Blogs

Larry Hodges' Blog and Tip of the Week will normally go up on Mondays by 2:00 PM USA Eastern time. Larry is a member of the U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Fame, a USATT Certified National Coach, a professional coach at the Maryland Table Tennis Center (USA), and author of ten books and over 2100 articles on table tennis, plus over 1900 blogs and over 600 tips. Here is his bio. (Larry was awarded the USATT Lifetime Achievement Award in July, 2018.)

Make sure to order your copy of Larry's best-selling book, Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers!
Finally, a tactics book on this most tactical of sports!!!

Also out - Table Tennis TipsMore Table Tennis Tips, Still More Table Tennis Tips, and Yet Still More Table Tennis Tips, which cover, in logical progression, his Tips of the Week from 2011-2023, with 150 Tips in each!

Or, for a combination of Tales of our sport and Technique articles, try Table Tennis Tales & Techniques. If you are in the mood for inspirational fiction, The Spirit of Pong is also out - a fantasy story about an American who goes to China to learn the secrets of table tennis, trains with the spirits of past champions, and faces betrayal and great peril as he battles for glory but faces utter defeat. Read the First Two Chapters for free!

What are your table tennis goals?

And before you say them, remember this. There are two voices that will constantly ridicule your goals if they are too high. One is from some other players, who may not have the same lofty goals for you that you may have for yourself. Ignore them, and go for your goals. (Though it is helpful to have reasonable goals - just don't limit yourself.) The other is that little voice inside your head that says, "You can't!" Ignore that voice. In the words of Albert Einstein, "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." So drop the mediocre voice from your mind and let the great spirit soar.

Illegal hidden serves one more time (until next time)

<Begin Rant>

Dear umpires, coaches, and players, let's go over this one more time.

Rule 2.6.6: "It is the responsibility of the player to serve so that the umpire or the assistant umpire can be satisfied that he or she complies with the requirements of the Laws."

Read that over once or ten times, and it'll still say the same thing. If you aren't sure if the server is hiding contact with his serve, then you aren't sure he isn't, and the server is not serving "...so that the umpire or the assistant umpire can be satisfied that he or she complies with the requirements of the Laws." You can give a warning the first time, but thereafter you must call a fault. If you do not, you are not umpiring; you are allowing one player to cheat, and making sure more players will do so since they see umpires are not enforcing the rules. You know, the rules, the ones umpires are supposed to enforce?

Do we really want a sport where cheaters prosper and those who do not cheat are chumps who can't compete because of the umpires? As a coach, I often feel like a chump at tournaments since I haven't taught illegal hidden serves to my players, while more and more opponents are using them. It's pretty much rampant at the higher levels.

To those who say it's okay to go to the limit of hidden serves as long as you don't actually hide them - if you do that, then sometimes you will inadvertently go over the line and actually hide them. That's the nature of going to the limit on something. More importantly, if you go to the limit, the umpire from his vantage point can't tell for sure if the serve is hidden or not, and therefore he is legally obligated to call the serve illegal. See the rule quoted above. So you cannot go "to the limit" on hidden serves. If you can't serve so the umpire can see that contact was clearly visible, it's an illegal serve.

Yes, this is a picky subject for me because I don't teach illegal hidden serves at my club, and neither do the other coaches there. But other coaches from other clubs do, and we have to face these players and their illegal serves in tournaments. Since we don't teach illegal hidden serves, our players do not have illegal hidden serves, and since we also haven't taught their practice partners to do illegal hidden serves, they are not experienced at returning illegal hidden serves, and so often lose to those who use illegal hidden serves because the umpires are allowing opponents to use illegal hidden serves.

Didn't Major League Baseball have a little problem when they wouldn't enforce the rules on steroids, thereby creating an entire generation of cheaters? Hmmmm....

</End Rant>

Another table tennis blog

You'll find a number of interviews of top players and coaches and other table tennis items at Matt Hetherington's blog. (He's based in New Zealand, but seems to know everyone.) For those of you who just can't get enough table tennis. That means you. And you. And yes, you too.

The Bryan Brothers

Yes, they play table tennis too - see article and picture. (In their free time, they're the world's best tennis doubles team.)

All about table tennis tournaments

So you're about to play your first table tennis tournament, or one of your first. You're probably scared to death. You should be - some of the initiation rites they do to new players is absolutely . . . oh, never mind, you'll find out. But first, why not read my article Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your First Tournament - But Didn't Know Where to Ask! (Much of this would be useful even if you've played in a few.) Here's a list of questions answered in the article:

GENERAL TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

  • I’m thinking of entering my first tournament. What do I need to know?
  • How can I find out when and where tournaments are being held?
  • What are the fees and requirements to play in a tournament?
  • What types of events are held at tournaments? Are there events where I would be competitive?
  • What is the format for the various events?
  • What is a “Round Robin”?
  • What are rating doubles events?
  • Are there prizes for winning an event?
  • Is there a dress code?
  • Are there rules on what equipment I may use?
  • What’s the difference between the tournament director, the referee, and an umpire?
  • When I arrive at the tournament, what do I do?

TOURNAMENT RATINGS

  • How does the Tournament rating system work?
  • Will I be able to play in rating events in my first tournament, since I’m unrated?
  • After I play in my first tournament, when will I be rated?
  • Who runs the USATT ratings?

TOURNAMENT ETIQUETTE

  • Warming up
  • Before the match
  • During the match
  • After the match
  • Spectating
  • Photography & Videos
  • Videotaping

HOW TO PLAY YOUR BEST

And since we're on the subject of tournaments...

...here's my article Ten-Point Plan to Tournament Success! And here's a link to the USA Table Tennis Tournament Schedule.

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Regarding rules:

  1. Can the opponent stop receiving the serve and tell the umpire that he/she was not able to see the point of contact?
  2. this came up at work y'day. my colleagues wanted to know if it was legal to switch hands during a rally. (they also had this "new" idea of attack: throw the racket towards the opponent and hit the ball with the hand over the net for a sure point ! )

In reply to by ttc

 

Can the opponent stop receiving the serve and tell the umpire that he/she was not able to see the point of contact?

