Blogs

Larry Hodges' Blog and Tip of the Week will normally go up on Mondays by 2:00 PM USA Eastern time. Larry is a member of the U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Fame, a USATT Certified National Coach, a professional coach at the Maryland Table Tennis Center (USA), and author of ten books and over 2100 articles on table tennis, plus over 1900 blogs and over 600 tips. Here is his bio. (Larry was awarded the USATT Lifetime Achievement Award in July, 2018.)

Make sure to order your copy of Larry's best-selling book, Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers!
Finally, a tactics book on this most tactical of sports!!!

Also out - Table Tennis Tips, More Table Tennis Tips, Still More Table Tennis Tips, and Yet Still More Table Tennis Tips, which cover, in logical progression, his Tips of the Week from 2011-2023, with 150 Tips in each!

Or, for a combination of Tales of our sport and Technique articles, try Table Tennis Tales & Techniques. If you are in the mood for inspirational fiction, The Spirit of Pong is also out - a fantasy story about an American who goes to China to learn the secrets of table tennis, trains with the spirits of past champions, and faces betrayal and great peril as he battles for glory but faces utter defeat. Read the First Two Chapters for free!

May 12, 2025

Tip of the Week
Warm Up Your Serves.

Weekend Coaching
I think the mantra for this weekend was, “If you can’t do it in practice games, how can you do it in a serous match?” and “If you are scared to do the shot, that means you need to practice the shot, and that’s what this is – practice!” In practice games, too often players were pushing too much, scared to loop. How do you overcome that? By looping every chance you can!!! We also played some doubles, where it’s even more important to loop deep serves – and so I was all over anyone who didn’t.

Other than that, it was mostly the standard focus on fundamentals, with lots of stroking and footwork drills. I had a couple of multiball sessions with advanced beginners where we worked on smashing. I put an empty bowl on the table, and their job was to hit it over and over until they knocked it off the table. I coached in four group sessions, and after some of them I pulled out my new secret paddle – a hardbat copy of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and used it to chop and pick-hit my way to victory in numerous challenge matches. (I’m about 1800 with it.) Why do I have a copy of this book? See segment below about “New Table Tennis Novels”!

My Training
I’m still working to get ready for senior and hardbat events at the upcoming US Nationals, Huntsman World Senior Games, National Senior Games, and Maryland Senior Olympics. Alas, I’m having more shoulder problems. I was training four times a week and trying to play matches 1-2 times a week, but with the ongoing shoulder issues, I’ve had to cut down on it, and for now don’t practice on consecutive days. I’m also having some knee problems, alas. But I can work around these issues.

New Table Tennis Novels . . . and Dinosaurs
Two new table tennis novels are coming out. They are:

  • “Underspin” by E. Y. Zhao, 252 pages, coming Sept. 23. (Here’s the Amazon link.) I received an advanced copy to read and review, and last night I read the first 77 pages. It’s a somewhat dark story of the rise and fall of a table tennis star. The novel starts with the player’s funeral – he dies in “mysterious fashion” in his 20s. The rest of the novel is about his rise and fall as we learn how it all happened, from his junior years to the end. The story is told in 14 chapters, each from the POV of a different person in his life, ranging from other players, an umpire, and his overly-strict coach. I’ll write a full review later after I finish the novel. (Tomorrow I plan to spend much of the day at the Smithsonian museums in DC, where I’ll spend a few hours at one of the museum cafeterias reading it. Then, from 6:30-8:45 PM I’ll be at the Natural History Museum to watch the free movie, “Why Dinosaurs?” followed by a question and answer period with the movie’s co-directors and several paleontologists. Feel free to join us!)
  • “Ping” by Lisa Lucas and Steve Landsberg, 144 pages. “Alternating between the pivotal 1971 Ping-Pong Diplomacy - where a simple game of table tennis thawed the icy relations between the U.S. and China during the Cold War - and the present-day struggles of a family weighed down by legacy, Ping is a compelling tale of history, politics, and personal conflict.” I just ordered a copy, and will likely read and review it soon. Here’s an interview with one of the authors about the novel.
  • Recently, in a flash of insight, I realized what this world needed was a Dr. Seussian-like humorous rhyming picture book introduction to table tennis, for kids roughly ages 6-9. And so, I’m working on it. The working title is, “Ping-Pong Paddles Don’t Talk!” It’s about a very nervous kid in his first tournament, where he meets seemingly overbearing adults and other tribulations .  .  . and yes, his paddle does talk. When the text is ready, I’ll have to hire an illustrator as I’m no artist. I bought a copy of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” as a model to emulate – I’m writing it in “Seussian Anapestic Tetrameter.” (I already have two TT novels – “The Spirit of Pong” and the novelette “First Galactic Table Tennis Championships.”)

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action! (Here are news items over the last month.)

Butterfly Training Tips

New from Matt Hetherington

New from Andreas Levenko

1 TIP - Improve Serve - SPEED - CONTROL - HIDE SPIN - EEFFICIENCY…
Here’s the video (9:52) from Ti Long.

Short Topspin Hook Serve
Here’s the video (2:52) from Pong Space.

11 Exercises to Improve Striking and Footwork Techniques
Here’s the video (8:12) from Dr. Table Tennis.

It Is Not So Easy As It Looks!
Here’s the video (3:09) from Pingispågarna. I introduced versions of this game to our club, and the younger kids often play it during breaks. They usually do it across the width of the table (five feet), and start out just tossing the ball by hand. As they improve, they do it with their racket. We call the game, “Bounce.”

I Challenged A Pro With A Mystery Table Tennis Bat!
Here’s the video (6:50) as Table Tennis Daily challenges USA’s Kanak Jha!

Sharath Kamal: How He Became the Face of Indian Table Tennis
Here’s the video (4:10) from Beyond the Podium.

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

Record-Breaking 2025 USATT Pacific Championships Highlight Bay Area’s Table Tennis Dominance
Here’s the USATT article. Strangely, there is no attribution as to who wrote the article.

New from ITTF

Meatball Pong
Here’s the video (60 sec) – toward the end they play ping-pong with a meatball as a ball!

I Warned the Basketball Club Members Playing on the Table Tennis Table
Here’s the manga cartoon (14:29).

Table Tennis EPP
Here’s the cartoon TT video (91 sec) from the Kingston School of Art.

Extremely Fun Ping Pong
Here’s the video (11:41) from Pongfinity! “We have 15 completely new challenges.”

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May 5, 2025

Tip of the Week
Top Eleven Things About Top Table Tennis Players.

Talking Table Tennis
One of the quickest and easiest ways to tell if someone is a real student of the game is simple – ask them table tennis questions. If someone has spent many years or decades studying and thinking about the game, they’ll have lots and Lots and LOTS of thoughts about it. So, ask them. In the huge majority of the time, they’ll love to talk table tennis. It’s what they do!

This is especially true of coaches. It’s their profession. Some coaches coach only because they have nothing else they can do, and may not really be that interested in it. They put in the time for the money, and have the needed playing level as a practice partner, and they are often good at the fundamentals – they know how a forehand should be hit, etc. HOWEVER...

They may not put out the extra effort other than what’s needed. They’ll mostly teach the standard fundamentals without taking into consideration the specific needs of individual players. They won’t spend a lot of time watching you play so they can better coach.

We expect players to keep learning, yet many coaches do not. I always like to talk coaching with other coaches or players, at the club or tournaments. Some do not, and it often shows in their coaching. Unless you think you know more about every single aspect of the game than another coach or player, you can learn from him. I know coaches who think that way, and could never learn anything from me or most other coaches - their arrogance really hurts them, and ultimately their players. 

So, if you see me at a tournament, and I don’t look too busy – and most tournaments are at 70% waiting around – feel free to come up and talk table tennis. Warning – I can be triggered into long soliloquies by questions about tactics, strategic development, serve, receive, how to develop as a coach, or hardbat. (Also science fiction writing and presidential history!) Bring popcorn and any of my books you’d like me to sign.

MDTTC Open Results
Here they are! The tournament was held this past weekend at MDTTC.

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action! (Here are news items over the last month.)

