic they are running on Thursday afternoon, then I play the hardbat event Friday morning, then I coach the rest of the way.
Fake Motions on Serves
One of the most under-utilized techniques is fake motions on serves. Most players have their racket move in a straight line from Point A to Point B, and since it doesn't take Ph.D. level geometry to read the spin if the racket goes in a straight line, the serve loses much of its effectiveness. It's like putting a big sign on your head before each serve that tells your opponent what the spin is going to be.
Instead, try two things. First, move your racket through a semi-circular motion so that the spin varies, depending on where the contact point is. At the highest levels players do this motion so fast and in such a short motion that few can even see the changing direction. There's a reason why, for example, a forehand pendulum serve is called a "pendulum" serve - the racket goes through a curving pendulum motion, and you get different spins depending on where on the curving path you contact the ball. Contact it early on the downswing, it's backspin; a split second later, it's side-backspin; a split second later, sidespin; a split second later, side-topspin; a split second later, it's topspin.
You can and should also vary the contact point on your racket to vary the spin, since not all parts of the racket are moving in the same direction at the same time. More importantly, the tip is the fastest moving part, so contact the ball toward the tip for maximum spin, then contact the ball near the handle to get a no-spin serve that looks like spin. If an opponent thinks there's a lot of spin on the serve and there isn't, that's more effective than a spinny serve where the opponent sees the spin.
Second, vary your motion after contact. If you are serving backspin, have a big exaggerated upwards follow-through. If you are serving sidespin or topspin, have a big exaggerated downwards follow-through. This is very easy to learn to do, and so effective, and yet many never bother to do this.
Here's a real example. One of our top local players has a very nice backhand loop, and any serve to his backhand is probably going to get looped - even short ones, since he can go over the table. If I give him a forehand pendulum serve that breaks away from him on his backhand side, he has no problem, and I usually end up picking the ball up at the barriers. But if I instead fake a reverse forehand pendulum serve (so my racket is going in the opposite direction), and then at the last second change directions and instead do a regular pendulum serve that breaks away from him with sidespin, and then pull the racket down the split second after contact to fake backspin - well, he misses over and over (as long as I don't overuse it). It takes practice to fake out a top player, but the practice pays off.
Here's a video (1:23) I found after about 30 seconds of searching that demonstrates these motions in slow motion. (Ignore the irritating background sounds.) See how the player's racket goes through a semi-circular motion, and quickly changes directions right after contact?
Preparing for Cary Cup Championships
International Articles at Table Tennista
Here are four more:
Table Tennis, the Beautiful Game
Here's a new highlights video from ITTF (4:40).
Swedish Song about Stellan Bengtsson and Kjell Johansson?
Here's the video (2:44) - can anyone give us the gist of what's being sung? An online translator translated the description as, "Finally there is the on YouTube! A classic of immense formats! Världsmästarna Kjell Johansson and Stellan Bengtsson shows that they do not only have mastered the racket and pingisbollen."
Wally Green
Here's a video (3:00) on Wally Green at Spin New York.
Board Meetings
This is where all companies should meet.
Thief Attempts Armed Robbery with Ping-Pong Paddle
Here's the story! "A WOULD-BE thief brandishing a ping pong paddle found a new opponent when he threatened a service station attendant in an apparent hold-up."
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Tennis and Table Tennis
I used to play tennis regularly, going to the Quince Orchard Swim and Tennis Club for group training sessions. But it took up a lot of time and money, and I finally stopped about three years ago. Last night I had an urge to play, and so signed up for the 7-8 group session. It's a full-time center, with five tennis courts and a huge swimming pool. Each is contained in a huge "bubble," which comes down during the summer. (I hate when the bubble comes down, and we're stuck playing outside, in the sun, heat, and wind. If tennis were meant to be played outside, there'd have been tennis courts in the Garden of Eden, right?)
