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!

August 31, 2020

Tip of the Week
Move Like a Pro.

USA Table Tennis Elections
BREAKING NEWS (added Tuesday because of timeliness) - Here is the USATT Elections news item. It's timely as the deadline to apply is Sept. 10. The elections are for one or two At-Large Representatives (it's not clear) and one Club Representative. USATT really could use some new people on their Board of Directors, so why not run?

The news item is a bit confusing. It refers to the rules for the election in the USATT bylaws, but gives no link to those bylaws. It refers to the election for At-Large Representative, but doesn't mention that, according to the very bylaw referred to, there are two At-Large positions, so presumably two At-Large Representatives will be elected - but the election news item refers to it in the singular three times, so from that, they might only be electing one At-Large Representative at this time, despite the bylaws requiring two of them. I hope they will clear this up. (Bylaw 7.6(b)(3) says, "There shall be two (2) At-Large Directors that are elected by the USATT General Members, through a process conducted by the Nominating and Governance Committee." There is nothing in the bylaws about staggering the elections of the two At-Large Representatives, so if the Nominating and Governance Committee has chosen to do that, that should be in the news item to explain why two are not being elected, as required by the bylaws.)

I know of at least one person who is running for an At-Large position who absolutely should not be on the board, so I hope we can get qualified candidates to run for these positions.

BREAKING NEWS - USATT has now reworded the announcement to make clear there are TWO At-Large Rep positions available.

Saturation Training
I mentioned in my blog last week that I had spent much of the two weeks at the Samson Dubina Mega Camp in Ohio working on my backhand. It was a textbook example of Saturation Training. This is one of the most important principles of table tennis and other sports.

There are three common ways to play your backhand - blocking, hitting, or looping. Blockers focus on quickness; hitters on aggressive hitting; and loopers on aggressive topspins. You can do a lot of other shots on the backhand, but these are the most common rallying shots that players use. (When I say "rally," that means topspin rallies, not pushing or chopping.) I've always been more or less a blocker and counter-hitter on the backhand, where I focused on consistency and placement. But I was never really that quick with my backhand blocking, and my backhand hitting wasn't that aggressive either. My consistency made up for these weaknesses, but overall, the lack of an aggressive backhand attack was always a tactical weakness in my game.

So I focused on backhand hitting the first few days of the camp - and lo and behold, it came together quickly. I think part of this was that, as a long-time coach, I really examined my stroke, and figured out why I never was good at hitting too aggressively. Part of it was I held the tip up a bit, so I lowered that, and also raised my elbow, and both paid off quite a bit.

But then I decided to focus more on backhand looping - and lo and behold, with some help from Samson and Chance Friend, that also came around. Players who have seen me play in the past won't recognize me! I still have trouble when I have to move too much to backhand loop - the huge bulk of my past training was moving to attack with my forehand - but in drills against blocks, it really came around. I also kept working on my backhand hitting.

And so, after two weeks of saturation training, both my backhand hitting and backhand looping are tremendously improved. It reminds me of the story I've often heard of Istvan Jonyer. In the early 1970s, he made the Hungarian team mostly as a blocker. Then he developed a great forehand loop, and became the best Hungarian and among the top players in the world. But his backhand wasn't so good. So he took six months off to train where he focused almost entirely on developing a backhand loop, which was a relatively new stroke back then. Result? After the six months of training . . . he lost to everyone at first, since he hadn't yet learned how to incorporate the shot into his game. But with experience, he got better - and he became the 1975 World Men's Singles Champion and was #1 in the world for something like three years.

It's not just for strokes. If you want to develop good serves, don't practice all of your serves a few minutes each. Focus on the one you really want to develop, and really work at it. If you practice serves twenty minutes, do fifteen on that serve. Train like that, and the serve can become great! (But you might want to work with a coach or top player at the start to make sure you are doing it right.) One of the interesting features of the Mega Camp in Ohio was the third week, where the focus was serve and receive. Each day had a different serve to focus on. One day we all worked on forehand pendulum serves. Another day it was the backhand serve. Another day was the tomahawk serve. And so on. By doing this, players would have at least two serving sessions that day with that serve, plus at least one drill where they would use that serve to play points. After the camp, players could then choose which one of these serves they liked, and then, using saturation training, should focus on that serve until it was PERFECT!

It's the same for receive. When asked what their biggest weakness is, most players will say, "Receive." Well, there's a simple solution to that - Practice! Find a good server or coach, and have them serve to you over and over so you can practice your receive. Have them do one serve over and over until you are really good at receiving that one, then move to another. When you are comfortable with all of them, then have the server vary the serve. (And you should do the same for them, unless you have a paid coach doing it for you.)

So instead of working equally on all parts of your game, and improving slowly but not developing any really big strengths, pick out the aspects you want to perfect and do some Saturation Training!

Larry Hodges Books
It's time for one of my shameless sales plugs for my books! They are all on both my Larry Hodges Books page here and on my Amazon page. Note the drop in price for Larry's Adventures in Europe and Egypt, from $22.50 to $9.35! (See explanation below.) If you have no interest in books, skip ahead to the next section!

Table Tennis

Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels

Short Story Collections (not table tennis, despite the titles!)

Other

  • Larry's Adventures in Europe and Egypt - The price just dropped from $22.50 to $9.35! (Amazon has minimum prices for books, based on content, and this was priced high because it's all color on the inside - but now they have allowed the price to drop, so you can now read about my visits to the historical sites all over Europe and Egypt!) Here's the Amazon description:

In Fall, 2019, Larry Hodges took off seven weeks to tour Europe and Egypt. It was an itch he had to scratch. He visited every major site he could find, especially historical ones. He saw Stonehenge, Buckingham Palace, Normandy Beaches, the Louvre and the Mona Lisa, Catacombs of Paris, Palace of Versailles, Eiffel Tower, the Alps, Venice, Florence, Siena, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Ancient Rome and Greece, the Sistine Chapel, Pompeii, Checkpoint Charlie, Auschwitz, Great Pyramids, Great Sphinx, and countless other sites, including a plethora of ancient castles, cathedrals, and more museums than I knew existed. He visited Portugal, Ireland, England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Vatican City (yeah, that's a country), Germany, Poland, Hungary, Greece, and Egypt. He visited Lisbon, Dublin, London, Paris, Lausanne, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Rome, Vatican City, Pompeii, Naples, Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest, Athens, and Cairo. He walked the beaches of Normandy, Lake Geneva, and the Mediterranean, the banks of the rivers Liffey, Thames, Seine, Arno, Tiber, Spree, and Nile, and the Grand Canal in Venice. And he took a camel ride around the Great Pyramid. That's a lot of scratching! Join Larry on his journey, filled with historical info, tidbits, lots of humorous asides, and over 250 pictures! It also includes, "Larry's Short Guide to Europe."