Butterfly Training Tips

New from Pingispågarna

New from Pongspace

Two- to Four-Minute Tips from Matt Hetherington
Here’s his video page with eight new tips over the last two weeks.

New from Tom Lodziak

Lots of Coaching Videos at TTProNet
Here’s the video page from Robert Gardos.

Fan Zhendong Analysis of the Forehand Topspin Backswing
Here’s the video (7:11) from Biomechanics Applied to Table Tennis.

Hugo Calderano Push Tactic Against Tomokazu Harimoto
Here’s the video (56 sec) from Drupe Pong.

New from PingSkills
Ask the Coach

Zhang Jike – The Rockstar of Table Tennis
Here’s the video (8:52) from Taco Backhand.

May 2025 Table Tennis History Magazine
Here’s the new issue, from Editor Steve Grant. Here are past issues.

Table Tennis Articles from Technical Journals

New from Steve Hopkins

New from USATT

New from ITTF

The Ping Pong of Tariffs
Here’s the cartoon!

Warning: May Start Talking About Table Tennis
Here’s where you can buy the shirt!

One of the Craziest Ping-Pong Music Videos
Here it is (2:20) – Little Sis Nora, AronChupa - Ping Pong. Will you ever get that song out of your head?

Pool vs Pong Venomtrickshots
Here’s the video (2:16) from Matt Hetherington!

Adam vs. Philippines level 1-14
Here’s the video (14:12) from Adam Bobrow!

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April 28, 2025

Recent Tips of the Week

Cataracts, Vision, and Weight Training
I had cataract surgery on my right eye on March 25 – and it was a HUGE success. Before the surgery, I had 20-150 vision in that eye, along with 20-70 vision in my left eye. The result was I couldn’t recognize people from 30 feet or so. When I coached at the club, there was a clock about 30 feet away – and I couldn’t read it. Here are the results - including the improvement of the left eye – see below. I can now read the clock and recognize anyone easily from across the club, about 120 feet away. I can stand at the far side of the club, look across those 120 feet and out the door, across the street, and not only read the street signs for businesses, but their phone numbers in smaller print. My right eye now is at 20-15, far better than even the doctor had thought would happen. With reading glasses, I can easily read now. (I blogged about how, before, I couldn’t read for more than a few minutes without getting a headache.)

I was going to have cataract surgery on the left eye in early April, but a seeming miracle occurred. I'd been using Clear Eyes eye drops every morning for years. It turns out they are not good for you, as the eye doctor explained. They were a primary cause of my left eye vision problems. The eye doctor had me switch to using Systane eye drops, and the result was my left eye is now 20-25, with no surgery. So, I cancelled the surgery. However, after the success of the first surgery, and knowing that the cataracts in my left eye are going to get progressively worse in the next year or two, I went ahead and rescheduled. I took the earliest time available, which is May 28. With two “perfect” eyes, imagine how good my table tennis will be!

However, two realities have struck. First, after years of not really seeing the ball clearly, now I can read spin much better – but my reactions are out of practice. I’m working on it, but often I read spin but don’t react properly, especially on receive. Often I’ll realize this right as I’m about to hit the ball, but it’s too late. But I’m a lot better off now than before!

Second, a primary reason I played well at the US Open in December (where I won Over 40 and Over 60 Hardbat) was I did weight training from August to December. But after the Open, I stopped. When I started playing after the cataract surgery in mid-April, I discovered I was way out of shape and played poorly, even though I could see the ball so much better. I also got exhausted quickly when I play – alas, I play a rather physical game for my age. (Weight training not only builds up muscle, it builds up stamina.) I went to the gym two weeks ago, and struggled to lift what I had been lifting easily in Nov and Dec. So, I started up again. But it’ll take time. (I’m weight training three times/week again, doing four sessions/week with 2550 coach/practice partner Lidney Castro, and plan to play matches 2-3 times/week. I weighed 202 a couple weeks ago, and have dropped to 199, and hope to get to 190 or below. Also, lots of stretching.)

So, my plan is to train hard until the May 28 surgery. Then I’ll have to take about ten days off – no strenuous activity, no lifting anything more than ten pounds. But this time I’ll do what I should have done last time. Instead of sitting about all that time, the doctor said I can go for long walks to stay in shape. So, that’s what I’ll do each day. Then I’ll have about three weeks to prepare for the Nationals – I fly out on June 28.

Here’s perhaps the most interesting thing about my new vision. I’m still amazed at how I can clearly read signs in the distance, and see the label on the ball as it spins. But I went out at night recently and saw the full moon – and I could see it clearly for the first time in ages, and clearly see all the land masses on it.

Here’s my upcoming schedule, both TT and SF. I’m doing a lot more competing than before, where I’ve mostly coached the last few decades. But I get to battle for medals and titles at both senior events (mostly Over 60 and Over 65 singles and doubles events, where I use sponge) and hardbat events. At the SF conventions I’m a panelist and do book signings. Come say hi if you see me at any of these events (presumably the TT ones!).

  • May 23-26              Baltimore Science Fiction Convention
  • May 28                   Cataract surgery on left eye
  • May 30-June 2       Possibly coaching at US Junior Trials in Charlotte, NC
  • June 28-July 4        US Nationals, Ontario, CA
  • July 12                   MD Senior Olympics
  • July 18-26             “The Never-Ending Odyssey” Science Fiction Writing Workshop, Manchester, NH – I go every year. This is my 16th time, including 13 years in a row.
  • Aug. 1-3                National Senior Games, Des Moines, IA.
  • Aug. 9-19              World Science Fiction Convention (Aug. 13-17) & sightseeing in Seattle, WA
  • Oct. 6-9                 Huntsman World Senior Games, St. George, UT
  • Nov. 6-9                US Hall of Fame Dinner and Inductions/Si & Patty Wasserman Junior & Open, LA
  • Nov. 21-23            Philadelphia Science Fiction Convention
  • Nov. 28-30            North American Teams Teams
  • Dec. 16-21            US Open, Las Vegas, NV                                          

Weekend Coaching
I generally coach at three group junior training sessions on weekends. Some of the highlights of this past weekend:

  • The usual focus on footwork and good technique, and both live play and multiball.
  • Worked with numerous players on serves, including several who are now learning the reverse forehand pendulum serve. Also discussed with one of our advanced players how to make the serve more effective, with a few tips I learned from Jimmy Butler, who may do this serve better than anyone in the US.
  • Worked a lot with three beginning/intermediate kids on smashing – and they learned it pretty well. Key thing is a good backswing, turn sideways, and a smooth stroke.
  • Actual exchange after I missed a shot: Kid: “You missed!” Me: “No I didn’t, I just aimed differently.” Kid: “I saw you miss!” Me: “I can’t even spell M-I-S-S.” Kid: “You just spelled it!” Me: “No I didn’t, ‘it’ is spelled I-T, and I spelled M-I-S-S.” Kid: “You spelled ‘miss’ again!” Me: “How can I spell ‘miss’ again when I can’t even spell M-I-S-S?” Kid: “You spelled it again!” Me: “How many times do I have to explain that ‘it’ is spelled I-T? You keep MISSspelling it!” And so on...
  • One of the kids now collects ping-pong balls. I went through my shelves and found about 30 different ones for him. Many years ago I collected balls, and had over 1,000 different ones. But someone from Europe had been collecting them since the 1950s (!), and much more actively, and had something like 15,000. He bought my entire collection for a flat $1,000.

Deception As Fair Play: Applying “Trickeration” To Business Strategy
Here’s the article – and it uses a story I told them about tactics I used once in a match to trick an opponent into playing poor tactics against me! They showed how this type of tactic can be used in businesses, calling it, “trickeration.”

USATT Bylaw Changes
Here they are. I haven’t gone over them closely and probably won’t – but one change that jumped out at me is that they are cancelling the annual USATT Assembly. (See where they are deleting 15.2 of the USATT bylaws.) The rationale is, “Since all board meetings are public and that holding the General Assembly during a major competition is impracticable, there is no need for this provision.” This makes no sense. First, the purpose of the USATT Assembly has always been for USATT members to meet and talk with board members and staff, ask questions, and make suggestions. It was done at major tournaments because that’s when we’d have lots of USATT members. Attending a board meeting is not the same thing, as that’s simply the board of directions doing their business as always, not for the purpose of listening to and meeting the membership. Second, if it were impracticable, then how is it they’ve done it for something like twenty years under past administrations?