Definitely. But if the opponent disagrees, and the umpire doesn't call it - which is what commonly happens - then the opponent gets to continue serving illegally. The problem is that most umpires say that from their vantage point, they can't tell if the serve is hidden. While that may be true, that means the server is not serving so that "...the umpire or the assistant umpire can be satisfied that he or she complies with the requirements of the Laws." And by claiming that they are only taking the serve to the limit, they actually succeed in hiding their serve, whether intentionally or not. Some servers probably don't mean to hide their serve except up to the split second of contact - but when they mistime it and hide contact, the one penalyzed is the opponent.

this came up at work y'day. my colleagues wanted to know if it was legal to switch hands during a rally. (they also had this "new" idea of attack: throw the racket towards the opponent and hit the ball with the hand over the net for a sure point ! )

This has come up before, and you can switch hands. I've done it before in tournaments. What you cannot do is have two rackets since it has been ruled that you must have a free hand. 

If your racket slips out of your hand and the oncoming ball hits what was your playing hand and goes over to land on the opponent's side, is that allowed?

If your racket 'slips' out of your hand and hits your opponent in the head as your hand hits the ball into their court, is there any rule for that situation?

In reply to by vineRipeTomatoes

 

If your racket slips out of your hand and the oncoming ball hits what was your playing hand and goes over to land on the opponent's side, is that allowed?

Nope - the rules state that the racket hand is the hand holding the racket, and that a player strikes the ball if he or she touches it in play with his or her racket, held in the hand, or with his or her racket hand below the wrist, and that the ball shall be struck so that it passes over or around the net assembly (etc.). As soon as you drop your racket, you have no playing hand to strike the ball. 

If your racket 'slips' out of your hand and hits your opponent in the head as your hand hits the ball into their court, is there any rule for that situation?

That would be both a let and a disciplinary situation. It's a let because of USATT rule 2.9.2.4: "The rally shall be a let because the conditions of play are disturbed in a way which could affect the outcome of the rally." The umpire would probably yellow card the player whose racket hit his opponent. It does seem unfair - next time I'm down 9-10 match point and pop the ball up, I'm throwing my racket at my opponent! Actually, that won't work, as the umpire would report what happened to the referee, and the referee would default me. So I'd have to fake it was an accident! smiley

 

Tip of the Week

Suggested equipment for beginning and intermediate players.

Sean O'Neill teaching the forehand

Here's a great video (8:21) of Olympian and five-time U.S. Men's Singles Champion Sean O'Neill teaching the forehand. Note the emphasis on being in balance - left and right sides, backswing and follow through, etc.

Timo Boll serve and grip change

Here's a slow-motion video (1:10) of world #2 Timo Boll of Germany doing a reverse pendulum serve, and following it up with two forehand loops. Two things of interest. First, note how long he spends at a complete stop before the serve - he's visualizing the serve before doing it, as you should always do. Second, about 38 seconds in, as he prepares for his first forehand loop, see how he changes his grip into a forehand grip. Most players do not change grip during a rally; Boll does. I sometimes think this might be the next technique revolution, where players change their grip for certain shots as part of the stroke. Right now it is frowned on by most coaches, just as receiving short serves to the forehand (against backhand serve sidespin) with the backhand was a few years ago, or reverse penhold backhands. Yes, techniques change.

Possible Replacements for the New York City Open

So you were all set to compete in the New York City Open this past weekend? And then that mean old blowbag Irene showed up and postponed the tournament? (I'll post here when/if it is rescheduled.) Well, fear not - below are other upcoming tournaments (through October) in the Northeast region! This includes the four-star Westchester Open, Oct. 8-9, also in New York, as well as the three-star New England Open, Sept. 10-11. I've also added four-star tournaments from outside the region - the LA Open, Badger Open (in nearby Wisconsin), and Berkeley Open. Oh, you're not in the northeast region? Then see the USATT tournament schedule for your region.

Dear Irene notes (mostly non-table tennis)

I had a little fun on Saturday. All day long, roughly every hour, I put up a new note regarding the approaching (and arriving) Hurricane Irene. Here they are, gathered together for the first time, for your reading enjoyment.

9:00 AM
Lots of first-round defaults here at the New York City Table Tennis Open. Where is everyone? But someone told me the top seed in women's singles, Irene, is on her way.

10:00 AM
Dear Irene,
It's an undark and unstormy Saturday morning. Can we keep it that way?

11:00 AM
Dear Irene,
I know you're pretty angry right now because I called you a fat airhead. But please calm down. What happens in North Carolina stays in North Carolina, but only if you stay in North Carolina.

12 Noon
Dear Irene,
I hear you are still on your way, and that you're taking your anger out on innocent people. Look, I'm sorry I called you a fat airhead, but c'mon, let's be honest, you're 500 miles of swirling hot air.

1:00 PM
Dear Irene,
I'm sorry I called you Raunchier Irene, but Raunchier *is* an anagram of Hurricane. It won't happen again.

2:00 PM
Dear Irene,
Please remember the restraining order. Can't we just use Skype?

3:00 PM
Dear Irene,
Could you pick up a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs on your way?

4:00 PM
Dear Irene,
Can't we talk this over? I promise to put the seat down next time. Call me.

5:00 PM
Dear Irene,
If you stop now, I won't sick FEMA on you. I'm warning you - I have an umbrella and I know how to use it!

6:00 PM
Dear 911,
There's a crazy woman pounding on my door! Come quickly! You want a description? Um, a swirling mass of air about 500 miles wide, and, well, here's a picture I took with my cell phone.

7:00 PM
Dear Irene,
The police will be here any minute. You better go away. [Note to self: where will they put the handcuffs?]

8:00 PM
Dear Irene,
Get away from my house! And what do you mean you're going to leave "a nicer ruin here"? Yes, I know that's an anagram for "Hurricane Irene," but come on!

9:00 PM
Dear Irene,
We have to stop meeting like this. The neighbors will talk.

10:00 PM
Dear Anybody,
HELP!!! Irene's using an axe on my front door! She's coming after me! And - she keeps saying, "Heeeeeere's Irene!"

11:00 PM
This is an all-points bulletin for Irene, wanted for loitering, vandalism, creating a public disturbance, water boarding, and the murder of SF writer and table tennis coach Larry Hodges. Suspect is 500 miles wide, made of wind and water, and was last seen traveling up the U.S. east coast at thirteen miles per hour. Suspect is armed and dangerous; shoot on sight.

