Adjusting to Different Balls in the Yucky Insane Plastic Era (YIPE!)
One of the realities of the YIPE era (yes, that's what I'm calling it!), where we use plastic balls instead of celluloid (which is actually a type of plastic, but we won't get into that), is that the balls vary widely, far more than before. It used to be that everyone knew that Butterfly balls were slightly softer and lighter than Nittakus, and you'd warm up with the appropriate tournament ball and you'd be ready. But now they vary dramatically. Playing with the various 40+ Nittaku, DHS, Butterfly, JOOLA, and the seamless Xu Shao Fa is like trying to play basketball where one moment you're dribbling a basketball, then suddenly (in no particular order) it's a bowling ball, then a baseball, then a golf ball, etc.

One of my students, Daniel (who I've blogged about before) played in the Capital Area League this past Saturday. He tends to play too passive, and so we've spent a lot of time working on using his serve to set up his attack. Alas, we weren't using a Nittaku Premium 40+, and so when he used that in the league, he said it felt really heavy, and he had no confidence in his attack. Result? He went back to pushing.

The moral here, and for others, is that you need to work out in advance what events you'll be playing in, find out what balls they will be using, get a supply of each type, and make sure to practice with that ball before each event.

They really, Really, REALLY need to standardize ping-pong balls. We are in an insane era of table tennis, where tournaments are like a box of chocolates – you never know what type of ball you're going to use next - unless you check in advance. Add the insanity of umpires not enforcing the hidden serve rule and making undetectable boosting illegal - so that only those willing to cheat get the advantage of these, and so completely dominate higher-level table tennis - and we really do live in an insane table tennis era. Maybe we should call it the Insane Plastic Cheating Era. But I like YIPE. 

Online Entries for the USA Nationals
Here's the page where you can enter online. As of this morning, they have 23 entries. I expect they'll finish with 700 or more.

New York State Championships
Here are results and pictures. The event was held this past weekend at the Westchester TTC. Men's and Women's Champions are Kai Zhang and Yuko Tsuji. Over 40 and Over 60 Champions were Philippe Dassonval and Robert Spitzer. Under 18, 14, and 10 Champions were Kai Zhang, Rohan Acharya, and Matthew Ioffe. Congrats to all, and thanks to the Westchester tournament staff!

A Positive Spin on the USATT League Program
Here's the article from Coach Jon. (Robert Mayer and I created this a number of years ago; he now maintains it.)

Do Lefties Have an Advantage in Table Tennis?
Here's the poll and discussion.

Multiball Training
Here's the video (2:35) of a high-level junior doing a series of multiball drills. The first one is a good four-ball drill – forehand from forehand side, backhand from backhand side, then two forehands, one from middle, one from backhand.

11 Questions with Ari Arratia
Here's the USATT Interview with the U.S. Paralympic star.

Interview with Rawle Alleyne
Here's the USATT interview by Rahul Acharya

History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 17 (1989-1990)
Here's chapter 9! Or order your own print copies at TimBogganTableTennis.com.

RIO 2016
Here's an article on the upcoming Olympics and table tennis, from a Canadian perspective.

Five-Ball Pong
Here's the video (15 sec)!

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Tip of the Week
Depth Control on Serves with CBS.

Bottle Drill and Quotes
Here is a useful drills I used this weekend. Sameer (14, 1826) has reached the point where he's pretty consistent with his first and second loops (both forehand and backhand), but needs more focus on placement. He told me that in his league matches, he's making nearly 100% of his backhand loops off push, but they keep coming back – but that was because he's opening primarily to the middle backhand, where the opponent is ready and waiting. (And most players block better on the backhand.) Since your first attack should most often be to the opponent's middle (something top players routinely do, but beginners and intermediates often don't quite get – here's my Tip on Attacking the Middle), with follow-up attacks at the corners (since the attack to the middle draws them out of position), we did the following multiball drill.

I put a bottle just a bit to the left of the middle line on my side of the table, about a foot in, where the middle (playing elbow) of a typical right-hander would be. (This does vary based on the player, situation, and handedness.) I put another bottle on the right side of my side (my wide forehand), about 18 inches outside the corner, a couple inches from the sideline. First I fed just backspin to his backhand so he could practice hitting the bottle with his backhand loop. Then I fed just topspin to his wide forehand so he could practice hitting the bottle with a hooking forehand loop (so the ball curved to his left, my wide forehand). He reached the point where he was able to hit the bottles about 1/3 of the time.

Then I alternated feeding backspin to his backhand and a quick topspin to his wide forehand. His goal was to hit both bottles with consecutive shots. This mimicked a game situation where he attacks the middle, forcing the opponent to move to cover the middle with forehand or backhand, opening up the wide forehand. If he covers it with the forehand, the wide forehand opens; if he covers it with his backhand, he has to quickly move back into position, again often leaving the wide forehand open. The reality is that when covering the middle, at least one or both wide corners opens up.

A huge key to this type of accuracy is not consciously aiming, i.e. trying to consciously guide the ball. Just know where you want to the ball to go (i.e. hit the bottle), and let your subconscious (i.e. muscle memory) take over.

Here are some things I said during sessions this weekend – I wrote them down as they happened.

