October 27, 2025

Tip of the Week
Death of the Kill.

Weekend Coaching
In one of our weekend junior group sessions, we had two new junior players, about 9 and 11 years old. It was their first time to a table tennis club. Two things stood out from them. First, they both had surprisingly good strokes, both forehand and backhand, and they moved well. (I think one of them said their father had coached them, and they’d seen videos.) But the problem was they both were using what were essentially store-bought toy sponge rackets. The rackets and sponge were dead, making it difficult to do advanced shots, especially in a fast rally. The older one borrowed someone else’s racket and did well with it. The other stayed with his slow one, for now. He did pretty well in drills but not in games at the end of the session. I’m pretty sure he’ll be switching to a better sponge soon.

So, what type of racket should beginning to intermediate players use? There was a huge paradigm switch a few decades ago. Back then, players were developed as hitters who then learned how to loop. They’d generally loop against backspin, but then either hit or loop once in the rally. But the problem was that once you develop as a hitter, looping is less natural later on. Most coaches can look at a player and quickly tell if he started out as a hitter (like me) or early on began to loop. But the basic idea was that players learned to hit first, and then extended the swing and changed the contact so that it became a loop.

The paradigm switch was for players to go to advanced and thicker sponge as early as possible. Before, it was advised to use slower, thinner sponge while developing your strokes, both hitting and looping. But with such sponge, looping was more difficult, and so players couldn’t really do them effectively in match situations, and so often played more hitting. When they did loop in a rally, it was often forced and awkward, or from well off the table. In contrast, those who switched to advanced equipment early on found looping easier and more natural, and so often pulled ahead of those who waited longer before going to the advanced equipment.

It’s not a firm rule, and many players who used slower sponges in their formative years still became top players. But in general, in the modern game, it’s important to go to more advanced sponge as soon as the basic shots are somewhat developed. For a player who plays regularly and receives coaching, especially a junior player, this generally means by the end of their first year, and sometimes as early as six months.

A key here is that if you are not receiving coaching, and go to advanced sponges, you might not develop your strokes properly. Slower sponges do force better technique since they have less margin for error (less topspin, more swing needed), and so if you aren’t receiving regular coaching, then you might hold back a little longer before going to advanced surfaces.

Holiday Shopping – Buy My Books!
Christmas, Hanukkah, and other holidays are coming up – time to buy my table tennis books! (But feel free to buy my science fiction ones as well.) Here’s a listing with descriptions of each. Below are direct links to the table tennis books. (Next week I will likely do a listing of table tennis novels, both mine and others.)

You can also buy a few from 5-time US Men’s Singles Champion Dan Seemiller!

Or you can buy one of Tim Boggan’s 23 volumes of History of US Table Tennis!

2025 U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Fame Dinner to Honor Betty Henry, David Del Vecchio, Connie Sweeris, and Stellan Bengtsson
Here’s the USATT news item. I will be there! (I fly to LA on Thursday morning on Nov. 6, spend a few hours at the Hollywood Museum, attend the HOF Dinner that night where I hobnob with the historic stars of our sport, then fly home the following morning. (Three days later, on Nov. 10, I’m off to China to play on the US Over 60 Team at the Amity Cup team tournament in Nanjing!)

Beijing Vlog from MH Table Tennis (Matt Hetherington)

Major League Table Tennis

New from Butterfly

The Two Warmups You Need to Do Before a Competition
Here’s the video (3:09) with Damien Provost from PongSpace.

Short Pimples Mastermind Loa Schoug vs Top Players
Here’s the video (11:07) from Pingispågarna.

Forehand Topspin Explained for Coaches
Here’s the video (2:25) from Biomechanics Applied to table tennis.

Short Table Tennis Video Tips from PingSunday
Here’s the page.

New from PingSkills
Ask the Coach

8 Minutes of Why Ma Long Is The GOAT Of Table Tennis
Here’s the video from Taco Backhand.

New Videos

New from Steve Hopkins

New from ITTF

I Will Let My Paddle Do the Talking
Here’s where you can buy the table tennis shirt at Amazon!

Ti Long Breaks Another Guinness World Record – His 4th World Title!
Here’s the video (1:59)!

Tri Table Tennis?
Here’s the video (12 sec)!

When You Play in Front of...
Here’s the video (15 sec) from PingPongMaestro!

Adam vs. Truls: NO MERCY!
Here’s the video (11:53) from Adam Bobrow as he takes on Sweden’s world #6, Truls Moregardh!

Retired Ping-Pong Legend Hiding as Janitor Trains an Underdog—Shocks Rivals and Conquers the Court!
Here’s the video (1hr 38min) – enjoy! (I haven’t watched it, but it looks rather wild.)

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