December 10, 2018
20 HRS AGO - This week's blog will be up by 1PM or I become Trump's new Chief of Staff.
The Ultimate Guide on How to Make a Ping Pong Table
30/11/2018 - If you love to play table tennis or ping pong, then you need to have a sturdy ping pong table in Expand
30/11/2018 - If you love to play table tennis or ping pong, then you need to have a sturdy ping pong table in your life. The question though is, how to make a ping pong table? Sure, you can go to the nearest sports shop and hunt the perfect table down, or you can also choose to […]
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How to Play Gotcha Darts?
20/11/2018 - Dart games are extremely popular throughout the world. However, how you play them, and their rules Expand
20/11/2018 - Dart games are extremely popular throughout the world. However, how you play them, and their rules themselves vary. How to play gotcha darts, for instance, has its own rules. In spite of the different versions of the play, it’s no secret that this one’s a timeless favourite. An 8-year-old will enjoy playing a dart game […]
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The 6 Best Nerf Darts 2018 Reviews and Guide
16/11/2018 - Love playing the Nerf dart war and looking for the best nerf darts? Different factors determine Expand
16/11/2018 - Love playing the Nerf dart war and looking for the best nerf darts? Different factors determine whether you win the Nerf war or that kid from neighbourhood takes all the glory. We are sure you would love to reserve the after office hours for fun play, which involves shooting a dart at your prickly boss. […]
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November 12, 2018
12/11/2018 - Salute a Veteran today! Here's what you get when you Google "Soldiers Playing Table Expand
12/11/2018 - Salute a Veteran today! Here's what you get when you Google "Soldiers Playing Table Tennis." This week's blog will go up on Tuesday by noon or else I have to play table tennis . . . outside . . . in the rain. :) (Which I've done before.) Collapse
Table Tennis Question about Sandpaper Rackets
05/11/2018 - My question is about table tennis paddles. Is it legal to use a sandpaper covered paddle? Can Expand
05/11/2018 - My question is about table tennis paddles. Is it legal to use a sandpaper covered paddle? Can you tell me what the rules say about sandpaper table tennis Collapse
October 22, 2018
22/10/2018 - This week's blog will be up by 1PM or I have to go to Mexico and lead thousands of refugees on Expand
22/10/2018 - This week's blog will be up by 1PM or I have to go to Mexico and lead thousands of refugees on a long march to the Saudi Embassy in Turkey where we will renegotiate the U.S.-Russian nuclear treaty, but this time requiring strict enforcement of the hidden serve rules. But the Tip of the Week is up, Top Ten Ways to Be a Professional at All Levels. And here's some Soccer/Volleyball Pong (44 sec) to tide you over. Plus the video of the Men's World Cup Final: Fan Zhendong (CHN) vs. Timo Boll (GER) (10:49). Collapse
Men's World Cup 2018 - Table Tennis
12/10/2018 - The Men's World Cup is an invitational event for 20 of the world's top players. See who qualified Expand
12/10/2018 - The Men's World Cup is an invitational event for 20 of the world's top players. See who qualified for this prestigious event in 2018 and get all the results. Collapse
Joola Inside vs Stiga Advantage – The Best Table Tennis Table Under $400
27/09/2018 - There has been lots of debate about the best table tennis table under $400. Which is the best one? Expand
27/09/2018 - There has been lots of debate about the best table tennis table under $400. Which is the best one? Which one should you choose? In this article, I hope to clear things up and help you decide. It’s Joola Inside vs Stiga Advantage time! Both Joola and Stiga are known for the quality of their […]
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December 3, 2018
7 DAYS AGO - This week's blog will be up by 1PM or I have to turn over to Muellaer all records of my Expand
7 DAYS AGO - This week's blog will be up by 1PM or I have to turn over to Muellaer all records of my nefarious dealings with Russia, Saudi Arabia, and USATT. The Tip of the Week is up, Style Disadvantage or Tactical Problem? Collapse
November 26, 2018
26/11/2018 - Tip of the Week
Use Your Weaknesses or They Will Always Be Weaknesses.
North American Teams
Or as Expand
26/11/2018 - Tip of the Week
Use Your Weaknesses or They Will Always Be Weaknesses.