***

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Larry,

I just wanted to say I love the blog.  I am an intermediate (~1700) player without a coach and your site has been a goldmine of information. Thanks!

I have always heard a great deal about Timo Boll's infamous grip changes, but I've never been able to see exactly what he's doing in full speed. Very perceptive on your part to notice that grip change at :38.

 I wonder if Boll is constantly making these kind of grip changes, or if he  only does it against underspin pushes where he has more time?  He certainly couldn't be making these adjustments when he is blocking loops close to the table, could he?

Thanks again, and keep up the great work with the blog.  We are reading and learning and we are grateful!!

 

 

In reply to by SchemeSC

I'm guessing, from what I've seen, that the only major grip change for Boll is when looping, when he switches to the extreme forehand grip. Other than when serving, most players use pretty much the same grip for all shots since (according to theory) it takes too long to switch. And yet does it really take longer to switch grips than it does to move your entire body into position and backswing for the shot? 

There is one relatively common grip change in rallies - some players rotate the racket slightly on the backhand (into a slight backhand grip, so top of the racket rotates away from you) by putting pressure on the racket with their thumb. Jan-Ove Waldner did this.

Glad you like the blog!

Off to New York City Open!

EDIT - BREAKING NEWS AT 10:30 AM - Due to Hurricane Irene, the New York City Open has been postponed.

I leave right after lunch, about 12:30, for the New York City Open. I'm going up with the juniors John & Nathan Hsu and their mom, and Jeffrey Zeng Xun. Jeffrey (when he's not playing - he's seeded fifth, and was the recent Cary Cup and Eastern Open Champion) and I will be coaching John & Nathan. I may coach a few other locals when I'm free - Ryan, Greg, Tim. I'm just coaching, not playing. There are 277 players entered in the tournament, and the Open includes 11 players rated over 2550 or higher, and 36 over 2300, listed below. Newly unretired Scott Boggan, rated 2447, is seeded only 21st! (See note on him below.)

  1. Ting Sun (2730)
  2. Zhen (Eugene) Wang (2729)
  3. Peter-Paul, Pradeeban (2682)
  4. Damien Provost (2636)
  5. Xun Zeng (2612)
  6. YanJun Gao (2609)
  7. Barney J. Reed (2592)
  8. Yue Wu (2581)
  9. Therien, Xavier (2564)
  10. Ebuen Jr., Ernesto L. (2561)
  11. Chu, Hiu Yu (2550)
  12. Mieczyslaw Suchy (2549)
  13. Nai Hui Liu (2515)
  14. Florian Mueller (2497)
  15. Hiroka Ooka (2494)
  16. Yu Shao (2491)
  17. Nguyen, Khoa Dinh (2488)
  18. Kazuyuki Yokoyama (2478)
  19. Choor Sime Oh (2468)
  20. XinYue Wang (2464)
  21. Boggan, Scott (2447)
  22. Raghu R. Nadmichettu (2429)
  23. De C. Tran (2423)
  24. Aronov, Nison (2402)
  25. Kurimay, Dora (2396)
  26. Michael Hyatt (2394)
  27. Yu Xiang Li (2390)
  28. Ludovic A. Gombos (2387)
  29. Tahl Leibovitz (2374)
  30. Thomas Pok-Yin Yu (2359)
  31. Doverman, Richard (2348)
  32. Slava Gotlib (2344)
  33. Wang, Rocky (2340)
  34. Mark Croitoroo (2332)
  35. Ethan Jin (2330)
  36. Green, Wally (2321)

Hopefully Hurricane Irene won't interfere. At the top right of the North American Table Tennis home page there's a status update, which currently says, "The NYC Open is still scheduled for August 27 and 28. If weather conditions require us to change the status of the tournament we will notify you here on our website and on our facebook page."

Update on back

I saw the physical therapist again yesterday. She's working on back muscles I didn't know I had until they started hurting! My daily routine has been upped from five to ten minute back stretching sessions, three times a day, in addition to meeting with the therapist twice a week. If all goes well, I'll be back to playing in three weeks.

Newgy 2050 robot

Because of my back problems, yesterday I did a coaching session at the home of one of my 10-year-old students, using his brand new Newgy 2050 robot to do the hitting. The catch was they hadn't set it up yet, so I was there for two hours, spending much of the time setting it up and figuring out how to do the various programmed drills (there are 64 pre-programmed drills), how to reprogram them, etc.  It went pretty well, though there's a lot still to learn about its capabilities. We got it doing various popular drills, including one to forehand, one to backhand, and the Falkenberg drill (three-shot sequence: backhand from backhand corner; forehand from backhand corner; forehand from forehand corner).

Backhand loop

Here's a very nice video (4:02) on the backhand loop by TTEdge.

Scott Boggan's first tournament...

...in a LONG time! He played in the Lily Yip Table Tennis Center Open, Aug. 20-21, and went 5-0, 15-0 in games! I believe he won the Open event - can anyone verify? His rating going in was 2447 (he didn't gain any - best win was Lim Ming Chui, 2094), but that was from the Paleolithic period, circa (I'm guessing) early 1980s or so. Scott is also playing in the New York City Open this weekend (Open, Over 40, Over 50 - how time has passed), so I look forward to seeing him there.

U.S. Leagues

Here's an answer to a question about leagues that I posted on the forum. (I updated a few things.)

I think the ideal situation is for USA Table Tennis to create a model of a U.S. league that states and regions can use. This is not a matter of USATT imposing its model on others; it's about having such a model so those interested in creating leagues will have a model to start with. This is how it was done in table tennis and other sports all over the world. At the 2009 USATT Strategic Meeting, I argued strongly that USATT should meet with German, English, and others from the hugely successful European table tennis leagues at the Worlds, to find out how they had created their leagues. Germany has over 700,000 members of their league competing in 11,000 clubs; England over 500,000. It's not a matter of their setting up leagues for a large membership, as some USATT officials believed; the leagues are what create the large memberships.