Non-Table Tennis - New Used Car
As noted in my short blog on August 23, I was in a car crash on Friday, Aug. 21. My car was 22 years old, so I had no idea how to go about getting a new one. I was advised to try carmax.com, which would be the most hassle-free way of getting a car (though I might have to pay more) - and they were right! Before going, I checked online to see what cars they had, hoping they'd have something somewhat similar to what I had had before, a 1999 Toyota Corolla (bought new in 1998). They didn't, and since I know about as much about cars as a typical tree might, I went there with severe trepidation. However, the minute I mentioned I wish I could get something similar to what I'd had before, he checked other carmax dealers, and found one in Virginia with a silver 2009 Toyota Corolla with 95,000 miles - and as of this past Saturday, the car is mine!

One small problem - I walked away from the crash with mostly just scratches and bruises, but an apparent muscle pull to my right lower back is still a problem, and I had to cancel my session with Navin Kumar this past Saturday. It seems to be getting a little better.  

Attack of the Unknown
And speaking of Navin Kumar ("The Bionic Man" - Google it), this weekend I watched Attack of the Unknown (1hr 43min), which came out on Friday. Navin both acted (as Atul, a SWAT driver, with a few lines) and was one of the executive producers of the movie. He first shows up at 26:09, telling the guy in charge, "I'm ready to rock and roll, sir!" And then something happens to him at 32:50 and he's done - but I won't spoil that for you. Here's the IMDB description: "A SWAT team transporting a vicious crime syndicate boss must fight their way out of a county detention center during a catastrophic alien invasion." (I do have one comment - stop shooting at the body, shoot at the eyes!!!)

You can watch it for $6.99 directly from the IMDB page, or other pages noted on this Facebook Info Page.

New from Samson Dubina

How Chinese Kids Improve Footwork
Here's the video (3:10) from EmRatThich/PingSunday.

Tips from the Games Guy
Here's the page. (I'm not so sure about putting sunflower oil on your rubber to make it stickier - is there anyone out there doing this for that reason?)

Fastest Smash
Here's the video (2:32), with Dimitrij Ovtcharov (world #11, world #1 in 2018) topping out at 113 kph (70.2 mph). I'd really like to see other top pros at this, as well as some hard-hitting amateurs - you don't need to be a great player to be able to hit the ball really hard. I'm guessing someone's going to break 75 mph (120.7 kph), but can anyone hit 80 mph (128.7 kph)? We often hear how balls are smashed at up to 100 mph (160.9 kph), but that's not too likely. (Make sure to read the comments under the video.)

New from Kevin Table Tennis

Great Hustling Returns by Disabled Player
Here's the video (43 sec) - it's from six years ago, but it's pretty wild!

Ibrahima Diaw & Quadri Aruna | Ask A Pro Anything at home
Here's the ITTF video (45:57).

New from Steve Hopkins

The Pursuit of Belonging: The amazing and untold story of the Anderson College and Augusta College table tennis dynasties
Here's the article.

Precision Table Tennis
Here's the article by Coach Jon.

USATT Continues Thursday Night Live
Here's the info page! It's every Thursday at 9PM Eastern Time.

USATT Videos
Here's their video page, which has two new items. They don't have any new items on their news page since my last blog, the first time that has happened since I started this blog in January, 2011.

New from the ITTF
Here's their home page and news page.

Turning Point: Table tennis over engineering, the one decision that changed Sharath Kamal's life
Here's the article on the world #31 from India.

New from the Malong Fanmade Channel
Lots of new videos here!

Table Tennis Player Figurine
It's yours for €21.95 ($29.29), which includes tax and shipping!

Unlivably Small Apartment with Ping-Pong Table
Here's the cartoon!

Faster Evolving Players
Here's the cartoon!

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August 26, 2020

Tip of the Week
On Short Serves to the Forehand, Challenge the Forehand, Often Go to the Backhand.

Two Weeks Training at the Samson Dubina Mega Camp in Ohio
So what was I, at age 60 and out of shape, doing training with players one-fifth to one-half my age, including numerous footwork drills that left me gasping for air and my body screaming at me to have common sense and go home and watch TV?

Like many others, I was stuck at home for five months because of the pandemic, where I got way out of shape and gained weight. So I decided to do something about it. (My club, MDTTC, where I coach, was partly open, but all group sessions, including training camps, had been cancelled.) So I contacted Samson and arranged that I'd come as a player in the mornings, a practice partner in the afternoons. That would mean five hours of intense play each day, Aug. 10-14 and 17-21.

Then I hopped in my car and drove the five hours from Maryland to Akron, Ohio and the Samson Dubina TT Academy. It was a great decision, as I got exactly what I needed - two weeks of intensive training, bringing back memories of yesteryear when I regularly trained like this. Working with Samson and Chance Friend, I even improved my backhand loop to where it's better now than when I was at my peak!

The Mega Camp, with 20 tables, was three weeks long, but I'd missed week one. About 2/3 of the players were juniors - but there were others around my age. Each week had a theme:

  • Week 1: Foundational strokes and footwork (the week I missed)
  • Week 2: Tactics (37 players)
  • Week 3: Serve and Receive (32 players)

It was ironic that I was there for the Tactics Week, since I wrote Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers. But Samson covered the topic very well, often quoting from the book. On the very first day he wrote on the whiteboard the opening to the book: "Tactics isn’t about finding complex strategies to defeat an opponent; tactics is about sifting through all the zillions of possible tactics and finding a few simple ones that work." He also quoted the parts about developing a "tactical toolbox," where you develop various techniques that you can use in a match. The underlying assumption here is that they only work if you are consistent at them - but Samson expanded on that, stressing the importance of consistency or the techniques aren't helpful.

Masks were mandatory outside of the playing courts. There was a temperature check for everyone in the morning - I raised eyebrows because I always have an unusually low temperature, usually around 95, with my lowest at 94.1. I washed my hands with soap several times per day and maintained social distancing as best I could in a camp full of people.

The schedule each day was 10AM-12:30PM, 2:00-4:30PM. Each session started with stretching and easy jogging. Then Samson would give a short talk on the upcoming drills, where he'd stress consistency - sort of a secondary theme throughout the camp. Then we'd go to the tables and do a four-drill warmup. First, it's forehand to forehand, with one player looping or otherwise attacking, and the other blocking. Then the other had his turn. Then we did the same thing on the backhand side. Then we'd move on to other drills, which varied each day. The first week I was there many of the drills focused on tactical play, such as attacking the middle or corners. The second week focused on serve and receive, with a different serve emphasized each day. Between drills Samson would call us together and explain the upcoming drills. I often joined in with comments.

The others my age in the camp had an advantage on me - they were playing lower-rated players, while I was trying to keep up players from 1600 to 2700 in the morning sessions, and 1200 to 2700 in the afternoon sessions, many of them kids who played at cheetah speeds. I was worried my body couldn't take it, and it was often difficult to keep it up at high intensity. However, I had only two semi-minor injury problems. In the first week, I hurt my neck, and had some problems for a day and a half. In week two, I hurt my playing shoulder, and also had to go easy for a day and a half, mostly hitting instead of looping. But both problems eased away, and I was back to normal soon afterwards. One problem I ran into is that, even when I'm exhausted, I'm very consistent, and so some of the rallies go on for a long time, which is even more exhausting! (I kept arguing for a new "50-shot rule," where coaches and practice partners are required to miss after 50 shots. They refused.)