While I was paying for the session in the front lobby area, a kid walked up to me and said, "Hi Coach Larry!" I didn't recognize him at first, but I finally figured out he was Kevin, one of the kids in my Sunday junior session. Outside of a table tennis environment I hadn't recognized him at first. Then a man came up to me and asked if I also taught tennis. Again, I didn't recognize him outside the table tennis club, but he was the father of another player in one of my group sessions; his son or daughter was presumably out playing tennis or swimming. We chatted for a few minutes, where I explained I was just a player at the tennis center. When I went out on the tennis courts at 7PM, guess who was sitting next to the next court, watching his son take a tennis lesson? Stephen Yen, a local 2300 player! That's three separate table tennis people I ran into there in the course of a few minutes.
The session went great. I was a bit rusty, but my forehand was pretty much as good as before. All the coaches there agree I have the most lopsided tennis game they've ever seen, with a really good forehand, and a pretty good backhand slice, lob, and drop shot, and placement and positioning well beyond my tennis level. But the rest - backhand, volleys, overhead, etc. - is pretty ordinary, other than lots of hustle.
There's an interesting neurological phenomenon I learned a while back about my tennis and table tennis. From table tennis I instinctively place shots to the right spot without thinking about it - after years of play, it's completely subconscious, as reflexive as, say, getting the angle right when blocking a loop. I do the same thing with my ground strokes in tennis; if an opponent gives me an opening on one side, I don't have to think about it, I'll automatically go to that spot. But here's the interesting phenomenon: when I'm at the net volleying in tennis, I have great difficulty placing the shot. There might be an open court to volley into, and I'll unthinkingly volley right back at my opponent, like a beginner. Then I made a discovery - when I do swinging volleys, then that part of my brain that instinctively places the ball lights up, and I'm back to reflexively putting the ball to the right spot like a pro. I finally figured it out. From years of table tennis my brain has become conditioned to placing my shot during my backswing. If I take a backswing - as I do in table tennis (even when blocking), tennis ground strokes, and swinging volleys - I'm a "pro," always hitting the right spot. But when I don't backswing, such as when I'm volleying at the net, that part of the brain doesn't light up, and so I'm back to being an amateur with no ball placement skills. (Technically, I think I do backswing some when volleying, but it's a different type of backswing then I'm used to, and my brain apparently doesn't register it as a backswing.) My solution has been to do lots of swinging volleys, which are considered less consistent than normal volleys, and so all the tennis coaches always discourage me from doing them. But they are better for me, because otherwise I fell like a beginner at the net, probably with a deer-in-the-headlights look since my brain simply won't operate properly in racket sports if I don't backswing. There must be a budding neurologist out there who can use this phenomenon for their Ph.D dissertation!
I've been thinking for a while about writing an article on Tennis for Table Tennis Players, and Table Tennis for Tennis players. But I'm not sure of the demand for such an article.
Tim Boggan and Cary Cup
Tomorrow morning at around 9:30 AM, USATT Historian and Hall of Famer Tim Boggan will arrive at my house after driving downing from New York. He'll spend the day and night here, and then on Thursday morning we drive down to the Cary Cup Championships in Cary, NC. On Friday morning I'll play in the hardbat event there - I won it in 2010 and 2011. Then I'll be coaching the rest of the way, mostly with Derek Nie, as well as Tong Tong Gong and perhaps others. Then I come back with Derek and his family, playing auto bingo the whole way.
Ma Long Continues Battles with Zhang Jike
Here's the article, entitled "Ma Long Declares to Continue Competing Against Zhang Jike"
Mikael Appelgren in a Reality Show
Here's the article! "Yes, the legendary Mikael Appelgren will participate in a Swedish TV program called "Mästarnas mästar" (the master of masters). This is a contest program that gathers Swedish athletes from different disciplines. During the competition, they have to face physical and mental challenges, where their teamwork, perseverance and strategy are tested. On this occasion, the program will take place in the Peloponnese peninsula in southwestern Greece."
Michael Bolton Plays Table Tennis in Commercial
Here's a commercial (1:02) for Optimum Insurance that features American singer and songwriter Michael Bolton.
Ping-Pong Art Table for Kids
Here's the article and pictures from Table Tennis Nation.
Carolina Pong and Überpong Paddles
Here's a video (2:56) of Carolina Pong auditioning the new überpong paddles.
Table Tennis Clocks
I own two table tennis clocks, the first two listed below. The first one sits on my shelf behind my desk, and the second one I put up at the Maryland Table Tennis Center (in the back where I often teach junior classes). In honor of Daylight Savings Time (I'm only two days late), here are other pictures of table tennis clocks. (Here's where you can buy some of these.)