• "People who say Brian plays only at one speed are wrong. He doesn't smash everything – sometimes he hits harder."
• "Jim, now that you've demonstrated how not to forehand loop, can you show us the proper way?"
• "If you keep missing, wait until you get one good one. Then remember that feel, and repeat. If you can't get one good one, then really loudly yell, 'Help, Coach!'"
• "You're not good enough to hit that bottle." (8-year-old Kid hits bottle.) "Anyone can get lucky and hit it once, but it takes skill to do it twice." (Kid hits bottle again.) "Anyone can get lucky and…" (Kid interrupts.) "Coach Larry, if you say anyone can get lucky and hit it twice but it takes skill to hit it three times, I'm going to hit you."

Great Coaching, Part 1: Interview with Jasna Rather
Here's the article by Anthony Plog.

Here's 49 seconds of Forehand Multiball with Truls Möregårdh
Here's the video. 

2016 US National Championships Host Hotel Info
Here's the USATT news item. (The link for online entries should be up soon – it was supposed to go up Friday, but they ran into a technical glitch. When it's ready, it'll show up on the 2016 USA Nationals home page.

Capital Area League
The Capital Area League (Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC) had another meet on Saturday, with all 24 teams competing with over 100 players. (There are 127 players in the league.) Here's the home page, and here is the Results page, with detailed results for all league matches. As usual, a big thanks to Commissioner Stefano Ratti and the rest of the staff (Richard Heo, Larry Hodges, Wen Hsu, Mossa Barandao. Darwin Ma, John Olsen). Special thanks goes to Mossa, who did much of the running of the league this time, and put up all the results.

2016 California State Championships Videos
Here they are! (Here are results, which I linked to previously. The tournament was held May 6-8 at the ICC Club in Milpitas, CA.)

Zi Rui Zhao Wins the $3000 Newgy Ohio Open
Here's the article by Blake Cottrell.

Crumbly Concrete Table
Here's the picture of two kids and their table – and you complained about the condition of your table??? (Picture the arguments – "That was an edge!" "No, that was the side!" "No, that was the top of the table!") Here's the non-Facebook version.

2016 Ma Long Balls Trick!
Here's the video (36 sec) – what he does is hard to believe! To commenters below it think it's a fake – what do you think?

Zak Abel: From Table Tennis Star to Music Sensation
Here's the article and link to video (3:17). (I linked to the video previously.)

Training a One-Year-Old
Here's the video (48 sec) – and I present to you the 2035 World Women's Singles Champion!

Soo Yeon Lee and Entourage TV Show
Here's the video (60 sec).

Top 5 - Table Tennis Funny Reactions
Here's the video (1:28).

Beetle Bailey Table Tennis Cartoon
Here's the cartoon from this past Sunday, where we learn the real name of our sport – "Run For Your Life!" This makes sixteen that featured table tennis – I compiled them all (and just updated) in my May 11, 2015 blog. Mort Bailey really likes table tennis! (Or perhaps it's Sarge and Beetle. We should get them honorary USATT memberships.)

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Footwork Drills by Stefan Feth, and Attacking the Middle
Here's the new video (1:23) from Butterfly. Note how, for this drill, Stefan stresses that the he's putting the ball to his partner's middle. Far too often players just drill to the corners, and then wonder why they have trouble attacking an opponent's elbow, usually the weakest point – if you don't practice it, you won't do it very well. I've often faced this as a coach – I'll tell a player to attack the opponent's middle, and he'll get this pained look as he knows he's not comfortable doing so since he's so used to attacking the corners. And then he'll go out there and continue to go to the corners, since that's what his muscle memory wants to do.

Think about it. Any coach or top player will tell you that your attacks should go to three spots – wide forehand, wide backhand, and the opponent's middle (roughly his playing elbow). Most will agree that attacking the middle is usually the best spot for the first attack – here's my article, Attacking the Middle. Here's an excerpt:

Why is the middle so weak when attacked? There are five (yes, five!) primary reasons.

1. The player has to make a decision on whether to play forehand or backhand, and often hesitates. When the ball goes to the forehand or backhand there is no such decision to make. 
2. The player has to move in an uncomfortable direction. Most players find moving wide to cover the forehand or backhand an easier move since you are moving into the shot. Covering the middle means essentially getting out of the way of the ball, which is usually a more difficult move. 
3. When you attack the middle, it forces your opponent to move out of position to cover it. This opens up the corners. One of the best one-two combos is an attack to the middle followed by an angled attack. Or you can go to the middle a second or third time as your opponent struggles to cover it. 
4. Attacking the middle takes away the extreme angles for your opponent. If you attack a wide corner, your opponent can return at an equally wide angle.
5. Players don't get much practice covering the middle, both because opponents don't give them this shot much until the higher levels, and because most don't practice against it. (Here are three Tips on covering the middle: Covering the Middle; Covering and Recovering From the Middle; and Covering the Middle with the Forehand.)

And yet, what percentage of our practice do we practice attacking the corners, vs. to the middle? I've been pointing this out to coaches for years, usually to no avail.

