How to Play a Forehand Flick in Table Tennis
1 HR AGO - The forehand flick, known as the forehand flip in the States, is an attacking stroke played in Expand
1 HR AGO - The forehand flick, known as the forehand flip in the States, is an attacking stroke played in response to a short ball to the middle or forehand side. It is played over the table to a ball that, if left, would bounce twice on your side. I was teaching the forehand flick to a player […]
The post How to Play a Forehand Flick in Table Tennis appeared first on Expert Table Tennis. Collapse
September 19, 2017
2 DAYS AGO - Backhand Topspins
Last Thursday I blogged about Teaching the Topspinny Backhand, and teaching it Expand
2 DAYS AGO - Backhand Topspins
Last Thursday I blogged about Teaching the Topspinny Backhand, and teaching it to an 8-year-old girl. I’d held back with her and others on this because I didn’t want to mess them up just before our “Talent” program trials. But now that they are over, we’re going backhand topspin crazy – and it’s great!
On Sunday I coached Todd, age 12, on topspinning his backhand. Before that he had a decent backhand loop against backspin, but mostly hit his backhand in rallies. Within minutes of trying it out he was playing backhand topspins like a pro, at least in rote drills where he knew where the ball was going. It’ll take time to incorporate this successfully more random drills and in matches – but on the other hand, I told him it would take time to incorporate the shot into drills, and that time turned out to be minutes.
Maybe I should just tell everyone to copy Ma Long, tell them it’ll take them time to incorporate Collapse
September 15, 2017
6 DAYS AGO - Due to a number of issues that keep coming up this morning, this morning's blog will be late. Expand
6 DAYS AGO - Due to a number of issues that keep coming up this morning, this morning's blog will be late. It'll be up by 11AM or I will play with a frozen fish as my racket at the 2018 World Veterans Games. Collapse
European Table Tennis Championships 2017 - Mens Team Event Results
13/09/2017 - The European Table Tennis Championships 2017 were held in Luxembourg from 13-17 September. Get all Expand
13/09/2017 - The European Table Tennis Championships 2017 were held in Luxembourg from 13-17 September. Get all the details and results for the Men's Team event here... Collapse
September 12, 2017
12/09/2017 - Tip of the Week
Make Adjusting a Habit by Playing Different Players.
USATT Board Meeting
It was an Expand
12/09/2017 - Tip of the Week
Make Adjusting a Habit by Playing Different Players.
USATT Board Meeting
It was an extremely hectic weekend – I’m learning that coaching and attending board meetings don’t always mix well. On Saturday I coached from 10AM to 4PM, then drove over to the USATT informal meeting/get-together on Saturday night in Washington DC. On Sunday I left my house at 6:30AM, attended the meeting from 8AM to 2:30PM, drove to my club, and coached from 4PM to 8:30PM. After spending all day sitting in a chair, my back stiffened up while coaching and began to hurt. (I’m doing back stretches before it gets worse.) Here’s a rundown of the USATT meeting.
On Saturday night we all met at Gary Schlager’s large house, with its even larger basement, for informal games, meetings, and dinner. (Gary recently joined the USATT Board of Directors – his financial background is a huge plus.) There was ping-pong, pool, darts, and air hockey. I spent several hours Collapse
Ellenborough Table Tennis Club
11/09/2017 - Ellenborough Table Tennis Club is situated in the London Borough of Enfield, England. Our address Expand
11/09/2017 - Ellenborough Table Tennis Club is situated in the London Borough of Enfield, England. Our address is Craddock Road, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 3SP and we Collapse
September 7, 2017
07/09/2017 - New ITTF World Rankings
Here’s the new listing. On the men’s side, the top five spots Expand
07/09/2017 - New ITTF World Rankings
Here’s the new listing. On the men’s side, the top five spots remained unchanged. Mizutani (JPN) dropped two spots to #8, with Boll (GER) and Chun Ting Wong (HKG) each moving up one spot to #6 and #7. But the more interesting change came from two other Japanese players. Matsudaira moved from #16 to #12, while the whiz kid, 14-year-old Harimoto, shot from #20 to #13.