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Tip of the Week
Practicing for the Big Matches.
Daylight Savings Time
Daylight Savings Time took a bite out of a Sunday morning practice session. I coach a six-year-old on Sundays from 10-11AM. Because of DST, that was like 9-10AM. Still not too early, right? After all, kids get up much earlier than that for school, right? Well, not in this case. I think the kid was used to staying up a little later on Saturday night, and his sleep clock was way off. When he came out to play, he was half asleep - literally. A few minutes into the session he put his head on the table and either went to sleep, or at least closed his eyes for a minute. I got him up, but a few minutes later he did it again. I had him splash water on his face to wake up - it did the trick for a few minutes. Then he sort of stood up, closed his eyes, and seemed to fall asleep standing up. Anyway, the first thirty minutes of the session were more or less alternate practice and sleep, practice and sleep. Then he woke up.
He actually had a pretty good second half. For his age, he's developed a pretty good backhand, can even smash pretty hard. (I have to get him to slow down.) On the forehand he tends to face the table without rotating his shoulders, and this also leads to an awkward grip. So we spent much of the second half shadow practicing this properly, and though he at one point put his head on the table again for a short nap, he got the forehand right. Near the end he was smacking forehands pretty well, including 22 in a row at one point - and he's hitting them pretty hard. Not bad for a six-year-old who is very small for his age - he looks about four. We also did some serve practice.
We finished the session as he likes to, by stacking pyramids of cups on the table, which he knocks down with forehands and backhands as I feed multiball, including the never-ending quest to knock down "Scar," the nastiest paper cup in the world, distinguished by a blemish that was no doubt received in one of his many fights.
U.S. Open Entry Form
It's ready! See you in Las Vegas, July 2-6.
MVP Ma Long
Here's an article on Ma Long being the MVP of the 2012 Chinese Super League.
Table Tennis and Flags
They just go together, don't they? That's a Romanian flag.
Play Table Tennis with Timo Boll
Here's a video (1:04) showing what it's like to be Timo Boll in practice. I think they put a mini-video camera on his head so you see things as he sees them.
Girls and Women in Table Tennis
Here's a great video (3:22), Let's Do More for Girls and Women in Table Tennis.
Exhibition in Hawaii
Here's an exhibition in Hawaii (59:07) that was done back in 2007, with Matt & Len Winkler and Leo Lucas.
Imagination
Here's a great and hilarious new table tennis video (3:33), featuring a "grudge match" on a mini-table, with great special effects.
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Junior Incentives and Team Leagues
One of the things junior table tennis in the U.S. tends to lack - including at my club - are junior incentives for each level. The kids come out and train and train, but for what? To win a rating event at a tournament? To win an age event at a tournament? (Not enough of them.) To win practice matches? To do well in a singles league? Rating points? These are all nice things, but they aren't quite enough. One way to address this is a junior team league. Another is to give training incentives, especially at the lower levels. At all levels there needs to be a balance between improvement (with specific goals) and fun. I'm now looking into both, with plans to set up various incentives and goals at the beginning level, and a junior team league starting this fall.
How would the junior team league be set up? Kids like doubles, so I want to include that. So most likely it'll be some version of two-person teams. However, rather than have just two or three players on a team (where the third can only play doubles), I'm leaning more toward six-person teams, where the top two play a best of five against the other team's top two (i.e. four singles and a doubles); the third and fourth players do the same against the opposing team's third and fourth; and the same for the fifth and sixth. This means each team will be made up of a balance of advanced, intermediate, and beginning players, but players would mostly compete against players in their own range.
Here are some thoughts on what are needed at the various levels. Please comment or email me if you have any suggestions.
Book Signing Tonight
Reminder! Today at 7PM I will be doing a book signing at the Maryland Table Tennis Center. I will also be selling and signing four of my other books. All books will cost $15, with a Special - buy the Tactics book, get a copy of the Tales & Techniques book for only $5! Here's the info flyer. Below are the books.