The key is how they created and grew these leagues, not their current status - though that's what we are working toward. Since we already send numerous officials to the Worlds, meeting with these league officials wouldn't have cost anything. Then we could take this info, study other successful leagues in other sports, and then get successful table tennis league directors in the U.S. to meet and create a model for a USA Table Tennis League that can be used by those interested. (I suggested we put a bunch of successful league directors in a room and lock the door, and tell them they can't come out until they have designed this model.) Sadly, none of this has happened that I know of; USATT is perpetually in a cycle of things we're going to do without actually ever doing them. I look forward to the day when they break out of this cycle.

***

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Why you should have a slow, spinny loop

(This was originally from a forum posting, but I thought I'd put it here as well.) It's extremely helpful to have a slow, spinny loop, for four reasons. First, many players have difficulty with slow, spinny loops, and if you don't have one, then you are handicapped in the match. Second, it gives you more variation, which makes your other loops more effective. Third, against a very low, heavy push, it's much easier to go for a slow, spinny loop then to try to power it all the time. And fourth, if you are missing your faster loops, it's good to have a slower and steadier loop to fall back on. 

There is less slow looping at the highest levels, but that's because at that point they can pretty much rip anything they see. However, even there you'll see some slow loops as variations, depending on the circumstances. But anywhere below the world-class level a slow loop is one of the more underused shots.

How do you do a slow, spinny loop? One key is to let the ball drop more than usual, especially against backspin. A common mistake when slow looping is to slow the swing down. Instead, use normal power, but graze the ball so finely that most of the power converts to topspin. Then get ready for your follow-up - and note that the very slowness of your shot gives you time to prepare for the next shot. This is why when you step around your backhand corner to forehand loop many players either loop a winner or a slow loop. If you loop medium, then unless you have fast footwork you might not have time to react to the likely block to your wide forehand.

Training session on forehand

I had an interesting coaching session last night. The 10-year-old kid I was coaching was having trouble on his forehand. Normally when I tried to work on it, he'd quickly lose interest and want to work on something else. Because of my recent back problems I had John Hsu (2274-rated junior and recent ITTF certified coach) doing my hitting for me while I coached. John kept commenting on how the kid needed to work on the forehand, and that seemed to get the kid's attention. I think he knew me too well, and I'd been too "soft," changing focus to other things rather than insisting on fixing his forehand problems. This time we spent the entire hour on his forehand, and he looks much better now. I've assigned lots of shadow practice for the next week, and when we meet next Wednesday (with John again doing my hitting), I hope it will have paid off. 

Celluloid ping-pong ball ban

There's been a lot of talk about the upcoming ban on celluloid ping-pong balls. I blogged about this on Aug. 5, Aug. 8, and Aug. 10. If you are interested in more, here are links to ongoing discussions of it on the about.com, mytabletennis, and OOAK table tennis forums. If anyone knows where I can get any of these non-celluloid, seamless ping-pong balls to test, let me know and I'll test them and post a review.

High Level Training with Stefan Feth

Here are 18 videos by U.S. Men's Coach and former German National Team Member Stefan Feth, covering all the major aspects of the game. Lots of great stuff here! A must watch for serious players and coaches. (To save time, you can skip the first 30 second intro on each tape.)

What to do now?

We survived the Great East Coast Quake of 2011. The Debt Limit Crisis. The Iraqi, Afghanistan, and Libyan Wars. The Glue Ban and 40mm Balls. So what to do now? Captain Jean-luc Picard has the answer.

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The Creation of a National Franchise-Based League

I put together a rough proposal for a professional league for our top players - see below! Feel free to steal this idea, though it'd be nice to credit me.

Highlights from 2009 Worlds

Table Tennis Master has put together a great video (11:21) compiling the greatest points from the 2009 Worlds. Enjoy!

The Rise of Table Tennis

Here's an interesting article on the growing popularity of table tennis.

Connor Crane, football, and table tennis

Here's an interesting article on football star Connor Crane and table tennis.

Kevin Garnett, basketball, and table tennis.

Here's a 37-second news video on basketball star Kevin Garnett in China, where he plays table tennis at the end.

Update on back problems

After putting it off all summer while we held our training camps at MDTTC, I finally saw the physical therapist yesterday. (The earthquake hit while I was in the waiting room - see below!) It turns out the stretching I've been doing for my back, mostly up and down, wasn't helping; it was side-to-side stretches that were needed. Already the back feels a lot better, and I almost feel ready to play again. For the next few weeks I'll be doing five minutes of back stretches three times a day, and meeting with the physical therapist twice a week. The good news is she thinks I might be ready to play again in three weeks. She knows how strenuous it is, and I'd obviously start by taking it easy. Meanwhile, I have others (John Olsen, John Hsu) doing my hitting for me while I coach. Plus I'll get this weekend off (my busiest coaching time) since I'll be coaching at the New York City Open.

Earthquake

While in the waiting room yesterday for my 2PM appointment with the physical therapist (see above), the Great East Coast Earthquake of 2011 hit. The news reports had it as a 5.8, then upgraded it to 6.0, then downgraded it to 5.9, then downgraded it again back to 5.8. (If we get angry aftershocks, we know who to blame.) They evacuated the building for half an hour while they checked for obvious cracks, then invited us back in. The therapy session was only 45 minutes late. The earthquake was apparently the strongest in the region in at least a century. 

Mostly non-table tennis: car, house, dog, and Larry repairs

Over the last 48 hours, I've had car, house, dog, and Larry repairs. Here's the cost-benefit analysis.

Car repairs
Reason: Engine was making vibrating sound and other problems, plus general checkup.
Cost: $457.91
Benefit: I can get to club to coach to make money, and to grocery store to buy food using this money, and so won't starve to death.

House repairs
Reason: The neighborhood townhouse association asked me to fix the rotting wood under the front windows of my house.
Cost: $149.50
Benefit: By repairing this, the townhouse association won't throw me out of my house, thereby making me homeless.

Dog repairs
Reason: My dog, Sheeba, is 13 and a half years old, and needed a tune-up.
Cost: $182.00
Benefit: She's still alive and begging for bacon snacks.

Larry repairs
Reason: My aching back!
Cost: $183/hour for initial diagnosis, $65/hour thereafter.
Benefit: I might play table tennis again.

Non-table tennis: Escape Pod mention

I was mentioned in an article on alternate realities in Escape Pod, with my SF story Tom the Universe cited as an example of using a black hole to create an alternate universe! Also mentioned in article were my peers, Albert Einstein and Max Planck.

