Tip of the Week
The Balance Between Tactical and Strategic Thinking.

Balticon and Back to Pong
For once, I had pretty much of a non-table tennis weekend. (But I'll get to the table tennis in a minute.) I was a panelist at the Baltimore Science Fiction Convention. Here's my Balticon Bio - note where it says, "He's also a professional table tennis coach, and claims to be the best science fiction writer in USA Table Tennis, and the best table tennis player in SFWA"! (That's Science Fiction Writers of America, which has stringent membership requirements - you have to sell at least three short stories to one of the big "pro" magazines - I've sold 26 - or a novel to one of the big "pro" publishers.)

On Saturday I had a one-hour book signing session - here's a picture. I was on four panels. I moderated "Techniques for Plotting Your Novel,' and was on panels on "Science Fiction & Sports," "When to Tell Instead of Show," and "Turning the Starship of State: Government in SF." In the panel on "Science Fiction & Sport," I talked about how the best athletes in table tennis and other sports develop, and about the "threat" the world faces from China and its 10,000 sports schools, where kids from age 5 on are basically trained full-time in a sport.

On Sunday I snuck away from the convention and back to MDTTC to run the Beginning Junior Class. Most were away because of Memorial Day Weekend so we had a small turnout. We focused on basics. I had planned a backhand-to-backhand competition - who could get the most in a row, as I had done with forehands the previous week - but decided to postpone that until next Sunday when we have more players.

No Blog on Friday and Monday
On Friday and Saturday I'll be at the Baltimore Science Fiction Convention ("Balticon") where I'm a panelist and have a book signing - here's my schedule. My first panel actually isn't until 4PM but I'm going out early (it's an hour away) to spend the day at the Baltimore Aquarium. On Sunday and Monday I'm at home reading and writing, i.e. celebrating Memorial Day, though I may drive over to coach at the Washington DC May Open, if I have the energy. (But I still have to coach a junior class on Sunday from 4-5:30 PM.) See you next Tuesday!

USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame
Here's a picture of the USATT Hall of Fame at the Triangle Club in North Carolina. I think it's great that after so many years we finally got this, with the grand opening last year. It's a million times better than what we had before, which was no USATT Hall of Fame.

But you know what? I'd like to see something a lot more extensive. Maybe not as big as the ITTF Museum, but a real tourist attraction. Here's an article on the ITTF Museum in Shanghai, from the Global Times. (It was previously in Switzerland.) Here's a video tour (1:51) of their exhibits at the 2017 Worlds in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Serve and Receive Tactics Seminar at MDTTC and Nationals
As mentioned in previous blogs, I'll be running two Serve and Receive Tactics Seminars. The one at the USA Nationals is now the lead story on the USATT News page!  (Here's the direct link.) Here are the two, with links to the seminar flyer.

• Thursday, May 31, 7:00-8:30 PM at MDTTC in Gaithersburg, MD
• Tuesday, July 3, 7:00-8:30 PM at USA Nationals in Las Vegas

The one in Las Vegas is free - I'm running it as USATT Coaching Chair. The one at MDTTC is $15 for members, $20 for others, with 100% of the money raised going to the HW Global Junior Program at MDTTC, to pay for our coaches to go to the USA Nationals to coach the 19 MDTTC junior players who are competing. Here's their funding page - we're now at $14,175 raised of the $15,500 needed. All money raised in the seminar will go toward this - I'm not taking any of it.

Here are the main topics I'll be covering. Much of it will be a combination of demonstration and explanation as I go into the nuances of each topic. (I'm hoping to be able to cover all this in an hour, 30 minutes on serve, 30 minutes on receive, and then let players try these things out at the tables the last 30 minutes as I walk around observing and coaching. But we'll see how long it actually takes.)

SERVE TACTICS

Man in the Arena
Many years ago, when I was in one of my many battles with USA Table Tennis or with some other group of naysayers, I received a note from USATT Hall of Famer Wendell Dillon (one of the all-time great USATT officials, and still active) that I was "The Man in the Arena." To my great embarrassment, I only vaguely knew of this famous speech by Teddy Roosevelt, and had to look it up. Here it is:

THE MAN IN THE ARENA
Teddy Roosevelt Speech, April 23, 1910
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. 

Tip of the Week
Develop Power Timing by Slapping.

Weekend Coaching
On Friday I spent 2.5 hours watching the Friday night league at MDTTC, taking notes on our junior players on their games, both for those I coach and to pass on to the other coaches. I'll be doing this more and more as the U.S. Nationals approaches for many of the 17 MDTTC juniors who are going. It was a hodgepodge (that's the third time I've used my namesake word in this blog since it started in 2011) of strengths and weaknesses.

Overall, I was very happy with how they played, though of course they must all strive for constant improvement or I won't be happy! On the weakness side, way too many of them attacked the corners over and over instead of tactically attacking the middle (elbow). One still tends to lean instead of stepping to the ball - I'm recommending he do a lot of shadow practice, jump rope, and Stutter Stepping. (Another was so light on his feet that he stepped even to net balls, handling them with relative ease.) Some were too passive in attacking, which meant they are not getting the attacking practice they need to develop. (One player has really taken this to heart, and is losing games he'd normally win, but he's rapidly developing his attacking game to go along with his already proficient blocking game.) Several tended to go into backhand stances and push too much. A couple had trouble with fishers and lobbers. One doesn't really snap the arm when smashing, just holds it out straight, losing a lot of power and quickness. And so on.