North American Teams
Or as I would put it, here we go again! It was my 43rd year in a row at the Teams, starting in 1976 as a player, but primarily as a coach the last decade or so. Here are complete results - you can use the dropdown menu to see the results of any division and the preliminaries. Here is video from the livestreaming. Alas, as usual I saw little of it as I was out coaching. Here are Pongmobile Photos from the North American Teams.
This year we had ten HW Global Foundation junior teams, who are from the Talent Development Program that trains at MDTTC. Coaching them were the HWGF and MDTTC coaching team of myself, Wang Qingliang, Jeffrey Zeng Xun, John Hsu, Wen Hsu, Klaus Wood, Greg Mascialino, Cheng Yinghua, and Jack Huang. (I think Martin Jezo and Lidney Castro also coached some when not playing.) Here is a group photo on Sunday afternoon - alas, at least five players missed the photo - some Collapse
“Palm Up, Palm Down” – The Secret to Effortless Loops (Part 3)
20/11/2018 - I never intended this to happen, but my table tennis coaching mantras have turned into a series. Expand
20/11/2018 - I never intended this to happen, but my table tennis coaching mantras have turned into a series. This is part three of ‘The Secret to Effortless Loops’. If you haven’t read part one or part two yet, I recommended checking them out. Today’s blog post is all about “Palm Up, Palm Down”. I like to […]
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Killerspin JET800 Paddle Review – Is It Worth It?
15/11/2018 - We never thought indoor sports could be so much fun for our family until we came across table Expand
15/11/2018 - We never thought indoor sports could be so much fun for our family until we came across table tennis. Well, we all have those friends who are table tennis pros, and you don’t quite know how much fun they are having, the level of mental fortitude they build through the game, the health benefits acquired, […]
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“Hand Not Shoulder” – The Secret to Effortless Loops (Part 2)
06/11/2018 - Last week I shared “Pause & Snap“, one of my many table tennis mantras, as the Expand
06/11/2018 - Last week I shared “Pause & Snap“, one of my many table tennis mantras, as the secret to effortless forehand and backhand loops. This week, I’m disclosing another table tennis mantra that I believe will help you add quality to your looping – especially if you find yourself too tense/stiff. Harrie often gets stuck playing […]
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Pause & Snap: The Secret to Effortless Loops
30/10/2018 - I’ve been working with Harrie Austin-Jones for almost 18 months now. He knows all the basics Expand
30/10/2018 - I’ve been working with Harrie Austin-Jones for almost 18 months now. He knows all the basics of table tennis. He looks like a proper player when you watch him knocking up. His overall technique is good. That means we’ve got to the stage where I’m trying to help him to develop some proper ‘weapons’. His […]
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World Cup - Table Tennis
22/10/2018 - The World Cup was originally an invitational event for 16 of the world's top players. But who Expand
22/10/2018 - The World Cup was originally an invitational event for 16 of the world's top players. But who qualifies for this prestigious table tennis event now? Collapse
October 8, 2018
08/10/2018 - Blog should be up shortly, by 12:15PM I hope...
September 24, 2018
23/09/2018 - I got back from a USATT board meeting a little after 1AM Sunday night/Monday morning. This Expand
23/09/2018 - I got back from a USATT board meeting a little after 1AM Sunday night/Monday morning. This week's blog and tip of the week will go up Tuesday by noon or I can't ride the roller coaster at Disneyworld after the U.S. Open in Orlando. Collapse
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10 Christmas Gift Ideas for a Table Tennis Player (2018)
01/12/2018 - It’s less than a month until Christmas, which means it’s time to start thinking about Expand
01/12/2018 - It’s less than a month until Christmas, which means it’s time to start thinking about buying presents (and writing your own Christmas lists too). So what are the best Christmas gifts for a table tennis player? In this article, I’ll go through some of my favourite table tennis gift ideas and show you a few of the […]
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How to play baseball darts?