Table Tennis on TV in Tampa
Here's a video (4:32) where Coach Michael McFarland and college player Matt Delgado demonstrate table tennis on the Tampa local TV show Daytime TV.
How to Play Ping-Pong with Soo Yeon Lee
Here's the video (3:57)!
Table Tennis Music Video
Here's a music video (3:59) in Croatian, by Nevan Dužević. The description, translated into English via online translator, says, "Marigold is Zagreb Dužević songwriter fan of ping pong plays multiple instruments and especially likes to compose on keyboards." I'm not sure what the "Marigold" refers to.
Table Tennista
There are a bunch of new articles and videos at Table Tennista, including:
Table Tennis Master
There are a bunch of new articles at Table Tennis Master, including:
Articles:
Videos:
Photos:
Table Tennis on the Moon
Here's the secret picture of what the astronauts really did during the moon landings.
Link to my blog where I wrote about table tennis on other planets? (And here's my blog from Oct. 24, 2012, where I wrote about table tennis on the moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and outer space.)
Collective Table Tennis - Quintuples!
Here's a video (4:30) of five on five table tennis on an "adjusted" table!
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Biggest Things Happening in Table Tennis
Here are the biggest things happening in U.S. table tennis right now. (I'm toying with putting in sandpaper table tennis, with all the new money events they are offering. I may feature them in an upcoming blog.)
Book Signing
Reminder! Tomorrow (Friday) at 7PM I will be doing a book signing at the Maryland Table Tennis Center, in Germantown, MD, USA. I will be selling and signing four of my books - hope to see you there! All books will cost $15, with a Special - buy the Tactics book, get a copy of the Tales & Techniques book for only $5! Here's the info flyer. Below are the books - later I hope to go back to selling Steps to Success and Tales & Techniques online.
Table Tennis part of 2014 Youth Olympics
Here's the article. The event will be held in Nanjing, China, Aug. 17-28, 2014.
Wang Hao vs Fan Zhendong
Here's a video (4:44) of these two at the Chinese World Team Trials, with time between points removed.
Judah Friedlander on a Ping-Pong Paddle and NBC Sports
Here he is, Judah Friedlander (from 30 Rock and stand-up comedian), looking like he's just faced one of Ma Lin's ghost serves. The other paddle shown, "How to Beat Up Anybody," comes from Judah's book. And here's Judah on NBC Sports (2:34) giving a table tennis lesson to anchors Michelle Beadle and Dave Briggs. Since I've given Judah several lessons, that sort of puts me on NBC Sports, right?
Table Tennis Meme
Here's a great table tennis meme: "What society thinks I do ... What my friends think I do ... What Asians think I do ... What Americans think I do ... What I think I do ... What I really do."
Non-Table Tennis - Orioles Top Ten List
My article entitled "Top Ten Reasons Brian Roberts Will Have a Monster Season" was the cover story at Orioles Hangout for much of the last two days. Here's the direct link.
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How Many Serves Are There?
There are a lot of possible serves in table tennis. How many? Let's look at the ways to classify serves.
So we have 27 types of spin, 3 placements, 4 depths, 4 serving positions, and 4 serving motions. This gives us 27 x 3 x 4 x 4 x 4 = 5184 types of serves. But we haven't even talked about speed (it complicates things, since you mostly vary the speed on long serves), not to mention the amount of spin, varying placements and serving positions, as well as all the deceptive service motions, as well as other serving motions not listed here. So there are in reality far more than 5184 types of serves - infinitely more. But if you serve an average of 20 times per match, this should last you about 2592 matches before you have to start recycling your serves. If you play ten matches per week, this'll last you 21.6 months. If you run out of serves, come see me on Christmas in 2014.
Snow and Local Schools
A big snowstorm hit us early this morning, closing all local schools and completely befuddling my dog, who still can't understand why the outside world sometimes chooses to be cold white stuff. It's supposed to snow most of the day, with up to 10 inches, though it looks like it'll be considerably less - we'll see. With schools closed, some of our local juniors may head off to the club later today. Perhaps I'll join them.
Table Tennis for Thinkers Ad
Here's the one-page color ad that will appear in the upcoming USA Table Tennis Magazine. Next step - finding someone to do a book review.