I had some nice practice sessions with lots of players, including some phenomenal rallies with the various practice partners. Often I'd start a session slow, with awkward and tight muscles; then I'd pick up steam and for a while I'd play like a champion; and then I'd tire and my muscles would become rebellious sloths and I'd struggle to keep it up. But I did! Here's video of one of the sessions. If you go to 1:14:25, you can see me blocking to 2700 Kai Zhang as he loops side to side. (I'm standing up too straight. I focused on staying low my second week there.)

The coaches/practice partners varied throughout the three weeks of the camp (including the first week when I wasn't there). Samson Dubina and Chance Friend were there all three weeks. Others that were there included Kai Zhang, Bruno Ventura, Sarah Hazinski, Mark Hendricks, AJ Carney, Maria Bogoeva, Derek May, Seth Pech, Anwen Harris, and Parth Nagpure. As noted, I was also a practice partner in the afternoons. My blocking really came alive during the camp, so I gave many players a nice workout. When it was my turn to drill, sometimes the kids would have to have mercy on me as I tried moving side-to-side at their pace. (It used to be much easier!) I had some vicious sessions with juniors Jacob Boyd, Rignesh Padamanur, Matthew Chamblee, Chester Taylor, Frank Yin, and many others. Other top juniors attending the camps included Sid & Nandan Naresh, and Sarah Jalli.

Besides getting back in shape, I worked a lot on my backhand hitting and looping. I've always tended to block too much on the backhand side (since I was mostly a forehand attacker), and so in many drills I focused on being more aggressive on that side, and it paid off. My backhand hitting got back to where it was decades ago, and my backhand loop improved enormously. I did many drills as a two-winged looper, something I never did in my peak years, where I mostly blocked and hit on the backhand side, with only occasional backhand loops. In my second week, when I began to focus on staying lower - something I physically wasn't ready for in week one - my forehand loop improved quite a bit.

During the lunch breaks I introduced the kids to mini-paddle table tennis - I brought five of them with me from Maryland, all with Tenergy on both sides. I also introduced them to the "Lob Game," where one player lobs, and the others line up, one at a time. If they win two points in a row, they become the lobber, and the lobbers goes to the end of the line. If the smasher loses a point, he goes to the end of the line. The kids had endless energy and never tired of these games. As I've pointed out, the kids who train hard during the sessions and then play hard during breaks are the ones who tend to learn to love the sport and stick with it long-term and become champions.

I stayed at the Red Roof Inn, the official Mega Camp Hotel, for the duration, a bargain at $49/night. It was right next door to a Walmart (which I visited every other day, mostly for snacks and drinks), as well as an IHOP, Denny's, and Applebee's, and numerous other restaurants within half a mile.

I managed to do some sightseeing. On Sunday night before the camp started, I drove 30 minutes north and walked the beaches of Lake Erie, and waded in a bit. That was the fifth and only one of the Great Lakes I'd never visited. We had the Saturday and Sunday between the weeks off, so I visited the Akron Zoo, and did a lot of reading and writing.  

It was a great camp, and a great thanks goes to Samson and the other coaches/practice partners, and to all the players and extremely friendly locals. (The only problem came afterwards, when I crashed and totaled my car on the drive home on Friday, Aug. 21 - see my short August 23 blog on this. I wasn't able to get most of my things from the car until Monday, so I stayed at a hotel in Beaver Falls, PA for three nights. The drive home on Monday was boring and uneventful, which was a good thing. I start car-hunting today.)

Samson has more "Mega Camps" coming up. Here's his Samson's Thank You Page, with more camp info and videos. As Samson wrote me about the camps, "Each of the Ohio Mega Camps coming up have a different theme.  Throughout the 25 hours of training, each of the various drills links back to the main topic of the week.  Some of his upcoming camps include match tactics, rallying tactics, foundational strokes, footwork, short game, serve variations, serve return variations, short game, and tournament preparation camps. The next three camps are Oct. 12-16, Dec. 28-Jan. 1, and Jan. 4-8."

New from Samson Dubina
I'm linking to each of these news ones over the past two weeks because they are all coaching-related, and this is "TableTennisCoaching.com"! He was busy on these even during the camp!

How to Backhand Chop
Here's the article and video (4:01) by Wang Qingliang. Even if you are not a chopper, I recommend players learn to backhand chop for situations where they are out of position, and for players who have trouble with sudden chops. (It's less valuable on the forehand side, where the body isn't in the way and so you have a bigger hitting zone and more range.)

How to Win When the Score is 10-10
Here's the video (2:46).

New from PingSkills (they're active again!)

USATT Continues Thursday Night Live
Here's the info page! It's every Thursday at 9PM Eastern Time. Alas, it doesn't say who is playing tomorrow (Aug. 27), or give the results of last week's match (where Yue Wu defeated Tahl Leibovitz).

New from USATT

Butterfly News
While I was away for two weeks, Butterfly put up a lot of news items, most by Steve Hopkins. Rather than my linking to all of them, why not browse over them?

New from the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association

New from Coach Jon

Jimmy Butler vs. Daniel Tran
Here's the video (5 min) between the four-time US Champ and the top US mini-cadet (age 13).

Table Tennis - China "New Generation"
Here's the video (7:38).

Nittaku ITTF Pongcast | July 2020
Here's the video (14:50).

New from the Malong Fanmade Channel
Lots of new videos here!

New from the ITTF
Here's their home page and news page.

New from Adam Bobrow

Mirror Pong
Here's the video (45 sec)!

Tricky Fake Serve
Here's the video (6 sec)!

Junior Pool Pong Doubles
Here's the video (49 sec)!

New from PongFinity!

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August 23, 2020

Tip of the Week
On Short Serves to the Forehand, Challenge the Forehand, Often Go to the Backhand.

This Week's Blog Will Go Up on Wednesday
I was supposed to be return home on Friday night after twelve days in Ohio. However…

I left Akron at about 5:10 PM on Friday. At around 6:25 PM, while near Beaver Falls, PA, while in the far left lane (on I-76E, going about 75 mph, speed limit 70), I had a car accident. I was snacking on a bag of walnuts on my lap, which fell on the floor. I checked to make sure no cars were around and then reached for the walnuts. I inadvertently swerved right. I then swerved left to get back in my lane, but the car spun and hit the left wall. It bounced right, and I thought I'd regained control. But both left tires went flat when they hit the wall, and so I lost control, and my car spun across the highway. (But no cars around.) It hit the right side embankment and flipped in the air at least once and the landed upside down. The car is 100% totaled. 

Here's a picture.

