Chess and Table Tennis - Seven Facts that "Pawn Sacrifice" Got Right

Here's the article – see #5, "Chess in the Ping Pong Room." Pawn Sacrifice goes out for wide release on Friday, with advance showings today. I'm looking forward to seeing it, about the life of chess champion Bobby Fischer (who was at least borderline insane). The movie focuses on his famous and controversial world championship match in 1972 with Boris Spassky – which I remember following very closely when I was 12 years old. I was for a time a serious chess player, but haven't played seriously since I was 20. I still remember playing Queens Gambit, French Defense, etc., even if I no longer remember the moves!

• Here are two pictures of Bobby Fischer playing table tennis: photo1, photo2.
• Here's a table tennis cartoon about the Fischer-Spassky match – note the "Bordtennis" sign, which is Swedish for table tennis.
• Here's my article, Why Table Tennis Really Is Chess at Light Speed.
• Here's a picture of USATT Hall of Famers John Tannehill and Dell Sweeris playing chess at the 1968 US Open. This picture is at the start of the introduction for my book, Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers, with the opening lines: "Table tennis has been called chess at lightning speed. There are hundreds of books on chess tactics. Why aren't there more books devoted to table tennis tactics?" (The intro also includes the first picture above of Bobby Fischer playing table tennis.)
• Here's a picture of former USA National Cadet Team Member Tong Tong Gong playing chess at the national chess championships a few years ago. I used to coach him – at table tennis tournaments, that is!

Milestones

Recently I've reached three milestones.

• Published articles. In late August I had my 1600^th published article. This does not include about 1200 blog entries, though it does include 235 Tips of the Week here at TableTennisCoaching.com. Here's a listing as of Sept. 1. As of today, I have 1604 published articles, along with nine books. The published articles include 1427 on table tennis, 71 science fiction & fantasy sales (plus 33 resales), and 56 non-TT non-SF&F articles.
• Daily Hits. It's been a long, slow climb, but this month TableTennisCoaching.com is averaging over 1100 reads per day. To be exact (and not including yesterday's non-blog), it's averaging 1100.6 per day. The last few days have been a bit below average, with only 729 on Tuesday (but 1294 for Friday). I remember after my first year it was averaging about 300. (There are actually more than 1100 readers per day, as some people come in one time and read an entire week or two of blogs, but it only registers as one read.) Fridays up the average a bit as they get three days' worth of hits.
• Tutoring. I've long known that as I get older I'd find coaching more and more physically demanding. And so I'd have to find more sedentary activities to pay the bills – such as writing. However, there's another activity I've always wanted to move more into – tutoring. I've done it for many years, mostly in math (where I've done everything from grade school through multivariable Calculus) and English (I regularly edit local players' papers for school). Recently I was hired on a regular basis to tutor one of our table tennis kids in his English writing skills, 5.5 hours/week. So it's become a regular part of my routine.

ITTF Spins and Skills

Here are new coaching videos from the ITTF.

• Backhand Drive (2:55)
• Forehand Topspin (3:28)
• Service Basics (3:35)
• Reverse Pendulum Backspin Serve (3:01)

Executing Table Tennis Shots

Just out: #5 in this series by Brett Clarke.

• #1: Laj Forehand Counterspin (2:22)
• #2: Andy Forehand Topspin 1 (2:49)
• #3: Andy Forehand Shadow 1 (2:33)
• #4: Laj Forehand Block (2:27)
• #5: Laj Forehand Cross Footwork (2:55) – NEW!

Decisions, Decisions: Learn to Slow Down Your Opponent

Here's the new coaching article by Samson Dubina.

Mental Pitfalls: Switch to Winning in Your Mind

Here's the table tennis sports psychology article.

Table Tennis and Age

Here's the new article by Coach Jon.

Stay at the Linq and Get a Free Event at the US Open!

Here's the USATT article.

International Training Center Network Directives and Operational Guidelines

Here's the ITTF Manual.

11 Questions with Jasna Rather

Here's the USATT Interview.

Interview with Tahl Leibovitz

Here's the USATT interview by Rahul Acharya.

USATT Board Member Anne Cribbs Named Olympic Torch Award Honoree

Here's the USATT article.

Is Table Tennis a Sport or a Game?

Here's the article.

Navin Kumar's 2016 Paralympic Table Tennis Journey

Here's the new funding page for the "Bionic Man." Here's the intro paragraph: "Hi there! My name is Navin Kumar (pronounced Nuh-VEEN KOO-mar) and I'm the first athlete in history to actively compete with Parkinson's Disease as I represent the USA in international table tennis competition as part of the Paralympic Program."

The Secret to Ping-Pong: Can it Cure Alzheimer's?

Here's the video (2 min). Here's another video (1:22) about the Alzheimer's Therapy Program that shows the benefits of table tennis.

Sean O'Neill Switches Hands

Here's the video (12 sec) from long ago, where he switches hands to smash a winner against Eric Boggan.

Cartoon Table Tennis Rackets

Here are 24 – take your pick! Personally, I like either the "I Love Books" Dragon Paddle, or the "Wham!" and "Ka-pow!" ones.

***
Send us your own coaching news!

Today is Yom Kippur, a major Jewish holiday. I'm not Jewish, but the local schools celebrate it and are closed today. If the kids I coach get the day off, so do I! So no blog today. But to tide you over, here's a repeating gif image of a cat at the net as two players play. Either that or this one of minions playing table tennis should be on your club's home page. 

USATT Rating Inflation

I blogged about this back on June 19, 2014. The subject came up last night during the USATT Teleconference, where we were discussing creating USATT leagues that would be processed with regular USATT ratings, rather than the separate USATT league ratings that are currently used in many leagues. The question was whether we needed to use adjustments. I explained why the rating system would actually deflate without adjustments, but that in the past we've had the adjustments too high, which led to inflation. I've experienced this in the leagues I've run or been involved with, where over and over we've seen the ratings deflate, leading to us putting in an adjustment factor. (At MDTTC, we give bonus points for winning your group.)