Book Signing
This Friday at 7PM I will be doing a book signing at the Maryland Table Tennis Center, in Germantown, MD, USA. I will be selling and signing four of my books - hope to see you there! All books will cost $15, with a Special - buy the Tactics book, get a copy of the Tales & Techniques book for only $5! Here's the info flyer. Below are the books - later I hope to go back to selling Steps to Success and Tales & Techniques online.
Table Tennista
Here are recent new articles there, some with video.
Joao Monteiro
Here's a video (1:40) showing Joao Monteiro of Brazil (world #62) in slow motion.
Racket Sports Juggler
Here's a video (2:06) of a juggler who specializes in racket sports juggling. He juggles balls and rackets from table tennis, tennis, badminton, and squash. Watch for his ping-pong paddle juggling, and his juggling with a ping-pong paddle vertically balanced on his head.
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In reply to Re: March 6, 2013 by PipProdigy
Yikes! You are correct. I've fixed it, changing the serving motions into four main ones (combining forehand pendulum serve with reverse forehand pendulum serve, since they are just opposites of each other and you can do all 27 spins with one of these two motions). One coincidence - with the new numbers, you'll be able to serve new serves over and over until exactly Christmas 2014!
Table Tennis Online
As ITTF Coach John Olsen recently pointed out to me, we live in the golden age of online table tennis. You can watch just about any major table tennis match online these days, both live and afterwards. Over the last few days (and below) I've given links for many of the major matches taking place at the Chinese World Team Trials. During major USA Table Tennis events (Nationals, Open, Team Trials), you can watch the matches live as well. And you can go to youtube and find just about anything - just put in "Table Tennis" and anything else you are looking for. Over the weekend John watched the live streaming of the Swedish Nationals, the English Championships, and the Norwegian Championships. (Note that some of the links here that gave the live streaming still have the videos online.)
The availability of videos of the top players is one of the biggest advantages this generation of players has over past ones - along with more coaches and better sponge. On the other hand, there's also a disadvantage to the easy availability of these videos - players tend to watch a video and then move on to the next, and so don't really learn all that's going on. In the old days, there were fewer videos around, and so players would watch the same ones over and Over and OVER - and would pretty much memorize every point, not to mention really learning what the players did from sheer viewing repetition. I remember back in the late 1970s (when I was learning to play) having trouble with pips-out penholders. Then I got a copy of the famous Stellan Bengtsson vs. Mitsuro Kohno tape from the quarterfinals of the 1977 Worlds, and watched it endlessly, and my level against that style went up dramatically. (Pips-out penholder Kohno won, 19 in the fifth, in what many considered the "real" Men's Singles final as it was likely the best match of the tournament. Kohno went on to win the title.)
Jim Butler on Serves
Here are some nice quotes from four-time U.S. Men's Champion Jim Butler on serving, which he posted yesterday on the about.com table tennis forum. He used to have the best serves in the country, and now, at age 42, he's made a comeback - and he may once again have the best serves in the country.
"I've decided to put a lot of time into practicing my serves. Improvement there takes the least physical energy. I have the motion and understanding already down. To have great serves, they must be practiced daily in order to make them a weapon."
"I'm working on the forehand pendulum right now. I want to have a good chop and topspin mix like that young Chinese kid in Westchester. His serves destroyed me, and I'd like to have those. Easiest way to be competitive in Table Tennis is to have dominating serves."
The Amazing Tomahawk Serve of Kenta Matsudaira
Here's the video (1:09). Note how he can break it both ways - and see the side-by-side slow motion of the two versions. The real question for all you serious table tennis players: Why haven't you developed equally good serves? It's just a matter of technique and practice! If you don't have the technique, see a coach or watch videos and learn. (You don't need to match Kenta's serves - there are many other good serving techniques.) If you don't practice . . . well, then you'll never have the serve of Kenta Matsudaira, and you'll never be as good as you could have been. (This type of serve has been around for a long time. Dean Doyle specialized in this serve when he made the U.S. Pan Am Team over 30 years ago.)
Remembering Zhuang Zedong and Ping-Pong Diplomacy
ITTF President Election
ITTF President Adham Sharara is running for re-election - but he's unopposed so far. The election will take place during the upcoming World Championships in Paris, May 13-20, 2013.
