Exhibition Tricks

By Larry Hodges

You don’t have to be a 2600 player to put on a good exhibition, although it helps.  If you have the ability to keep the ball in play, have time to practice routines, and have a sense of fun, you’ve got all you need.

There are three types of exhibitions: demonstrations, skills exhibitions, and trick exhibitions.  You can also combine types.

A demonstration can be put on by anyone who has the basic strokes down.  Here you are showing an audience the sport and how it is played.  This can be used when teaching a class or as part of a general exhibition.

A skills exhibition is more difficult.  Here, playing ability is most important.  Top players have a great advantage over the competition since they can do things that often seem incredible--fast counterlooping, countersmashing, etc.  Also, they can attract a bigger crowd since they can advertise their titles.  (“Today National Champion Larry Looper will take on State Champion Charlie Chopper.”)

The third type of exhibition, trick exhibitions, can be done by anyone with a decent playing level.  (How decent?  If you are confident you can put one on, you are good enough.) Obviously, a higher level player has an advantage in that he can probably do more tricks, but not always. 

Trick exhibitions center on trick shots and clowning around. They are meant to be fun both for the players and the audience. Often a good combination is a relatively top player as “straight man,” and a partner who is weaker but funnier.  The better player does more tricks (which often keeps the score close), while the weaker partner clowns around, entertaining the audience.  Even when doing a trick exhibition, try to throw in as many “spectacular” shots as possible.  Show off whatever skill you’ve got.  It’s undoubtedly greater than those in the audience, so don’t be shy.

I’ve done many exhibitions, mostly as the “straight man,” where I’ve perfected a large variety of trick shots.  I’ve lost some with age (at age 30 I’m already too stiff to do the behind-the-back return) but most tricks improve with experience. Following is a discussion of tricks you can use in exhibitions. With a little thought, you can add your own tricks to them.  The one thing they all have in common is that you have to practice them.  Forget the forehand to forehand practice--spend a night at the club working on your over-the-shoulder lobbing!

Exhibitions can be done with only two players, but ideally you should have a third person as announcer, with a loudspeaker if possible.  The announcer should be part of the exhibition, playing along with every gag.  The three of you need to practice the routine for best results, and perhaps even plan out on paper the tricks you are planning.

For an example of a great exhibition, try to see the Frenchmen Secretin and Puckart.  They undoubtedly do the best exhibitions in the world, and they have been performing together for over fifteen years.  They performed at the last U.S. Open, and hopefully will be at future ones.

Nothing is more spectacular in table tennis than lobbing. But you can make it even more spectacular.  First, you and your partner must cooperate.  If the lobber is stronger lobbing on the backhand, the smasher should smash to that side.  The lobber, on the other hand, shouldn’t try to spin the lob.

When lobbing, don’t just lob.  Be theatrical!  As you are about to contact the ball, turn your back on the table.  At this point it won’t affect your shot but it will make it look like you’re lobbing over your shoulder.  Or eat a sandwich or candy bar while lobbing, toss wrapper over shoulder, and counter-kill! Use sound effects as well.  Both smasher and lobber should make loud, athletic-sounding “grunts” as they go after each shot.

Wait until the last second before running down a lob.  Make it look like you just barely got there!  Even better, dive! (Only those with strong hearts.)

A good trick that is far easier than it looks is lobbing while sitting or lying on the ground.  Just get the ball back, and as long as the hitter hits the ball toward you, it isn’t difficult.  So what if you get a little dirty!

Another fun trick is to change sides in the middle of a rally and smash your own lob.  Signal your partner so he knows what’s coming, then throw your lob up extra high. Run like crazy, and smash your own lob.  Your partner then lobs, and rally continues as if nothing unusual happened.

When smashing the lob, remember that the exhibition is no good if your partner can’t get the ball back.  Work out what the best speed and spot to smash at.  Never smother kill.

A good trick is to jump in the air when smashing.  Back up five or ten feet as the lob approaches, run and then jump in the air, smashing the ball at your highest point. 

One last rule of lobbing: the lobber usually loses the point eventually, so whoever is leading in an exhibition game should lob.  An exhibition game should always go to deuce!

Most exhibitions start out with players warming up forehand to forehand.  After a minute of this, sort of lean against table, as if bored, still hitting forehands.  Your body language should be saying “This is too easy.”  Now sit on the table, still hitting forehands.  (Slow down if you need to, but don’t stop.) Finally, get up on the table and either lie down or stand on it, still hitting the ball back and forth.  With a little practice, you will find all of this easy but great fun.