Until now, I've always assumed my analysis of this was my own from about 15 years or so ago, and didn't realize anyone else had studied this. (I have a bachelor's in math, and if not for table tennis might have become a math professor…) Here's how I explained it back then.

"If there were no adjustment factor, the system would be deflationary, and the average rating would be dropping. Why? Because the average player improves after his initial rating. Assuming no adjustment factor, let's say that the average first rating is 1200, and that the average player then improves to 1500. That means the player takes 300 rating points from others in the system. Result? Assuming the same number of players in the system, there are now 300 less points distributed among them, and so the average rating goes down - even though the average level of those players has stayed the same. This should be true of any rating system where there's a direct or indirect exchange of rating points."

"Let's assume that the average player instead got worse on average. Then they'd be giving the system points, and so the system would be inflationary."

But last night CEO Gordon mentioned the Elo rating system, which ours is based on. And lo and behold, it said exactly what I had figured out years ago! It includes a segment on Rating Inflation and Deflation. It includes this statement, which matches what I've argued for years, though many have been skeptical of this.

“In a pure Elo system, each game ends in an equal transaction of rating points. If the winner gains N rating points, the loser will drop by N rating points. This prevents points from entering or leaving the system when games are played and rated. However, players tend to enter the system as novices with a low rating and retire from the system as experienced players with a high rating. Therefore, in the long run a system with strictly equal transactions tends to result in rating deflation.”

Below that is a segment on Combatting Deflation, which includes this:

“Because of the significant difference in timing of when inflation and deflation occur, and in order to combat deflation, most implementations of Elo ratings have a mechanism for injecting points into the system in order to maintain relative ratings over time.”

Regarding USATT ratings, my impression is that there was inflation from the time it started in the mid-1970 through the 1990s, but it seems to have slowed in the last 15 years or so, with the upwards adjustments roughly matching the built-in deflation. I don't know if there was a change to the adjustment factor, a natural convergence to a stable norm, or what. I've seen the same deflationary problem in proposed USATT rating systems that did not have an adjustment factor.

In the Zone: Training Emotional Skill in Table Tennis, Parts 1-3

I previously linked to part 1. Here's all three.

• Part 1: Introduction and the Nature of Emotional Skill
• Part 2: Ten Attributes of Poised Players, What About Us?, and Diagnose
• Part 3: Intervention and Changing Goals

Li Xiaodong on Serve and Attack

Here's the video (25:56). I linked on Sept. 8 to his earlier lecture, "Li Xiaodong on Serving" (23:28). Li Xiaodong is 22 years coach of Chinese National Team and 12 years coach of Beijing Team. He was also Head Coach of Chinese Women Team. Now he is Deputy Head of Technical Studies Committee.

Akron, Latest Home as Demand Grows for Development Courses in United States

Here's the ITTF article about the recent ITTF Coaching Course in Akron, Ohio. It was organized by Samson Dubina and run by Richard McAfee.

Liang Xu Wins 2^nd Annual Knoxville Secret City gold Dollar Upset Open

Here's the article (by Jude Lam) and pictures.

Zhang Jike Tribute

Here's the new video (5:50). It's in Chinese, but you get to see a lot of footage.

Court Table Tennis?

Here's the video (1:27) with Adam Bobrow and the Singapore Team at a bus station in Czech Repubic.

Water Pong

Here's the video (13 sec)!

***
Send us your own coaching news!

Tip of the Week

Recover from the Previous Shot.

MDTTC and USATT Activities

Lots of stuff going on right now. Here's a quick rundown.

We've finalized the teams and schedule for the new season of the Capital Area Team League. I'm on the organizing committee as webmaster, along with Commissioner Stafano Ratti, Treasurer John Olsen, and Publicist Richard Heo. Play begins this Saturday.

On Thursday and Sunday I ran the first meetings of the Fall junior programs I run at MDTTC. We have twelve new juniors, ranging in age from 5 to 13. We focused on grip, stance, ball-bouncing, and the forehand. Next up: the backhand and serving. On Sunday we also had a staff meeting to discuss upcoming plans for the programs.

On Sunday we had the first meeting of the new "Talent Development Program" at MDTTC, where ten of our best kids in the 7-9 age group met and trained, with five coaches – yes, a 2-1 ratio. We may have more depth in that age group than ever before. I don't think of this group has played tournaments – but that'll be happening soon. The program is sponsored by HW Global Foundation. Watch out China!

Also on Sunday was the weekly meeting of the MDTTC Adult Training Group. I also have two regular students on Sundays, but coincidentally both were away or unable to attend, so I had most of the morning and early afternoon off for a change.

I'm buried in USATT work. (I'm not alone on this – I'm working with other USATT people on many of these. CEO Gordon is helpfully involved in most issues.) A short rundown:

• USATT Teleconference. We have one tonight at 7PM. The agenda includes various membership items, updates and discussion of the upcoming USA Nationals, a legal update on confidential issues, and plans for upcoming board meetings. (I have a 90-minute private coaching session on Mondays ending at 7PM, but I have to cut that short tonight. Student was understanding.)
• Editing. Recently I've done a lot of detailed editing of various USATT things, from the USA Nationals entry form to various proposals. It's right up my alley – I'm pretty good at catching mistakes. I'm the type of reader who on page 246 will cry out, "That contradicts what you wrote on page 57!"
• Net Visibility Rule – a proposal to fix the problem of players hiding their serve. I blogged about this a number of times, including July 17 and Sept. 18. I'll submit this soon.
• Racket Testing Rule – a proposal to fix the problem with boosting. I blogged about it on Aug. 18. I'll submit this after the Net Visibility Rule proposal is dealt with – one at a time.
• Regional Associations. I've created proto-type bylaws, and will be going public at some point this fall with plans to regionalize the country with regional associations. They'd be primarily responsible for table tennis in their region, including the next three bulleted items. (Many but not all of them would be state associations.)
• State Championships. Here's is the list I've put together of current State Championships. (If you know of one not on this list, or would like to run one, email me.) The goal is for a state championship in all 50 states in 2016. I blogged about this on April 17. The goal is to turn these into regional news events that promote the sport. I also would like to initiate a "Parade of Champions" perhaps at the 2016 USA Nationals, where all the state champions are paraded out and recognized, perhaps just before the men's and women's finals.
• Leagues – as chair of the USATT League Committee I'm taking a two-pronged approach – Team Leagues and USATT Rated Leagues. For the first, I'll be putting together a prototype of a regional team league, based on my experiences with the Capital Area Team League and others, such as the one in LA. For the latter, the plan is to allow clubs the option to run a USATT Rated Singles League, where it would be processed for rating, just like a USATT tournament. The earliest these might be ready are late fall or early 2016. (They require software development.)
• Coaching Programs and Training Centers. I have plans here, and hope to work with the USATT Coaching Committee on this, though I might put this off until 2016. I'd like to see us start to recruit and train coaches who wish to become professional coaches – and teach them both the technical part (as done in the ITTF coaching program we've adopted) and the professional side (how to make a living as a coach, recruit students, set up and run training centers and coaching programs, etc.)
• Professional Leagues. There are plans afoot on this, but another item for 2016.

Executing Table Tennis Shots

#4 in this new series by Brett Clarke just came out.

• #1: Laj Forehand Counterspin (2:22)
• #2: Andy Forehand Topspin 1 (2:49)
• #3: Andy Forehand Shadow 1 (2:33)
• #4: Laj Forehand Block (2:27)

More Zhang Jike Multiball Training

Here's the video (1:55).

Topspin with a Bottle

Here's the video (2:03) that shows how to teach someone to topspin by spinning a ball off the top of a bottle.

Butterfly Badger Open

• Home page
• Complete results
• Articles by Barbara Wei
  • Sept. 20: Ruichao Chen Wins 2015 Butterfly Badger Open in Epic 7-Game Battle
  • Sept. 19: Open Singles and Doubles Highlight of Play on Second Day of Competition
  • Sept. 15: Top Talent to Compete at 2015 Butterfly Badger Open

Argentina Open

Here's the home page for the event held this past weekend in Mendoza, ARG, with results, articles, pictures, and video.

Table Tennis is the Most Complete Sport for Kids

Here's the article. (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

New York Table Tennis League

Here's their September Newsletter.

Autographs of 60+ Table Tennis Greats – Barna, Bergmann, Vana, Leach

Here's the Ebay auction – it'll only cost you £12,000! (That's $18,637.02. Pocket change.) Alas, the auction just ended.

Net-Net Post-Net

Here's the video (11 sec) of this most basic shot.

Some Lobbing, a Backhand Countersmash, and a Little Celebration

Here's the video (40 sec).

Two-Ball, Bottle-Net, Blue Picnic Pong

Here's the video (35 sec) of how the game should be played.

What is the Optimal Number of Ping Paddles?

Einstein has your answer. Equipment junkies, go to it! (I created this one.) 

***
Send us your own coaching news!

If You Want to Compete, You Have to Cheat

This headline isn't technically accurate - there are a few top players who serve legally, and are still able to compete. Vladimir Samsonov is perhaps the best example. But the gist of the statement is correct - at the higher levels, since players are allowed to illegally hide their serves, players who do not cheat are at a substantial disadvantage. (The other major cheating problem in table tennis is boosting, which I discuss and give my solution to in this blog, which I will submit later as a rules proposal.)

I've been torn about whether to post pictures of all the USA cadets hiding their serves to show the extent of the problem. They're only kids. But the videos are public, and so anyone who isn't blind can see them. And I don't really blame the cadets who hide their serve in response to an opponent who does so and gets away with it - they are doing what they need to do to compete, and what they are coached to do, because the rules aren't being enforced or fixed. (I often look to see who does it first in a match– that's the one I do blame. You definitely shouldn't be hiding your serve unless the opponent does so far and gets away with it.)

How bad is the problem? At the 2014 U.S. Open there was only one top cadet regularly hiding his serve. He made it to the final of Under 14 Boys, where he met up with a strict umpire. After getting warned on the second serve of the match (and I think faulted later on), he served legally and lost. 

But since that time, in tournament after tournament, umpires did not enforce the rule, despite regular complaints from opponents. The result? It became obvious that illegal hidden serves were allowed, and that those who used them had a large advantage. And so, one by one, the other top cadets began to illegally hide their serves. 

And the result? At the 2015 North American Championships (Sept. 5-7), there are online videos of seven of the eight quarterfinalists in Cadet Boys' Singles, and all eight Men's Singles quarterfinalists. Every single one of them illegally hid their serves. Not one of them was faulted for this. (Very rarely, one would be faulted for something else, such as hand over the table or throwing the ball back too much.) Here's the North American Video Page. (If you spend time watching the serves, make sure to freeze during the serve as the ball goes behind the head. The best way to do this is to freeze the screen just before the ball reaches the head, and then use the space bar to rapidly start/stop the video.)

We've taught our top cadets that if you want to compete, you have to cheat.

I'm all about finding solutions. It's become obvious that few umpires will enforce the serving rule as it is written, in particular the part that says that if an umpire isn't satisfied a serve is legal, he must either warn (the first time) or fault. The problem is that players are able to serve so umpires aren't sure if the serve is hidden or not, and so they let it go. And so the cheaters are honored and we cheat the honorable ones. 

I blogged about how to solve this a number of time, such as here. I have a proposal that addresses this, with the rule change explained in that blog. The actual rule change, which I call the "Net Visibility Rule," would be as follows:

Current Rule:
02.06.04: From the start of service until it is struck, the ball shall be above the level of the playing surface and behind the server's end line, and it shall not be hidden from the receiver by the server or his or her doubles partner or by anything they wear or carry.  