Chinese Table Tennis chief Liu Guoliang Quits, Wang Liqin, Ma Long to Head Olympic Charge
Here’s the article from the South China Morning Post.

Table Tennis Evolution Since 1933
Here’s the video (2:22).

Point of the Year?
Here’s the video (1:25, point ends at .54).

Coaching and News from All Over
Since I’ve been away for six weeks, rather than try to list every interesting article, here are links to some of the main news and coaching pages that have been active in that time, and you can pick and choose. I’ll get back to linking to individual articles next week.

Non-Table Tennis – Science Fiction & Fantasy Stories
I had four short stories published recently.

  • Apr. 17, 2025 – “Prissy and the Rude Fly” (Flash Fiction Magazine). Prissy is a spider who’s minding her own business when she’s attacked by a swashbuckling fly.
  • Mar. 28, 2025 – “High Plains Centaur” (Wyrd Wytchy West anthology). When a gunslinging centaur shows up to run for sheriff and clean up the town, the crooked sheriff and his hired guns (a vampire and a drunken, red-eyed unicorn) fight back. But what is the centaur’s real purpose?
  • Mar. 30, 2025 – Two stories: “As a Matter of Fact the Universe Does Revolve Around Me” and “Pretty Pictures at War” (Dragon Soul’s Between Realms Anthology). In the first one, A teenage girl is literally the center of the universe, which revolves around her, and scientists cannot understand it. Then Galactic Citizens show up. In the second one, after a well-meaning 4-D being inadvertently humiliates him, a vengeful billionaire invades their 4-D universe with an army. Things don’t go as planned.

I also sold two more stories. Yes, I get paid for all my SF stories as well as for my TT coaching!

  • “The Asteroid of Dinocles” sold to the upcoming Space Dinos anthology. The asteroid that was supposed to kill the dinosaurs instead went into orbit around Earth, for reasons you learn in the story. Velociraptors evolved (with pet lemurs), and with telescopes they see a building on the asteroid. This leads to a space race and the first landing on the asteroid. Nothing is as they expect, with a (hopefully) mind-blowing ending. (The title refers to the story of The Sword of Damocles - except instead of a sword hanging over them, it's this asteroid.)
  • “The Crab and the Cambrian Ghost” sold to the upcoming Murderfish anthology. A paranoid hermit crab believes the world is out to get him and vows vengeance – and then meets a ghostly nautilus with unnatural powers.

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March 17, 2025

NEXT BLOG – APRIL 28– SEE SEGMENT BELOW
BUT TIPS EVERY MONDAY

Tips of the Week

Cataracts and Next Blog April 28
I’m putting my blog on hold temporarily, tentatively starting again on April 28. However, there will still be a Tip of the Week every Monday. (I’ve already written enough to get through June.)

Why? Because my eyes have gotten so bad that just reading text on a screen (even enlarged) gives me headaches. I’ve blogged about my upcoming cataract surgeries (Mar. 25 and Apr. 8), but as the dates approach, my eyes are getting progressively worse. I’ve mostly given up on reading which to me is like giving up on eating – I usually read a few hours every day. But after 5 minutes of reading I get a headache. It’s the same for staring at a computer screen. I’m mostly seeing out of my left eye, which puts a strain on it. My right eye was measured at 20-150 a couple months ago, but seems to be worse now. My left eye was measured at 20-70 and also seems to have worsened. I usually write every day, but that’s mostly on hold now.

One other side effect of the surgeries – I’m not supposed to do anything physical for two weeks after each surgery. Since they are two weeks apart, that means one month. Physical activity puts pressure on the eye and can damage them in the two weeks after the surgery. I demonstrated feeding multiball to the doctor, and he said it’s too much. So, during that month I can’t play table tennis, feed multiball, lift anything over ten pounds, and other restrictions. I even have to wear heavy sunglasses if I go outside to protect the eyes after the surgeries. I do have the okay to go for long walks, but have to walk leisurely, no brisk walking.

So, until about April 28 or so I won’t be reading or staring at my computer screen too much, and starting March 25, playing table tennis or much of anything else. It’s going to be a boring time! (We have a tournament next weekend, March 22-23, so no group sessions that weekend, so I’m done with coaching until two weeks after the second surgery.) The only good news – I can watch movies or TV as watching them is not as painful as reading text on a screen. I’m thinking of watching from start to finish one of the two following shows that I’ve never seen, either The Sopranos (86 episodes, about 55 min each) or Star Trek Voyager (172 episodes, about 45 min each). I might have time to do both! (On a related note, my shoulder’s been bothering me again, so taking these five weeks off may be helpful there as well.)

One hopeful thought - even straining to see the ball, I was playing at about 2100 level. When I can actually see the ball clearly again instead of just a blur, maybe I'll be 2200 level again, not bad for age 65. 

And just for the record, after writing the above and below and proofing it, I once again have a headache...

My New Book - Psychologie, Mental et Tennis de Table
My 23rd book is out – but there’s a catch. It’s in French!!! It’s on sale at Amazon in France - Psychologie, Mental et Tennis de Table. That roughly translates as “Psychology, Mental and Table Tennis.” The print version is 97 pages, with a kindle version coming later. David Salomez, who translated my Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers into French, had the idea of taking my 50 best Tips of the Week that involve sports psychology, translating them into French, and putting them together as a book. (I okayed it and we worked out a split of the profits.) I might put it together in English later – not sure. I wrote a forward to it (which includes pointing out that I’m not a sports psychologist, that I’m writing from the perspective as an experienced coach with many decades of experience who’s also taken a lot of sports psychology sessions and read books on it, while recommending further reading, such as Dora Kurimay’s page and books. When my eyes feel up to it, I’ll add the new book to my book listing.

Here’s the book’s description, as written by David and Google translated into English – and I didn’t see it until literally this morning:

“An iconic figure in table tennis in the United States, Larry Hodges' reputation is well established internationally. Author of several table tennis books, including the best-selling Table Tennis for Thinkers, Larry offers no fewer than 50 tips for developing your mental strength and approaching each competition and/or match better equipped psychologically!”

US Nationals
Entry form is out and you can now enter. As I’ve done with every US Open and Nationals starting in 1999, I proofed the entry form (which these days they call the prospectus). Normally I have fun doing so, but this time it was painful due to my cataracts, and I had a massive headache during and afterwards. It’s the last serious reading I’ll be doing for a while. I’ve already entered – I’m playing lots of senior (with sponge) and hardbat events.

Weekend Coaching
Between my eye and shoulder problems, it wasn’t a fun coaching weekend. Trying to watch a blurry little white ball flying about where one eye is almost blind and the other half blind causes eye strain, plus I’m trying not to aggravate the shoulder. We did the usual footwork drills, with an emphasis on active feet. I reminded players the importance of getting the feel of the stroke and contact right, and when you do it right, remember the feel of it and repeat. One kid learned how to serve backspin so the ball comes backwards. Some of the younger kids are getting good at hammering out fast serves that smack into targets I put deep on the table. I ended the sessions by mentioning I’d be away for a month, and explained briefly about the cataract surgery. Interestingly, one kid with glasses stayed after and grilled me all about the surgery – I think he’s a budding optometrist.

***
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March 10, 2025

Tip of the Week
Where to Contact a Push.

Weekend Coaching, Shoulder, Cataracts, and Writing
It always amazes me how fast kids can mimic shots. The key I’ve found is to make sure they have a good grip and proper foot positioning. If you get both of those right, and you show and guide them through the stroke, the rest falls into place as if you were holding two ends of a rubber band. Get either wrong, and the rubber band (the player) gets twisted. (Here’s my Tip from almost 13 years ago on this, Grip and Stance.) Once they can do the stroke correctly, then you do a lot of multiball with them until they can also time it. And work from there until someday they can beat you!