So which countries challenge China’s supremacy on the men’s side? Here are countries with at least three players in the top 50.
China: #1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 29, 35 spots. (They likely have a number of others who would be in the top 50, probably top 20.)
Germany: #4, 6, 23, 29, 43
Japan: #8, 9, 12, 13, 18, 19, 25, 28, 32
South Korea: #14, 21, 42, 49, 50
France: #16, 20, 44
Portugal: #17, 39, 48
Sweden: #22, 24, 39
China is obviously a huge favorite in any team match-up. But when they play Germany or Japan, it can be interesting as those countries have small, but legitimate Collapse
September 4, 2017
04/09/2017 - It's Labor Day, so no laboring on my blog today. I'm spending the day in my lounge chair Expand
04/09/2017 - It's Labor Day, so no laboring on my blog today. I'm spending the day in my lounge chair reading "Brave New World," which somehow I'd never gotten around to reading, and perhaps watching "Giant," which is on TCM at 4:30PM. See you all tomorrow. Oh, and here's a video of cats and table tennis (2:19). Collapse
August 30, 2017
30/08/2017 - Capital Area Team League and Other Leagues
The Capital Area Team League is for players in the Expand
30/08/2017 - Capital Area Team League and Other Leagues
The Capital Area Team League is for players in the Maryland, Virginia, and DC area. The “early bird” special deadline is tomorrow, August 31. Final deadline to enter is Sept. 12. If you don’t have a team, the league committee can help you find one. First league matches are on Oct. 1. Here are the basic rules:
Teams have a roster of at least 3 players.
Team contests will have 6 individual matches and one doubles.
Each team will be placed in a division according to their ratings, with similarly-rated teams – priority consideration will be given to teams who have participated in the last season.
No USATT membership required to play.
Detail league rules here.
So . . . you want to play in such a league, but don’t live in the Capital area? Here’s the USATT League page, where you can find info on other such team leagues currently operating, how to start one, as well as info on singles leagues.
This is also Collapse
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September 21, 2017
4 HRS AGO - School Closed, Larry’s Off
The local schools are closed as a “Non-Instructional Expand
4 HRS AGO - School Closed, Larry’s Off
The local schools are closed as a “Non-Instructional Day,” presumably because of Rosh Hashanah. As is my normal policy, when the schools are closed, I’m off too. (Though I’ll spend much of the day on various writing and other projects.) We have a one-day camp today at MDTTC. I’m not needed in it – we have ten coaches at the club – but I may go in later and help out as a practice partner. Then I have three hours of private coaching from 5:30-8:30PM. Meanwhile, to tide you over until tomorrow, here’s an animated gif of Speedy Gonzales playing table tennis. So . . . who would win in a battle between Speedy Gonzales and the Energizer Battery? Collapse
September 18, 2017
3 DAYS AGO - Tip of the Week
Always Think of a Loop as a Set-up Shot.
Sevens
In my 57th year I have this Expand
3 DAYS AGO - Tip of the Week
Always Think of a Loop as a Set-up Shot.
Sevens
In my 57th year I have this seven-year itch to tell seven of nine stories I have on sevens. Here are my seven deadly sins stories of seven, otherwise known as the magnificent seven.