A great trick is playing alone.  Stand to the side of the table by the net with a racket in each hand, and hit “forehands.” Hit the ball lightly with a light topspin for best effect, keeping the ball close to your side of the table so you can reach it.  With a little practice you’ll be able to do this rather easily at a nice steady pace.  You might work this into an exhibition by suddenly hitting the ball up into the air near the side where a spare racket is conveniently leaning against the table, grab the spare and start playing alone.  Partner puts hands on hips, looks irritated as audience laughs.  Finally, pop one up with your non-playing racket, and smash the ball.  Award the point to yourself as your partner screams “Unfair!”

A few simple tricks that anyone can learn are hitting under the legs, behind the back or kicking the ball back with the foot. You can also serve behind the back or under the legs, or even both.  You can also “head” the ball--return it with your forehead.

 Blowing the ball back is my favorite trick, and (cat’s out of the bag!) is actually very easy to do.  Have your partner feed you a high, spinless ball to your deep backhand.  When blowing it back, get slightly under the ball and give it a strong, steady stream of air.  The real danger is in blowing the ball too hard, off the end.  When you do that, say very loudly “Oops!  I blew that one!”

You can also blow the ball in the air and balance it over your head.  This takes a lot of practice.  Make sure to blow steadily, not in jerks.  My single favorite exhibition trick (never to be repeated!) was when I lay down on the floor at a basketball game halftime, blew a ball in the air, and had a local golf pro smash the ball out of the air with his driver.  Do not try this if you have buck teeth!

At some point in an exhibition game, try serving from about fifty feet or so away, from way off to the side.  It’s a tricky shot, but with practice you can make it fifty percent or more of the time.  Use a forehand sidespin serve, racket tip up, and stand well back and to the side of the table.  The key is to find the right place to stand and the right amount of sidespin so that all you have to do is get the ball to hit the right side of the table and the ball will do the rest.  A good way to follow this up is to charge the table, and jump on the table while smashing the (conveniently) popped up return.  Obviously, make sure you have a sturdy table first!

Another trick is to have your partner hit the ball side to side while you do crazy theatrics in getting to each ball.  Run side to side, just getting to each ball, and overrunning it off to the side.  Then run back, again just getting to the next wide angled return.  Wave your arms about, and you might even try to make a diving return.

Props are great for exhibitions.  One of the best is for one player to use a mini racket, the other an oversized one.  You may have to make the oversized one, but you can get the mini ones at any major tournament from the equipment booths.  You might also have both players use the mini racket.

When your partner makes a smash to your middle, gasp, grab your stomach, and hold up a conveniently stashed away racket with a hole in the middle.

You can make a racket out of anything in an exhibition. I’ve used shoes, books, I.D. cards, ice cubes, ash trays, shovels, tennis rackets, 30-pound pots, trash cans, suitcases, my forehead, and a fifty-pound second grader with plywood tied to his back.  I’ve seen others use golf clubs, combs, mirrors and telescoping rackets.

One neat trick, difficult to do in a noisy gymnasium, is to play a melody with pots and pans.  With three pans of different size, you can play “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

It’s always good to get the audience involved in exhibitions.  Talk to them, make fun of your opponent with them, and generally make them a part of the exhibition.  At the end of most exhibitions, you should take challenges from the audience, spotting points and doing tricks whenever possible.  Organize games they can join in, such as winner-stay-on, one point per game contest.  (You can play, but use a shoe as a racket.) 

For a really exciting (and sometimes expensive) exhibition, place a twenty dollar bill by the net.  Tell the audience the first one to return your serve gets the twenty.  They will line up, and each gets one try.  If you have spinny serves, and give them a sticky racket, most likely none will get the first one back.  But be ready to be out twenty bucks.

Bring a catcher’s mitt if you have spinny serves.  Ask for two volunteers from the audience, and give one of them the stickiest racket you can find.  Give the other the catcher’s mitt, and place him/her to the side.  Serve the ball with sidespin so the volunteer with the catcher’s mitt catches the serve return.  Then show the volunteers how to return the serve.

Lastly, make sure that your exhibition has a purpose.  Have literature available about the USTTA, local clubs, tournaments, coaching, etc.  You’ve had your fun.  Now let the people in your audience join in the fun of table tennis!