Somehow, I came out with just a nasty cut above my right knee, numerous scratches, some bad bruises, and very sore all over. Otherwise I'm fine. Paramedics checked me out and I declined going to the hospital. I stayed Friday night at a Super 8 in Beaver, PA. On Saturday morning, I took an Uber to an Enterprise Car Rental and rented a car, and then drove over to the tow place to pick up most of my things, which were still in the car. They were supposed to be open on Saturday, but they were closed, and won't open until Monday. So I checked back into the Super 8, where I'm having a reading and writing "vacation" until Monday. Then I'll pick up my things, and drive home (four hours away).

After I get back to Maryland, I think I'm retiring from long-distance driving.

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August 17, 2020

I decided to spend a second week training at the Samson Dubina Mega Camp here in Akron, Ohio. And so no blog this week. But I'm getting back into playing shape!!! But the Tip if the Week is up, Should You Develop Your Forehand Push?  Plus, here's a good video to watch (5 min), highlights of four-time US Men's Singles Champion Jim Butler (1990, 1992, 1993, 2014) vs. US #1 Mini-Cadet Daniel Tran, including short interviews at the end.

Or, if you want something funny but interesting, and you missed or didn't have time to listen to my interview last week, here it is again (40:53) at Kevin Table Tennis! I explain how I signed twelve autographs as Jan-Ove Waldner at the US Open; ate nine quarter-pounders with cheese in five hours in my big breakthrough tournament (winning all four of my events, including the Open, with an agonizing stomachache, and ate only one more hamburger in the forty years since, and that on a lost bet); and how Marty Reisman ruined my life! (I sent it to USATT as a possible news item, but alas, they wouldn't run it, telling me, "We thought the article would be best for your website and social platforms to promote your personal brand." I wonder how many thousands of volunteer USATT hours I've done and how many thousands of readers I've sent to them with links to their news items, all to help them develop their "personal brand"?)

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August 10, 2020

Tip of the Week
Two Tips to Increase Forehand Looping Power.

Larry Hodges Interview
Here's my interview (40:53) at Kevin Table Tennis! You may know Kevin Nguyen (from Portland, OR) for his table tennis trick shots that I often link to, and he's also among the best of his age in the country, rated 2062 at age 12. Hope you enjoy some of the funny stories I tell! (Take it in two sittings, perhaps, but once you get started, I bet you won't stop!)

Off to the Ohio Mega Camp!
I've basically been sitting at home for five months now, coaching only one hour a week. I've been getting more and more out of shape, and I'm bored to death. So a few days ago I made the decision to do something about it. The camps at my club are canceled due to the pandemic - and if they weren't, I'd probably be coaching at them rather than playing.

So I'm off to spend a week at Samson Dubina's August 10-14 Mega Camp! I'm going as half player, half practice partner - half the sessions I'll be hitting with players roughly my level, half with weaker players. I'll be doing footwork drills like everyone else. Due to my age (ten, plus or minus 50) and recent inactivity, I may have to ease myself into it. That mostly means that, for the first few days, I'll probably do regular forehands during footwork drills. When I feel ready, I'll start looping in those drills, which is more physical. (It used to be so much easier.)

On Sunday morning I drove up to Akron, Ohio. However, before reaching it, I veered off and went up to Lake Erie, where I walked the beaches for half an hour, and waded into it for a few minutes. I'd been to the other four Great Lakes - Superior, Michigan, Huron, Ontario - and now I've been to all five. Then I drove back down to Akron and checked into the Red Roof Inn, 1.5 miles from the Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy. Training begins 10AM on Monday morning. Schedule is 10AM-12:30PM, 2:00-4:30PM, Mon-Fri. Then I'll probably drive back on Saturday. (I say "probably" because, who knows, if I'm not completely worn out - and I will be - I could stay for Week 3!) I'm posting this on Sunday night, with much of it put together at the Red Roof Inn in Akron. 

Ask the Champion with Jan-Ove Waldner
Here's the USATT info page. You can join them and watch it live on Monday, Aug. 10, at 4PM Eastern Time. (This was originally scheduled for last Tuesday, but had to be postponed.) Here's an excerpt from my book, Table Tennis Tales & Techniques - this really happened! I told Waldner the story at the 2001 World Championships in Japan. (I go into this more in the interview above with Kevin.)

At the 1985 U.S. Open in Miami, Jan-Ove Waldner and I both wore the same Stiga track suit ... the same Stiga shoes ... we had the same color and style hair ... he and I were the same height ... you get the idea.  As I walked through the arena, people kept asking me for my autograph.  At first, I said I wasn't Waldner, but what the heck?  I began using my best accent voice, "Yah, I om Jan-Ove Waldner, top player from Sveden. You want my autograph?"  I signed 12 autographs as Waldner.

USATT Board of Directors Teleconference
They have a meeting on Monday at 8PM Eastern Time. USATT members are welcome to listen in, and ask questions via the chat feature. As I write this, the agenda for the meeting is not up, but it usually goes up before the meeting. (Here's the USATT Agenda and Notices page.)

USATT Continues Thursday Night Live
Here's the info page! It's every Thursday at 9PM Eastern Time.

Saturday Coaching
I did a one-hour session with Navin Kumar on Saturday night. Here are two short videos.

Coaches Who Do Video Coaching
Here's an updated list. (Coaches - email me if I should put you on the list.)

  • LearnPong, with Kai Zhang, Brad Robbins, Chase Bockoven, Vlad Farcas, Andrew Williams, Christian Stelting, Bjorn Stelting, and Alfred Dela Pena.
  • Samson Dubina (OH), USATT Certified National Coach and multiple Coach-of-the-Year awards, and 2009 US Men's Singles Finalist. See his web page (scroll to the bottom of the products page).
  • Cory Eider (NJ), former USATT High Performance Director and 2013 US Men's Singles finalist, 2014 Men's Doubles Champion.  
  • Pieke Franssen (CA), USATT Certified National Coach and chair of the USATT Coaching Committee. See his USATT about page. 
  • Matt Hetherington (NJ), member of New Zealand National Team, now coaching in the US, ITTF Level 2 coach. See also his web page.
  • Judy Hugh (NJ), former member of US National Team. See her USATT about page. 
  • Christian Lillieroos (CA), ITTF Level 3 coach. See his web page.
  • Sean O'Neill (OR), five-time US Men's Singles Champion and two-time Olympian, USATT Certified National Coach, and current USATT High Performance Director. See his USATT about page. 
  • Tim Wang (CO), three-time US Men's Singles Champion. See his USATT about page. 

New from Samson Dubina

Three Table Tennis Serves Every Player Should Master
Here's the article by Alex Horscroft at Expert Table Tennis.

Tiago Apolonia Backhand Multiball Session
Here's the video (47 sec) of the world #55 (highest ranking #13) from Portugal.

How to Read Spin
Here's the video (2:50) from Perfect Ping Pong.

New from Steve Hopkins

Why Choppers Have More Fun
Here's the article by Coach Jon.

New Videos from USATT

New from the Malong Fanmade Channel
Lots of new videos here!

New from the ITTF
Here's their home page and news page.

PING! The Story of One Man's Love of Table Tennis
Here's the article about the book by Graham Frankel. I reviewed his book in my July 27 blog (see fourth segment).