The Ongoing Hidden Serve Saga
Here is a draft of the letter I plan to send to the ITTF at some point. I will likely ask the USATT Board of Directors to get behind this so the letter (or a version of it) can come from USATT. (NOTE - on Monday afternoon I updated the letter to a newer draft.)

Dear ITTF Rules Committee, Umpires and Referees Committee, and Athletes Commission:

The illegal hiding of serves is a major problem in our sport. Video and still pictures show that most world-class players regularly hide the ball when they serve, thereby gaining a huge advantage over those who serve legally. (Examples are given in the Net Visibility Rule proposal, one of a number of proposals to solve this problem - this is not an endorsement of any specific one of them.) Cadet and junior players see that most world-class players regularly hide their serve illegally and almost always get away with it, and so they are forced to either do so themselves, or be at a huge disadvantage. Coaches have to explain to these cadets and juniors, and their parents, that if they want to compete on an equal basis and reach a high level, they too have to serve illegally - basically, coaches are forced to tell players that they must cheat to compete. We are likely the only Olympic sport that allows such open flaunting of the rules. We believe this is a very bad situation.

Table Tennis vs. Science Fiction Writing
Outside table tennis I also write science fiction - see larryhodges.com and my bibliography. (Short version - 90 short stories sold, 4 novels, and 2 short story collections. I have a story coming out in the next issue of Analog.) However, table tennis is still the main priority and it pays the most of the bills, both coaching and writing (eight books).

I started a new science fiction novel last week, but every time I tried working on it, some table tennis issue came up and I'd put it aside. There was the Hall of Fame program; researching some history and photos for one of this year's Hall of Fame inductees; a USATT Board of Directors teleconference; proofing some USATT documents; an ongoing confidential issue I've hinted about and spent nearly 100 hours on and can't wait to blog about hopefully this summer; some Coaching Chair issues; planning out junior training group sessions; preparing Tim Boggan's History of U.S. Table Tennis, Vol. 21, for online publication; finalizing the flyers for the upcoming Serve and Receive Tactics seminars I'm running at MDTTC and at the Nationals in Las Vegas; writing up player evaluations on local juniors; prep work for the upcoming Maryland State Championships I'm running; a new proposal regarding hidden serves; lots of TT email correspondence; and of course the usual blogging and Tips of the Week. And all this was just since Monday! 

How the Game Has Changed! A Look Back to 1994
I was doing some research on something recently and came across an article I wrote in the Sept/Oct 1994 issue of USA Table Tennis Magazine. The article was my diary as the USA head coach at the King Car International Youth City Championships in Taipei, Taiwan, Aug. 22-30, 1994. We had two boys' teams and two girls' teams, with 14 players. Many of the best junior teams from all over the world attended, including teams from all over Europe, Asia, and a few from South America and Africa. The notable missing team was China, since we were in Taiwan.

Before the tournament we had a five-day joint training camp with the Taiwan and South Korean Teams. I noticed that their players had incredible footwork and forehand loops, but their backhand loops were rather weak. So I called our team together and told them our focus during the tournament was simple - get your backhand loops into play as they weren't used to facing them. The strategy worked - USA #1 (Dave Fernandez, Barney J. Reed, Richard Lee) came out of nowhere to get third place in Boys' Teams, beating some of the best teams from Taiwan, South Korea, and Sweden - with each match played in front of 20,000 screaming fans!!!

What jumped out from reading the article was how the game is changed. Here are three excerpts.

USATT Teleconference and the USATT Hall of Fame Banquet
We had one last night, a rather short one, only about 70 minutes, starting at 7PM. All nine USATT board members (including me) attended, as did the USATT CEO, COO, HPD, LC, and the chair of the HPC. (Awe, c'mon, do I have to spell these out for you? Think of it as a brain teaser.)

The meeting really had two parts, the "Open" session and the "Closed" session. During the open session we primarily discussed:

• World Veterans - over 4000 entries. However, there have been problems with visas from some countries, likely due to the U.S.'s changing to more restrictive policies, and we may have lost up to 100 entries. We also arranged to have a USATT board meeting at the Veterans on Wednesday, July 20, with a board dinner the night before. 
• U.S. Nationals. Final entry deadline is May 25, so what are you waiting for?
• Para Data Protection Guidelines
• Volunteer Recognition

Then we went into closed session to discuss legal matters. I wish I could discuss these matters, but I cannot. I'm hoping the saga of the biggest issue discussed will come to an end sometime this summer so I can write about it. I've hinted about it a few times, but suffice to say it's mind-boggling how one person can waste so much of everyone's time. I've now spent nearly 100 hours on this one issue that only about 20 people in USATT know about.

Tip of the Week
Tactical Thinking Between Points.

Doubles Foibles
I did a lot of doubles coaching on Saturday during the Junior League Training. This is a joint junior league and training session (mostly ages 8-13), where we do both singles and doubles, often using improvised games so the players get specialized type training. For example, we play games where the server loses the point if he doesn't serve and attack, or gets two points if he serve and attacks and eventually wins the point, or where the server starts out behind 7-9 or 8-10. And so on.

During the doubles segment on Saturday the one thing that stood out was that . . . no one thing stood out. Every team had different strengths and weaknesses. But there was one pattern and that was in most teams (not all), both players had the same doubles weaknesses, as if they copied from their partner. Here's a rundown. (Note that I'm picking on the problems I found, but they also did a lot of things well.)