Hunter Pence and Ping-Pong
Here's an article about how the Hunter Pence, an outfielder with the LA Dodgers, builds confidence with ping-pong.
The Terminator vs. Scottie
Here's a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger and table tennis exhibition star Scott Preiss just after their game ended in a "3-3 tie" at the Arnold Sports Classic in Columbus, OH this past week.
Chinese World Team Trials
Here are some nice matches, with time between points removed so it's non-stop action.
Swedish Men's Singles Final
Here's the video (6:53, with time between points removed) as Fabian Akerström upsets Jens Lundquist in the final. Akerström plays with long pips on the backhand - but he's so forehand aggressive it's sometimes difficult to notice.
More TT Videotapes
Here's a Facebook page devoted to collecting table tennis videos.
The Dirty Dozen Throwdown
It's on, this Friday at 9PM: Gideon "The Pigeon" Teitel (17-year-old 150-lb lobber) vs. Sam "the Rock" Rockwell (13-year-old 81-lb attacker). Between them they've had three and a half years of intense training, all leading to this moment.
Monsters University
Monsters University, the upcoming sequel to Monsters Inc. from 2001, will be the greatest movie of all time. How do we know? Here's an animated scene from the movie showing the characters playing table tennis!
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Tip of the Week
Should You Use a Neutral Grip?
The Flu, Late Players, and James Bond - Oh My!
As readers know, I battled with the flu most of last week, and was pretty much out of commission from Sunday afternoon through Thursday. I was tempted to coach on Wednesday - my 53rd birthday - but I got a call from my dad, and when I answered it, my voice was a croak. (I didn't know since I hadn't talked to anyone that day.) And then it got worse, so I got Raghu Nadmichettu to substitute for me.
It wasn't all bad - I spent part of the time watching James Bond movies which I'd borrowed from ITTF coach and student John Olsen. There are 23 James Bond movies, and I thought I had seen all but two or three. I discovered I had not seen five of them, and only had vague memories of three others. So I spent much of Tuesday through Thursday watching eight of them:
I got back into action on Saturday, running a junior session that morning and two hours of private coaching that afternoon. On Sunday I did two more hours of private coaching and ran another junior session. I also discussed with Wen Hsu plans for starting a junior team league this fall, tentatively on Saturday nights.
The junior session on Sunday was one of the more hectic ones I've run. It's a beginning junior class, so we need a higher ratio of coaches to players, with lots of multiball training. Normally we get 12-15 in this session, and I have two assistant coaches - for this session, Rocky Wang and John Hsu. The session began at 4:30PM, and there were only five players. I figured it was because we were running a tournament this weekend, and so many assumed there would be no session. I'd decided to start the session off with a short talk about the club's other programs - it seemed a good time, since the club was jammed with players for the tournament. (That's the advantage of a 16-table facility - you can run a tournament, a junior program, and have private coaching going on all at the same time!) I spoke for about five minutes to the five players and their parents. A sixth kid showed up in the middle.
I normally break the group into four smaller groups that rotate among the three coaches and the table tennis robot. However, with only five, I could pretty much run it alone, along with the robot. But since Rocky and John were already there, I decided we'd use two coaches and use two tables. So we took the robot down. Rocky volunteered to drop out, so he left. Then a strange thing happened - as we started, two more kids showed up. Then another. And then three came in - and it was now 15 minutes into the 90 minute session! I managed to grab Rocky before he left, and we hurriedly put the robot back up, but it wasted a lot of time for the others. With twelve players (beginners), I put them into four groups of three, and rotated as we always do. Since we had the late start, we only had three rotations, so not all the players worked with all the coaches or the robot. It also meant, due to lost time, we didn't get to work on all that I wanted, so we skipped pushing. After an hour of training, we played 11-point games (where they move up or down the table, depending on whether they win or lose, with 11-10 ending a game - no deuce).
Later today I'm sending out an email to the junior parents reminding them again of the importance of being on time.