Seven hours becomes one hour on Saturday. I normally have seven hours of coaching scheduled on Saturdays, my busiest day, from 10AM-5PM with no break (plus 5:30-7:30PM twice a month). But an extraordinary thing happened this past Saturday, or rather six of them. My 10AM student told me a few days in advance he was away and wouldn’t be able to come in. My 11AM student emailed that morning that he had strep throat and couldn’t come in. My 1PM student emailed that morning that he’d forgotten to tell me that he was out of town this weekend and couldn’t come in. From 2-4PM I have two students who come in together, but they were away at a tournament and so neither were coming in. My 4PM student had a family thing he had to Collapse
When The Tail Wags The Dog
7 DAYS AGO - I’m going to be writing a short blog post every Thursday covering a topic of my choice. Expand
7 DAYS AGO - I’m going to be writing a short blog post every Thursday covering a topic of my choice. Today, I’m looking at a common forehand loop mistake – something I refer to as “the tail wagging the dog” – and what should happen instead… “power from the ground”. If you have trouble playing a strong forehand […]
The post When The Tail Wags The Dog appeared first on Expert Table Tennis. Collapse
European Table Tennis Championships 2017 - Womens Team Event Results
13/09/2017 - The European Championships 2017 were held in Luxembourg from 13-17 September. Get all the details Expand
13/09/2017 - The European Championships 2017 were held in Luxembourg from 13-17 September. Get all the details and results for the Women's Team event here... Collapse
September 11, 2017
11/09/2017 - Back Tomorrow
Yeah, it’s one of those days. Yesterday I was on the go for 14 hours straight. Expand
11/09/2017 - Back Tomorrow
Yeah, it’s one of those days. Yesterday I was on the go for 14 hours straight. At 6:30AM I was in my car driving to the USATT board meeting in Washington DC, which I attended (as a board member and coaching committee chair) from 8AM-2:30PM. Then I drove back to MDTTC and coached from 4PM to 8:30PM. (Saturday was almost as long – coaching from 10AM to 4PM, then attending various Saturday night board festivities.) I’ll write about the board meeting tomorrow, as well as the Tip of the Week. But just to wake you up this Monday morning, here’s video (31 sec) of the greatest and most energetic table tennis player of all time. Collapse
September 8, 2017
08/09/2017 - USATT Coaching Committee Report
September 1, 2017
By Larry Hodges (Chair)
[NOTE – this was Expand
08/09/2017 - USATT Coaching Committee Report
September 1, 2017
By Larry Hodges (Chair)
[NOTE – this was submitted to the USATT Board of Directors one week ago.]
Accomplishments
Since I was only appointed in March, and the committee approved in May (myself, Rajul Sheth, Han Xiao, Sydney Christophe, and player rep Timothy Wang, with staff liaison Jörg Bitzigeio), we’ve only had a few months. (Also, I’m busiest during the summer, as are other coaches on the committee, and so I’ve put off a lot until the fall.) Here’s what happened on the USATT coaching front so far this year.
USATT University. We held the first USATT University at the USA Nationals in July, with great help from Gordon and USATT headquarters. Eight courses were taught, including four that were directly coaching related. However, attendance this first time around was low, and so we need to work on that. Despite putting flyers in everyone’s playing packet, an ad in the program, and USATT news Collapse
September 6, 2017
06/09/2017 - Tip of the Week
Weapons to Allow Opponents to Beat Themselves.
Fall Coaching and USATT Stuff
My Expand
06/09/2017 - Tip of the Week
Weapons to Allow Opponents to Beat Themselves.
Fall Coaching and USATT Stuff
My fall schedule keeps changing and getting busier. But the good news is I’ve managed to keep Mon, Tue, and Fri open for rest, writing, and various USATT and MDTTC activities. The bad news it means longer hours on other days. Here’s my updated coaching schedule:
Wed: 5:30-8:45 (one 15 min break)
Thur: 5:30-9:30
Sat: 11AM-4:00PM (will likely have a 4-5PM student, and twice a month also have 6:30-8:30PM)
Sun: 2:45-8:30PM (one 15-min break, and I will likely have more Sunday hours before 2:45PM)
Meanwhile, now that the summer is over, I’m about to launch into a number of coaching committee activities. (I’m chair.) I’d hoped to get into these issues this week, but they may have to wait until next week as I have a number of other issues still to deal with from my todo list, but I won’t get into that now. (They are a mixture of table tennis and my outside Collapse
September 1, 2017
01/09/2017 - USATT Club Coach Certification Course
Much of the current USATT coaching certification process was Expand
01/09/2017 - USATT Club Coach Certification Course
Much of the current USATT coaching certification process was set up when we had few coaches in this country, and were desperately trying to get coaches certified. (I was coaching chair for four years in the 1990s, and remember those problems.) Currently you can become a club coach just by passing a test, having two years USATT membership, and a 1400 rating, current or past.