Backhand Loop Around the Net, Between the Four Supplement, and Smacking a Ping-Pong Ball
Here's the video (9 sec) by Matt Hetherington!

My Best Round-the-Net Shots (Insane Swerve)
Here's the video (54 sec).

Dude Perfect (and Adam Bobrow): Ping Pong Trick Shots
Here's the videos (6:58 and 11:17)! (With Steve Hopkins.)

Ping Pong... But After Each Point the Racket Gets smaller
Here's the video (6:12) from Pongfinity! (This went up on Monday night.)

***
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August 3, 2020

Tip of the Week
How to Vary Your Receive Against Short Backspin Serves.

Coaches Who Do Online Coaching
Especially during these pandemic days, an alternative to private or group coaching is online coaching. There are several ways of doing this. Often a coach simply studies a video of a player and writes up an analysis with coaching suggestions. (I used to do this.) Sometimes it's an ongoing thing as the player perhaps sends in weekly videos for the coach. It can also be done live, with a coach watching via video as the player trains. I've compiled a list of top US coaches who do such online coaching. Take your pick! (Coaches - email me if I should put you on the list.)

  • LearnPong, with Kai Zhang, Brad Robbins, Chase Bockoven, Vlad Farcas, Andrew Williams, Christian Stelting, Bjorn Stelting, and Alfred Dela Pena.
  • Samson Dubina (OH), USATT Certified National Coach and multiple Coach-of-the-Year awards, and 2009 US Men's Singles Finalist. See his web page (scroll to the bottom of the products page).
  • Cory Eider (NJ), former USATT High Performance Director and 2013 US Men's Singles finalist, 2014 Men's Doubles Champion.  
  • Pieke Franssen (CA), USATT Certified National Coach and chair of the USATT Coaching Committee. See his USATT about page. 
  • Matt Hetherington (NJ), member of New Zealand National Team, now coaching in the US, ITTF Level 2 coach. See also his web page.
  • Judy Hugh (NJ), former member of US National Team. See her USATT about page. 
  • Christian Lillieroos (CA), ITTF Level 3 coach. See his web page.
  • Sean O'Neill (OR), five-time US Men's Singles Champion and two-time Olympian, USATT Certified National Coach, and current USATT High Performance Director. See his USATT about page. 
  • Tim Wang (CO), three-time US Men's Singles Champion. See his USATT about page. 

Mobile Feet = Better Shots
Here's video (51 sec) of me feeding multiball (random topspin to all parts of the table) to Navin Kumar this past Saturday. Navin is mostly a blocker, with long pips (no sponge) on the backhand, i.e. the "pushblocker" style. He doesn't always move his feet enough to play some of his shots as effectively as he could, especially on the forehand. Note how, at the start of the video, he's mostly leaning and reaching toward shots. But see how, starting 22 seconds in, he starts to do that little hop between shots, and this leads to mobility - and from there on, note how much stronger and more consistent his forehand is. Here's a Tip of the Week on this, How to Be Light on Your Feet.

Due to the pandemic, all group coaching at the club is on hold, and I retired from private coaching a couple years ago. But I made an exception with Navin. (But no others! I'm working with him because of his Parkinson's, and because I've worked with him for a couple of years. I coached him at the World Parkinson's championships last year - silver in doubles, bronze in singles - and may due so again next year, in Berlin.)

How to Move Up a Level
MDTTC featured one of my Tips in May, How to Move Up a Level. It's one of my most popular articles, and really boils down what it takes to improve in this sport.

Greatest Shots and Rallies
Here's video (10 sec) of a shot I pulled off against Navin Kumar in a coaching session on Saturday. So . . . how does this compare with this and this?

My Table Tennis Book Collection
I now have 266 books in my table tennis book collection!!! I had new shelves put in as the previous shelves weren't large enough. (They are in a mini-hallway, so I had to take the picture from an angle.) Of course, those are books by anyone. If you want my books, here they are! (I only actively collect books in English. The collection includes 257 in English, 9 in other languages.)

USATT Club Coach Certification and Courses
Here's the USATT News Item. 

New from Samson Dubina

Tao Wenzhang Training Videos
"If I can do it, there's no reason that students can't." -Tao Wenzhang

Playing Table Tennis With Both Hands - Good or Bad?
Here's the article and videos from PingSunday/EmRatThich.

Show 0328 - Table Tennis Diary
Here's the podcast (35:08) from PingSkills, featuring Mima Ito Notebook, Next Non-Chinese Winner, Block Timing, and Around the Net.

New from the Malong Fanmade Channel
Lots of new videos here!

New from USATT

New from Steve Hopkins

Portland Teen's Ping-Pong Skills Featured on CBS
Here's the article and video (4:12), featuring Kevin Nguyen. Kevin also has another video out this week, Table Tennis Training #1 (8:32), with highlights from his training.

Asheville Woman Beats More Than Opponents Through Table Tennis
Here's the article and video (2:12) from ABC 13 News (Asheville, NC), featuring Emily Scott-Cruz at the Asheville TTC and sobriety.

Starting From Scratch With Stephen
Here's the article from Coach Jon.

Table Tennis Players Compete for Tokyo Paralympics
Here's the article from NCTTA.

New from ITTF
Here's their home page and news page.

Igor Levitin Runs Unopposed for European TTU Presidency
Here's the ITTF article.

Champion Table Tennis Brothers from Australia
Here's the video (5:10) from a talent TV show.

Seven-Year-Old TT Trickster
Here's the video (4 min) - Most of the table tennis starts at 0:37, with the real trick shots starting at 0:55. By the time the video is over, you'll be yelling "Yeah!" along with the kid!

Ping-Pong Hoods?
Here's the picture!

Cross-Eyed Pong?
Here's the picture!

Bear Pong Gif
Here it is!

Why I Lost a Table Tennis Match
Here's the graph. (Here's the non-Facebook version.) If I did the graph, I'd add three more categories, "He won on his serves!", "He had weird rubber!" and "He had weird strokes!", since those, along with nets and edges, are the most common gripes after a match, but we'll keep "Opponent Played Better Than Me" at 1%. (We'll ignore the unneeded apostrophes in the graph.)

Trick Shot Card Game
Here's the video (6:05) from Pongfinity! (This went up a day late since they uploaded it on Tuesday, instead of their usual Monday.)

***
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July 27, 2020

Tip of the Week
When Playing an Unfamiliar Player, Focus on Serve & Receive.

I'm Back!!!
My two-week writing workshop vacation is over. I basically spent nine days in online Zoom meetings in "The Never-Ending Odyssey" writing workshop, an annual workshop for graduates of the six-week Odyssey science fiction writing workshop. The meetings started around 10AM and went to dinner time, with optional meetings at night. They included critique sessions, classes, readings, and salons where we discussed various topics. I had a great time - and even managed to sneak table tennis into one of my stories!!! (It's way, Way, WAY in the future, and someone finds a pack of ping-pong balls - "Plastic lasts forever" - and it ends up being central to the story.) Here's a group picture on Zoom of the 21 of us in the workshop! (Here's the non-Facebook version.) I'm on the top right, the only one without a big smile. (That's a virtual background from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH, where the workshop normally takes place - I've been there now for eleven TNEOs plus the original Odyssey workshop in 2006.)