22/11/2018 - Wondering how to play baseball darts and the different rules? Darts is a traditional game that you Expand
22/11/2018 - Wondering how to play baseball darts and the different rules? Darts is a traditional game that you would normally find people playing in pubs, clubs and bars. Today though, it is no longer a pub sport and is today popular the world over. Darts is simply enjoyable and fun. It does not matter what age […]
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November 19, 2018
19/11/2018 - This week's blog will be up by 12:30 PM or Trump will revoke my press pass and order me to Expand
19/11/2018 - This week's blog will be up by 12:30 PM or Trump will revoke my press pass and order me to rake leaves in California. Collapse
Eastfield Offensive Review
13/11/2018 - It’s taken over two years to get to this point but finally, the Eastfield Offensive Expand
13/11/2018 - It’s taken over two years to get to this point but finally, the Eastfield Offensive Professional Table Tennis Bat is on sale worldwide! Here’s my full review of the bat, including its strengths/weaknesses and which types of player it’s suited to. Full disclosure – this is the bat I currently play with and Eastfield is […]
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November 5, 2018
05/11/2018 - Tip of the Week
Heavy and No-Spin Pushes.
Coaching Subtleties and Attacking the Middle
After 42 Expand
05/11/2018 - Tip of the Week
Heavy and No-Spin Pushes.
Coaching Subtleties and Attacking the Middle
After 42 years of playing and coaching I can pretty much analyze an opponent's weaknesses within a game, based both on what he does, but also on his strokes, stance, footwork, etc. If a shakehand player has long arms and tends to extend his arm when stroking, and so has a big gap between where they contact their forehand and backhand, I don't need to see the player react to an attack to the middle for me to know there's going to be a weakness there.
However, when coaching, you also have to know the player you are coaching to really be effective. Even if you watch a player for a time you can't always pick up on everything. It's not just what your player does, but what he doesn't do - and why. If he isn't playing into an opponent's weakness, is it because he hasn't seen the weakness, or because he can't effectively go after it, at least in some ways?
Here's Collapse
October 29, 2018
29/10/2018 - Tip of the Week
Don't Try So Hard When Ending the Point.
Upcoming USATT Strategic Expand
29/10/2018 - Tip of the Week
Don't Try So Hard When Ending the Point.
Upcoming USATT Strategic Meeting
USATT is holding a Strategic Meeting in Colorado Springs, Nov. 3-4. They hold these periodically. They've had a number of mini-strategic meetings, where the USATT board breaks up into groups to discuss specific issues - I've been to about ten of those. But the last time they had a real Strategic Meeting like this was in 2009, which didn't go well and led to nothing. (I've been to five of them.) I was debating whether to attend this one - as Coaching Chair, I was allowed to choose two coaches, and could include myself - but chose not to this time, though now I'm sort of regretting it - I'd like to be there. So I did the next best thing, and wrote the following letter to the attendees, which focuses on learning from the mistakes of past Strategic Meetings, and on Regionalization, which will be a major issue at this meeting.
Dear Members of the Upcoming 2018 USATT Collapse
October 15, 2018
15/10/2018 - This week's blog will go up tomorrow (Tuesday). That way I not only get to recover from Expand
15/10/2018 - This week's blog will go up tomorrow (Tuesday). That way I not only get to recover from running the 3-star MDTTC October Open this weekend (here are the results), but I'll also be able to do the write-up and put the photos and video up, plus the ratings for it will likely be processed. But the blog itself will be about Table Tennis Inventions and Innovations, plus a write-up of two USATT teleconferences. The Tip of the Week is already up - Style Experimentation. Also, here's the link to my Interview with Butterfly Table Tennis on Friday with Ayan Bagchi! (Just the week before I had my Interview with Analog Science Fiction - but that was about my science fiction writing.) Collapse
October 1, 2018
01/10/2018 - Tip of the Week
How to Punish those Slow, Spinny Loops.
History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume Expand
01/10/2018 - Tip of the Week
How to Punish those Slow, Spinny Loops.
History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 22
This morning USATT Historian and Hall of Famer Tim Boggan moves in with me for about 12 days so I can do the photo work and page layouts for the latest volume of History of U.S. Table Tennis. I believe this one covers 1996-1997, and will be in the 450 page range, with about 1700 graphics. Actually, every page is technically a graphic, since Tim creates the volumes by mostly cut & pasting articles from the past. He arranges them into 8.5x11 pages, which are scanned by another USATT Hall of Famer, Mal Anderson.
Then comes the "hard" part, for me, as I have to place each page into the layouts, and then fix up all the graphics - and there are a LOT of fixing up. For one thing, all of Tim's scissor cuts show up and have to be removed; for another, most of the work is scanned from gritty newsprint, and that takes time to fix up. Plus Tim is very picky about backgrounds, Collapse
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