September 7, 2026

Tips of the Week
Here are all the Tips of the Week I put up during my seven weeks away. (A nine-day writing workshop, followed by my European Tour - see below.) As noted before, I’m taking a break from creating new Tips, and am going through previous ones.

European Sightseeing
I was in Europe Aug. 6-28, sightseeing in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia, plus short stops in Netherlands and Poland (which I visited for several days back in 2019). I’ve now been to 37 countries, as well as all 50 US states. I could write many pages about this trip, but this is a table tennis blog, so I’ll keep it short. The main tour was a 13-day Nordic guided tour (with 38 people) of the first three above – DEN, NOR, SWE, and FIN, the Copenhagen to Helsinki tour. I did a lot of sightseeing on my own as well, and walked the streets of the major cities, including:

  • Netherlands: Amsterdam
  • Denmark: Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus, Hirtshals
  • Norway: Bergen, Flam, Oslo
  • Sweden: Karlsta, Örebro – Stockholm
  • Finland: Helsinki
  • Poland: Warsaw
  • Czech Republic: Ostrava, Prague
  • Slovakia: Bratislava

In my ongoing search for Dr Pepper whenever I travel, I have concluded that Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia are uncivilized (no Dr Pepper). It took four days, but I found one on the last day in Denmark, so I guess they are semi-civilized. I found on the first day in Sweden, so they are civilized. :) I also collected a massive number of souvenir magnets from all the major places I visited. 

I played in the Czech Classic Open in Ostrava on Aug. 23, competing in Over 40 and Over 60 Hardbat. (I think Ostrava is the center of European Classic TT - hardbat, sandpaper, wood.) I went 10-1 in matches, getting the bronze in Over 60 (don’t get me started on that SF match...), but dropped out of Over 40 in the QF when my knee started bothering me – I didn’t want to take the chance of injuring it further, especially since I was exhausted, and that’s when most injuries occur.

Here are the 37 countries I’ve been to, in order: USA, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan (let’s not bicker), Japan, China, Bahamas, Portugal, Ireland, England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Vatican City, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Egypt, Panama, Ecuador, Jordan, Austria, Dominican Republic, Scotland, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia.

Weekend Coaching
I worked with our elite junior group for two hours on Sunday. I’d say the focus for that session was balance and recovery. When players can’t get to a ball – often to the wide forehand – they almost always say they were out of position or just too slow. Actually, almost always it’s because they were off balance on the previous shot, and so recovered too slowly.

I also had two group sessions with our intermediate group, which actually includes our beginners. I spent one whole session with three kids ages 5, 6, and 8. I could have run drill after Drill after DRILL – and that’s exactly what I did. But instead of boring them to death and either turning them into zombies who don’t really want to play or driving them to another sport, after about 45 minutes I put targets on the table (mostly my water bottle), and had them do drills while aiming at them for the last 45 minutes. (“Don’t you DARE hit my rare, thousand-dollar water bottle,” I’d say – and, of course, that just motivates them to do so.) THAT’s how you get kids that age excited about playing, and THAT’s how you develop self-motivated kids who want to play and become champions.

Butterfly Review of “Ping-Pong Paddles Can’t Talk!”
Here’s the review, by Steve Hopkins. You mean you haven’t bought a copy yet??? Here’s where you can buy it from Butterfly!

Table Tennis History – September Issue
Here’s the new issue!

Three Table Tennis Coaches That Changed History
Here’s the video (1:52).

Five Things Every Beginner Should Know
Here’s the video (21 sec) from Liu Wenyu.

Why I Never Became a Professional Table Tennis Player
Here’s the video (32:30) from Matt Hetherington. Here’s a 36-sec excerpt.

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 that have new items. Have fun!

Conga Pong in Paris
Here’s the video (17 sec) from Ping Pong Pang Crew!

She Beat Me at 11. Now She's World #1 in U13, U15 and U17.
Here’s the video (14:16) from Adam Bobrow!

World’s Easiest Trickshots… But Only 1 Try
Here’s the video (14:42) from Pongfinity!

Non-Table Tennis – Science Fiction & Fantasy Sales & Publications
I’ve sold ten different stories to Black Cat Weekly – and they’ve published three this past month. Here they are!  (You have to buy the issue to read it.)

  • The Long Adventures of Captain Quick (Aug. 2, 2026) - Captain Quick is a superhero who keeps getting killed – but if he can survive as a ghost for 70 billion years through the next Big Crunch and Big Bang and learn from his mistakes, he’ll get another chance. And another. And another. How long will it take him to defeat the Punner, the Puzzler, and the Puffin?
  • Comic-in-Chief (Aug. 30, 2026) - The US presidency has reached the point where it's purely entertainment, with the current president a standup comedian who does a nightly routine. When he's challenged by an even better entertainer - a literal clown - he must decide how to meet the challenge.
  • The Pleading Eyes of the Screaming Lettuce (Sept. 6, 2026) - With Earth about to be destroyed, an alien robot probe can only save the most worthy sapient life. How to choose? And why does food and medicine all over the planet suddenly start talking and making friends with perplexed people? The two are connected!

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