2021 World Championships in Houston
Alas, Houston has withdrawn from running the 2021 World Singles and Doubles Championships. (It would have been the first Worlds in the US.) I'm told it's not directly because of the pandemic, but because the Olympics in Japan are now scheduled to start July 23, 2021, which would be just after the Houston Worlds in June. (They would, in fact, be sandwiched between the World Team Championships in South Korea, which moved from 2020 to Feb. 28-Mar. 7, 2021, and the Olympics, and they'd no longer be the premier event of the year.) This was discussed at the July 13 USATT board meeting (held online on Zoom, which I attended). Here is the USATT minutes page, and here is a direct link to the minutes of that meeting. Here's the pertinent info - "Ms. Sung" is USATT CEO Virginia Sung:

"Ms. Sung noted that two very important factors will impact the financial analysis for USATT. The first is the decision with respect to the 2021 Table Tennis World Championships, which were scheduled for Houston, Texas in June of 2021. However, Houston has withdrawn its offer to serve as a host the World Championships, and USATT is still awaiting the official decision of the ITTF as to how the international governing body for table tennis would like to proceed in this matter."

"Ms. Sung stated that there are several possibilities of how things will proceed, including the possibility that the ITTF will honor the contract that is already in place – and make the corresponding payments due to USATT under that contract – on the presumption that the US will host the World Championships at some future date. There is also the possibility that USATT will work out a different arrangement with the ITTF for a future World Championships in the United States."

I know that USATT is now actively looking for another site, but I have no idea if they would be able to do it now in 2021. We'll see. Alas, I was hoping to attend and do coverage, and then some sightseeing.

As I noted in a previous blog, I was supposed to go to the Olympics in Japan this year to do table tennis coverage for USA (both USA and international teams), and would be there now - but then the pandemic came. I may be going next year instead.

Ping! A Personal Perspective on Table Tennis by Graham Frankel
I started reading Ping! A Personal Perspective on Table Tennis around midnight, and ended up reading it cover-to-cover, finishing in the early morning hours, and the result was I got up late this morning, which is why this blog went up late. So you can blame Graham! 

The book, which came out June 29, has an interesting format. It alternates between Graham's autobiographical table tennis history in England (as a player, organizer, and finally as a coach who focuses on multiball training), and the history of technical changes in table tennis. Both were equally fascinating. There were even some similarities in our table tennis backgrounds! Like him, I didn't get into "serious" table tennis until rather late (age 16 for me). More eerily, we both got into the sport indirectly because of "failures" in other sports - for him, it was numerous sports other than table tennis; for me, it was an unfortunate happening in baseball, which I blogged about on June 15 ("The Play That Changed Everything"). He and I were also both long distance runners.

The chapters on technical changes focused on equipment, and included the coming of sponge (1952 and before); the seven-year war on whether to ban sponge (1952-59); the compromise reached in 1959 and the new sandwich rackets; the loop, made possible by grippy inverted surfaces; antispin (which he calls "antiloop"); long pips; racket twiddling and the two-color rule; gluing; and the changes to the ball (from 38mm to 40mm and switching from celluloid to plastic).

My only peeve was the font size is a bit small and the inner margins a bit too narrow. I ordered the paperback version, but there's also a kindle version. The book is a "quick" read, 95 pages plus index, with plenty of pictures. Here's the book's Amazon description:

"Table tennis, the sport that almost everybody has played at one time or another, has a unique position among all other popular world sports. The evolution of table tennis at a competition level has been dominated by changes in equipment. This fascinating story is punctuated by moments of drama where unknown players have burst onto the international scene upsetting established champions and setting the sport into a new direction. These pivotal changes sparked bitter conflicts – sometimes drawn out over decades - between the authorities, players, and those with commercial interests in creating new products. Set against the historical background, Ping! is also a very personal story, charting the experiences of how a young boy whose humiliating failures in other sports led to a lifetime commitment to table tennis."

A Fire Took Ojo's Home
Here's the GoFundMe page for championship player and coach Ojo Onaolapo, in San Antonio, Texas. The page gives more info on the situation. "How would you feel if you returned home to find out that everything is gone? Everything. Pictures of friends and family. Clothes. Everything you worked hard to build your entire life, only to have what's on your back. This is what my coach, Ojo Onaolapo felt like."

Professional Online Coaches
I'm creating a list of professional table tennis coaches who do online coaching, where they analyze and coach players by watching them on video. So far I know of the following: Samson Dubina, Cory Eider, Judy Hugh, Matt Hetherington, Christian Lillieroos, and Sean O'Neill. If you know of others, or do so yourself, please email me, including contact info and any web link. I'll post the list in my blog next week. 

USATT Announces Thursday Night Live
Here's the info page! It's every Thursday at 9PM Eastern Time.

11 Reasons Why Table Tennis is Great for Your Health
Here's the article from the Augusta Free Press. The first item is, "It dramatically improves your reflexes." Yesterday I snatched a fly out of the air, which I've been doing regularly for decades, due to my table tennis reflexes. I think we should do a drill at our next junior session where we release hundreds of flies in the club, and the kids have to snatch them out of the air with their playing hand!

New from Samson Dubina

Basic Skills is the Key
Here's the video (6:28). This pretty much shows all the basic techniques, at an advanced level. One thing that jumped out to me - at 52 seconds in, for about 25 seconds (interrupted by the "yin pei" part), they do a drill where one loops off backspin, and the other counterloops. But they don't continue the rally - instead, the one who did the first loop is already reaching for the next ball. This way they both get to rapid-fire practice their loops, one off backspin, the other counterlooping. Then they switch who loops which. Most players simply play out the point in such drills, and so don't get the systematic training needed to develop the shots at a higher level.

Ding Ning Serve
Here's the video (18 sec, in slo-mo). Ding Ning at the World Championships won gold eight times (including Women's Singles in 2011, 2015, and 2017), silver five times, and bronze three times, and also won three golds and a silver at the Olympics (including Women's Singles in 2016). So . . . why don't more players serve like this?

Fake Flip Push
Here's the video (6:58, but link should take you to 4:30, where the technique is demonstrated). I used to do this occasionally, but sort of forgot about it and stopped doing it. I wonder why it's not used more often - it's a quick way to pick up a free point!

Kanak Jha: How I've Developed Into a 'Top Player' in Table Tennis
Here's the video (3:17).

Ask A Pro Anything: Lily Zhang
Here's the video (5:34), with Adam Bobrow.

Ask the Coach Table Tennis Podcasts from PingSkills
Here's their latest Ask the Coach podcast (27:02), covering questions about the Drill and Tip of the Week, On this Day section, Spin on the Tomahawk Serve, How to Spin the Ball, and Tables. Here's the page for all 327 of them, going back five years.

eBaTT in collaboration with Everything Table Tennis and ELTT

Table Tennis is Back!
Here's the article by Tom Lodziak. It's worth visiting just for The Simpsonish table tennis cartoon at the top!