March 20, 2013

Fairness Versus Progressive Issues Revisited

In my blog yesterday I wrote about "USATT: Fairness Versus Progressive Issues." I had an email discussion with someone who believed that it would be interpreted by the average reader as criticism of the current Chair of the USATT Board of Directors, Mike Babuin. To anyone who read it that way - Poppycock!!! Mike was only voted in as Chair at the December board meeting, and his first meeting as chair will take place in April.

It could be read as criticism of past leaders. Some of them left USATT better than when they arrived, and some left it worse. There are many "Fairness" issues that they might have resolved, for the betterment of the sport. What no past leaders has done is find a way to either dramatically grow the sport or consistently develop players that can compete with the best players in the world. The point of my blog was that nearly every past USATT leader got bogged down in the "Fairness" issues, and so weren't able to focus on "Progressive" issues. It is a nasty cycle I hope will come to an end.

What are the progressive issues USATT could focus on? I've argued strongly for two specific ones: a nationwide system of leagues, and more junior training centers.

March 19, 2013

USATT: Fairness Versus Progressive Issues

For many years I've advised and argued that USATT leaders need to divide issues into two types, which I call "Fairness Issues" and "Progressive Issues." Both are important.

Fairness issues are those that involve the ongoing governance of the sport. They include setting up procedures for selecting teams; most membership issues; the running of the U.S. Open and Nationals and other similar events (including site selection, dates, choosing personnel, etc.); disciplinary actions; the magazine and website (which can be used to promote progressive issues, but are not progressive issues themselves); and many more. These issues take up the great majority of the time for USATT leaders. Look over the agenda or minutes for any USATT board meeting, and it's dominated by such issues.

Progressive issues are those that grow the sport. There are many different opinions on how this should be done, such as junior development programs (both elite and grass roots), leagues, schools, TV, growing the U.S. Open and Nationals, professional circuits, etc. It also includes raising money for the sport, if the money is used in progressive ways.

The problem is that Fairness issues take up an inordinate amount of time. They are often timely, and so leaders feel they get priority over Progressive issues. They often take a lot of time. And so they dominate the agenda, while progressive issues are regularly left out.

March 18, 2013

Tip of the Week

Dummy Loops.

$16,700 Cary Cup Championships

It's been a long journey. I left for the Cary Cup Championships in North Carolina, five hours drive away last Thursday morning, going down with Tim Boggan, who drove down from New York. (After the tournament he and his wife, who met him there on Sunday, go on vacation in various locations down there.) Tim had some early problems in that his credit card stopped working, most likely because he was suddenly using it in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, when he usually uses it in New York. But he's traveled extensively, using the credit card all over, and he said this had never happened. I had to put his hotel room for the first night on my credit card.

Here's the Cary Cup Championships web page, which includes complete results.

One major thing that jumped out at me this tournament was that the Maryland players who had played in recent tournaments tended to do well, while those who hadn't played tournaments in a while didn't do so well. This is actually an ongoing thing, as all the training in the world doesn't make up for a lack of "tournament toughness." When you play lots of tournaments, you get used to tournament pressures, to adjusting to different serves and playing styles, and to figuring out what serves and rallying shots you should use against various players. Players who hadn't played tournaments since, say, the Nationals in December didn't seem to have this tournament toughness, and it showed, especially in return of serve.

March 13, 2013

No More Blogs Until Monday - Cary Cup

I'll be leaving with Tim Boggan to drive down to the Cary Cup Championships around 4AM or so on Thursday morning, so no more blogs until next Monday. I'm helping with a clinic they are running on Thursday afternoon, then I play the hardbat event Friday morning, then I coach the rest of the way.

Fake Motions on Serves

One of the most under-utilized techniques is fake motions on serves. Most players have their racket move in a straight line from Point A to Point B, and since it doesn't take Ph.D. level geometry to read the spin if the racket goes in a straight line, the serve loses much of its effectiveness. It's like putting a big sign on your head before each serve that tells your opponent what the spin is going to be.

Instead, try two things. First, move your racket through a semi-circular motion so that the spin varies, depending on where the contact point is. At the highest levels players do this motion so fast and in such a short motion that few can even see the changing direction. There's a reason why, for example, a forehand pendulum serve is called a "pendulum" serve - the racket goes through a curving pendulum motion, and you get different spins depending on where on the curving path you contact the ball. Contact it early on the downswing, it's backspin; a split second later, it's side-backspin; a split second later, sidespin; a split second later, side-topspin; a split second later, it's topspin.