**************************************************

The Creation of a National Table Tennis League

A Professional USA Franchise-Based League
DRAFT (Yes, feel free to make changes. I actually put this together years ago, and did some minor updates this morning.)
By Larry Hodges

Purpose

To start up a championship league system for top U.S. players, with the goal of becoming a major league with TV, spectators, substantial salaries for players, and profits to owners.

The League will most likely start up in one region, one with a substantial population base and top players. It is hoped that other regional leagues will start up separately, which would lead to playoffs and a possible “World Series” final.

For the first two years of the league, to get the league off to a successful start, the League Commissioner shall have near absolute say in all matters.  All rules may be changed or waived by the commissioner at any time during the first two years, but only for extenuating circumstances. This is to avoid bureaucracy. Only a 2/3 vote of the owners can overturn a decision of the Commissioner during this period.

It is the goal and plan of the NTTL to have the owners take compete control of the league after two years.  As the league’s finances improve, player salaries and/or bonuses will increase, as will owner profits.

During the start-up phase of the league, it is hoped that owners, players, officials, spectators and volunteers will assist in all ways possible to get the league off to a successful start. Owners and players need to look at the NTTL as a long-term investment, and do whatever possible to make the league a success during the formative years. It is hoped that the league will be a financial success within the first two years.

Teams

§         All teams will represent a geographic area, preferably a city.

§         All teams will adopt a team name.

§         All teams may have six players on the roster for the season, although only three may play in a given meet.  Changes in team rosters must be made with at least one week's notice, with approval of the commissioner.

§         Players must reside within 50 miles of team’s home venue.  This rule is primarily to allow players to play at least half of their matches locally, and may be changed eventually or waived in certain cases.

§         To be eligible to compete in the NTTL, a player must have attained a minimum rating of 2200 at some time in the two years previous to the start of the league. (This may be waived by the Commissioner in specific cases.)

§         All players on a team must wear matching uniforms, but different from the opposing team’s uniforms.  It is recommended that teams contact manufacturers and distributors to get sponsors for this, with assistance from the commissioner and executive director.

§         The two highest rated players who compete in at least 12 of 14 team matches during the first year automatically have right to be on roster for the same team in the second year.

§         Each owner will designate who the team coach will be.  This person may be anyone, including the owner or a player on the team's roster.

Schedule

§         All teams will play two team matches per month.

§         Team matches will be scheduled on Friday nights, Saturdays or Sundays in such a way that no two team matches ever take place on the same day. In this way, the Executive Director may attend and publicize all meets.

§         The League would meet for six months of the year, with each team playing a league match roughly twice each month.  These numbers may vary, depending on the number of teams in a league. If there are eight teams in a league, then each team would play seven home matches, seven away matches, or 14 team matches total.

Format

§         All league matches will be best of 9, with 3-person teams, with each player on each team playing the 3 players on the other team.

§         Generally, teams would play against all other teams in the league twice, once at home, once away.

Venues

§         All franchises will be responsible for holding half their meets in a home playing area.

§         Playing area shall have one feature table, two practice tables (preferably in separate region), and adequate seating for spectators.

§         Venues should have concession sales available.

Owners

§         Owners would pay a $3,000 franchise fee, plus $2,000/season (starting the second year), payable to NTTL. (These numbers may be adjusted by the commissioner.)

§         Upon buying a franchise, an owner has perpetual rights to that franchise for the duration of the NTTL, unless he sells these rights with 2/3 approval of other owners. New franchises can only be accepted upon approval of the commissioner in first two years, and of 2/3 of owners thereafter. The franchise fee will be decided by commissioner in first two years, by owners thereafter.

§         Owners will elect a president, vice president, treasurer and secretary from among themselves; however, they will mostly be an advisory function for first two years, except for the treasurer, who will maintain all financial records.

Officials

All team matches will be umpired by an umpire hired by the NTTL. Local owners will pay this umpire $20/team match, but no expense money.  Umpires are expected to dress in appropriate uniforms. When finances improve, officials may be paid more.

Finances

§         Concessions

o       100% of concessions go to the local owner.  Concession income must be reported to NTTL.

§         Ticket Sales

o       10% of ticket sales go to NTTL.

o       10% of ticket sales go to the Championship Fund.

o       25% of ticket sales go to the local owner.

o       15% of the ticket sales go to the visiting owner.

o       40% of ticket sales go to the 6 players in the meet.

q       60% of this money goes to the winning team’s three players, divided evenly.

q       40% of this money goes to the losing team’s three players, divided evenly.

§         Other Expenses

o       All local expenses, including $20/meet fee to the match umpire, will be paid by the local owner.

o       Visiting teams must pay all their traveling expenses; however, local owners should assist in providing hospitality when possible.

§         NATT Fees

o       90% of all NTTL fees (after expenses) go to the Executive Director.

o       Remaining 10% goes to the Championship Fund.

§         Championship Fund

o       The Championship Fund will be split by top four teams in the league in the following proportion: 1st 40%; 2nd 30%; 3rd 20%; 4th 10%. Players who win these funds split them evenly in proportion to how often they played.

Rules

For the first two years, the volunteer Commissioner's word is final in all matters. The Commissioner will hire the Executive Director to run the league for the first two years. After two years, the owners will create bylaws, and run the league themselves via a hired Executive Director.

Executive Director

§         He shall organize and publicize each meet. 

§         He shall work with local owners in bringing in paying spectators, media, and sponsorships. The Owners and Commissioner will work closely with him on this.

§         He will do whatever is necessary to turn the league into a success.

Sample Match Finances

This is just at the start - as league grows, there would be more money from more spectators and sponsors.

§         100 spectators, $5ea, $500 total

o       $125 to local owner (minus $20 umpire fee and other expenses), plus concessions

o       $75 to visiting owner

o       $50 to NTTL

o       $50 to championship fund

o       $120 to winning players ($40 each)

o       $80 to losing players (about $27 each)

Championship Fund

If there are 8 teams, and each team plays each of the other teams twice, there will be 56 team matches. At $50/meet, there will be $2800 in the Championship Fund. This is just at the start - as league grows, there would be more money from more spectators and sponsors.