Proposed Rule (additions bracketed in bold):
02.06.04: From the start of service until it is struck, the ball shall be above the level of the playing surface and behind the server's end line, and it shall not be hidden from the receiver[, or any part of the net assembly and its upward extension,] by the server or his or her doubles partner or by anything they wear or carry. 

Here's a good example of the serve that nearly everyone is now using and getting away with. As you can see, the ball is clearly hidden from the receiver, as will the contact a split second later. From the umpires' perspective from the side, they're not sure if it's hidden from the receiver or not, and so they do not call it. (They should, of course, since if the umpire isn't sure about the legality of a service he is supposed to warn or fault.) However, even from the umpires' perspective, it's obvious the ball is hidden from the right-hand net post, and so he'd likely call it. (In the proposal, I have pictures from the umpire's perspective that show this, from both sides.)

The proposal is eight pages long, with a number of photos showing how players hide their serve, and how and why they would be called illegal under the proposal. It includes pictures of both USA players and international ones hiding their serve, including Men's World Champion Ma Long. The pictures are from both the receiver's and umpire's point of view.

There's also a seven-page addendum which is a gallery showing all of the players hiding their serves at the North American Championships – all eight Men's Singles quarterfinalists and seven of the eight Cadet Boys' Singles quarterfinalists (one of them wasn't videoed).

There isn't any perfect way to fix the serving rule, but I believe this comes pretty close. Here's what I wrote in the proposal near the end:

There is often no perfect rule, and it's quite possible that in some cases, umpires would fail to call a hidden serve under the proposal. But that's also true of other rules, such as the six-inch toss rule, as mentioned earlier. But let's emphasize this: while an umpire might not always call a five-inch toss serve, he would almost always call a serve where the ball is thrown out of the hand, as that would obviously not be a six-inch toss. Similarly, under this proposal, while an umpire might not always call a serve that's hidden from part of the net or net posts, he would almost always call ones that are hidden from the receiver, as they would obviously be hidden from the net posts. And even if umpires don't call all of them, servers aren't going to hide their serve if they are frequently getting faulted.  

I'll submit the proposal soon. I'll also likely put it online at some point – but I'm still hesitant about the reaction of posting all those photos of our top cadets hiding their serves, i.e. cheating. Since half the Men's Singles Quarterfinalists were cadets (!), posting those has the same problem. (I also don't want to post it until after it's been finalized and submitted.)

But there's a reason I'm featuring pictures of so many of our top cadets hiding their serves in the proposal – it gives quite an impact when we show what our lack of enforcing or fixing the serving rule has led to – teaching our kids that if they want to compete, they have to cheat!

Busy Friday

Meanwhile, when I wasn't collaborating with several people on the Net Visibility Rule Proposal (above), I was:

• One hour teaching the first session of a new junior class (six new kids), and saying 30 minutes late hitting with some of them. Crisis of the day – the robot broke down halfway through the class, causing problems since it was one of the three stations in the class rotation. Normally I'd resolve this by turning it into a serving station, but one problem – it was day one for these kids, and they didn't yet know how to serve. So I changed the class plans and taught them serves so they could practice them.
• One hour private coaching (slow day).
• Editing/proofing the draft of the USA Nationals entry form.
• Going over outlines for several upcoming USATT ventures, mostly involving regional leagues and associations.
• Tutoring one of our kids for 90 minutes on writing. He's eight, so we're working on punctuation, grammar, and above all, handwriting. It's my third session with him. I also have him spend 30 minutes of each session writing a new story, where we work on these things. Most of his stories involve me getting hit by meteors or exploding stars, or being forced to eat variations of fish ice cream.
• Dealing with (and finally resolving) various problems with my new smart phone.
• Answering 463,246 emails. I conscientiously spent at least five minutes on each. You do the math.

Beltway Plaza Table Tennis Challenge

Here's the article on the exhibition and competition to be held tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 19), from 1-4PM, at Beltway Plaza in Maryland with Navin Kumar. Navin is one of my students, but alas, I have to miss it due to coaching commitments.

Executing Table Tennis Shots

#3 in this new series by Brett Clarke just came out.

• #1: Laj Forehand Counterspin (2:22)
• #2: Andy Forehand Topspin 1 (2:49)
• #3: Andy Forehand Shadow 1 (2:33)

Practicing the Short Push

Here's the video (26 sec), which makes use of a mini-hula hoop.

The Aces in Table Tennis

Here's a video (2:09) that shows players serving down-the-line aces. It's in French, but you can learn by watching, plus it's fun to see! Here's my Tip of the Week from 2011, "How to Ace an Opponent." If I were to grade and rank every single technique I did during my playing prime, my down-the-line ace serve was likely the single best thing I did. It's rusty these days, but I can usually bring it back after ten minutes practice.

Dimitrij Ovtcharov Multiball

Here's 17 seconds of intense multiball training with the German star.

Looking for Some Good Table Tennis Videos?

Here's the ITTF Channel, with lots of links to big matches from the recent Austrian and Belgium Opens. (Am I the only one to notice from the ITTF schedule that they have, consecutively, from Aug. 5 to Sept. 27, the China, Bulgarian, Czech, Austrian, Belgium, Argentina, and Chile Opens? They certainly are sticking to their ABCs!

USATT Insider

Here's the new issue, which came out Wednesday. You can have this emailed to you every Wednesday morning by going here.  Or you can wait for the online version, which I generally link to every Friday.

Hard Work Pays Off

Here's the podcast (27:34) with Adam Gittings, from Expert Table Tennis. "Adam Gittings is 18 years old, lives in Doncaster, and has Asperger syndrome, dyspraxia, and type 1 diabetes. Three years ago he was invited to a South Yorkshire disabled sports trial day at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, where he was given to opportunity to try out a load of different sports and see if he had the potential to join any of the regional squads. Little did he know at the time, but that day would change his life forever."

