October 13, 2026

October 13, 2026

Tip of the Week
Where to Place Your Putaways.

Huntsman World Senior Championships
I had a great time at the World Senior Championships in St. George, UT. I won three golds and a silver in table tennis, all in Over 65 events: Golds in Men’s Hardbat Singles and Doubles (with Mark Kraut); Gold in Men’s Doubles (sponge) with Rudy Miranda; and Silver in Men’s Singles (sponge, lost final to Arun Kumar). I won’t bore you with the blow-by-blow. Here’s me with my medals on Facebook! (Here’s a non-Facebook version.)

So . . . I’m world champion!!! (I also won Over 60 Hardbat Singles & Doubles in 2023 and Hardbat Doubles in 2025, so it’s not my first. I also won Over 60 Hardbat Singles at the Classic World Cup in Brazil in January.) Overall, my serves, footwork, and especially my forehand tended to dominate matches while my backhand often let me down. That’s going to be my focus the next few months. Sure, the top Chinese and others weren’t there, but I can only play who is there. (On a side note, the tournament’s name is interchangeably the Huntsman World Senior Games and the Huntsman World Senior Championships; I prefer the latter. They had over 40 sports and over 12,000 athletes in all, including 212 in table tennis.)

This was essentially the first tournament I’ve played in about three years where I didn’t come in with some injury or another – right foot, right knee, ride side, right shoulder, right arm. There does seem to be a pattern there! (Even in Brazil at the World Cup I was battling knee issues, though they weren’t too bad until near the end of the tournament.) I’ve had right knee problems all three years – but about two months ago it seems to have mostly healed. The funny part is that for those three years I’ve gotten into the habit of walking up and down stairs one foot at a time, so as to not put weight on the right knee when it’s bent. Now that it’s (mostly) healed, I still tend to do it out of habit and out of the fear of injuring it again. However, I’ve tested it, and can actually walk up and down stairs again like a normal person. However, near the end of the tournament my knee started bothering me again, so I have to go easy on it.

Great thanks to tournament director Jean Bulatao and all the others who put this event together. Also thanks to my doubles partners/practice partners, including Coach Lidney Castro, who's been training me the last couple of years when I'm healthy. Now it’s time to physically recover and start preparing for the US Open in Las Vegas in December, and three international Classic Table Tennis tournaments early in 2027, in China, Jamaica, and Czech Republic. (Entry forms are not yet out, but I’ve been told about them.)

“Ping-Pong Paddles Can’t Talk!” Review
Here’s the latest review of my children’s book, “Ping-Pong Paddles Can’t Talk!”, review by Tom Lodziak, a professional TT coach from Cambridge in the UK. It’s is a humorous Seussian rhyming children’s picture book (80 pages) that introduces table tennis to kids. It features a nervous boy and his talking paddle in their first tournament, where he meets and plays a girl who is really good, and they have an adventurous match. Along the way, kids learn about the sport, with themes on facing your fears, working toward a goal, honesty, and friendship. Here’s where you can buy it at Amazon!

USATT Museum
Here’s the USATT news item, USATT Announces the Establishment of the USA Table Tennis Museum. It’s a great idea – Here’s my 2020 blog on the issue. However, I’m rather leery about this.

The news item has zero information about the proposed USATT museum. Is it a real museum or just storage? Where? What size and type of building? Who’s in charge of putting it together? Is there a detailed plan or just something they are thinking about? Will there be a curator? Anyone experienced in museums involved? Has it been approved by USATT Board? (There’s nothing in the USATT minutes about it.) Is USATT funding it? If so, then that would have to be approved by the USATT board. Or do they have a sponsor? If so, who?

We need a LOT more info on this project before anyone should start sending in historical table tennis artifacts. I’ll wait and see before contributing the stuff I have – and I have a lot.

More importantly, there’s another group already working to set up such a museum. I have a suspicion the USATT news item is USATT’s way of pre-empting this by getting people to send them historical artifacts so they’d have control of them before the other group’s museum is established.

My suggestion – don’t send anything to any such museum until it is actually established. A vague news item about a proposed museum without any further info doesn’t establish a museum, it’s just a way to get control of items that might better be sent to whichever group actually establishes such a museum.

There is an ITTF Museum in Shanghai, but that's a little tricky to commute to unless you're in China. (I visited it last year – very impressive and extensive.) There’s also a table tennis display at the Triangle club in North Carolina, set up by Mike Babuin. (Here’s a video of it, 10:52.) Any real attempt with setting up such a US Table Tennis museum should start by contacting him and other collectors (there are quite a few) – but only when there’s an actual museum being created, not just an idea. Right now, as far as we know, all we have is a vague news item.

I’ve dealt with this type of leadership mentality of “telling as little as possible,” where the policy is the less you tell people, the less they’ll question you. I consider that a small-minded, inefficient, and an ineffective way of doing things. Give out the actual status of the project, including any info available and what they are still working on, so people will know what’s going on. That’s how you get people behind a project, not by giving them as little info as possible in some sort of “need to know” mentality, and expecting people to get behind a project they know nothing about. If it turns out they really don’t have any more info than what was given, then this isn’t an actual project, it’s just a way to get control of historical artifacts before this other group does. If it’s a serious project, then show us.

Weekend Coaching
I flew back from the Huntsman World Senior Championships on Friday night, and was off to coach the following morning at 10AM – exhausted, with every muscle in my body sore. But I survived coaching three junior group sessions, much of it feeding multiball. (I also spent one hour as a practice partner.) Have I ever mentioned that ending the wars in Ukraine and Iran is far easier than keeping the attention of kids 5-8 years old? But there are methods!

With the younger kids, I spent a bunch of time working on smashing slightly high balls, and on fast, deep, accurate serves. With older, more advanced players, we did more combination drills, such as looping against backspin followed by looping or smashing against topspin. As usual, I kept my eyes on their shoes, making sure they were in constant motion and screaming like a banshee if they weren’t.

How to Beat a Professional Table Tennis Player
Here’s the Facebook image. (Here’s the non-Facebook version.)

Anthropometric and Motor Profile of Table Tennis Players: A Systematic Literature Review
Here’s the technical journal article, care of Peak Performance Table Tennis. “While the biomechanical, physiological, and nutritional determinants of table tennis (TT) performance have already been summarized, a dedicated synthesis of players’ anthropometric and motor characteristics is still lacking. This review aimed to synthesize current evidence across different ages, genders, and competitive levels.”

Coaching and News from All Over
Since I’ve been away for a while, rather than linking to everything that’s happened, here are links to major table tennis sites to browse. Have fun!

Which Shot is Impossible?
Here’s the video (13 sec) from Ping Pong Maestros – pick one of the four!

Can I Beat India’s Rising Star?
Here’s the video (10:17) from Adam Bobrow, who faces Taneesha Kotecha!

Can We Break 6 Guinness World Records?
Here’s the video (13:15) from Pongfinity!

Non-Table Tennis - Short Story Sales
Two science fiction/fantasy stories of mine just came out.

  • “Big Sticks” (6,500 words) was published in Black Cat Weekly. The spirits of tens of millions of murdered and persecuted Native Americans coalesce over the killing fields of Wounded Knee in the form of a flying superbeing called Little Ghost, who singlehandedly destroys Chicago and other major American cities. The only one who can stop him is America’s own superhero, Private Planet—who must confront not only Little Ghost, but his own troubling origin.
  • “Boots” (just 350 words) came out in Bullet Points, an anti-war magazine. Two worms await the feast as a human battle rages overhead. The entire story is told from their sense of touch as the ground vibrates or shakes.

***
Send us your own coaching news!