Note that when you attack the middle, the ball should be arriving at the opponent's elbow area as the ball approaches where he'd contact it. So, for example, if attacking from the backhand side, the ball would actually hit the opponent's forehand side first as it bounces toward the elbow area. In a drill, your partner would cover this area by blocking either forehand or backhand. (In the video shown, she's blocking with the forehand, but if the balls were coming slightly more to her left, she might block with her backhand.) 

A variation of this is to start the drill with a serve and attack (usually server serves backspin and receiver pushes it back long), with the server then attacking to the middle, and playing out the point. The receiver has to decide whether to return the shot to the middle with his forehand or backhand – but shouldn't over-anticipate it, since in a game he wouldn't know it's going there. If he does start to over-anticipate, server should attack one to the corners to keep the receiver "honest"!

Friday the Thirteenth
Here's my annual link to a table tennis-playing Jason Voorhees from the real Friday the Thirteenth!

USA Nationals Online Entries
I'm told the link to entering online will go up later today soon at the USA Nationals home page.

Table Tennis Could Face An Increased Net Height!
Here's the article from Matt Hetherington. In other news, in order to make the game more exciting for spectators, ITTF also plans to change the scoring system to one-point games; outlaw spitting on the ball before serving (but of course not enforce it); and go back to celluloid balls, with the new 60mm balls lit at the start of each point for more fiery exchanges.

The Best Table Tennis Robots
Here's the article from Expert Table Tennis.

State Championships
This weekend is the New York State Championships and the Alabama State Championships!

Kanak Jha in the New York Times
Here's the video (20:35) of the junior star, the first USA Olympian born in the 2000's. The video takes place in Sweden. That's former Swedish star Ulf "Tickan" Carlsson he's hitting with, the 1985 World Men's Doubles Champion (with Mikael Appelgren).  

Behind-the-Back Shots!
Here are two new ones.

• Mohammed Al-Saad vs. Li Ping (26 sec, including slo-mo replay). Note how Li doesn't even react to the shot by Qatar's Al-Saad – his muscle memory isn't programmed to respond to such a shot! (Li is the 2009 World Mixed Doubles Champion, who later immigrated to Qatar.)
• Tao Wenzhang vs. Jinxin Wang in the Men's Singles Final at the 2016 California State Table Tennis Championships. (Video is 38:04, but link should take you straight to the 3-1 point in game two.)​

Become Eligible to Win Free Entry into the US Nationals
Here's info from Butterfly – "Subscribe to In The Loop by May 27th and become Eligible to Win Free Entry into the US Nationals!"

Pope Francis Receives Table Tennis Equipment
Here's the article and picture. Here are three additional pictures from ITTF. (That's Killerspin's Robert Blackwell talking to the Pope.) Here are two other pictures of the Pope receiving table tennis gifts, from Polish players: photo1 and photo2. 

International Table Tennis
Here's my periodic note (usually every Friday) that you can great international coverage at TableTennista (which especially covers the elite players well) and at the ITTF home page (which does great regional coverage). Butterfly also has a great news page.

Crazy Ping-Pong Stuff
Here's the video (3:40) – not sure what's going on, but lots of crazy ping-pong stuff going on. Is that a waffle or a sandwich he's using as a racket? I'm not sure what language they are talking.

Crazy Cats Love to Play Ping Pong
Here's the video (2:20)!

A "Little" Ping-Pong
Here's the picture! (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

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How to Avoid Hurting the USA National Team, and Some Training Stuff
While in a session with Daniel (age 11, about 1650, but should be more like 1750), he hit a ball that broke cleanly into two hemispheres. I pointed out that somewhere out there were two poor mice, huddling in the cold, and that we should donate the two hemispheres as hats to help these two mice keep warm. But then I realized that the hats would cover their ears, and so they wouldn't hear approaching cats, and so they'd get eaten, and it would be my fault. This is when Daniel took over, pointing out that this would lead to fat cats, which would get eaten by dogs, leading to fat dogs, which would be sold in China, where (in some places) they eat dogs. This would spur the Chinese economy, thereby giving them more money to fund the Chinese National Team, making it less likely the USA National Team would beat them. So . . .  sorry mice, you'll just have to stay cold. (Now you know what really goes on in my coaching sessions.) 

Okay, we actually did lots of training in the 90-minute session - Daniel was on top of his game, and should play some tournaments soon. Our main focus right now is improving his forehand looping (which has improved dramatically), and following up his serve by looping (forehand or backhand) - he tends to play to the extremes, either too passive or too aggressive with wild swats. I'm 90% certain he's the best under 12 lobber in the country, but he's learned to hold back on that in serious matches. If he can remember to take his time when he serves (rather than grab the ball and serve like the ball's a hot potato), he'll make a jump soon. There's also one serve I want him to really work on - sorry, can't tell potential rivals about that one!

Equipment Reviews
I don't generally do equipment reviews here because I have a conflict of interest, since I'm sponsored by Butterfly. But that doesn't mean others can't – and here are five sites that do extensive equipment reviews. I link to these five sites in the Equipment Reviews section of the Coaching Articles page. 

• Table Tennis Database
• Ping Pong Ruler
• Pong Hero
• Table Tennis Judge (I just added this one)
• OOAK Forum - lots of equipment reviews, info on long pips

Improvement Keys for Attackers
Here's the article by Carl Danner.