I don’t think you should have specific rating requirements for specific coaching levels – they are separate things, though closely related. A better rule would be to require (along with other criteria) a specific minimum rating achieved, or similar relevant experience. So that’s going to change.
We’re looking to change the certification process, now that we have so many more coaches than before. Below is a very rough outline of a six-hour coaching seminar for becoming club coach. Later I will expand on it, giving more details on what should be taught in Collapse
August 29, 2017
29/08/2017 - Fall Scheduling
With local schools starting next week, I’m working out my new Fall coaching Expand
29/08/2017 - Fall Scheduling
With local schools starting next week, I’m working out my new Fall coaching schedule. This is one of those surprisingly tricky things, sort of like trying to do a 20-piece jigsaw puzzle, which sounds easy except the pieces keep moving around, changing shape, and sometimes disappearing, with new ones showing up.
During the summer we have little private coaching before 6PM (Mon-Fri) due to our summer camps. (Only available times are before 10AM and during the 1-3PM lunch break, but I rarely schedule during those times.) So while we often have sessions after school at 4 or 5PM, during the summer everyone has to move to after 6PM. But now, with school nights, the kids generally do their sessions earlier. But strangely, most of them have other afterschool activities (!), so we have to schedule around them. Worse, their schedules aren’t set in stone – they keep changing as they get new info, and sometimes it changes, week to week. Plus I have to work the Collapse
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September 20, 2017
1 DAY AGO - This morning’s blog will be up by 11AM or I have to put on a Donald Trump wig and give a Expand
1 DAY AGO - This morning’s blog will be up by 11AM or I have to put on a Donald Trump wig and give a speech to the United Nations using the exact speech Trump used yesterday except whenever he criticizes a foreign country I have to substitute the name of a table tennis player. Oh, and I have to give the speech with a Kermit the frog hand puppet doing the talking. (Recently I’ve been doing more and more late-night work, and those 3AM calls from Trump asking me what to tweet next haven’t helped.) Collapse
How to deal with nerves in table tennis matches
5 DAYS AGO - Some players deal with nerves absolutely fine. They love competing and channel any nerves or Expand
5 DAYS AGO - Some players deal with nerves absolutely fine. They love competing and channel any nerves or stress into a focused and energetic performance. Other players find nerves quite debilitating. The extra anxiety in playing a competitive match can make their body and mind freeze, which can have a terrible impact on their performance. In this blog post, I share three things (one mental, two physical) which can help you control your nerves.
The post How to deal with nerves in table tennis matches appeared first on Tom Lodziak Table Tennis Coaching. Collapse
September 14, 2017
7 DAYS AGO - Teaching the Topspinny Backhand
When a player first learns to play, they learn basic forehands and Expand
7 DAYS AGO - Teaching the Topspinny Backhand
When a player first learns to play, they learn basic forehands and backhands, which include putting at least a very light topspin on the ball. A proper stroke automatically puts some topspin on the ball as the racket is moving forward and slightly up at contact. Beginners often hit the ball almost straight on, and so generate little or no topspin. Here’s a good backhand drive video (2:55, from ITTF). This teaches the standard, light topspin backhand. Here's a good backhand topspin video (3:18, from EmRatThich) showing a more topspinny backhand. Note how the racket tip drops down, allowing more topspin from the stroke. In the ITTF video, lefty Timo Boll is shown for a few seconds hitting backhands 28 seconds in, and also topspins his backhand this way.
One of my students, age 8, tends to hit the ball almost straight on, resulting in a rather erratic backhand that’s more a blocking motion than a stroke, with the ball Collapse
September 13, 2017
13/09/2017 - So Much Happening!
No matter where you are, there’s something coming up for you. While Expand
13/09/2017 - So Much Happening!
