October 13, 2026

Tip of the Week
Where to Place Your Putaways.

Huntsman World Senior Championships
I had a great time at the World Senior Championships in St. George, UT. I won three golds and a silver in table tennis, all in Over 65 events: Golds in Men’s Hardbat Singles and Doubles (with Mark Kraut); Gold in Men’s Doubles (sponge) with Rudy Miranda; and Silver in Men’s Singles (sponge, lost final to Arun Kumar). I won’t bore you with the blow-by-blow. Here’s me with my medals on Facebook! (Here’s a non-Facebook version.)

Tip of the Week
Coaching Against Yourself.

Next Blog Oct. 12
I’ll be out of town Oct. 4-9 at the Huntsman World Senior Games. But the Tip of the Week will still go up on Monday, Oct. 5.

Tip of the Week
Complex Versus Simple Tactics.

People’s Daily Table Tennis Video
Here’s the video (2:54) about table tennis, US-China relations, and Ping-Pong Diplomacy. They came to MDTTC and interviewed us. I speak on the video several times – but my voice is hoarse as I’m battling a cold. They did an excellent job! (Video works on my phone, and was working on my computer, but now I’m having trouble getting it to run on my computer – I’m getting some sort of QR Code that has to be scanned.)

Tip of the Week
Are You a Tree or a Squirrel?

Alas, I've been sick in bed the last few days, and it's getting worse. No blog this week. 

Tip of the Week
Playing the Fisher.

Weekend Coaching – Working with Younger Players
There’s a natural progression when training junior players. But it’s easier for a coach to treat them all mostly the same, or just stick them in a multiball group where they all do repetitive stroking and footwork drills. You likely make adjustments for beginning players who can’t yet do anything beyond basic strokes, but then you just have them drill and Drill and DRILL. That’s a quick way to shut off the flow of enthusiastic players who love the sport and who will practice hard and become strong players. As I’ve written here before, telling kids ages 5-10 and often older that if they train hard, they can become top players, is usually counterproductive unless you also give them a reason to want to become top players. And that means having them do age-appropriate drills. You can’t expect a five-year-old to do 90 minutes of drills several times a week and end up an enthusiastic player who wants to be great. You just end up with a bored kid who wants to switch sports or watch video games.

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

Tip of the Week
Play Into the Weird Stuff.

Tip of the Week
Pushing: Five out of Six Doesn't Cut It.

Tip of the Week
A Levels Approach to Tactics.

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