MHTT Training Video Blog
Here's Days 5 and 6 from Matt Hetherington.

USATT Insider
Here's the current issue, which went out on Wednesday morning.

Susan Sarandon's Ping Pong Mecca, SPiN, Has Ricocheted Into Town
Here's the article about the new site in San Francisco.

11 Questions with Martin Del Vecchio
Here's the USATT interview.

Table Tennis Fulda Training with Waldner
Here's the video (4:16) from 2010.

Two Very Good Little Girls
Here's the video (49 sec). 

Bottle-Bouncing Pong
Here's the video (25 sec). I counted 67 bounces.

Pongfinity Food Trick Shots
Here's the video (2:33)! Includes "cookie pong."

Big Leg Pong
Here's the picture.

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USATT Announces Roster of National Coaches
Here's the announcement. They include Lily Yip, Barney Reed, Teodor "Doru" Gheorghe, Massimo Costantini, Stefan Feth, Wang Qing Liang ("Leon"), Zhou Xin, Han Xiao, Sean O'Neill, Maggie Tian, and Samson Dubina. (Han Xiao and Wang Qing Liang are both from my club, MDTTC.)

Most (or all?) of these coaches will be at the upcoming USATT Training Camp to be held at the Lily Yip TTC in New Jersey, July 10-24, right after the USA Nationals. The camp is primarily for members of the USA Junior, Cadet, and Mini-Cadet Team Members, with a number of others also invited. USATT's High Performance Director, Cory Eider, will be directing it. I'm the (unpaid volunteer) manager for the camp and one of the coaches, though I'll primarily be an assistant coach, helping out where needed – probably feeding multiball, acting as a practice partner for some of the mini-cadet players, or walking around looking important. (I'm no longer fast enough to train with the cadets and juniors, alas.) I'll be there the first 12 days, but have to leave two days early to go to my annual "vacation" – a writing workshop in Manchester, NH, July 22-30. 

There's always been a bit of confusion in the USATT coaching nomenclature as we have two types of "National" coaches. In this context, we are talking about the coaches who will coach the USA National Teams – Men's and Women's; Junior, Cadet, and Mini-Cadet Boys' and Girls'; and Paralympic. However, in the USATT coaching certification program the highest level is National Coach. I know, because I'm a USATT Certified National Coach. (Yes, I'm available for autographs, form a line.) I was one of the National Team Coaches at various times during the 1990s and early 2000s, including coaching the USA National Boys' Team at the World Youth Cup Championships in Taiwan and numerous other tournaments. I toyed with applying this year, but decided I didn't have time.

Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers – 50 Reviews!
We did it! As of this morning, there are now 50 reviews at Amazon for Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers. As noted in my blog on Monday, this should greatly help with sales. The reviews are pretty good, with 43 of them 5-stars, six 4-stars, and one 3-star. Thank you all!

MDTTC Newsletter
Here's the May issue, which Butterfly now puts up each month. (It gets emailed to everyone on the MDTTC database.) I'm the editor. 

MHTableTennis Video Training Blog Day 5: Forehand Loop vs. Chop
Here's the video (4:37).

100 Things to Watch at Rio Olympics
Here's the article and video (78 sec) from Sports Illustrated. But of course there's only one thing to watch at the Rio Olympics – see #81! "Want to feel old? Kanak Jha will be the first U.S. Olympian born in the 2000s. The 15-year-old will compete in table tennis, where he has consistently been a member of the U.S. national team since 2014."

Table Tennis Legends Tie the Knot
Here's the article and video (2:15) on Hall of Famers Si Wasserman (94) and Patty Martinez (64) getting married at Oceanside senior center where they play each week!

Table Tennis Art Photos
Here's the gallery from CLJ Studios.

Ping Pong in China is Like Football Here
Here's the video (3:08) from 11 Alive in Atlanta.

Steve Rowe’s Visit to the NWT with Aerobic Table Tennis
Here's the article.

Liang Xu Won the Knoxville Spring Giant Round Robin Open 2016
Here's the article.

All America Over 40 Tour Rosemead Over 40 Table Tennis Tournament
Here's the USATT article on this tournament in California.

2016 Millcreek Giant Round Robin
Here's the article.

Double-Pool Pong
Here's the video (36 sec)!

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Drills When the Kids are In Charge
I let two kids choose their last multiball drill during a session yesterday. Here's what they chose.

The first, age 9, alternated hitting backhands from the forehand side of the table, and forehands from the adjacent table. So I had to feed every other ball to the adjacent table to my left! He ran back and forth like a giggling maniac. 

The second one, age 7, chose the following four-shot sequence: Forehand from forehand corner; forehand from middle; backhand from middle; and then I was supposed to give him a backspin serve to his wide backhand for him to push; and then repeat. I have no idea why he wanted this, but he was very insistent on that backspin serve as part of the multiball drill. He also has his own name for backspin - he calls it "stopspin," since he's seen my backspin serves stop and go back into the net. This kid has a history of begging for weird drills - usually intricate combinations that often have him doing backhands from the forehand side, me suddenly serving in mid-drill, or (one time), I fed multiball with a cardboard box instead of a racket. 