MDTTC Open
I didn't get to see much of it as I was busy coaching. Wang Qing Liang (age 17, rated 2598) came from behind to defeat Chen Bo Wen (age 14, rated 2494) in the final. Wang won the first, Chen won the next three, then Wang won the last three to win 4-3. Crystal Wang, who turned 11 the week before, won Under 2250 and was up 2-0 on Raghu Nadmichettu (2366) in the Open before losing in five.
Amazon Review
Just got the first Amazon review of Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers - and it's a 5-star one! Below is the review, titled "It Made Me Think!" He is correct that there are times when the book is necessarily repetitive. For example, in the chapter about choppers, some of the material covered in the chapter on non-inverted surfaces (especially long pips) is covered again, so readers don't have to page back and forth.
Very enjoyable read. The whole time I was reading this book, my mind would kind of drift off as I was picturing the aspects of my game in whatever part of the book I was reading.
Pros
The topics are laid out in a very logical order and explained in great detail.
The verbiage makes the book very conversational, so it doesn't drag on or feel like a sermon.
Many examples are used making it easy to visualize each subject.
Styles are broken down into various subsets - each containing their own goals and strategies
Excellent tactics are provided against a wide variety of styles - I highly recommend the section on non-inverted surfaces!Cons
A little repetitive at times, but this kind of comes with the territory
Book signing
This Friday at 7PM I will be doing a book signing at the Maryland Table Tennis Center. I will be selling and signing four of my books (see below) - hope to see you there! All books will cost $15, with a special - buy the Tactics book, get a copy of the Tales & Techniques book for only $5! Here's the info flyer.
Put the Ball on the Table!
Here's an article by Samson Dubina, along with a video used as an example (Ma Long vs. Ryu Seung Min, 8:02) on the importance of keeping the ball on the table, which features the importance of positioning.
Table Tennista
Table Tennista is a great site for articles and videos on international table tennis. They do especially good coverage of China. I've linked to their articles many times. Their current features includes lots of coverage of the Chinese World Team Trials, as well as coverage of the German Nationals (Timo Boll was upset in the final) and Swedish Nationals (Waldner and Persson lost early).
German Nationals Highlights
Here's a video (2:45) with highlights from the German Nationals that finished this weekend. Big upset - Stefan Mengel upset Timo Boll in the Men's Singles Final!
Believe in Yourself
Here's a table tennis highlights motivational video (8:11) on the importance of believing in yourself.
Friendship Trophy for Women
Here's info from the ITTF's Women's Development Program on the Friendship Trophy, an event organized to help promote the participation of women and girls in Table Tennis. Each organizer can create a unique format to best celebrate the contribution of women and girls in Table Tennis.
Tribute to Women Players
Here's a video (59 sec) from ITTF that highlights the best women players in the world.
Hottest Chick in Table Tennis
Since we have two segments above on women, here's the hottest chick in table tennis! (Yes, I made this; blame me.)
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Flu Update
It's much better than before, but I'm still sick. I won't bore (or sicken) you with the details, so let's just say I'm singlehandedly propping up the economy with my support of NyQuil, Campbell Soup, and Kleenex Industries and. If all goes well, I expect to be coaching at the club tomorrow morning. It'll be a short blog this morning, then (after a few other items on my todo list), it's back to bed.
Off-Table Serve Practice
Here's a way to develop your serves away from the table - and it may greatly improve them. Start with a simple exercise: toss a ball in the air as if serving, and spin it with your racket. Try to do this so the ball goes straight up so you can easily catch it. After you've mastered this, try varying the spin. Try spinning it with the racket moving side-to-side, in-and-out, and in both directions. Learn to do all sorts of spins this way, where you focus on sheer spin and control. When you can do this, you are only one step away from doing this with an actual serve.
Ma Long - Superman?
Here's an article on Ma Long, the "Superman of the Chinese Team." Includes links to several videos.
Liu Guoliang and Kong Linghui
Here's an article on these two titans of China, formerly superstar players and now coaches of the Chinese Men's and Women's National Teams.
LA Dodgers Ping-Pong
Here's an article from Table Tennis Nation on the LA Dodgers baseball team quickly becoming baseball's official ping-pong team.
Ping-Pong Making a Comeback
Here's an article and video (1:42) on how table tennis is "trending." Table tennis coach and player Matt Winkler is featured.