New from Coach Jon

USATT Stuff
USATT has redone its web page. What do you think of the new design? I haven't gone over it much myself. However, I do think it might be better to have the menu items along the top, like they were before, rather than having to click "Menu" to get to them. But I'm not picky. Since I've been away for two weeks, they've had a number of new news items and videos. Rather than my linking to them all, why not browse over them?

New from Steve Hopkins and Butterfly
Here's their News Page. Normally I link to each article, but rather than link to each article over the past two weeks, why not browse over them?

National Collegiate Table Tennis July Newsletter
Here it is!

New from ITTF
Here's their home page and news page.

New from the Malong Fanmade Channel
Lots of new videos here!

Who Did it Best? Around the Net
Here's the video (2:08).

My Greatest Moments on a Table Tennis Table
Here's the video (49 sec).

Jenson Van Emburgh - Bay News 9 Story
Here's the video (3:49).

Para-Table Tennis Player Leibovitz to Compete at Sixth Paralympics
Here's the article from Inside the Games.

Happy Birthday Stellan Bengtsson!
Here's a Stellan cartoon. (Here's the non-Facebook version.) The 1971 World Men's Singles Champion and San Diego coach turned 68 yesterday (on Sunday, July 26). Here's his Wikipedia page.

New from Adam Bobrow

Ping Pong Story & Dance Academy Collaboration
Here's the video (6:51)!

My BEST Ping Pong Trickshots
Here's the video (3:25), sub-titled, "took days to make."

Big Net Pong
Here's the video (35 sec)!

Water Pong
Here's the video (29 sec)! Here's a version I found at Amazon, Poolmaster Floating Table Tennis Game Toy.

Cat Ping-Pong
Here's the video (38 sec). It's an old video and I linked to it at least once before, but it's a classic. I think it's from the 1960s, and yes, it's a cat essentially playing table tennis! Or is it Paw Pong?

Nice Save, as He Tumbles Off the Skyscraper
Here's the cartoon! It doesn't actually have a caption, so make up your own.

Ping Pong with Coronavirus
Here's the cartoon - Trump vs. Chinese President Xi Jinping, with problematic paddles! Here's a similar cartoon. (Here's the non-Facebook version.) 

New from Pongfinity!

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July 20, 2020

As noted in my blog below, I'm away this week, but here is this week's Tip of the Week, The Importance of Lobbing. See you next Monday!

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July 13, 2020

Tip of the Week
Fast, Quick Motions Disguise a No-Spin Serve.

Vacation - No Blog Next Week
Every year in July I drive up to Manchester, New Hampshire for my annual nine-day science fiction writing workshop "vacation." Alas, due to the pandemic, this year's it's all online, so I not only won't be leaving Maryland, I won't even be leaving my house. But I'll be in various workshop meetings every day from morning until night. It doesn't actually start until this Friday (July 17-25), but I'm spending the rest of this week preparing for it, plus getting some writing done.

There will be a Tip of the Week next Monday, July 20, so stop by for that!!! Next blog will be July 27.

The minute I put this blog online, the "vacation" begins!!! If you need a favor, or something quick, or table tennis advice - NO!!!!! I get a dozen or more such emails every day, and I dutifully get back to everyone the day they email me (and spend way, Way, WAY too much time on these things), but I'd like to have these two weeks off, as in really off.

I put "vacation" in quotes because it's a lot of work, these writing workshops. I had to critique something like 20 stories by others, and others critiqued three of mine. Then there are all sorts of classes, exercises, and readings. The nine-day workshop is called "The Never-Ending Odyssey," and is attended and run by graduates of the six-week Odyssey Science Fiction Writing Workshop, of which I'm a 2006 graduate. This will be my eleventh TNEO.

USATT Coaching Excellence Program
Last Thursday I attended another USATT Coaching Committee Zoom meeting, along with others on the committee (Pieke Franssen, Gao Jun, Dave Fuller), along with USATT CEO Virginia Sung and Josh Dyke from headquarters. The focus of the meeting was the new USATT Coaching Excellence Program. The videos, questionnaires, and other materials for Level 1 (Club Coach) is almost ready - it might go up this week. Along with the others, I'd gone over the materials and of course had many comments/suggestions - some felt I had too many! :) A great thanks goes to Dave Fullen, who is doing the bulk of the work in putting this together, along with Virginia Sung, who's also very involved in the project.

One key thing for me was that, since most of the videos demonstrating the technique were of Vladimir Samsonov, we should explain some of the idiosyncrasies of his technique, and not teach it as the specific way it must be done. For example, Samsonov keeps his arm far more bent than most world-class players, nearly 90 degrees, and if we don't explain this, we'll be developing a country full of coaches who teach that as the standard! (Just watch the Chinese - they almost fully extend their arms.) Also, because Samsonov is very tall, some of his techniques are going to be different. Anyway, Dave Fullen and Coaching Chair Pieke Franssen are going over my comments and others and will decide which ones to incorporate.

One big, new thing is that much of the courses will be taught online, using a platform from integrasssports.com, and via videos and Zoom. That would be something new for me! I'm used to doing it at a club. But others seem confident they can do it this way. I know that Pieke, Gao, and Dave all plan on running some of these courses. (I'm willing to help out with technique advice, but I'm probably not going to run the courses myself.)

Interested in a Table Tennis Book?
Here are mine that are currently in print:

Here are some others:

Training with Navin
Here are two more videos Navin Kumar put up of our session this past Saturday.

  • Forehands (21 sec) - He smacked it past me!!!
  • Backhands (18 sec) - Using inverted on the backhand (he normally uses long pips, no sponge)

USATT Board Meeting
The Zoom meeting is tonight, starting at 8PM Eastern Time. Here's the agenda and info on attending. Anyone is allowed to watch and listen in, and you can message the chair if you'd like to speak. I expect to be there - my TT club and local theaters are still closed, so what else is there to do? (My club, MDTTC, is open only for limited coaching, so I'm there just once a week.) Here's the agenda:

  1. CEO Report
  2. Audit Committee Report
  3. Report Regarding USATT Foundation Board of Directors
  4. Report Regarding Proposed Amendments to Bylaws
  5. Nominating and Governance Committee Report Regarding Board of Directors Election Procedures
  6. Technology Committee Report
  7. Ethics and Grievance Committee Report

The Balls n All Show Brings You "A Journey Beyond The Players"
Here's the Facebook Info Page. (More info here.) It's today! Hosted by Ali Pearson, Eli Baraty & Edward John Lynn. It starts at 7:30PM GMT (that's 3:30PM Eastern Time in the US), with an after-show part.

ITTF Announce New Dates of World Team Table Tennis Championships
Here's the article.

Hips Acceleration for Power Forehand Topspin
Here's the video (2:57). Notice the kid's big forehands starting at 2:25!

