Tip of the Week
Written Coaching Material for Table Tennis.

Weekend Coaching and My Own Training and Dieting
When I told the kids in my multiball groups on Saturday and Sunday that, no matter what, they were not to hit my water bottle (which I’d conveniently placed on the table), they of course knew exactly what to do. Well, most of them. I did have to quietly whisper to the youngest in the group, a girl about age 6, that when I tell them, “Don’t you dare hit my water bottle!” that what I really meant was, “Hit my water bottle.”) I always find it best to keep it fun while teaching the foundations of the sport, and hitting targets (and my exaggerated exclamations of unhappiness when they do) are all just part of that. So is my constantly changing name. This past weekend I claimed I was “Coach Go Away,” and you can guess how that came off.

My water bottle took a beating. I also had to petulantly walk off a few times when they called me. (“Coach, go away!”)

Tip of the Week
Plan Your One-Minute Break.

Weekend Coaching, Playing, Aching, and a New Player
COACHING. . . In the Beginning/Intermediate session, I spent a lot of time as a practice partner, with the players rotating so I hit with many of them. As usual, we did lots of footwork drills. I always explain the purpose of a drill, something many coaches don’t bother with. Kids are curious, and letting them know why a certain drill is important gives them a reason to work harder at it. A good example is the 2-1 drill, also known as the forehand-forehand-backhand drill or the Falkenburg drill. That’s a three-shot drill as follows: Backhand from backhand corner; forehand from backhand corner; forehand from forehand corner; and repeat. As I explain, this covers the three most common moves in table tennis – covering the wide forehand, covering the wide backhand, and the step around forehand from the backhand side. (The drill usually starts with the backhand.) We also did a lot of serve practice.

Tip of the Week
If Serving Practice is Drudgery Then Perhaps Your Serves Are Too Simple.

Getting in Shape and Out of Retirement
On Aug. 1, 2024, just one month ago, as I flew to Scotland for 18 days, I weighed 210. (I’m 5'10', age 64.) That tied me for the most I’ve ever weighed. I’ve been around 205 for most of the last few years. And it’s cost me – I’ve had a number of matches (in hardbat events) where I might have won except I simply couldn’t move as well as I should, and worse, I’d be out of breath during the match and my legs would simply die. I blew the biggest lead I’ve ever blown against a really strong player in one match when, at the end of the match, I was completely out of breath and my legs had the energy of wet spaghetti. It also was a reason why I avoided regular sponge matches – I was too out of shape to play effectively.

Tips of the Week
Since I’ve been out of town and not blogging for the last five weeks you may have missed the Tips of the Week that still went up every Monday. Here they are!

There's a call for table tennis players in the New York area (or willing to relocate during filming) for the upcoming bio-pic about Marty Reisman, "Marty Supreme." Here is a recent article by The Hollywood Reporter about this project, and here's the IMDB page. The film stars Timothée Chalamet as Marty Reisman. Here's the call for table tennis players, including info on how to audition. Below are some of the roles they are looking for, though they also will want others. Here's an additional note in Japanese about the Japanese player wanted - who would play Endo, a character presumably inspired by Hiroji Satoh, who change the sport by winning the 1952 Worlds using sponge, including a huge upset win over Reisman. (Update - here's a Japanese version of the calling.) 

Next Blog Will Be Aug. 26, 2024
I was called for jury duty today (leaving shortly), and I’m traveling almost non-stop for the next five weeks. So, I’m putting my blog on hold until I return. HOWEVER – the Tip of the Week will still go up every Monday – I’ve written them through August, and have others outlined for September. Here is this week’s Tip of the Week, as well as last week’s, since I was also out of town and didn’t blog that week.

Next Blog
Next blog will be July 15 Aug. 26, since I’ll be out of town next Monday for most of the next five weeks.

Tip of the Week
Should You Guard Against the Long or Short Serve?

Illegal Chair of the Board
It’s now been 511 days (73 weeks) since USATT elected Richard Char to an illegal third term as chair of the USATT board on Feb. 6, 2023. Here’s my email to the USATT Board in February on the matter. I also blogged about it on Feb. 12, 2024 and Feb. 19, 2024, where I also wrote about other abuses of power.

Tip of the Week
Leave Your Comfort Zone to Develop Strategically.

First Galactic Table Tennis Championships
If you didn’t read it last week, you can still read First Galactic Table Tennis Championships – it’s FREE!!! Aliens from around the galaxy come to Earth for the championship. I had a LOT of fun creating all those aliens, plus there’s lots of intrigue – bribery and blackmail! I also worked in a number of my own experiences into the story, including my infamous quarter-pounders with cheese debacle when I won the 1980 North Carolina Open. Here’s the review at PingSunday.

Tip of the Week
The Surprise Test.

First Galactic Table Tennis Championship
“First Galactic Table Tennis Championships” by Larry Hodges (me!!!) is now online and FREE to read! The 10,000-word novelette, just published by New Myths Magazine, is likely the world’s first science fiction table tennis novelette, with aliens from around the galaxy coming to Beijing for the Galactic Championships.

Tip of the Week
Hitting to the Same Spot Twice.

US Nationals Prize Money Cut
Here’s something many of us didn’t notice until Dan Seemiller pointed it out – USATT canceled prize money in Men’s and Women’s Singles at the Nationals for the quarterfinalists. They also aren’t increasing the prize money to keep up with inflation. Here’s the prospectus. For both Men’s and Women’s Singles, it’s 1st $7,000, 2nd $3,500, and 3-4 $1,750. Quarterfinals? Nothing. (They used to have prize money for the Final 16.)