§         1st:             $1120

§         2nd:            $ 840

§         3rd:            $ 560

§         4th:             $ 280

NTTL Finances
Annual Income for 8-team franchise

§         $2000/franchise/year, or $16,000

o       $1000 of the $3000 initial franchise fee goes to expenses and league promotion.

§         10% of all ticket sales, or $2800

§         (Sponsor money additional)

§         Total annual fees: $18,800 minus expenses

o       80% to Executive Director

o       20% to NTTL

Expenses

§         Flyers

§         Phone & fax

§         Promotion

§         Other?

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The NTTL matches should definitely include doubles as a regular component. With only three players of the 6 person team playing singles, 2 of the other 3 who didn't play singles would play a best 4 of 7 doubles match after the singles are over. Set up the match points so that the doubles match counts double points (or whatever) so if the singles matches results aren't a complete blowout, the entire match could be decided by the doubles.  This would force coaches to make strategic decisions about which 3 play the singles and which 2 play the doubles finale. That would be a very exciting conclusion to a match and doubles are fun for spectators!

 

 

Do think it would be better for each major table tennis state to have statewide leagues, and then have that blossom into a national league?  Or, do you think it would be better to just start a national league from scratch?

I think the ideal situation is for USA Table Tennis to create a model of a U.S. league that states and regions can use. This is not a matter of USATT imposing its model on others; it's about having such a model so those interested in creating leagues will have a model to work with. This is how it was done in table tennis and other sports all over the world. At the 2009 USATT Strategic Meeting, I argued strongly that USATT should meet with German, English, and others from European table tennis leagues at the Worlds, to find out how they had created their leagues. (Key is how they started them, not how they are now.) Since we already send numerous officials, this wouldn't have cost anything. Then we take this info, study other successful leagues in other sports, and then get successful table tennis league directors in the U.S. to meet and create a model for a USA Table Tennis League that can be used by those interested. Sadly, none of this has happened that I know of; USATT is perpetually in a cycle of things we're going to do without actually ever doing them. (I might put this in my blog tomorrow.) 

Hidden Serves

At the higher levels (i.e. 2600 and up), most players hide their serve because most umpires simply are not enforcing the rules. The main rule in question is, "It is the responsibility of the player to serve so that the umpire or the assistant umpire can be satisfied that he complies with the requirements of the Laws."  Many players have learned to just barely hide contact from their opponent, but they do it so quickly and subtly that umpires, sitting off to the side, aren't sure if they have hidden the serve - and instead of warning and then faulting the player for not fulfilling the rule quoted here, they let it go. And so those who cheat are rewarded.

There are always exceptions, such as world #6 Vladimir Samsonov, who never hides his serve. How good would he be if he did so? But he plays against hidden serves regularly, and developed his game before hidden serves were illegal, and so can return them effectively.

Before, illegal hidden serves was mostly a problem at the highest levels. Now it's spreading to the cadet levels. It's survival of the fittest, and the "fittest" are those who win, and more and more these are the ones who hide their serves.

The problem is you cannot learn to return hidden serves unless you practice against them on a regular basis for a long time. (It's not easy learning to read spin from the way the ball travels through the air and bounces on the table, and to do so quickly enough to react properly.) And you can't do this unless your practice partners use them. So the only real way to teach players to return hidden serves is to teach them to all to hide their serves. Plus, even if you learn to return hidden serves, you have to use them yourself if you want to compete evenly.

The problem is that this is cheating. But unless they illegally hide their serves, players cannot compete with their peers who hide their serves. I've watched far too many matches where two players seemed evenly matched, but one player gets clobbered because his serve returns go all over the place - in the net, off the side, straight up or off the end - because they simply can't return hidden serves since they haven't practiced regularly against these illegal serves.

It's frustrating to coaches who train up-and-coming juniors. What do we tell them? To cheat? Or to accept that all their training is wasted as far as competing with their peers who are willing to use these illegal serves?

The ITTF is aware of the problem, and is looking into solutions. I wish they'd hurry. (One proposal talked about is to require the serve to be visible to both umpires, or to where the umpire would sit if there was an umpire. This would make it almost impossible to hide the serve from the opponent.)

Suggested rubber and blade combinations for beginning and intermediate players

At the request from the forum, this morning I wrote an extensive article on this for my blog. Then I realized it really should be a Tip of the Week. So look to see it next Monday morning. Instead, I wrote above about hidden serves. (I had Tips written for the next two weeks, but I'll bump each a week. So you can also look forward to "Five Steps to a Great Spin Serve," and "The Myth of Thinking Too Much.")

History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 11

You can now begin reading Tim Boggan's History of U.S. Table Tennis, Vol. 11, which covers 1981-82. Chapter One went up yesterday; a new chapter will go up each week for the next 35 weeks - yes, there's 35 chapters. Better still, visit TimBogganTableTennis.com and buy a volume or eleven! Here's the dedication page and acknowledgement page, where Tim thanks those who helped out. (I'm in both, in particular the dedication page, for doing the page layouts and photo work.)

George Hendry, RIP, one more time

Here's Tim Boggan's obit of Hendry. (Tim quoted a stanza of my Ode to Hendry from 1992, which I reprinted on Friday.)

U.S. Teams Dominate in Canadian Junior and Cadet Open

Here's the story.

U.S. Paralympic Team Shines in Rio

Here's the story.

Ping Pong Albums

Here's a 1997 album called Momus Ping Pong, which features a table tennis oriented cover, including a large gorilla with a ping-pong paddle. Here's a video of the album (4:33). Here's a 1979 Pablo Cruise album called Part of the Game, with turtles playing ping-pong on the front cover. Here's a larger picture of the cover. Here's a video of the album (3:47). Anybody want to review these "table tennis" albums?

In China, no more Ping-Pong Diplomacy

At least that was the headline of a story in Sunday's Washington Post Outlook section!

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Tip of the Week

Strategic Versus Tactical Thinking.