New from Samson Dubina

How to Beat a Chopper in 4 Simple Steps
Here's the article by Alex Horscroft

USATT

New from Steve Hopkins

Thanks Coach
Here's the article by Coach Jon, featuring Samson Dubina.

New from the Malong Fanmade Channel
Lots of new videos here!

Ma Long Training
Here's the video (12:36).

The Life of an Athlete Under lockdown - Ma Long reveals
Here's the ITTF interview.

June 2020 | Table Tennis Pongcast
Here's the video (19:56).

New from ITTF
Here's their home page and news page.

This Is Table Tennis
Here's the video (2 min).

Ukrainian Table Tennis Betting Suspended in New Jersey Over Match-Fixing Concerns
Here's the article.

Roger Federer Playing Table Tennis as a Kid
Here's the video (1:04, but link should take you to the last five seconds where he's playing table tennis). Note the two-handed backhand, which is strange since Federer plays tennis with a one-handed backhand! Here's more video of Federer playing table tennis!

Excavator Pong
Here's the video (24 sec) of 1993 World Men's Singles Champion Jean-Philippe Gatien! (I think the heavy equipment vehicle here is called an excavator - someone comment below if I'm incorrect.)

Kevin Trick Shots
Here's the video (14 sec)! When he posted this on Facebook, here was my response: "Everyone praises Kevin here, but nobody talks about the cup, the roll of tape, or the three ping-pong balls, all of whom fell screaming to their deaths during this atrocity, with the psychopathic bully Kevin laughing at their fate. The bodies of dozens of other ping-pong balls litter the floor; they too paid with their lives. Why, Kevin, Why???"

PingPong Story Trick Shots
Here's Pingpong topspin & Legend trick shot (5:48). For their past trickshot videos, see the PingPong Story page!

H Ping Pong: 2 vs 2
Here's the video (5:25) from Pongfinity!

Table Tennis Smashes Coronavirus
Here's the cartoon! Here are three table tennis coronavirus cartoons I've done. (The new cartoon is eerily similar to the third one below!)

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July 6, 2020

Tip of the Week
Side-to-Side Training for Improvement and Health.

Subconscious Table Tennis
I noticed an interesting during a session with Navin Kumar on Saturday. (If you Google "Bionic Table Tennis," about a zillion articles on him comes up.) We were about to do a drill where he has to smash (forehands and then backhands) and hit a bottle on the table. The key, as I always point out, is to not consciously aim for it. That's the common mistake most make. Whether it's in a game or practice, the minute the conscious mind takes control, much of your training disappears, since the whole point of training is to make it reflexive, so you are really training your subconscious.

When I demonstrated this, I put the bottle on the far side, bounced a ball on my side, and smacked the bottle with a barrage of forehands, almost never missing. (When it misses, it's by less than an inch.)  I moved the bottle around to show that you can change your target and still have great accuracy. And that's when I noticed something.

When aiming for the bottle, all my conscious mind has to do is look at the target and decide I want to hit it. The subconscious does the rest. But the part that was fascinating, and which I hadn't really focused on before, was how my subconscious would adjust my foot positioning each time. I wasn't consciously aware of it, but each time I went over and moved the bottle to another part of the table, I'd come back, and when I'd look at it, my feet reflexively moved into position to line me up for the shot.

Of course, once I thought about it, it mostly fell apart. The conscious mind can somewhat closely match what the subconscious mind is trained to do, but only somewhat so. And so when I thought about where my feet should be and then tried hitting the target, I could always tell that I wasn't perfectly set, and I'd have to adjust a little with my upper body for this, and suddenly the accuracy wasn't there - the balls sprayed about the area where the bottle was, sometimes hitting, but with nowhere near the precision when I don't think about it. (It's even worse if you think about or try to consciously control your stroke!) Once I blanked my mind out again and let reflexes take over, everything fell back into place, and I smacked the poor bottle ten times in a row.

To show an example of reflexive foot positioning, here's a video (18 sec) I saw recently of Pete May vs. George Cooper from three years ago. As the video says, they have been competing since the early 1970s. Pete turns 80 next year, and is still rated 1868. (George is 73.) Neither has world-class foot speed, but guess what they both have? Reflexive footwork. Watch their feet as they play - it's all subconscious. For example, watch how Pete (the chopper on far side) reflexively reacts to each of George's attacks, putting him in perfect position for each shot. It's all done subconsciously, from years of training and playing.

Here are two videos Navin took of our session.

RIP John Tannehill
Surprisingly, I only really met John once, though I've seen him at a number of tournaments. I played him in the hardbat event at some big tournament in the Midwest (probably late 1990s), best of three to 21. It was a battle, and I could just see him adjusting to me as the match went on. It was a battle of his efficient two-winged attack versus my all-out forehand attack. Alas, after I won the first, he figured a few things out and won a close three-gamer.

New from Samson Dubina
He's been busy!

Butterfly Favorites

Influence: Key to Success in Sports
Here's the article by Shashin Shodhan.

Olympic Athlete Lily Zhang Explains What It Takes to Be a Pro at Table Tennis
Here's the video (1:42).

Robot Training with Humanized Robots
Here's the video (15 sec). I've argued for years that the main problem with table tennis robots is that you aren't learning to react to a ball coming off an actual paddle, which is what you face in a real game. Well, this solves that! I hope they will be available in the US soon, at a reasonable price.

Blindfold Training
Here's the video (65 sec). I think the point is to train the player to react not just to the sight of the ball, but its sound as it hits the table. Notice how about halfway through the girls got pretty consistent? (I'm sure there's a really good coronavirus mask joke in here somewhere...)

Q&A with Kevin Nguyen Part 2
Here's the video (4:05).

New from the Malong Fanmade Channel
Lots of new videos here!

New from Steve Hopkins

New from USATT

Coronavirus: Table Tennis Must Seize the Opportunity to Reinvent Itself, Says World Head of Sport News & Top Stories
Here's the article.

Pandemic Nostalgia has Hetherington Excited for NCTTA 2021
Here's the article by Michael Reff from the National Collegiate TTA.

Bless His Heart …..He Still Plays Ping Pong
Here's the article by Coach Jon.

Puerto Rico to Host Inaugural Open International Tournament
Here's the ITTF article.

New from ITTF
Here's their home page and news page.

Incredible Point, Plus a Hand Switch
Here's the video (55 sec)!

Table Tennis Elf Shirt
Here it is!

So Tell Me About Your Backhand
Here's the cartoon! I think the "psychiatrist" is supposed to be George Brathwaite. The cartoon is from this story in the New York Times from 2011.

Playing with Household Items
Here's the video (28:11) as a father and son have it out with pillows, towels, rolls of tape, scissors, a Ritz crackers box, and whatever else is handy - including their hands! Yes, this is what coronavirus has led us to. (Best viewing is to keep jumping ahead to see what they do next. They are obviously good players - the kid's obviously had some good training.)

Adam in Singapore
Here's the video (7:41)!

Ping Pong Battleship 2
Here's the video 5:18) from Pongfinity!

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