I had a group of four junior players rotating with me in one session, mostly doing forehand footwork drills. None had ever done over 100 in a row before. By the end of the session, all four had done 200 or more. They are learning that (to paraphrase Yogi Berra), the game is 90% mental and the other half physical. The math might not work, but the gist of it is true – and with proper focus, getting one or two hundred in a row becomes easy. And it’ll pay off later on in matches.

I had some fun with the kids where I pointed out that according to the rules, you’re supposed to hit the ball on the far side of the table. That means that if you miss a shot, you are breaking the rules, and are therefore a cheater. The kids had fun calling each other “Cheater!” after that.

I finished my shoulder therapy this past week. The shoulder still has a small sore spot, but overall it’s back to near 100% usage. I went back into training this past week as I prepare for upcoming senior (sponge) and hardbat events.

However, the next hurdle are cataracts. As I’ve mentioned, my eyes have really gotten bad, with 20-150 vision in the right, 20-70 in the left. I have cataract surgery on both coming up, on Mar. 25 and Apr. 8. After each surgery I cannot exercise for two weeks – and since they are two weeks apart, that means one month. That includes most coaching, even multiball training. I also have to wear wrap-around sunglasses if I go outside, avoid touching my eyes, never lift anything over 10 pounds, or just about anything else physical – it puts pressure on the eyes. But if all goes well, by late April/early May my thundering forehand will once again cause terror in the hearts of . . . those who play at a lower level than me. Even with the cataracts and shoulder issues, I was playing at a 2100 level – rating down to 2090 at age 65 – but I’m hoping this will get me back over 2200. We’ll see.

I’m also working on a big, secret writing project. Hint – it’s a new table tennis book I’m collaborated on with someone – and it’s in French! (Perhaps an English version later.) More on this later. I also did a bunch of science fiction writing, and sold a bunch – see segment at end!

Independent Director Kelly Watson Elected as USATT Board Chair (as Richard Char’s Illegal Term Ends)
Here’s the USATT article on Watson’s election at the USATT board meeting held on Thursday, Mar. 6. That finally ended Richard Char’s illegal third term as chair of the board. He served a total of 759 days (108 weeks and three days) after the USATT board elected him to the illegal term as chair on Feb. 6, 2023 – a stain on their legacy. It was pointed out to them before and after, but few would speak up or go against their leaders. Here’s my July 1, 2024 blog about it. Many of us will not forget this blatant disregard for the laws that govern our sport.

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action!

Butterfly Training Tips and Highlights

Mastering the Art of Spin - Serve Like a Pro!
Here’s the video (5:24) from Pingispågarna.

Prepare to Loop After Pushing
Here’s the video (2:13) from PongSpace.

Level Up Backhand Topspin against Backspin in 5 Minutes
Here’s the video (5:50) from Ti Long.

The Day Truls Möregårdh SHOCKED The Tabletennis World!
Here’s the video (6:01) from Beyond the Podium.

My Practice with Ross: 1900 VS 2800!
Here’s the video (13:51) from Enzo Angles.

Talkin' Smash by JOOLA Ep17: Evolving Your Training Regime
Here’s the video (44:37) with Liam Pitchford and Matt Hetherington.

New from PingSkills

BEST POINTS | Top 16 Europe Cup 2025 from Spin Rally

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

2025 Pan American Table Tennis Cup: An Event Of Excellence In San Francisco
Here’s the article by Edgardo Vazquez, National Coach from Puerto Rico

New from ITTF

Custom Team or Individual TT Shirts with Nice Graphics
Here’s where you can buy them!

Seven Table Tennis Cartoons from Saturday Evening Post
Here they are!

Adam Bobrow vs. Korean Olympian Shin Yu-bin
Here’s the video (15:12)!

Non-Table Tennis – Short Story Sales & Publications
In my other life as a science fiction & fantasy writer, I’ve had a flurry of sales recently, with six sales since Feb. 21, plus one story published. (Overall I’ve sold 233 short stories and 4 novels.) I’ll post when the issues come out. Here is a rundown:

  • Mar. 12, but already out: “Two Democratic Civilizations Passing in the Twilight of the Boondocks of the Galaxy” was published in BAB’s #6 from Ahoy Comics. While primarily a comic book, they include a SF story at the end of each issue, and I’ve sold them three. (They pay well!) A huge ship of galaxy-wandering snake-like art-loving aliens shows up, and since they slightly outnumber humans (it’s a big ship and they’re crammed into it) and since they worship democracy, they claim Earth as their own . . . and give us one hour to leave.
  • Mar. 8: “Thank You Miss Kittykat!” sold to Amazing Stories anthology (resale). Humans genetically engineer dogs and cats for high intelligence and opposable thumbs. There’s a war, with humans and dogs allied against the cats. The cats win, and now . . . we're the pets.
  • Mar. 5: “High Plains Centaur” sold to Wyrd Wytchy West anthology (resale). When a gunslinging centaur shows up to run for sheriff and clean up the town, the crooked sheriff and his hired guns (a vampire and a drunken, red-eyed unicorn) fight back. But what is the centaur’s real plan?
  • Mar. 3: “The AI Went Down to the Submissions Page” sold to the Sci-Phi Journal. It's a takeoff on "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," where a human writer and an AI go head-to-head trying to sell a story, and things don't look so good for our poor human.
  • Feb. 27: “The Last Monologue” sold to Ahoy Comics. A satiric confrontation between Red Dread, a woman trying to break the glass ceiling in the field of world domination, and the heroic mansplaining Agent 000.
  • Feb. 24: “NASA’s Plan” sold to Chortle Magazine. A funny, rather silly look at NASA's asteroid defense plan.
  • Feb. 21: “Rat Race” sold to Zooscape Magazine. The story takes place a million years in the future. Humans are extinct, and rats have evolved to take their place. Zuk, a ratropologist – an expert in rat history – is stuck at a cubicle all day with a tail-yanking boss as he writes sensationalist articles for tabloids about ancient rat history and their mistreatment by humans, while mocking the homeless rats outside his window who live on leftover garbage and seem to be enjoying themselves. Zuk hates his life but doesn’t want to sink to the level of the homeless rats. What to do?

***
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March 3, 2025

Tip of the Week
Contact the Bottom of the Ball When Serving Backspin.

Weekend Coaching
I coached in three junior group sessions over the weekend, each 1.5 hours. One issue that came up a few times was balance. Many really don’t understand how important it is – but many top players and coaches consider it one of the most important things. If you are even slightly off balance, then before you can move the other way, you have to recover your balance, which is time you don’t have in many rallies. It’s especially important after you move to the wide corners, which is also when most players do go off balance – which is why they don’t recover in time, and then call out, “I’m too slow!” No – they weren’t too slow, they were off-balance. Here are eight Tips of the Week I’ve written over the years on balance and recovery.

Before one of the sessions started I brought out a new “ping-pong ball” – a miniature superball! I rallied with the kids using it, then let them hit with it among themselves. It was incredibly bouncy, hard to keep on the table. When it hit the floor, it inevitably bounced over the barriers, so I ended up acting as ballboy just to keep the ball from bouncing away.

Top Ten Ways to Become the Best Table Tennis Player in the World
So, which of these will launch you toward world table tennis domination?

  1. Practice really hard with a really good coach.
  2. Be born in China with table tennis-playing parents who start you off early and then send you to the best coaches in the country.
  3. Kill everyone in the world who is better than you. Since it’s difficult to find them all, just kill everyone. (Time to make use of your kill shot!)
  4. Become immortal and outlast all those who are better than you. 
  5. Travel in time to the 1880s or earlier, before table tennis was invented.
  6. Travel in time with your fancy sponge racket to the hardbat age, and if you are a 2200 or better looper with spinny serves, you’ll be the best in the world - at least until the best hardbat players get used to your loops and spinny serves. If you are less than 2200, then see #1 above.
  7. Find an uninhabited world.
  8. Dig a hole and go into it. If everyone better than you is ON the world, then you are the best player IN the world.
  9. Find all the players who are better than you. Synchronize watches. Then, at an established time, have them all jump in the air so they are no longer in or on the world.
  10. Add to the ITTF rulebook 2.5.15: “A player is defined as only [your name].”

