Tip of the Week
A Journey of Nine Feet Begins at Contact.

Tip of the Week
Exaggerate the Opposite Motion on Serves.

Tip of the Week
The Short Serve & Short Receive, and Looping.

Tip of the Week
Fifteen Important Deep Serves.

Review: Ping-Pong Paddles Can’t Talk! – A Delightful New Children’s Book
Here's the review from Butterfly! 

Tip of the Week
The Value of Down the Line.

Last Blog Until September 7 and Upcoming Schedule
I just returned from the US Nationals, but I’ve got three more events coming up, almost back-to-back-to-back. I will still put up a Tip of the Week each Monday. Here’s my upcoming itinerary.

Tip of the Week: What is the Goal of the Receiver?

Next Blog July 13
As noted below, I’ll be at the US Nationals in San Jose, CA.

BREAKING NEWS - I'll be doing a Book-Signing at the Butterfly Booth at the US Nationals on Saturday, July 4, at 1PM. Stop by and say hello!

Tip of the Week
June 29, 2026 - Seven Placements and the Wide Angles.

United States Smash 2026
It’s taking place now, June 26-July 5, in Ontario, CA (near LA), with many of the best players in the world competing.

Tip of the Week
June 22, 2026 - Shadow Practice Your Shots.

US Nationals
The US Nationals are coming up, July 3-9 in San Jose, CA. I’m playing in six events. Over 65 Men’s Singles (seeded #8, with sponge); Hardbat Men’s Singles (seeded #7); Over 40 Hardbat (seeded #2); Over 60 Hardbat (seeded #1); Hardbat Doubles (seeded #1, with Ryan “The Nightmare” Gibson); and Sandpaper Singles (unseeded). I’ve been training with both sponge and hardbat with Coach Lidney Castro at MDTTC. This week I’ll be practicing hardbat with Wang “Leo” Tiancheng. I just hope my shoulder and knee hold up! (I’ve been to every US Nationals and US Open since 1985, and every US/North American Teams since 1976. Have to keep these strings going!)

Tip of the Week
Why You MUST Attack the Deep Serve.

“Ping-Pong Paddles Can’t Talk!” – PUBLISHED
Here it is at Amazon! Finally – a table tennis book for kids AND for the kid in all of us. “Ping-Pong Paddles Can't Talk!” is a humorous Seussian rhyming children’s picture book that introduces table tennis to kids. It features a nervous boy (Kevin) and his talking paddle in their first tournament, where he meets and plays a girl (Li) who is really good, and they have an adventurous match. Along the way, kids learn about the sport, with themes on facing your fears, working toward a goal, honesty, and friendship. 80 pages in full color (no AI), ages 7-12 and up. 

Tip of the Week
Do You Hit to the Three Spots?

Anti, Long Pips, and Inverted – the Return of the Prodigal Player
After six weeks of experimenting, I’ve decided to go back to inverted on my backhand. It’s not that the long pips and anti on the backhand didn’t work, it’s more a combination that they didn’t magically transport me into being the best player in the world; they didn’t solve my inability to move as I used to (while the backhand block was fine, I often watched balls whiz by on the wide corners); and most important, I just didn’t enjoy playing with them as much as I did with inverted, where I could emulate the best players in the world and pretend I could play like them.

Another factor is it takes time to adjust to such a different surface. I was getting there, but then one of my molars cracked, and it turned out to be a rather serious issue – and I ended up with what they called dental extraction surgery last Tuesday, and under orders not to do anything seriously physical for a week. So, right as I’m preparing to win everything at the upcoming Nationals (July 3-9 in San Jose), I lost a week. Perhaps worse, after a week of couch-potatoness, I’m well out of shape again.