International Table Tennis

Here's my periodic note (usually every Friday) that you can great international coverage at TableTennista (which especially covers the elite players well) and at the ITTF home page (which does great regional coverage). Butterfly also has a great news page.

More Mike Mezyan Pictures

NOTE - If you are unable to see these pictures, all you have to do is join the Table Tennis Group - it's easy! Here are all the past, present, and (soon) future pictures he's collected. (I pick out his best ones for here - he has more.)

• Avengers Pong!
• Hidden Drawer Pong
• Green and Yellow Pong
• Street Pong
• Sunset Pong
• Tube Table Pong
• Gallery Pong
• Pillsbury Doughboy Pong!

Table Tennis Fight Club

There really is a Table Tennis Fight Club in London – and when you go there, it automatically plays the Table Tennis Fight Club video (28 sec)! (Here's the youtube version.) Make sure to check out their Rules section! There's also the Table Tennis Fight Club Open Arena (also in London), which automatically plays another great video when you go there. (It's scenes from the movie "Balls of Fury.")

***
Send us your own coaching news!

A Burned Finger, Arm Problems, a Cold, and a Deviated Septum, Oh My!

Let's take these in order. (Oh, and remember junior star Jessica Shen from the 1990s? We'll get to her.) 

On Monday, I over-microwaved spaghetti for lunch. When I took it out a gob of boiling sauce hit the back of my right index finger. The skin blistered - it was pretty bad. I ran cold water over it for a while, cleaned it, put antiseptic on it, and bandaged it. It's been hurting like crazy ever since. Worse, when I'm hitting backhands with my students the back of the index finger faces the student - and about once every 15 minutes someone smacks it with a ball. OW!!! I may have to put some padding on it for tomorrow. 

On Wednesday, while hitting some hard backhands with a student, my arm started hurting a bit. I've blogged about this a few times; I wear an arm brace that really helps. But while the brace mostly protects it, I have to be careful not to make it worse. Note to self: no more very hard backhands for a few days. 

On Tuesday (yes, I'm going out of order), I woke up with a slight cold. I was blowing my nose and could barely breathe except through my mouth. It was pretty tiring. It's only a minor cold, but it would be nice if it decides to go somewhere else. Maybe to this guy. 

However, the bigger problem is the return of the deviated septum. It's been a very gradual process, but the cold brought its effects to the forefront - and are the primary reason I can barely breathe except through the mouth, which is tiring. It also means I've been mostly tired the last few days - it's hard to be energetic when struggling to breathe. I had surgery for this in 2007, and spent a week in bed as it healed - no coaching or much of anything else. (World #1 tennis player Novak Djokovic also had this surgery.) I also learned that it's one of those things that sometimes comes back after ten years or so, and that someday I might need to do it again. Alas, someday is coming, and it's probably just a matter of time before I have to go through with it again. I may have to pick out a week later this fall for this. I've been wearing sinus cones at night, which helps, but they'd look funny if I wear them in table tennis.

Here's an interesting table tennis connection here - remember Jessica Shen, who (along with MDTTC practice partner Vivian Lee) dominated junior girls in the U.S. during much of the 1990s? She's now Dr. Jessica Shen (page down for her picture and profile), an ENT specialist (Ears, Nose, Throat - the technical term is "Otorhinolaryngology") - and her practice is about a mile from my house! I may be contacting her soon. 

Whether you are a coach, player, or anything else, you better take care of your health! (Says the person who sees a doctor about once a decade, and only under extreme duress.)

Fixing the Grip

I blogged recently about how we made a change in one of my student's grip. He'd gradually switched to an extreme backhand grip for backhands, and an extreme forehand grip for forehands, leading to all sorts of problems. Since then he's been using an extremely neutral grip. In drills it's paying off, and he's starting to feel comfortable on the forehand side. However, he's still having problems controlling the backhand. The solution? We're going to stick with the neutral grip until at least the end of the month. The way to fix a bad habit is often to exaggerate the opposite, and do some saturation training – see first two items in my Tip of the Week Changing Bad Technique. After Oct. 1, I may let him go to a slight backhand grip for backhands, like Waldner did.

How Table Tennis Turned Into an Olympic Dream

Here's the story and video (2:38) of two kids from South Bend, Indiana, coached by Dan Seemiller. "Two young boys from South Bend’s west side are teaching us how important life experiences are. Dion and Dionta Payne-Miller are living out dreams they probably never thought possible before all through the sport of table tennis."

Vladimir Samsonov vs Yuya Oshima in the Champions League 

Here's the highlights video (8:08).

Ma Long – King of Epic Shots

Here's the highlights video (5:18) of the world men's champion, set to music.

Double-Bouncing Loop

Here's the video (3 sec) – you don't see this very often! Watch closely or you'll miss that the guy on the far side's loop bounces twice.

Adam Bobrow in Taiwan

• Kids in Taiwan Are as Goofy as Kids in the U.S. (1:40)
• Ride to Airport (36 sec) in Taiwan in supercar from Taiwan's #1 Over 40 Player

Long Distance Target Practice

Here's the video (12 sec) as Kevin Korb smacks a ball from way back.

Table Tennis Rocks!

Here's the picture. (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

Super Heroes vs. Chinese Table Tennis Players

Here's the picture! Liu Guoliang vs. Nick Fury; Zhang Jike vs. Iron Man; Ma Long vs. Captain America; Ding Ning vs. Black Widow; Fan Zhendong vs. The Hulk; Wang Hao vs. Thor; and Xu Xin vs. Hawk Eye!

***
Send us your own coaching news!

Type of Table Tennis Forum Members

Here's a hilarious new video (12:27) that talks about the various types of people you find on a table tennis forum. It's spookily accurate!!!