Illegal Chair of the USATT Board: Week 108
It’s now been 756 days (108 weeks) since USATT elected Richard Char to an illegal third term as chair of the USATT board on Feb. 6, 2023 – such a stain on their legacy. Here’s my July 1 blog about it. Normally the USATT board meets in Jan or Feb, but this year they haven’t had a meeting yet, and so Char continues as chair until the next board meeting, where they are required to vote for a new chair (assuming they follow the USATT bylaws this time). They have finally scheduled a board meeting on Zoom for this Thursday, Mar. 6 at 11AM eastern time. (Here’s the USATT BOD Agendas and Notices page. The notice of the meeting doesn’t include an agenda, which they usually do.) I don’t know who they’ll elect, but I do know that many of us will not forget this blatant disregard for USATT bylaws.

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action!

Butterfly Training Tips and Highlights

New from PongSpace

What to Prepare For After a Long Backspin Serve
Here’s the video (4:30) from Ti Long.

New from Table Tennis Daily

New from PingSkills

New from TT11TV

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

NCTTA Supports High School Table Tennis in the USA
Here’s the article.

New from USATT
I’ve included all of the articles on the ITTF Pan Am Cup.

New from ITTF

Big Serve Table Tennis - Demo video by Peter Luxton
Here’s the video (7:36) – make sure to read the text under the video.

I May Start Talking About Table Tennis At Any Time
Here’s where you can buy the shirt!

New Table Tennis Technique!
Here’s the video (8 sec), “This should be illegal in table tennis.”

Floor Pong Challenge
Here’s the video (18 sec)!

How to Destroy a Kid’s Weekend
Here’s the video (16 sec)

Making History at Pongfinity Cup
Here’s the video (19:32)! “We hosted the first ever Pongfinity Cup and competed in the men's singles class!”

***
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February 24, 2025

Tips of the Week
Here are links to the last two, since I was out of town last week and didn’t have a blog to post the link from.

2025 US Junior National Ranking Tournament I
They were held Feb. 13-17 at the Westchester TTC in New York. MDTTC had ten junior players there and five coaches. Since players in different age groups never played at the same time, we had more coaches than we really needed. Result? I didn’t coach as many matches as I normally would in big tournaments or trials. Fortunately, the tournament director, Vlad Farcas, let me use one of the tables behind the control desk as a mini-office, and I spent my free time there, writing both table tennis tips and working on a pair of science fiction stories. (As many readers know, my world these days is equally split between TT and SF.) The good news – I now have Tips of the Week through May!

The tournament ran on time, with some delays when a previous round’s match ran late. There will be a second Ranking Tournament later this year, tentatively in late May or early June. Here are some links.

Some of our MDTTC players did pretty well. Richik Ghosh, age 10, finished third in Under 11 Boys, and is now rated 2132. Ryan Lin, age 15, finished fourth in Under 17 Boys (with another year of eligibility), and is now rated 2459.

For many players, a Trials isn’t just an event where they try to make the National Team – for most, that’s not likely. For those players it’s a time to gain experience and find out what’s needed so they can make it in the future. Some of our players were still playing in ways that won’t be helpful for this – but a Trials like this opens their eyes to what they have to do for next time. For example, one player has a good backhand loop in practice, but rarely uses it in tournaments. I told this player this is the LAST tournament where he/she doesn’t backhand loop regularly. Another hits too much on the forehand instead of looping – after this, he/she needs to loop everything on the forehand unless it’s above his/her eyes or a reflex block. Another needs more tournament experience. For those in contention for making a team, it’s payoff time.

Weekend Coaching
I think the highlight of coaching this weekend was encouraging players to play the way they want to be playing one year from now. For many, that means less pushing and more attacking. As I keep emphasizing when they play practice games – up-down tables, games to 11 – if you can’t do it in these practice games, how will you ever do it in a tournament? The ones who fully grasp this and apply it will almost always become advanced players. One player received serves in a completely defensive backhand stance; we fixed that up. Another tried to “muscle” his loops rather than smoothly execute them, so I tried to convince him you get more power and control by relaxing and letting the muscles flow together rather than jerking mostly one muscle group, which is what you get when you try to muscle the ball.

I Taught Steve Aoki Table Tennis
Here’s the video (5:42) from Matt Hetherington. Steven Hiroyuki Aoki is an American DJ and record producer. “I had the chance to spend a few days at Steve Aoki's house in Las Vegas teaching him how to play table tennis. I went along with US Olympians Kanak Jha and Amy Wang on the first night who left him mindblown and even more eager to learn. The next two nights were spent trying to work on as much basic foundation stuff as possible, and Steve picked it up super fast. We also threw in a couple of cold plunges! Steve is the only individual in the world with his own residential PingPod setup, and it's really cool!”

Coaching and News from All Over
Since I’ve been away for two weeks, rather than try to list every interesting article, here are links to some of the main news and coaching pages that have been active in that time, and you can pick and choose. I’ll get back to linking to individual articles next week.

Table Tennis on The Pitt
There was table on the Feb. 13, 2025 episode of The Pitt (a medical drama), titles, “1:00 PM.” I didn’t see it, but I’m told a character said he was a player from the South Park Table Tennis Club, and he’d been injured playing table tennis. Here are two screen shots, care of Chip Patton:

Panda Table Tennis Shirts
Here are three.

Cat Pong
Here’s the latest video (17 sec)! This cat is good – I want it in my junior training program.

Huge Number of Colorful Ping-Pong Balls Dropped Down Stairs
Here’s the video (27 sec)!

A Table for Two on Valentine’s Day
Here’s the cartoon! (Here’s the non-Facebook version.)

Non-Table Tennis - Tucson and Tombstone, Feb. 18-21
Last Tuesday morning, right after the Junior Team Trials, I flew out to Tucson, Arizona, for three days of vacation there and in Tombstone. It was a great experience – I needed the break, and I came back not only more revved, but I also have all sorts of upcoming writing plans, both TT and SF.

In Tucson, I visited the Tucson Desert Museum, the Pima Air & Space Museum, and the Mission San Xavier del Bac. In Tombstone, I saw all four 30-minute Old West gunfight shows. One was a re-enactment of the actual famed gunfight at the OK Corral, taking place on the actual spot it took place, which was actually down the street from the actual OK Corral, which is where we entered and bought tickets. Two others re-enacted other famous gunfights, and the fourth was a comedy gunfight show. The main street in Tombstone is Allen Steet, and I visited all the shops there and bought more souvenirs than usual. (8 magnets, 2 books, 3 figurines, a blue geode, fool's gold, and 3 American flags stuck in my French toast breakfasts all three mornings in Tombstone.) I visited Boot Hill (which included a printout of who was in each grave – some interesting people there), took the Trolly Tour, went on a deep underground tour of an old silver mine, did the Ghosts and Gunslingers of the Wild West tour, saw the Tombstone Historama, visited Wyatt Earp’s house, and visited four museums: the OK Corral Museum, the Old Courthouse State Park Museum, the Epitaph Newspaper Museum, and the Rose Tree 1880’s Mining Museum (which also has the world’s largest rose tree in the world, about 90 feet across!). Alas, the Gunfighter Hall of Fame Museum was closed for the week.

One surprising highlight – the stars! Due to light pollution, you can only see a few in Maryland. Many decades ago, in the Boy Scouts on camping trips on Old Rag Mountain and other places, I remember seeing it for real – massive numbers of stars and the Milky Way itself. Out in Tombstone, far from most city lights, the stars were out again. I spent considerable time just staring at them. I also spent some time just walking up and down Allen Street, knowing Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil Earp, and Doc Holliday, all walked the same ground. I also found the spot where Morgan was shot and killed, and where Virgil was shot and badly injured. I even retraced the steps that the Earps and Holliday took on their way to the big shootout.

Non-Table Tennis – “The Worshippers Themselves” and “Rat Race”
My story “The Worshippers Themselves” (3000 words) came out last week in Black Cat Weekly, my second sale to them. On a faraway star system an alien genius is locked up in an insane asylum because he believes the whispers they all hear in their heads, which the leadership claims they are imagining, are actually the prayers of beings from a faraway star system pleading for help. He decides to seek the truth by finding these people and answering their prayers – with great difficulty and unexpected results.