In my group sessions, especially toward the end, I sometimes do give players either a pair of options for their next drill, let them choose the drill, or ask them what they want to work on and then design a drill around it. For example, I may give them the choice of doing forehand-forehand footwork, or forehand-backhand footwork. Or serve and forehand attack, serve and backhand attack, or serve and attack from both wings. 

Training Blog at MH Table Tennis
Matt Hetherington is now blogging about his daily training at MH Table Tennis, with links to video. So far he's blogged about days 1-4.

Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers Reviews
In yesterday's blog (Monday), I asked readers if they could give Amazon reviews to the book, in an attempt to get to 50 reviews. Well, it's been a big success – nearly! We've gone from 39 to 47 reviews. Now we just need three more! C'mon, readers, you can do it!!! If you've read the book, and like it, simply go to the review section for Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers. The reviews can be a single sentence, and then you click on the star level – hopefully 5-star!

Top 3 Table Tennis Injuries (and How to Prevent Them)!
Here's the article from Table Tennis 11.

Table Tennis Tips for Beginners
Here's the article from TableTennisSpot.com. The three segments are Getting the Right Equipment; Practicing Your Technique; and Scoring During a Table Tennis Match.

Interview with Adam Bobrow: "I Never Stopped Loving the Sport"
Here's the interview from TableTennista.

History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 17 (1989-1990)
Here's chapter 8! Or order your own print copies at TimBogganTableTennis.com.

Ma Long vs Joao Geraldo Amazing Point
Here's the video (42 sec, including slo-mo replay). Note Ma Long's backhand banana flip receive from the forehand side! Against short serves, this is a very good tactic.

Table Tennis-obsessed Retiree Travels the Globe to Become a Top-tier Player
Here's the article from CBC News in Canada.

Epic Table Tennis
Here's the video (17 sec), which appears to be a video taken off another screen. Watch the incredible diving footwork of the kid on the far side – how in the world did he get to those balls!

SPiN. We Finally Got One
Here's the article about San Francisco getting their own SpiNTT – "Susan Sarandon’s Rollicking Ping-Pongery Arrives in SoMa."

Table Tennis Physical Training - Jimmy and Emily
Here's the video (33 sec, set to Rocky music) – we do the same side-to-side training at my club, where one player leads, the others follow. But it's funnier in this video!

Jamaican's Champ Simon Tomlinson and His Samsung Smartphone
Here's the video (15 sec) as he shows a few tricks with his phone.

Stormtrooper Pong Shirt
Here's the picture: "Breaks: Even the Dark Side Needs Them"! (Here's the non-Facebook version.)

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Tip of the Week
Move In to Cut Off the Angles with Quick Blocks.

Balance and Recovery
During coaching sessions yesterday I spent some time harping on balance. Way too often, when moving to the wide corners, players go off balance, either because they are reaching instead of stepping, or because they step, but not far enough. And so they hit the next shot off-balance, leading to a weak and erratic shot. Perhaps even worse is it leaves them unable to return quickly to ready position, so they aren't ready for the next shot.

What seems to happen to many players is they learn to make these slightly off-balance shots somewhat consistently, and so it becomes a habit. The problem, besides the loss of power, is that because they are off balance from that shot, it takes time to recover the balance to move back into position – and so they are late on the next shot. And then they scream, "I'm so slow!!!" It's not a slowness problem; it's a technique problem, caused by faulty feedback. Instead of realizing they are missing the next shot because of a balance problem that leads to slow recovery, they think it's natural slowness, and don't fix the problem.

Often staying balanced while moving to the wide corners is a simple matter of taking a longer step so as to keep your center of gravity between your legs. By doing so, you stay balanced, and can recover almost immediately for the next shot. And then, as if by magic, you'll think you've suddenly gotten faster! (An expanded version of this will probably become a future Tip of the Week.)

Need 50 Reviews on Amazon
Today I'm asking a favor of readers – in particular those who have read (and liked!) my book Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers. Amazon has a rather complicated algorithm for ranking books, and I attended a seminar on this recently. The speaker wasn't from Amazon, was actually another writer who had investigated it, and he'd come up with some interesting conclusions.

One of the interesting things he said is that books are ranked more by 4- and 5-star reviews than by sales. I'd heard this before, so this was verification. I also learned that it goes up in the rankings if the 4- and 5-star reviews get a lot of people clicking "yes" on the "Was this review helpful to you?" question at the end of each review.  

But another thing I learned – which I'd also heard and have read others say – is that a "magical" thing happens once your book gets 50 reviews, assuming most are 4- and 5-star reviews – it shoots up in rankings, shows up more as a "suggested book," and other nice things. The book currently has 39 reviews – 32 are 5-star, 6 are 4-star, and there's one 3-star. So the current average is 4.8. Now if I can only keep that average but get 50 reviews!

So here's my request – and there are really two of them. (Note that it doesn't matter if you do the review on the print or kindle version, all the reviews are listed on both.)