March 12, 2013

Tennis and Table Tennis

I used to play tennis regularly, going to the Quince Orchard Swim and Tennis Club for group training sessions. But it took up a lot of time and money, and I finally stopped about three years ago. Last night I had an urge to play, and so signed up for the 7-8 group session. It's a full-time center, with five tennis courts and a huge swimming pool. Each is contained in a huge "bubble," which comes down during the summer. (I hate when the bubble comes down, and we're stuck playing outside, in the sun, heat, and wind. If tennis were meant to be played outside, there'd have been tennis courts in the Garden of Eden, right?)

While I was paying for the session in the front lobby area, a kid walked up to me and said, "Hi Coach Larry!" I didn't recognize him at first, but I finally figured out he was Kevin, one of the kids in my Sunday junior session. Outside of a table tennis environment I hadn't recognized him at first. Then a man came up to me and asked if I also taught tennis. Again, I didn't recognize him outside the table tennis club, but he was the father of another player in one of my group sessions; his son or daughter was presumably out playing tennis or swimming. We chatted for a few minutes, where I explained I was just a player at the tennis center. When I went out on the tennis courts at 7PM, guess who was sitting next to the next court, watching his son take a tennis lesson? Stephen Yen, a local 2300 player! That's three separate table tennis people I ran into there in the course of a few minutes.

March 11, 2013

Tip of the Week

Practicing for the Big Matches.

Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings Time took a bite out of a Sunday morning practice session. I coach a six-year-old on Sundays from 10-11AM. Because of DST, that was like 9-10AM. Still not too early, right? After all, kids get up much earlier than that for school, right? Well, not in this case. I think the kid was used to staying up a little later on Saturday night, and his sleep clock was way off. When he came out to play, he was half asleep - literally. A few minutes into the session he put his head on the table and either went to sleep, or at least closed his eyes for a minute. I got him up, but a few minutes later he did it again. I had him splash water on his face to wake up - it did the trick for a few minutes. Then he sort of stood up, closed his eyes, and seemed to fall asleep standing up. Anyway, the first thirty minutes of the session were more or less alternate practice and sleep, practice and sleep. Then he woke up.

He actually had a pretty good second half. For his age, he's developed a pretty good backhand, can even smash pretty hard. (I have to get him to slow down.) On the forehand he tends to face the table without rotating his shoulders, and this also leads to an awkward grip. So we spent much of the second half shadow practicing this properly, and though he at one point put his head on the table again for a short nap, he got the forehand right. Near the end he was smacking forehands pretty well, including 22 in a row at one point - and he's hitting them pretty hard. Not bad for a six-year-old who is very small for his age - he looks about four. We also did some serve practice.

March 8, 2013

Junior Incentives and Team Leagues

One of the things junior table tennis in the U.S. tends to lack - including at my club - are junior incentives for each level. The kids come out and train and train, but for what? To win a rating event at a tournament? To win an age event at a tournament? (Not enough of them.) To win practice matches? To do well in a singles league? Rating points? These are all nice things, but they aren't quite enough. One way to address this is a junior team league. Another is to give training incentives, especially at the lower levels. At all levels there needs to be a balance between improvement (with specific goals) and fun. I'm now looking into both, with plans to set up various incentives and goals at the beginning level, and a junior team league starting this fall.

How would the junior team league be set up? Kids like doubles, so I want to include that. So most likely it'll be some version of two-person teams. However, rather than have just two or three players on a team (where the third can only play doubles), I'm leaning more toward six-person teams, where the top two play a best of five against the other team's top two (i.e. four singles and a doubles); the third and fourth players do the same against the opposing team's third and fourth; and the same for the fifth and sixth. This means each team will be made up of a balance of advanced, intermediate, and beginning players, but players would mostly compete against players in their own range.

Here are some thoughts on what are needed at the various levels. Please comment or email me if you have any suggestions.

March 7, 2013

Biggest Things Happening in Table Tennis

Here are the biggest things happening in U.S. table tennis right now. (I'm toying with putting in sandpaper table tennis, with all the new money events they are offering. I may feature them in an upcoming blog.)