On Friday, I sold “Rat Race” (2800 words) to Zooscape Magazine. (They specialize in "furry" stories with anthropomorphic animals.) The story takes place a million years in the future. Humans are extinct, and rats have evolved to take their place. Zuk, a ratropologist – an expert in rat history – is stuck at a cubicle all day with a tail-yanking boss as he writes sensationalist articles for tabloids about ancient rat history and their mistreatment by humans, while mocking the homeless rats outside his window who live on leftover garbage and seem to be enjoying themselves. Zuk hates his life but doesn’t want to sink to the level of the homeless rats. What to do?

***
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February 10, 2025

No Blog on February 17, but There Will Be a Tip of the Week
I’ll be out of town, coaching at the US Junior Trials, July 13-17. Next blog will be Feb. 24.

Tip of the Week
Why Are You Attacking Heavy Backspin Into the Net?

MDTTC Open and the US Junior Trials
Here are the results of the MDTTC Open held this past weekend. For some, it was a warmup for the upcoming US Junior Trials next week. I coached and watched a number of matches on Saturday, focusing on the players I may be coaching at the Trials. I’ve spoken to some of them on their preparation, especially the sports psychology aspect.

The Junior Trials are at the Westchester TTC in New York, about a four-hour drive away, Feb. 13-17. We have ten players competing, with five MDTTC coaches going. Vlad Farcas, who is running the Trials, held a roughly one-hour Zoom meeting on Saturday night (57 participants) to go over everything. Main thing of interest was the new Trials system, a progressive format where players play single elimination, but each round the winners go into a higher bracket, losers into a lower one. It’s apparently similar to the Swiss System that USATT used to use for Trials (circa 1990s), but has some major differences. I don’t think there’s an online explanation yet – when/if there is, I’ll link to it, either adding it here or in my next blog when I write about the Trials. I’ll learn more about the system at the Trials.

The Trials are Thu-Mon. We’ll be driving up on Wednesday. Could be slow – it’s supposed to snow on Tuesday, and perhaps more on Wednesday.

Shoulder and Fitness and Eyes, Oh My!
The good news is that I got the okay to start training again. They did an MRI on my shoulder, and it’s a small tendon tear of the rotator cuff. But it’s not severe enough to warrant taking more time off. I’m still doing shoulder therapy with a trainer and daily exercises, mostly with an elastic band. I have to avoid really extending my arm out too quickly, but I can do normal table tennis training now. One key thing – since hitting aggressive backhands is what really bothers the shoulder, rather than do that for, say, 5-7 minutes, I only do it for at most two minutes, but come back to it several times in a training session. It so happens that playing my backhand more aggressively is a key thing I’m working on, so this is a major focus. I did two sessions last week with fellow coach Lidney Castro, and they went well, except. . .

. . . after taking six weeks off, I’m out of shape again!!! Not as bad as it was last August, but training was exhausting, and I had to stop several times to catch my breath. The problem is I insist on doing drills at the essentially same pace and intensity as I did years ago, including various footwork drills – but I’ll be 65 in a few weeks. My theory is simple – use it or lose it. That means both continuing to practice covering as much of the table with my forehand attack as possible, and drilling at the fastest pace I can do consistently. (But the one major concession is I’m really working on my backhand attack since I physically do have to play that more now in games.) The problem – I’m very consistent in drills, and so some of these footwork drill rallies go on and On and ON – until I finally smack a winner just to end it so I can catch my breath. I’m not just out of breath but my legs also start to die. But it’ll get better the more I do it. One funny thing – as Lidney also agrees, when I’m rested, I’m 2200 (with glasses – see below), but as soon as I get tired, my level drops dramatically, to perhaps a struggling 1900. When the legs go, I simply can’t move effectively.

One other key thing – at the advice of the optometrist, I pulled out my old glasses from almost a decade ago, when I stopped wearing them. (I’m one of those weird cases where as I aged, my distance vision got better and better but I started to need reading glasses. It’s only this past year that the cataracts began clouding my vision.) As readers here know, I’m having cataract surgery in both eyes (March 25 and April 8), and until then my vision is very poor – 20-70 in my left eye, 20-150 in my right, which is horrible. But I made an incredible discovery – I can see much better with the old glasses, so I’m wearing them now when I train, and can read spin MUCH better. With the cataract surgery, it’ll be even better.

USATT Lifetime Member Jim Mossberg Establishes First Table Tennis Scholarship at Virginia Tech
Here’s the USATT article, by Barbara Wei. Jim Mossberg is a long-time player and leader in Maryland Table Tennis and a big help to me when I started playing in 1976. He ran the New Carrollton TTC where I played for years, and ran numerous local tournaments that I played in. He was also one of the first locals to develop a good backhand loop against backspin – something I wish I’d copied back then rather than deciding to become an all-out forehand attacker!

TTProNet
Here’s TTProNet, which was created and is operated by Robert Gardos. I wrote about them in my blog last week. They did take my suggestion to have intro info in the Welcome/Login page. (If you are not registered, the link takes you there; if you are registered, it takes you to your Dashboard.) Here’s the new info on the Login Page:

With 25+ years of professional experience and 18 years in the World Top 50, I know what truly matters in table tennis. That’s why I created TTProNet, the ultimate platform for players, clubs, and coaches. 
TTProNet is built on 3 key pillars:

  • Connections – Find players, clubs, coaches, and opportunities with no middlemen.
  • Academy – Everything about table tennis: technique, training, fitness, yoga, meditation, nutrition, physiotherapy, and planning.
  • Forum – Exchange ideas, learn from the best, and improve every day.

Register for FREE and become part of the world’s biggest table tennis community.

Mastering Doubles Table Tennis: Key Strategies
Here’s the article and video (10:57) courtesy of Sean O’Neill. (Video is in Japanese but demonstrates doubles techniques.) After reading the article, you might want to get my book, Table Tennis Doubles for Champions!

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action!

Best Tips from Fan Zhendong

Butterfly Training Tips

MH Table Tennis
After a long break, Matt Hetherington is back! Here are his recent videos over the past two weeks. (A number of them were taken at MDTTC.)

New from Ti Long

New from Enzo Angles

Why (NOT) Serve From the Corner of the Table? (T&S EP. 05)
Here’s the video (12:34) from Olav Kosolosky

Backhand Counter Roadmap
Here’s the video (16:16) from Drupe Pong.

Tips to Improve Your Mental Strength in Ping Pong
Here’s the video (3:20) from Pingispagarna.

Mental Training Tip – From Wishful Thinking to Reality: The WOOP Approach for New Year Goals
Here’s the article by Dr. Alan Chu, Ph.D., CMPC.

When to Attack with Long Pips
Here’s the video (2:55) with Yang Xiaoxin from Pongspace.

New from PingSkills

Stanislav Gomozkov | The Father Of The Modern Backhand
Here’s the video (4:30) from Table Tennis Media.
EDIT - Some disagree with the idea of Gomozkov as the "Father of the Modern Backhand." And it's true that his backhand is more of a punch, which some top players do use (including me), but not as their primary backhand, which is more of a topspin backhand close to the table. As John Olsen wrote to me: 

I saw this video, not even close to being true, Russian propaganda. Gomoskov had a "racket higher than wrist" drive backhand, very steady but nothing like a modern high elbow spinny backhand. The modern backhand is generally credited to Antun Stipancic: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLvZwj2duUk

Great Fishing and Lobbing Rally
Here’s the video (72 sec) – with a big finish! From a coaching perspective, the one smashing is telegraphing the direction of his smashes with his shoulders. He needs to hide the direction until just before contact or change the direction just as he’s about to smash.

Nvidia CEO scrubbed floors to pay for table tennis tournaments in high school—now he's worth $115 billion
Here’s the article on Jensen Huang from CNBC.

Lin Shidong: China’s New PRODIGY? – Breaking Barriers at Just 18!
Here’s the video (5:12) from Beyond the Podium.

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

New from ITTF

There’s No Crying in Table Tennis

Portland MiLTT Preview
Here’s the video (1:25)!