1. If you've read the book, and like it, please give a short review and a starred review – hopefully 5-star! The review can be a single sentence; you don't need to spend much time on this. To do this, simply go to the review section for Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers.  
2. Click "yes" on the "Was this review helpful to you?" question on all the 4- and 5-star reviews.

Tao Wenzhang & Lily Zhang, California State Table Tennis Champions
Here's the article and results. (As of this writing, not all the Sunday results are listed, including Men's and Women's Singles.)

State Championships
This next weekend is the New York State Championships and the Alabama State Championships!

Top 8 Common Table Tennis Mistakes and How You Can Overcome Them
Here's the article from GreenPaddle.com.

Tom's Table Tennis Newsletter
Here's the newsletter from Coach Tom Lodziak with a number of coaching tips:

• Can you pass my consistency test?
• Tactics for beating a blocker
• What went wrong with my season?
• Time for practice (five tips)

Nutrition Session for Table Tennis Athletes by Michiyo Kimura (PhD)
Here's the video (19:05).

The World's First Brain Training Experience
Here's a review of ttEDGE app. (Also see interview about the app with Coach Brett Clarke underneath.)

Develop Sharp Minds / Mental Alertness
Here's the article that features table tennis. There have been a lot of articles on this recently.

First for Gujarat State, Not First for India, Numbers Growing at Rapid Rate
Here's the ITTF article.

MHTT Training Video Blog Kicks Off
Here's the article from Matt Hetherington, with links to videos featuring two days of training (16:07 and 14:15 long).

Dropping the Double Reverse
Here's the video (12 sec) from Matt Hetherington. The first is a standard reverse pendulum serve, but watch the second for a great surprise variation!

Incredible 41-Shot Rally
Here's the video (78 sec) as Nigeria's Aruna Quadri lobs and fishes back shot after shot. (I may have linked to this one once before, but it's still fun to watch.)

Mima Ito in Waldner Mode?
Here's the video (36 sec) as she plays a chopper.

Olympic Qualification 2016 MA Long VS FAN Zhendong
Here's the video (13:39), with Adam Bobrow doing the commentary.

2016 Butterfly Cary Cup Highlights
Here's the video (10:52).

Dr. Horrible vs. Bad Horse at Ping Pong
Here's the hilarious music video (1:45)!

Mexican Team Members Building Wall for Trump?
Here's the picture. I'm not sure that six-inch net will keep the Mexicans out.

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USA Nationals
So . . . are you going? Here's the entry form! Online registration will open later at the 2016 USA Nationals home page.

This year there is a record 100 events, something for everyone. They include "Championship Events" (Men's and Women's Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and singles and doubles age events ranging from 10 & Under to Over 85); Rating Events (ranging from Unrated and Under 1000 to Under 2400, often split into Adult and Junior events, plus rating doubles events from Under 2700 to Under 4200); ten Hardbat and two Sandpaper events; and five Paralympic events. All entries get a free USA Nationals t-shirt.

One of the nice features of the Nationals are the venders. There'll be a lot of them! Sure, you can do your shopping online, but there's something different about being there in person, where you can browse over the merchandise in your hands. Lots and Lots and LOTS of table tennis stuff on sale! Just browsing the lines and lines of rackets and sponge can take half a day, and then there's all the other stuff – balls, shoes, clothing, towels, books (BOOKS!!!), videos, and all sorts of miscellaneous stuff – including my books. (I can autograph them.)

Next to playing, probably the best thing about the Nationals is the 1000 other table tennis people who will be there - those you know personally, those you will meet, and the many table tennis legends who will be there. Most will be happy to hobnob with you and sign autographs. USATT officials will also be there if you have anything to discuss.

The official hotels are the Flamingo and the Linq. Both have discounted prices for the tournament, plus those who stay at them get free entry to one event; free transportation on the monorail (which is easy to use – I used it extensively at the last Nationals); $25 food and beverage credit; and a free USATT ratings pin.

I'm told there are other fun things to do in Las Vegas, but I don't know anything about that.

I'll be there mostly to coach, sell my table tennis books (see me at the Butterfly booth!), and attend various meetings, but I'll likely play as well. I'm basically retired from tournaments, but (as I've blogged before) I usually play in the hardbat events at the Open and Nationals. I'll likely play Over 40 Hardbat (which I've won four times, along with Hardbat Singles twice) and Hardbat Doubles (which I've won 13 times, mostly with Ty Hoff). Ty and I will likely play doubles again, both in hardbat and in Over 50 Men's Doubles, probably my only sponge event. (I normally use sponge, and that's how I coach.) We made the quarterfinals of Over 50 Men's Doubles at the last Nationals, losing in five (yes, 3-2) to the top seeds, Chu Bin Hai/Li Yu Xiang.

I'm bringing my infamous clipboard to take on challenges. (I mostly chop and pick hit.) There was a ten-year period where I raised about $5000 for USATT junior development with it – I'd take on challenges from anyone rated under 2000, and give them 2-1 odds. I'd put $40 on the table, they'd put $20, and we'd play. During those ten years, I only lost to one player – Bruce Liu, rated 1999 one of the times – who won 11-9 in the third both times (!), but donated the money to USATT junior development anyway. So I never actually lost money this way while winning about 200 matches in a row against sub-2000 players. (Many of the challengers were well under 2000, but I probably beat 50 players over 1900 in a row along the way, other than Bruce. We also had a few matches for more than $20, including a pair of $600 challenge matches I won!) At 56, my level is down a bit, but I'm still pretty confident against anyone under 2000. (I've beaten players over 2300 with the clipboard.)