I used to be very active in online forums, but in recent years not so much. Why? It was a combination of dealing with what the video calls "1500 Experts" and trolls. Often someone would post a coaching question, and I'd answer it, only to be contradicted and even scorned by these "Experts." Let's just say that there are some very opinionated people out there who haven't actually done anything in table tennis, and frankly speaking, don't know what they are talking about. This doesn't mean there aren't lower-rated players who are knowledgeable about table tennis, but they are outnumbered and often outposted by those who are not but believe otherwise.

One that comes to mind was a guy who argued strenuously with me about forehand looping technique. He'd argue to the ends of the earth that you only use your arm for the shot, no legs or hip rotation, and talked about his revolutionary methods that gave him a more powerful loop than those taught by the clueless people who taught table tennis. He admitted he'd never been to a table tennis club or tournament, nor had he played any top players, but he knew. He KNEW.

I've also had to deal with way too many trolls. I made the mistake (please slap me) of trying to have reasonable discussions with a few of them, and let's just say that never worked. I learned.

Easily the most infamous troll out there is known by many from online forums. I'm not going to name him, but many in online community know who I'm talking about. He's been trolling newsgroups and forums since the 1990s, and (as mentioned in the video above) likes to call others "Robo-Nazis." He regularly gets banned, but then comes back under another name – but using the very same language as before, making him instantly identifiable.

He likes to make up stuff about me. For example, he constantly refers to the "Hodges-Scholer Aspect Ratio Rule of 1998," and then goes on diatribes about it and me. This was a rule or regulation whereby the ratio of the height of a pips-out rubber to its width could not exceed a certain amount, which restricted long pips. I not only had nothing to do with this rule, I didn't even know about it until this troll started blaming me for it! It so happens that 1998 was the year I mostly took off from table tennis, and it was when I came back in 1999 I found out about it. And yet there are literally hundreds of postings about this with my name on it. I'm sure there are hundreds of people who think I was involved. I don't even have an opinion on the rule, despite his many postings to the contrary. (The only rule affecting long pips players that I was involved in was the two-color rule – that I was for, and was one of the people arguing for it when it finally became a rule way back in 1983. I don't even have an opinion on frictionless pips other than that if it's a rule or regulation, it should be enforced; if it can't be enforced, it shouldn't be a rule or regulation.)

There are different types of trolls. One troll who isn't so active anymore would go on and on about how great he was, and lecture everyone on every aspect of table tennis. He had incredibly strong opinions on everything, and an extremely inflated view of his own playing level, even challenging me to a $1000 match. And so, when the USA Team Trials happened to be in his city, I showed up at his club, accepting his challenge. He refused to play for money, but we did play two matches. I still have the scores – I won at 5,3,3,0 (yes, 11-0) and 3,6,4,1. He was about 1500.

Another troll I argued with a few times (no longer active) insisted there is only one type of equipment everyone should use, and one way to do every stroke, etc. He was an outspoken hardliner on all of this, and really dismissive of opposing views. I also met him at a club one time and played him – he was about 1900.

There's another troll out there who doesn't infect forums much anymore – he did so on one for a time but was banned, and never came back. However, his mode of operations now is to send out mass emails. When I ran for the Board last December he would send out dozens of mass emails on a daily basis. However, you only had to read one or two sentences before you realized the guy was crazy or a troll. He claims I wrote a feature article attacking him in a major newspaper, that I get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the "sponge conglomerates" (I wish!!!) to keep hardbat and sandpaper down (!), and other stuff.

I also tired a bit of all the infatuation with equipment, i.e. equipment junkies. Getting good equipment is important, but it's a distant back seat to good technique. And yet I've been in at least a couple discussions with players who argue the reverse, that equipment is more important than technique, or at least on a par.

Event Listing for the 2015 USA Nationals

Here it is – over 90 events! They will be held Dec. 14-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The final event listing, with dates and times, will be released Sept. 23.

Beat the Lobber!

Here's the new article by Samson Dubina.

Stop Pushing!

Here's the coaching article from Ben Larcombe.

Ping-Pong Will Help Your Brain

Here's the article.

Top Talent to Compete at 2015 Butterfly Badger Open

Here's the article by Barbara Wei on the tournament to be held in Franklin, Wisconsin (15 miles from Milwaukee), on Sept. 18-20.

Street Pong the Next Big Thing?

Here's the article with pictures.

Steel Beams Salvaged from 110-Year-Old Railroad Transformed into Sturdy Ping Pong Table

Here's the article with pictures.

UTM Receives a Smash Hit for Ping Pong

Here's the article on table tennis at the University of Toronto.

Colorado Team League Started September 14

Here's the article about the team competition, organized by the Denver Table Tennis Alliance.

Once Again Chinese Community Center of Flushing Proves Popular Home

Here's the ITTF article on an ITTF Coaching Course held in the U.S., run by Sidney Christophe.

Interview with Hou Yingchao at the 2015 LA Open

Here's the video interview (2:36) by Barbara Wei with #2 seed, who would go on to win Open Singles over Joo Se Hyuk.

Great Champions of Table Tennis

Here's the music video (4:08).

Trick Shots with Kevin Korb

Here's the new video (15 sec).

The Spectacled Avenger?

Here's the picture – it looks like some sort of Super Woman playing table tennis1

***
Send us your own coaching news!

Tip of the Week

Do You Have the Blocking Reachies?

My Weekend

Here's a short rundown of my weekend, Fri-Tue morning.