No matter where you are, there’s something coming up for you. While there’s not much on the coaching side in my blog this morning (after seven in yesterday’s blog), though there's some good analysis in the Table Tennis Tidbits #8 (by Robert Ho), this time it’s full of events all over the place. Here’s a rundown.
Philadelphia, PA. See the segment below on Spin Philly, with the grand opening party this Friday, Sept. 15, 9PM-2AM. I may go up for this.
Ann Arbor, MI. See segment below on the 45th Ping-Pong Diplomacy at University of Michigan on Monday, Sept. 18.
Franklin, WI. See segment below on the $16,000 4-star Badger Open, near Milwaukee, Sept. 15-17.
CA, WA, NC, NJ, NY. Play in any of the following 2-star tournaments this coming weekend: North-West LA Open (Canoga Park, CA); SPTTC Championships and September Open (Bellevue, WA); Triangle September Open (Morrisville, NC); Princeton Pong Open (Princeton Junction, NJ); NYISC Collapse
Table Tennis UK - Search for a table tennis club
11/09/2017 - Looking for a table tennis club in England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales? All the details are here. Expand
11/09/2017 - Looking for a table tennis club in England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales? All the details are here. Start your search from here... Collapse
(Video) Attacking placement
07/09/2017 - In this coaching video, I show you how to improve the placement of your attacks. This is one of Expand
07/09/2017 - In this coaching video, I show you how to improve the placement of your attacks. This is one of the things which will help you move up a level. And it’s really simple. Anyone can do it. It doesn’t really matter what level you are or whether you topspin or flat hit - this is all about where on the table you should attack to give your opponent the most difficulty. If you can improve your attacking placement, you’ll definitely win more points.
The post (Video) Attacking placement appeared first on Tom Lodziak Table Tennis Coaching. Collapse
September 5, 2017
05/09/2017 - After trying to take Labor Day off, I found myself wanting to catch up on work that I’d Expand
05/09/2017 - After trying to take Labor Day off, I found myself wanting to catch up on work that I’d planned to do today – and ended up working half the night. When I tried going to sleep, I was too wound up. When it reached 4:30 AM and I was still up, I realized I was going to have a problem. I finally got to sleep, then woke up at 7:30 AM. My head is pounding like I’d gone twelve rounds with The Hulk, my eyelids weigh more than The Hulk, and my eyes feel like Ma Long and The Hulk plucked them out and played a best of seven with each. Sorry, no blog today, but at least I’m (mostly) caught up on various table tennis and writing matters. I’ll be back tomorrow with the blog and Tip of the Week. I need to put on my wall, “Early to bed, early to rise, is what morning bloggers must prioritize.” Oh, and speaking of The Hulk:
Hulk playing table tennis. (Here’s the non-Facebook version.)
Hulk vs. Superman
Hulk Racket
Tim Boggan as The Hulk – Collapse
August 31, 2017
31/08/2017 - $2700 Butterfly MDTTC August Open
Aug. 26-27, 2017 • Gaithersburg, Maryland
By Larry Hodges Expand
31/08/2017 - $2700 Butterfly MDTTC August Open
Aug. 26-27, 2017 • Gaithersburg, Maryland
By Larry Hodges (tournament director)
[NOTE – not interested in reading about a local tournament, with a final between two of the best players in the country? Then jump ahead to the other segments below!]
The MDTTC August Open was the day the choppers, juniors, and women & girls roared. There were choppers in the final and quarterfinals of the Open, and they won Under 2200 and Under 1500. There were juniors in the final of five of the six rating events (and – surprise! – both junior events). And women & girls won three of the six rating events. The ultimate winner was Stephanie Zhang, a chopping junior girl who won Under 1500!
Top-seeded Jishan Liang (2671) of New York, a powerful lefty two-winged looper, won the Open over second-seeded chopper/looper Jian Li (2660) of New Jersey, 2-1 win in this best of seven. Well, it was scheduled to be best of seven, but both players asked Collapse
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