So come to play . . . spectate . . . shop . . . meet friends and other TT people . . . meet the celebs . . . and whatever else people do in Las Vegas! (Did I mention my books will be on sale?)

Secrets of the Chinese - The Fastest Way to Learn a New Table Tennis Skill
Here's the article. This is basically a version of Saturation Training.

Long Pimples Simplified
Here's the article.

Vote for Kanak Jha for The Best of April 2016 Male Olympic/Paralympic Athlete of the Month
Here's the USATT link. (Deadline to vote is May 9.)

Watch the California State Championship Live This Sunday!
Here's the info page with links.

Meiklejohn North American Seniors Open
Here's the entry form. The tournament, at Laguna Woods, CA, June 2-5, is for senior players only, with age events from Over 40 to Over 80, and $16,000 in prize money.

How a South Bay Community Center Became an Olympic Launchpad
Here's the article and video (2:18).

Olympic Qualification 2016 MA Long vs ZHANG Jike
Here's the video (11:14, time between points removed).

History of Olympic Table Tennis
Here's the video (3:25), showing great points from the past, set to music.  

Warren Buffett, Bill Gates & Ariel Hsing Playing Ping Pong at 2016 Berkshire Hathaway Meeting
Here's the video (1:44).

International Table Tennis
Here's my periodic note (usually every Friday) that you can great international coverage at TableTennista (which especially covers the elite players well) and at the ITTF home page (which does great regional coverage). Butterfly also has a great news page.

Champ Vs. Trump
Here's the teaser (37 sec) starring Judah Friedlander and The Donald!

Pong Angry!
Here's the picture of an angry racket!

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Down-the-Line Pushes, Chop Blocks, and Other Adventures
Yesterday I was showing a student how you can mess up an opponent when receiving a short backspin serve to the backhand by, at the last second, dropping the racket tip and pushing short or long to the forehand. The server reacts to your racket aiming to his backhand, and so is caught off guard when you make the last-second change. Why more players don't do this I've never figured out; it's incredibly effective.

But then he began experimenting, and when I served sidespin-topspin to his backhand, he did the same thing, chop-blocking the ball down the line. It's another effective shot that few use. I found myself struggling to react to the shot, even though it was right there, to my forehand, and I've got a pretty good forehand. I've used the same shot against others, but only occasionally have others tried it against me.

Why was it so effective? Three things are happening, all causing varying degrees of calamity. First, as noted above, he'd aim to my backhand until the last second, and then change directions to the forehand. This causes the muscle memory to prematurely react to a ball to the backhand, and so you get caught off guard when it goes to the forehand. Second, since we're mostly expecting a topspin return, muscle memory again misdirects us, leading us to move to a position a step or so off the table – but since it's instead a softer backspin return (with the backspin further deadening the shot), we end up too far off the table, and so are stuck reaching for a ball dropping in front of us. And third, since we're not expecting backspin, we're caught with our racket too high, and have to last-second drop it.

Many players will have no problem with such shots, so guess what? You don't use such tactics against them. But for the rest of us, change-ups like this are highly effective, both the ones mentioned here and others. If you limit yourself only to shots and tactics that give everyone trouble, you will be greatly limiting your game.

ITTF PTT Level 1 Coaching Course Fremont
Here's the info page on the course, taught by Shashin Shodhan. The course will be June 6-10 in Fremont, CA. (I will likely be running one at MDTTC this fall – the more coaches the better!)

Better Aging Through Practice, Practice, Practice
Here's the article from the New York Times, which is actually about tennis – but as Coach Jon Gustavson says, just replace "tennis" with "table tennis" as you read it.

Coach/Team Leader Selection Procedures for 2016 Olympic Games
Here's the info from USATT.

Sidorenko Vladimir: Two best points at the 2016 Russia Cadets Championship
Here's the video (39 sec). That's a nice first point!

Superb Liu Shiwen and Xu Xin win all China 2016 Asian Cup Table Tennis Finals
Here are the videos (5:01 and 6:18).

2016 Asian Cup Highlights: Zhang Jike vs Wong Chun Ting (SF)
Here's the video (5:18, time between points removed).

Buffet and Gates
Here's the repeating gif image of the two recently playing doubles against an unseen Ariel Hsing at the 2016 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. Here's an article and pictures of the same event in 2015, also with these three.

Tom "Loki" Hiddleston Playing Table Tennis
Here he is as Loki, and in real life. (Here's the non-Facebook version.) Loki is the evil brother of Thor in the Avengers series.

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USATT National Team System
Here's the new document with the USATT Statement of Core Beliefs, Team Selection Procedures, and National Team Funding Methodology. The document is 10 pages long. Pages 2-9 are about the selection procedures for the USA National Junior, Cadet, and Mini Cadet Teams, and page 10 is about funding for team members. The first page is perhaps of most interest to readers. Below is the text from page 1, starting with the Henry Ford quote.