• Friday: This is usually my slowest day, where I normally only do the afterschool program, which includes picking up kids, coaching for 30-60 minutes, and tutoring. I'm tutoring one eight-year-old in English after our table tennis sessions. On Friday we focused on capitalization as he has a bit of trouble with that. Then, since he needed writing practice, I had him write a one-page story. The story was "How Larry Died" . . . and I had many glorious deaths (suffocated on Mars, hit on the head by a meteor, star exploded around me, and I was forced to eat 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets full of fish crab cooked dark green vegetable mushroom pumpkin pie ice cream. (That's how many zeroes he used, and as you can see, he knows what foods I don't like. I love ice cream, but not this flavor!) Alas, he still forgets to capitalize a lot of things, including my name, which was "larry" over and over.
• Saturday: I was scheduled to coach only 1.5 hours that day, but I'd coached every day for about three weeks, and so I got a substitute and mostly took the day off, where I mostly read. That night at 8PM we had an organizational meeting of the Capital Area Team League, where I met with Stefano Ratti, John Olsen, and Richard Heo and worked out the fall schedule and other issues. More on this later when it's all finalized. (We currently have 12 teams with 59 players, but may have one or two last minutes teams added.)
• Sunday: I did 2.5 hours of private coaching with Sameer and Navin, and the 1.5 hours adult training. (The 1.5 hour junior class I normally run on Sundays is on break, starting up again next Sunday.) Sameer is going through a grip change, and so while his strokes are now smoother and more powerful, he doesn't have as much control yet in games – but that will come. (I blogged about this last Thursday.) Navin continues to work on his forehand, and in particular his transition from backhand to forehand. We also did a lot of work on serve and receive. He recently went from short pips on the forehand to inverted, and he has a bit more punch on his forehand now. Since he now has an inverted side to go with the long pips on his backhand, I'm working with him on developing spinny serves. As to receive, the focus is on low returns at wide angles. I spent most of the morning and then late into the night working various USATT issues, in particular league and regional association plans, and didn't get to bed until 4:15AM. 
• Monday: I did 2.5 hours of private coaching with Daniel (recently back from a summer in NYC and Germany) and Sameer. Daniel's a bit out of practice, but I was happy to see that the work we did in the Spring on his forehand loop had taken hold – his strokes are good though a bit rusty. He used to swing with too much arm, and so we spent much of a month really working on that, including lots and lots of shadow practice. (I blogged about it while we were doing it.) Alas, I was feeling a bit sick that night, and went to bed early, around 10:30PM.
• Tuesday morning: I woke up with what I think is a minor cold. It was already 8:30 AM – I'd slept for ten hours straight!!! That's unheard of for me, except when I'm sick – I normally sleep about six hours/night. I almost didn't do the blog this morning because of this as I was exhausted, but then I realized the earth might fall into the giant orange ping-pong ball in the sky if I didn't.

Serving More Deceptively

Here's the new coaching article by Han Xiao, with links to video.

Mental Pitfalls: Switch to Winning in Your Mind

Here's the coaching article by Frank Völler.

The First Three Strokes

Here's the video (27:39) of former superstar player Zhang Yining at a seminar. (She speaks through a translator.) She was the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Gold Medalists for Women's Singles, 2005 and 2009 World Women's Singles Champion, and 4-time Women's World Cup Champion.

Laj Forehand Counterspin Analysis

Here's the video (2:22) where Coach Brett Clarke analyzes this player's forehand counterloop.

The Mysterious Table Tennis Coach

Here's the new article from Coach Jon.

USATT Board of Directors Action Items for August 21-22, 2015 Meeting in Chicago

Here's the page. A more detailed version with minutes will go up later. I made several motions in the meeting – feel free to ask about any of them.

Top 8 Health Benefits of Playing Ping Pong

Here's the chart. (Here's the non-Facebook version.) I linked to another, more detailed one last week – Health Benefits of Table Tennis Infographic.

"I am standing where the ball comes…"

Here's a great quote from the legendary Jan-Ove Waldner. (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

11 Questions with Cory Eider

Here's the USATT interview with the 2013 USA Nationals Men's Singles Finalist.

2015 Newgy Ohio Open

Here's the article (with links to video) by Samson Dubina.

Ma Long Training

Here's the new video (1:22).

Japan Table Tennis – The Young Kids are Incredible

Here's the video (65 sec).

One of the Greatest Rallies Ever

Here's the video (64 sec, including replay) of what say is the best rally ever. That's Xu Xin (near side) and Zhu Linfeng, both lefties, in this crazy 35 seconds of counterlooping at the Chinese Super League.

Top Ten Shots from the Austrian Open

Here's the ITTF video (5:28).

Backhand Around-the-Net Counterlooping Practice

Here's video (28 sec) of this fundamental shot that everyone should have.

Chinese Cherries? Nathan Hsu in China

Episode 5 of Nathan Hsu's trip to China is now up. All five episodes are below.

• Episode 1 (6:44) – I'm back in Tongxiang
• Episode 2 (3:47) – Happy Meals are … Gross?
• Episode 3 (5:17) – Taiwan and Stuff
• Episode 4 (5:23) – Shanghai and Stuff
• Episode 5 (6:03) – Chinese Cherries?

RGIII to the Olympics?

Now that Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is out of his starting quarterback position, perhaps this would be a good time for him to make good on his dream of making it to the Olympics, perhaps in ping-pong? Here's the video (74 sec) from two years ago of him making this statement, with the response from the MDTTC juniors!!! (Nathan Hsu created this video back then, with Tong Tong Gong, Derek Nie, Roy Ke, and Crystal Wang.) 

Ma Long and Liu Guoliang Around the Table

Here's the video (21 sec) as they put on an impromptu exhibition.

More Mike Mezyan Pictures

NOTE - If you are unable to see these pictures, all you have to do is join the Table Tennis Group - it's easy! Here are all the past, present, and (soon) future pictures he's collected. (I pick out his best ones for here - he has more.)

• Lay's Potato Pong?
• Wavy Lined Three-Eyed Pink Pong?
• Head Pong?
• Bigger Head Pong?
• Helmet Pong?
• Holy Pong?
• Blue Pong?
• Cat Forehand Loop Pong?
• Wood Pong?
• Street Lamp Pong?
• Water Color Pong?
• Anime Sketch Pong?
• Ping Pong on Fire!