Epic Cartoon Table Tennis Battle
Here’s the video – the first 3:35 are table tennis.

Which Shots Are Illegal?
Here’s the video (17 sec)! Wait, you can’t shove your opponent?!!!

Ping Pong Pots
Here’s the video (31 sec) – kids (and adults) – why not raid your kitchen for pots and try this?

Four-Table Pong
Here’s the video (41 sec)!

Pongfinity vs. World's Best Team
Here’s the video (13:06)!

***
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February 3, 2025

Tip of the Week
Tactical Observations for the Subconscious.

Weekend Coaching
I think one of the most important aspects of a junior training program is to make things interesting. It’s very easy for the coach to just send the players out to the table and call out the same old drills, session after session, focusing on rote learning and discipline. But kids aren’t robots. You have to make it interesting so they want to improve.

Why would a kid want to work hard to improve at something they are not interested in? They may go through the motions, but if their heart isn't in it, then they aren't going to improve nearly as fast as one who really wants it. 

I find the key to that is to constantly challenge them, often with new things. Kids who come early often get the chance to try to return my serves – and since I assure them, “My serves cannot be returned,” the challenge is right there! And yes, they are hooked both with fascination at the various spins and the challenge to return them, which they (eventually) inevitably do, especially when I give out hints on how to do so. I always pretend frustration when they do so, and say, “You’re just lucky, you’ll never do it again” – which is, of course, another challenge.

In drills, I find it’s often good, once their technique is pretty good, to count how many shots they get in a row – challenge them to set new personal records. Or in multiball or serve practice put targets on the table and challenge them to hit them. (I think I have convinced a few of them that my cheap water bottles are actually “$1000 Target Specials,” and if they hit them, they’ll get damaged – so, as I tell them, I put them in the safest place I can find, on the table, since, “You’re not good enough to hit it.” Another challenge!

For service practice, I’ll challenge them to serve backspin so the ball stops or rolls backwards into the net – and I show how to do this, often serving a little high at first, and gradually learning to do this with a low serve. With a sidespin serve, I’ll line up two bottles and challenge them to curve the ball around the first bottle and hit the second. When they can do these things, then they can put tremendous spin on the ball, and just as importantly, they can control the serve – both keys to a good serve.

Two key things are 1) even when doing this, I’m making sure they use good technique, and 2) surprisingly, by having them aim at targets they are learning to let their subconscious take control of their shots, which is what you have to do in games. I remind them of this, showing how I can consistently smack a bottle from eight feet away if I don’t consciously aim at it, instead letting my subconscious take over, i.e., my training, while if I try to consciously aim, my accuracy goes down dramatically.

I think some or most of the top junior players that came out of my club (and presumably others) started out as beginning kids fascinated by the sport, and that made them self-motivated and determined to be great.

Major League Table Tennis on CBS Sports
They had their first major TV broadcast last night on CBS Sports. (Here’s the news item, Major League Table Tennis Announces National Television Agreement with CBS Sports.) It was an hour long, with Texas Smash coming from behind to defeat the Seattle Spinners, with Nandan Naresh scoring the decisive point at the end in the "Golden Game." Commentating were Evan Lepler (play by play) and Matt Hetherington (color). I thought it was well presented. It was fun listening in on the tactical advice given between games – though much of it was more motivational. I had my own tactical thoughts. For example, when Amy Wang was playing, I remembered the “Amy Rules” I developed years ago when I coached against her a number of times. (Basically, two firm tactical rules to follow when playing her. Don’t worry, Amy, I’ll keep them secret!) I have (or used to have) similar “rules” for playing many of the top US players, developed from many hours of watching live and on video.

Why Table Tennis Really Is Chess at Light Speed
Here’s the article I wrote for Paddle Palace back in 2012. For some reason it’s recently been making the rounds online. I wonder if anyone from the world of chess has seen it?

TT Pro Net
It’s live! You have to register first. Pro player Robert Gardos is behind it. (I suggested they put some of the info below in the front page so players have a reason to register.) I’m told, “TTProNet is an innovative platform designed to enhance the table tennis experience for enthusiasts around the globe. Accessible from anywhere, it offers a comprehensive suite of features tailored to meet the needs of players, coaches, and fans alike. I haven’t had time to explore it myself – I’ll leave that to you – but I’m told its key features are:

  • Global Connectivity: Connect with fellow table tennis enthusiasts worldwide, fostering a vibrant community that transcends geographical boundaries.
  • Comprehensive Resources: Access a wealth of information, including training materials, match analyses, and the latest news in the table tennis world.
  • Event Tracking: Stay informed about upcoming tournaments and events, no matter where you are, ensuring you never miss an opportunity to engage with the sport.
  • Personalized Experience: Tailor your experience to your preferences, receiving content and updates that align with your interests and skill level. By leveraging these features, TTProNet aims to make table tennis more accessible and engaging for individuals across the globe, providing tools and resources that can be utilized from any location.

Best Tips from Fan Zhendong – Tip #2 – Forehand Topspin Against Backspin
Here’s the video (2:10).

Butterfly Training Tips

New from Ti Long

New from PingSkills

Table Tennis Tips and Techniques – 24 Spins
Here’s the video (4:31) from Biomechanics Applied to Table Tennis (formerly Biomechanics Academy Table Tennis).

How Meditation Can Make You a Better Table Tennis Player?
Here’s the video (8:58) from Enzo Angles.

Learn the Crossover Point with Long Pips
Here’s the video (2:03) with Yang Xiaoxin.

How to Play 3 Players in Table Tennis
Here’s the video (2:45) from Pingispågarna.

Bowmar Sports Tournament Highlights – Sally Moyland Sights & Sounds in Chengdu
Here’s the video (4:28).

New from Taco Backhand

From Hong Kong Women's Champion to Harvard University
Here’s the NCTTA article by Michael Reff.

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

New from USATT

New from ITTF

Would You Rather Have...
Here’s the video (13 sec)!

Quit Spying on Us!
Here’s the US-China cartoon!

Getting Marmaduke to Take Medicine – Ping-Pong Style
Here’s the cartoon!

Somewhere, A Coach Regrets Introducing Ping-Pong Powerlifting
Here’s the cartoon!

Non-Table Tennis – Three New Stories
Last week I had three new science fiction/fantasy stories published. (Yes, I get paid for these stories!) The first two below both came out in the new Dragon Soul’s Dragon Legends anthology.

  • “The Dragon, the Knight, and the Red-Eyed Flying Unicorn”
    A knight on his mighty unicorn steed tells his story as he battles a huge, drunken dragon (you). The sarcastic unicorn just wants to eat & drink. The story is told simultaneously in first- (the knight), second- (the dragon, i.e., you, the reader), and third-person (the unicorn) for humorous effect.
  • “Small Dragon’s Gold”
    A small, pathetic, but highly idealistic and hyper-polite dragon ekes out a living at a street corner by lighting people's cigarettes with his breath for a nickel. He’s determined to get back the gold stolen from him by a cocky, swashbuckling woman, who thoroughly humiliates him - but he won’t give up.
  • “Mad Molly and the Nuclear Bomb” at Rainy Weather Days.
    Mad Molly is an 80-year-old black autistic math professor in Washington DC. She must get the Frooty-Tooty ice cream cake to her sister in Paris by 6PM, when she calculates it will start melting, as she does every Tuesday. She does so via Worldwide Express, with a direct tube through the Earth's interior, DC to Paris, for when it absolutely, positively must be there on time. But a terrorist sends a nuke from Paris to DC. Using her math skills, can Mad Molly stop the bomb from destroying DC so she can get the ice cream cake to her sister on time?

***
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January 27, 2025

Tip of the Week
Do You Serve a Lot of Net Serves? Good!!!

Weekend Coaching, Tips, Eyes, and Shoulder
Over the last few weeks several new players have joined our junior training program. I’ve worked a lot with each of them, working on developing their fundamentals. I think one of the key things here is focusing on grip and stance – if you get both of those right, the rest often falls into place as if you were holding two ends of a rubber band. Get either wrong, and the rubber band (the player) gets twisted. (Here’s my Tip from almost 13 years ago on this, Grip and Stance.)