Perhaps the most important of these is #3, about creating a "team first" culture. At various times in the past, countries such as Hungary, Sweden, Korean, and Japan challenged and beat the Chinese – and they did so by working as a team. It's somewhat eyebrow-raising, for example, that I can give a lecture on how to play most of the top USA junior players that juniors from my club often face, but have no real idea about the top juniors from China, Japan, Germany, etc. Why? Because the focus right now is on beating other USA players. That's not going to completely go away, but once we have a core group of up-and-coming players who really can challenge their rivals from around the world, it's key that our top coaches know these rivals so they can train our players to beat them, both strategically (long-term development) and tactically (tactics at the table).

An example of strategic development comes from watching our top juniors compete against their rivals. There's been much discussion of this among coaches (usually informally), and there's a general consensus that while our players can match up in a number of ways, they are behind in physical training and receive. So guess what we need to focus on? But it's not enough to focus on fixing weaknesses; we also have to focus on developing overpowering strengths – and sometimes the best way of doing that is to work so hard at a weakness that it becomes an overpowering strength. Like physical fitness and receive!

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."
-Henry Ford

The National Team System will focus on a “52-week approach,” with an emphasis on teamwork, collaboration, coordination, and commitment. By better leveraging our collective system-wide resources, we will provide our athletes, coaches and key stakeholders with the necessary tools to develop and sustain competitive excellence. Simply put, our staff, coaches, clubs, players and families must work as one with a collective goal of systematic international competitive excellence.

How We Will Achieve This

1. Professionalize the National Team System;
2. Clearly articulate the goals, procedures, priorities and expectations;
3. Create a “team first” culture among athletes, coaches, clubs, and parents;
4. Develop a system-wide approach to elite player and coaching development with a strong emphasis on coordination, integration and interaction;
5. Utilize technology to enable collaboration among key stakeholders;
6. Reduce the importance of team trials events in selecting national teams, particularly among younger players with a stronger emphasis on development;
7. Provide continuity and expand participation by increasing team sizes and qualification opportunities;
8. Hire high quality national coaches to work in a system to work regularly with team members, parents, local/regional coaches, and clubs;
9. Produce programs and camps designed to build team spirit, monitor physical fitness, playing techniques, and mental strength;
10. Provide training tools and programs to supplement local training programs; and
11. Be more efficient and effective with funding by placing a greater emphasis on ability, potential, and commitment to excellence.

USA Nationals Entry Form
Here it is! The tournament will be held July 4-9 in Las Vegas. This year there are exactly 100 events - I think that's a record. And for those not keeping track, yes, they flipped the Nationals and Open, with the Open now in December. There were several reasons for this, but the biggest was the problem kids had in attending the Nationals in December due to its proximity to final exams. Hope to see you all there!

California State Championships
They are this weekend, at the ICC in Milpitas. Finally, our biggest state has a State Championship! (With the New York State Championships the following weekend! As well as the Alabama State Championships!)

How to Play Table Tennis
Here's the ITTF series of eight videos, averaging about three minutes each. They include Service Basics; Reverse Pendulum Backspin Serve; Forehand Topspin; Backhand Drive; Backhand Topspin; Forehand Drive; Service Receive; and Block.

Important Positioning Tips
Here's the coaching article from former USA National Team Member Judy Hugh.

Ma Long Multiball
Here's video (30 min) of Ma Long doing multiball a year ago. Lots to study here!

JOOLA and HW Global Encourage Young Players
Here's the article that features one of the junior programs at MDTTC, for the most talented and hardest working players from ages 7-10.

Gordon Kaye Interview at ICC Table Tennis Center
Here's the interview (2 min) with the USATT CEO.

Table Tennis Coaching's Dynamic Duo: Interview with Jeff and Alois from PingSkills
Here's the interview (with links to numerous videos) from MH Table Tennis.

Getting To Know Michael Landers
Here's the video (6 min).

Is the Tech Bubble Popping? Ping Pong Offers an Answer
Here's the article from the Wall Street Journal.

Dubina Table Tennis Academy Grows Table Tennis in Northeast Ohio
Here's the USATT article.

11 Questions with Patrick Hrdlicka
Here's the USATT interview.

Interview with Gavin Evans: Bulletproof Table Tennis
Here's the podcast (53:18) from Expert Table Tennis. In this episode you’ll learn:

• Gavin’s first memories of table tennis as a five-year-old [1:00]
• How Gavin improved so quickly and overtook his brothers [4:00]
• Gavin’s experience of playing in China [12.00]
• What it was like being part of the England team as a cadet [15:00]
• What to do when you’re not playing your best table tennis [24:00]
• All about Gavin’s injury problems as a junior [30:00]
• Gavin’s advice for dealing with adversity in table tennis and life [34:00]
• What life is like for Gavin now [40:00]
• Gavin’s Top Tip – Build a bulletproof body [44:00]
• How to contact/follow Gavin [50:00]

The Perfect Match: Timo Boll and KUKA
Here's the video (80 sec).

Susan Sarandon and James Corden Battle Kids in Ping Pong
Here's the video (90 sec) from the Late Show! Susan and James talk trash with the kids.

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