MDTTC Coaching Camp - Day Ten

  • Friday was Day Ten and the last day of our second MDTTC two-week camp of the summer.
  • While working with the beginners (mostly age 8-10), I brought out "Froggy," a large and very realistic rubber frog, which I put on the table for target practice. We divided the group into two teams of four, and while I fed balls with multiball, they took turns trying to hit it. Team A won over Team B, 21-17. I brought it out several more times as the kids seemed to take great pleasure in hitting the poor frog.
  • We ran a tournament for most of the players, but I again took the beginners separately, as they weren't really ready for a tournament. Instead, I brought out two bags of candy - hard candy and Hershey's chocolate kisses - and spread them on the table. I spent much of the afternoon feeding multiball as the kids tried to knock them off. When they did, they got the candy!
  • This was MDTTC's last camp of the summer. Our next camp is our Christmas Camp, Dec. 26-31.

Oh my aching back!

Yes, the two weeks of camp has turned my back into a battlefield tourist attraction on a par with Gettysburg. If anyone can pull the twisted sword out of my back, I will make you king of England.

On Tuesday at 2PM I'll finally see the physical therapist for the first of many sessions. I won't be playing any table tennis for six weeks - I have others coming in to do my hitting when I coach. (I've already started this - John Olsen did my hitting for me during two sessions, and John Hsu will be helping out soon.) I'll give periodic updates here. (For those who haven't been following this blog religiously - what's wrong with you?!!! - my back's been killing me for months to the point where I can barely play anymore.)

Looking forward to practice sessions

Do you (or your students) look forward to practice sessions? Why or why not? Those who do usually improve; those who don't, don't. (Well, usually.) Players who can't wait to get to the practice session are where future champions come from. If you or a player you coach doesn't seem to look forward to practice sessions, perhaps it's time to add some variety. Push their limits - have them try more advanced shots, even if you don't think they are ready for them yet.

Canadian Junior and Cadet Open

It was held this weekend in Vancouver. Here is the web page with results.

Holy Heart-Pumping Ping-Pong!

This 15-minute video is about the best action-packed table tennis video I've ever seen, compiling many of the best points ever played. After watching this, you'll either be ready to beat the best Chinese or you'll be spraying (attempted) world-class shots all over the court.

George Hendry, RIP

Here's Tim Boggan's article on George Hendry (table tennis legend who died last week), from the May/June 1996 issue of Table Tennis World. You'll have to zoom in to read the text. It includes some very nice pictures.
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Here are other articles on Hendry:

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The note I wrote above on the George Hendry article said, "It includes some very nice articles." That should have read "...very nice pictures." I fixed it.

MDTTC Coaching Camp - Day Nine

  • Today's focus was on footwork. When I announced that, the groans could be heard in China, where the sonic vibrations caused massive nationwide lets. Of course, all table tennis drills are footwork drills - we just don't spend much time reminding players.
  • One player said he wanted to know how he could "move up a level." Talk about coincidence - one of my favorite articles I've written is "How to Move Up a Level"! I pointed out the article in his copy of Table Tennis Tales & Techniques. I also introduced him to With Winning in Mind: The Mental Management System, by Lanny Bassham, one of the best sports psychology books around.
  • During break, the kids played "napkin poker." If the coaches won't let you play for real money, why not?
  • Camp ends tomorrow - final report will be on Monday. 

Serving and Gripping and Wrist, Oh My!

Do you change your grip when you serve? You should for nearly all serves. Most spin comes from the wrist. Few service motions get maximum wrist action with a normal shakehands grip, which is designed more for stable strokes than wristy spin serves. If you aren't sure how to change your trip to maximize the wrist action and spin, ask a top player or coach to show you. Or just experiment, rotating the racket in your hand and adjusting the finger positioning until you find ways to maximize your wrist snap. (This came up several times in the camp.)

Table Tennis Primer

Here's The Daily Lesson/Ping-Pong (1:46), a nice table tennis primer by table tennis coach and sports psychologist Dora Kurimay. Here's the text under the video: "Chances are, you either grew up with a ping-pong table in your basement or played a few less-than-friendly games somewhere else. In addition, it's likely you've never had a lesson from a pro (and sorry, watching "Balls of Fury" doesn't count). That is, until now, courtesy of former Hungarian champ Dora Kurimay. Tap on the video above to learn proper footwork as well as the perfect grip. That should be more than enough to lift your game out of the cellar."

What do Barack Obama, Susan Sarandon, Lil Jon and Lindsey Vonn have in common?

Yes, table tennis - here's the article!

1971 Ping-Pong Diplomacy

Here's a new first-hand account.

George Hendry, RIP

USATT Hall of Famer George Hendry, one of the last of the great hardbat players, died Wednesday, Aug. 17, a few days short of age 91. Here's his Hall of Fame bio, and a picture (he's on far side). I've known him for 30+ years, so it was a shock to hear the news. After he won Over 60 and Over 70 at the USA Nationals one year, and George Brathwaite had won Over 40 and over 50, I staged a picture of the two of them jumping into the air and giving each other high-fives. After he'd won the 1990 World Over 70 Singles Championships, I wrote the following Ode to him.

You Are Old, Father Hendry
Ode to 1990 World Over 70 Champion George Hendry
From March/April 1992 Table Tennis Topics
By Larry Hodges
(With apologies to You Are Old, Father William by Lewis Carroll from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

"You are old, George Hendry," the young man spoke,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly hit a hard stroke,
Do you think at your age that is right?"

"In my youth," George Hendry replied as he rocked,
I feared hitting myself in the head;
My follow-throughs got my skull dented and pocked;
A few more dents shouldn't hurt it, I've said."

"You are old," said the youth in another resort,
"And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you smash winners from all parts of the court –
Pray, what is the reason for that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, as he combed his long pips,
"I kept all my limbs very loose;
'Course, it's this fast sponge that lets me go for those rips,
While the other side's good for a ruse."

"You are old," said the youth, "and your legs are too weak
To get to the shots that you hit;
Yet I can see that your movements are still very sleek,
Pray, how do you manage to do it?"

"In my youth," said George Hendry, "I was a retriever,
And had to run down many balls;
Chase after each shot, that was my endeavor,
Which often meant running through walls!"

"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced a ping pong ball on the end of your nose –
What made you so awfully clever?"

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said George Hendry, "no more am I able;
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or get kicked through the table!"

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haha...your poem greatly made up for my disappointment from watching the video.

We are all old, said Father Henry,
sure older than yesterday.
lets stop counting the years now,
and just play better today.