On the forehand, it’s also important to focus on the idea that you rotate the shoulders back, thereby giving yourself a big hitting zone to the side. Once that becomes a habit, the rest becomes easy.

You know the quickest way to teach spinny serves? Let the kids take turns trying to return my serves. (I keep saying, “My serves cannot be returned.” Eventually someone gets one back, I act all surprised and disgusted, and the kid all excited.) When they see these serves, they all want to learn them, and instead of us trying to teach them, they want us to teach them. Then I start them off by just tossing the ball up, spinning it with their racket, and catching the ball, and repeat. It’s amazing how fast they pick it up. Soon they are serving backspins that stop on the table or even roll back into the net.

I had another long afternoon writing up Tips of the Week. I keep a file of Tip ideas, and periodically write them up. I have enough Tips now written for through April.

As noted previously, I’ve developed cataracts – no wonder I’ve had difficulty reading spin, especially sponge serves! My left eye is 20-70, my right eye 20-150. I was hoping to have the surgery in February but there weren’t any openings. So, here are the dates: they will do the right eye on Mar. 25, the left eye on Apr. 8. For each eye, there’s a one-day and one-week post-op, plus a pre-op for each eye, plus the original eye testing where it was determined I needed the surgery, and the pre-cataract evaluation with the surgeon who will do the operation. I also have to do a regular physical in advance of the surgeries. In all, I will have eleven different appointments for this. Two done, nine to go!

Meanwhile, starting last week I’m meeting with a physical therapist twice a week to work on my shoulder, plus a series of exercises I have to do daily. They did an MRI of it last week – I see the doctor about it on Wednesday, where he’ll be able to give a better diagnosis. The current diagnosis is, “Incomplete rotator cuff tear or rupture of right shoulder.” 

Junior Team Trials, Tombstone, African Safari, and This Year’s Travel
I have a lot of travel planned this year. Below is my schedule so far. If you are at any of these events and have copies of any of my books, bring them along and I’ll sign them!

I have two events coming up in February, back-to-back. The US Junior Trials are at the Westchester TTC in New York, Feb. 13-17. I believe we have nine MDTTC players competing, with four coaches, including me. So, for the next few weeks I’ll watching these players closely. But I’ve also been restless, and made plans for two more trips. Immediately after the Junior Trials, I’m flying out to Tombstone, AZ, for several days of Wild Wild West fun! (I actually have to fly to Tucson, then take a bus or possibly Uber to Tombstone, 75 miles away.) I fly out the morning of Tue, Feb. 18, and return on Fri, Feb. 21, just in time to coach that weekend. Maybe I’ll intervene in the O.K. Corral gunfight re-enactment – let the Clanton’s win!

I’ve also decided to do a once-in-a-lifetime African safari. I am waiting until after the cataract surgery to finalize the plans, but it’ll likely be a seven-day tour in Kenya and Tanzania in early June. Here’s the one I plan on doing. I also plan to visit the St Teresa Table Tennis Club in Nairobi, Kenya.  

My Current 2025 Travel Schedule, both TT and SF

  • Feb. 13-17             Thu-Mon, US Junior Trials #1, Westchester, NY
  • Feb. 18-21             Tue-Fri, Tombstone, AZ
  • May 23-26             Balticon – Baltimore SF Convention (panelist)
  • Early June              African Safari - Kenya, Tanzania
  • June 28-July 4       US Nationals, Ontario, CA
  • July 18-26             TNEO Science Fiction Writing Workshop, Manchester, NH
  • Aug. 1-3                National Senior Games, Des Moines, IA (tentative)
  • Aug. 9-19              World SF Convention (Aug. 13-17, panelist) & sightseeing in Seattle, WA
  • Aug. 29-31            US Open Teams, Myrtle Beach, SC (tentative)
  • Sept. 19-21            Capclave SF Convention, Rockville, MD (panelist)
  • Oct. 6-9                 Huntsman World Senior Games, St. George, UT
  • Nov. 7-9                US Table Tennis Hall of Fame Inductions and Si & Patty Wasserman Junior & Open, El Monte, CA
  • Nov. 28-30            North American Teams – 50th straight year, starting in 1976 (except for cancelled 2020)
  • Dec. 15-20?           US Open in Las Vegas

Best Tips from Fan Zhendong – Tip #1 – Forehand Topspin
Here’s the video (2:04), with English sub-titles.

Butterfly Training Tips

The Multiball Battle
Here’s the video (2:15) from Pingispågarna

Four Effective Ways to Return Underspin Serves in Table Tennis
Here’s the article and video (5:55) from Yasiris Ortiz/Paddle Palace.

3 Things to Help Improve Your Backhand Long Pips Attack with Yang Xiaoxin
Here’s the video (3:09) from PongSpace.

Talkin' Smash by JOOLA Ep16: Developing Your Own Playing Style and Strengths
Here’s the video (28:26) with Vitor Ishiy and Matt Hetherington.

New from PingSkills

Bowmar Sports Tournament Highlights

CITTA Dreams League: Empowering Young Players With Competition and Growth
Here’s the article by Rachel Wang.

Major League Table Tennis
Follow the action!

New from NCTTA

First 2025 Adult National Ranking Tournament Begins
Here’s the USATT News item. Here are the results from Omnipong. “As the first of two annual ranking tournaments, this event determines the initial eight roster spots for the 2025 National Teams.” But there’s something really wrong when you run an event like this and only 23 players show – 14 in Men’s, 9 in Women’s.

New from Steve Hopkins/Butterfly

All Japan Championships
Here’s the video (12:04) of the Men’s Final between Sora Matsushima and Hiroto Shinozuka. Here’s video (14:08) of Matsushima’s upset of Tomokazu Harimoto in the semifinals.

Brianna Burgos, Fabiola Diaz, Alondra Rodriguez, And Oscar Birriel Join National Teams
Here’s the article on the Puerto Rican National Team.

Interview with Danish Superstar Jonathan Groth
Here’s the video (61 min) with the world #18 from Table Tennis Daily.

New from ITTF

Ping-Pong Whisperer
Here’s where you can buy the shirt at Amazon!

This Is How You Loosen Up Before a Match!
Here’s the video (26 sec) of Felix and Alexis Lebrun running around the table as they rally. The funny thing is . . . this really is a good way to loosen up.

Playing on the World’s Biggest Ping-Pong Table
Here’s the video (10 sec)!

Pro Table Tennis Player Beats Me With His Phone?!
Here’s the video (7:54) from Table Tennis Daily, where he takes on world #26 Anders Lind of Denmark.

New from PingPongMaestros

Non-Table Tennis – Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications
I have a whole mess of short stories just published or about to be published! Here’s a short listing. (Yes, I get paid for each of them.) I was also interviewed.

  • I was interviewed by Celestial Echo Press on Thursday. Last November they published my story, “Life and Death and Bongo Drums,” in Ruth and Ann’s Guide to Time Travel anthology.
  • My story “Dragon Cuisine” was published Thursday in Dragon Soul’s Dragon Legends anthology. A young dragon seeks his fortune, and battles his food – humans – but a wizard turns him into a huge, dragon-sized frog.
  • My story “Legacy” was published on Tuesday in the Alternative Liberties anthology. It’s a political satire about the ending of Trump’s second term in office – with nuclear holocaust, killer robots, galactic conquest, and a big twist.
  • My story “Thank You Miss Kittykat!” was tied for “Second Runner-up” in the Amazing Stories Reader’s Choice Awards. Humans genetically engineer dogs and cats for high intelligence and opposable thumbs. There’s a war, with humans and dogs allied against the cats. The cats win, and now we are the pets.
  • This Thursday, Jan. 30, I have two stories coming out, “The Dragon, the Knight, and the Red-Eyed Flying Unicorn” AND “Small Dragon’s Gold,” both in Dragon Soul’s Dragon Legends anthology.
  • This Friday, Jan. 31, my story “Mad Molly and the Nuclear Bomb” comes out at Rainy Weather Days.
  • I have another twelve (12!) stories in other upcoming publications. I’ve been busy, both in TT and SF!

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