July 7, 2025

Tip of the Week
Playing Kids.

US Nationals
I just finished playing in my 40th consecutive US National Table Tennis Championships, in Ontario, California, near LA, in my 50th year of competing in USATT tournaments. Here are complete results. Browse over them – you’ll find a lot of players winning multiple events! Kanak won his sixth Men’s title (tying David Zhuang for most at the US Nationals since they became a separate event from the US Open in 1976), and Sally Moyland won her first women’s title at age 18. Here are news articles:

USATT Coverage of Nationals by Joshua Dyke

Steve Hopkins/Butterfly Coverage of Nationals

Normally I coach as well as play at these tournaments, but this time I was mostly just playing. Alas, due to injuries, it wasn’t a particularly successful one. I was entered in nine events, mostly senior (with sponge) and hardbat events, singles and doubles. I was seeded in the top two in four events, top four in eight, top six in all nine, and defending champion (from the US Open) in two. I’d spent much of the last few months recovering from injuries to my right side and shoulder, as well as ongoing knee issues, but hoped I was mostly over them, and between injuries had put in a LOT of practice time. I’d even brought a bag of balls and spent a bunch of time at the tournament site practicing my serves.

Alas, in my first hardbat match, I reinjured my side. As I stepped around to hit a forehand, the ball hit the edge. As I leaned back and sideways to react to it, I re-injured my right side, and could no longer rotate my upper body. I almost defaulted there, but continued. Along the way, while trying to cover for the side injury, I managed to re-injure my shoulder and wrench my knee. After losing the first game, I won the match in three, mostly by playing backhands (instead of my usual all-out forehand attack) . . . but afterwards, realizing the extent of the injuries, I defaulted out of all my singles events. I stayed in my four doubles events rather than let my partners down, but struggled in them, mostly playing backhands or awkward forehands. In Over 65 Men’s Doubles (with Ming Liu) and in Hardbat Doubles (with James Therriault), where my teams were seeded second, we managed to make it to the semifinals before losing, while making it to the quarterfinals of the other two before losing to lower-seeded teams. So, I returned to Maryland with two bronzes and two serious injuries. I’ll be rehabbing (again) for the next few months while focusing more on writing.

Airport Tribulations
Things didn’t get much better at the airport. On Saturday I had an 11AM flight to Dallas, with a connection getting me home at 9PM Saturday night. The flight had engine trouble, and after we boarded, it was cancelled and we had to get off. They rescheduled me on a 7PM flight to Phoenix, with a three-hour layover, then to DC, arriving at 7AM tomorrow morning. So, I found a table at Einstein Bagels at the Ontario, CA airport, and spent the day working on a science fiction story (involving aliens whose central philosophy is a type of humor that is beyond human comprehension) and a fantasy story (involving using the mouth on the so-called magic mirror on the wall as a garbage disposal unit, which it doesn’t appreciate) while eating bagels and sipping Dr Pepper. I ended up spending nine hours at the airport.

I finally arrived at the National Airport in Washington DC at 7AM Sunday morning – but my large check-in bag didn’t make it. They said they expected it on the next flight, four hours later, though they weren’t sure. So, I went to long-term parking, found my car, and drove home. That afternoon they finally located the bag, and a delivery service called Roadies picked it up at 7PM and was supposed to deliver it to me by 10:30 PM Sunday night. There was even an online page where I could follow its progress. Alas, I gave up on them around 1AM and went to bed. At 9:20 AM this morning I called Roadies, and was put on hold. I didn’t get through until 10:45AM (an hour and 25 min on hold listening to irritating music). So, what happened to my bags?

They said that while delivering a package, the delivery truck had been STOLEN!!!

They said the truck has a tracking device [EDIT: They didn't] and the police are searching for it. So, all I can do now is wait and see if I’ve lost all that stuff. Then Roadies sent me an online form to fill out – but the link sent me to a page that linked to the original page – so all I can do is page back and forth between the two pages, with neither having the form - so I can’t find the form, and do not want to spend another hour and 25 minutes on hold trying to get through to them!!! (I just texted them.)

Peak Performance, Tactics, and AI
I’ve worked out an agreement with Kevin Finn at Peak Performance – and now, on their PUSH+ page, they have a Tactical AI portal! (Page down to find it.) I’ve tried it out, and it’s rather weird asking tactical questions and getting answers from my own writings! Here’s the description:

AI Assistant [Beta]
NEW! Get instant, 24/7 answers to your training and tactics questions. Our exclusive AI is powered by the knowledge base from Peak Performance Table Tennis and the legendary Larry Hodges. It’s like having a coaching oracle in your pocket.

Jha’s Strong Point: #1 Putting time pressure on the opponent with quick attacks
Here’s the article and photo sequence by Jorg Bitzigeio.

Fethomania 6 with Stefan Feth and Larry Thoman

Butterfly Training Tips

New from PongSpace

We Trained with One of Poland’s Top Table Tennis Clubs (Lupus Kabaty)
Here’s the video (24:40) from Pingispågarna.

Werner Schlager: A Tactical Masterclass
Here’s the video (6:16) from Beyond the Podium.

Performance Assessment in Elite Table Tennis Matches Using the Enhanced First Offensive Shot Model
Here’s the technical article from Springer Nature. “Technique and tactics are key elements in assessing table tennis performance and have been widely studied. However, most existing methods classify shots solely by sequence or shot number, overlooking the tactical attributes and their impact on rally outcomes. The First Offensive Shot (FOS) model attempted to address this issue but remained too coarse-grained. To overcome these limitations, this study introduces the Enhanced FOS model (EFOS), which integrates shot type and shot number into a more refined state-transition framework. This novel approach provides a more detailed representation of rally dynamics, enabling a deeper analysis of rally progression.”

New from Table Tennis Daily

Thanks Timo
Here’s the career documentary video (18:48) from Taco Backhand.

New from Steve Hopkins

New from ITTF

Wall Ball With Waldner
Here’s the video (14 sec)!

Leopard Girl Pong
Here’s the video (40 sec) – though I have no idea why the father is a Doberman!

3 Stooges: Table Tennis Tussle
Here’s the video (3:14) from Kartoonzee!

Duck Pong?
Here’s the video (14 sec)!

The Impossible Table
Here’s the video (11:32) from Pongfinity! “Every time you win a point you drill a hole on the table.”

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