***
Send us your own coaching news!

Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I'm not Jewish, but the local schools celebrate it and are closed today. If the kids I coach get the day off, so do I! So no blog today, and the Tip of the Week will go up tomorrow, as I sleep late. But not too late – I've got a long todo list today involving various USATT, MDTTC, and CATTL issues, plus some private coaching tonight. (You may notice I'm putting this up at about 4:15 AM Monday morning. Guess what I've been doing all night?) But to tide you over, here's an…

...Incredible Doubles Rally at the Belgium Open

Here's the video (38 sec) between the Koreans and Hungarians in the semifinals at the Belgium Open held last weekend. Hungary won the match! (They'd lose the final. See Men's Doubles results.) 

Some Ping-Pong Reading?

Why not spend some of your weekend (or next weekend) reading some table tennis books? Or are you one of the 28% who haven't read a book in the last year? No, table tennis players are too smart, and of course are voracious readers. Here's my table tennis book collection – currently at 234 books and 13 feet of shelf space. You could, of course, just read my books - here they are. (Here's my Amazon page.) Or you could browse these, mostly from the last ten years.

Table Tennis Instructional Books

• 100 Days of Table Tennis (2015) by Samson Dubina. Here's my review (see right side of page – more a promotional segment). I thought I'd done a review of this in my blog, but apparently not.
• Expert in a Year: The Ultimate Table Tennis Challenge (2015) by Sam Priestley and Ben Larcombe.
• Table Tennis Tips (2014) by Larry Hodges. This covers three years of my Tips of the Week (2001-2013), in logical progression.
• Ping Pong for Fighters (2014) by Tahl Leibovitz. Here's my review.
• Get Your Game Face On Like the Pros (2014) by Dora Kurimay. Here's my review.
• Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers (2013) by Larry Hodges. (Here's the French version.) This is my best-selling book.
• The Table Tennis Playbook (2013) by Ben Larcombe.
• The Next Step (2013) by Alex Polyakov.
• Breaking 2000 (2012) by Alex Polyakov. Here's my review.
• How to Win at Table Tennis (2012) by Greg Letts.
• Table Tennis Tips from a World Champion (2011) by Werner Schlager and Bernd-Ulrich Gross.
• PATT Notes: Volume One (2010) by Donn Olsen with Kyongsook Kim.
• PATT: A Principles Approach to Table Tennis (2009) by Donn Olsen with Kyongsook Kim.
• Table Tennis Tales & Techniques (2009) by Larry Hodges. This includes both technique articles, essays, and humorous table tennis stories.
• Table Tennis: Steps to Success (2009) by Richard McAfee.
• Advanced Coaching Manual (2009) by ITTF.
• Table Tennis: Level 1 Coaching Manual (2003) by Glenn Tepper.

Table Tennis History Books

• History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volumes 1-16 by Tim Boggan (see reviews linked to some of the books).
• Ping-Pong Diplomacy (2015) by Nicholas Griffin. Here's my review.
• Adventures of the Ping-Pong Diplomats (2012) by Fred Danner. Here's my review.
• Ping Pong Fever: The Madness that Swept 1902 America (2012) by Steve Grant. Here's my review.
• Boys Look at the Stars (2011) by Enzo Pettinelli.
• Ogi: The Life of Ichiro Ogimura (2009) by Mitsuro Jojima. Here's my review, which includes ordering info at the end.

Table Tennis Novels

• The Spirit of Pong (2015) by Larry Hodges.
• The Mystery of the Lost Racket (2013) by Enzo Pettinelli. Children's book.
• Doubles (2009) by Anne Borrowdale.
• My Secret Life as a Ping-Pong Wizard (2005) by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver. Children's book. Here's my review (page down a bit)
• The Mighty Walzer (1999) by Howard Jacobson.

Other Table Tennis Books

• USATT Club Development Handbook (2015) by Yang Yu. Here's my review.
• Professional Table Tennis Coaches Handbook (2013) by Larry Hodges. Do you want to be a professional table tennis coach? Here's how!
• Everything You Know is Pong (2010) by Roger Bennett and Eli Horowitz.

Zhang Jike Backhand Loop Multiball Training

Here's the video (53 sec).

USATT Insider

Here's the new issue, which came out Wednesday.

Nations Top Players to Compete at Sports Complex

Here's the article by Jeff Bandry on the Butterfly Badger Open coming up Sept. 18-20 in Milwaukee.

Interview with Joo Se Hyuk

Here's the video (1:50) of the interview with South Korean defensive star at the recent LA Open, by Barbara Wei.

Tin-Tin Ho: 12 Years a Table Tennis Player

Here's the new podcast (40:30) with the 17-year-old English star, by Expert Table Tennis.

International Table Tennis

Here's my periodic note (usually every Friday) that you can great international coverage at TableTennista (which especially covers the elite players well) and at the ITTF home page (which does great regional coverage). Butterfly also has a great news page.

Table Top Loop Practice?

Here's the "Easy Swing" device, perhaps overpriced at $43.84. It's for practicing spinning the ball. I have a different version of this, and I'm on my third one – they break rather easily if you mishit. So . . . don't mishit.

Austrian Open Men's Final Highlights

Here's the video (5:40, with time between points removed) of the final between Jun Mizutani and Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

Around-the-Net Counterloop and Backhand Sidespin Counterloop

Here's the video of these two consecutive shots (30 sec, including slow motion replay).

The Four-Table Serve

Here's the video (8 sec). I've done three; looks like I'm going to have to up my game!

The Fashionable Soo Yeon Lee

Here's the article, here's the pictures, and there's the video (1:48). (This is from 2011 – I may have linked to some of this long ago.)

Ping-Pong Match: The Slammer

Here's the funny commercial (31 sec) for Grubhub Restaurant. So . . . how many of you naively believe it's real, and the ball wasn't put in by computer?

***
Send us your own coaching news!