We all read, said Father Henry,
read more and more each day.
But pray, why our TT skills don't improve?
though we read this blog everyday.

MDTTC Coaching Camp - Day Eight

  • Quote of the Day: "I don't know if you are ready to play 1400 players. Some 1400 players have trained in China or at least seen a Chinese person." (This is what I told one of our players who thought he was better than 1400.)
  • Today we focused on backhand attack. In the demo, I did the "hard-soft" drill with Raghu Nadmichettu, 2400 player & coach. We had the rally of the week, where I alternated regular backhand drives and all-out backhand smashes, and he blocked back at least 15 smashes before I finally won the point with a net-ticking smash.
  • We were going to play games the last 30 minutes of the session, but five junior players surprised me by asking if they could do more multiball training. So while the others played Brazilian Teams or King of the Hill, we did more multiball coaching.

Five steps to a great spin serve

Several players in the camp are using break to work on their serves. Here's what I several of them yesterday on the steps to developing good spin serves. (This might be expanded into a Tip of the Week.) You have to learn to do the following, in roughly this order:

  1. Put great spin on the ball
  2. Put different spins on the ball
  3. Put great spins on the ball and control it
  4. Put different spins on the ball with the same motion
  5. Put different spins on the ball with the same fast, quick motion

Scott Boggan - back in action?

Yes, Scott Boggan, 1981 U.S. National Champion, USATT Hall of Famer, brother of fellow champion and Hall of Famer Eric Boggan, and son of Hall of Famer Tim Boggan, is entered in the New York City Open! He's one of the 258 entries (so far) in the tournament, Aug. 27-28, entered in the Open, Over 40, and Over 50. I expect to be there (just coaching), and look forward to seeing him after all these years. He's a retired New York firefighter and active pro poker player (really!), and has two kids who are actors, Taylor and Zak.

Victory dance

I'm guessing some of you have seen the famous Adam Bobrow victory dance after winning a point from Misha Kazantsev. If you haven't, here's the 71-second video - and make sure to watch to the end, where the camera pans over to the scoreboard! (Adam's a standup comic and actor, rated 2172, while former junior star Misha is 2365, though he's been as high as 2491.)

Non-Table Tennis - email from Something Wicked Magazine

As I've mentioned in my blogs, outside table tennis I'm a part-time science fiction & fantasy writer. Yesterday I received the following email about my 6000-word story "The Watcher in the Sky," from the editor of Something Wicked Magazine, a South African-based magazine that specializes in dark fiction. (The story is a superhero parody, where the superhero learns that he's just a character in a book, and that everything he does is dictated by the writer. Then his evil nemesis escapes from the book, kills the writer - me! - and becomes the writer, thereby ruling over the superhero and his world. How can the superhero overcome this?) Here's the email:

Hi Larry,
Thank you so much for a great submission. I loved this, it had me giggling all the way through - I totally loved the punchline. Unfortunately we've been inundated by a bunch of excellent stories and since I can only pick a handful of them I've had to shortlist your submission rather than accepting it outright. Please bear with us. Decisions on the shortlist will only be made at the end of the reading period (i.e. end of the month) so expect a response from us first week of Sep. Thanks again for a great read, it made a very long car journey bearable and fun. All the best,
Joe

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There was a Scott Boggan sighting at the Lily Yip club in New Jersey this week.

MDTTC Coaching Camp - Day Seven

  • Yesterday's session went really well, one of the smoothest. The focus was on forehand looping, though the new players worked on basic forehands and backhands.
  • There were a lot of breakthroughs as new players figured out forehand and backhand drives, more advanced new players figured out looping and spin serves, and advanced players learned world-class shots. Light bulbs enlightened were going off over players' heads like fireflies.
  • Especially rewarding were two players who spent much of their break practicing serves, and three others who asked if they could do extra multiball after the session ended. I put in extra time to work with these five juniors. They were the more "serious" players, and out of that group will come the breakout stars.
  • Quote of the day: "I played really well because of the coffee." -David Bachman, age 13, after drinking coffee from Dunkin' Donuts that morning. 

Smashing

I noticed that a number of players in the camp smash (poorly) with a sudden jerky motion. This comes from trying to contract every muscle at the same time at the last second, creating a spastic shot. Instead, try a more relaxed, smooth motion and longer backswing. You still want a rather sharp motion, but not a herky-jerky one. Key to smashing is always using the same backswing, bringing the racket back to the same exact spot, over and over. If the ball is high, you then raise the racket after backswinging as part of a smooth, continuous motion. (If you raise the racket during your backswing, when you come to a stop you'll be slightly off-balanced, plus you'll have a different backswing for every shot of a different height.) Then just stroke through the ball, shifting the weight through the ball, first from the legs, then waste, then shoulders, and then a vigorous snap from the arm rotating on the elbow. Contact should be relatively flat, but with a slight upward motion, relative to the direction you are hitting the ball, especially if smashing backspin.

When to change your inverted rubber

This varies from player to player, based on playing style, level, and financial situation. Loopers need a grippy surface, and so often change more often then other styles. Higher-level players also change more often as they want the sponge to be both grippy and bouncy. Rich players tend to change more often because they have more money.

So how can you tell if your rubber needs changing? Wash off the surface with a table tennis cleaner or something similar. (Some use a watered-down soap mixture.) Then examine the surface - is it fading? Rub a ball on it - is it as grippy in the middle as along the side? If there's a noticeable difference, then you might want to change. The surface is usually the first part to go, so this is the primary test. However, some of the more recent "breakthrough" sponges that mimic glued sponge seem to lose their bounciness faster than other types, and so you might want to change those when the bounciness starts to drop. That's a more subjective judgment; you should be able to tell if it's starting to die.

When I was playing competitively, I generally changed my forehand sponge every month, my backhand sponge every two months. (I'd often time this so I'd have new sponge for tournaments, especially on the forehand.) The reason is that I looped a lot on the forehand, and so needed a grippy surface. On the backhand, I mostly hit and blocked, and so didn't need to change it as often. Others might not need to change as often as I was playing six days a week. If you play only twice a week, then to match me, you'd only need to change every three to six months. 

More Training in China

California Cadet Star Ethan Chua gives a short report on his training in China.

Holy Moly Rally!

Perhaps the greatest table tennis rally eversmiley

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