Cape Fear Table Tennis
Here's a documentary (11:26) on the Cape Fear Table Tennis Club in Fayetteville, NC.
Olympian Magazine
Here's a link to the online Olympian Magazine, both the new issue and past ones. Nothing directly table tennis related, but it might be of interest to some. One article might in particular jumped out at me (haven't read it yet) - "The Role of Deliberate Practice in Becoming an Expert Coach: Part 2 - Reflection." (Presumably there's a Part 1 in the previous issue.)
Behind the Back Training
Here's a video (19 sec) showing behind the back training on an iPong robot! That's Steven Chan doing the demo. (I'm jealous; because of stiff shoulders, behind-the-back shots are about the only "trick" shot in table tennis I've never mastered.)
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Flu
It looks like what I thought was a cold is actually the flu. The difference is I'm feeling constant muscle aches and soreness, which apparently is a flu symptom, not a cold's. So how am I feeling? Other than the constant coughing, runny nose, green stuff coming out of my lungs, entire body encased in aches, and complete exhaustion, I'm fine, thanks for asking. (I got Raghu Nadmichettu to substitute for my coaching last night as I spent my 53rd birthday in bed.)
Playing While Sick
Way back in the fall of 1979, when I was 19, I had my big breakthrough tournament at the North Carolina Open. I was rated about 1850, but was way under-rated, and knew it - and so I was somewhat excited in the days before the tournament, so much so that I couldn't sleep. Making it worse is I came down sick. I used to be an insomniac, and often went a night without sleeping. This time I didn't sleep the last two nights before the tournament (Thur and Fri), and I came down with a fever of 101.
Early in the tournament I pulled off a nice win, and celebrated with a quarter pounder with cheese. When I won another match, I had another quarter pounder with cheese. Eventually I found myself in the Open Singles final (despite not being among the top eight seeds). As the match began, my head was burning up - several people had put their hands to my forehand and verified it was pretty bad. I had a horrible stomachache from all the quarter pounders - something like nine of them in one day, and having to play right after eating them. I faced Fred King, who in modern ratings would have been about 2200. Anyway, down 13-17 in the fifth on Fred's serve (games were to 21 back in those days, and you served five times in a row), I scored all five on his serve, and ended up winning 21-19 in the fifth. I also won Under 22, Under 2000, and Open Doubles, all four events I'd been entered in.
I spent the next few days in bed recuperating - I was pretty sick. I also became so sick at the idea of eating hamburgers that I've never eaten another hamburger or cheeseburger since, except at the 2000 Junior Olympics. The kids knew about my aversion to hamburgers, so I made a deal with them before the tournament: if they won over half the gold medals, I'd eat a cheeseburger. They did, and I did. That was the only one I've had since 1979.
Now that I'm as sick as I was that day back in 1979, perhaps I should enter a tournament this weekend?
Paris 2013
Here's the table used at the Chinese Team Trials for the upcoming World Championships in Paris.
Pongcast Episode 24
Here's another Pongcast (15:24). "In this episode: Results and analysis of the 2013 Qatar Open, Project Runway finds style in table tennis, Extra TV gets their pong on, and find out what it's like to be Timo Boll in practice!"
Wang Hao's Around the Net Loop
Here's a video (22 sec) of Wang Hao doing an around-the-net no-bounce loop at the Qatar Open against Germany's Patrick Baum.
Spin Move and Backhand Counterloop
Here's a video (27 sec) showing Kenta Matsudaira who both does a complete 360 spin after one shot, and a few shots later pulls out a winning backhand counterloop.
Trick Shots
Here's a video (2:29) of trick shots.
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In reply to Re: February 28, 2013 by jfolsen
Nope, no flu shot. Haven't had the flu in 30 years, so figured I was immune. I guess I get it once every thirty years, so I'll get a flu shot in 2043. I'm still sick, but not nearly as bad as Tue and Wed. I expect to be okay by Sat. I spent last night and today watching James Bond movies, care of a certain student. As I type this I'm watching "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," which I'd never seen before. Also watched "From Russia with Love" (which I had seen before, but only vaguely remembered), and two others I hadn't seen: "Thunderball" and "You Only Live Twice." There are two or three others I'm not sure if I've seen.
-Larry
