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Coaching Tip of the Week: Elbow Drill

January 2, 2018

(By Larry Hodges) Coaching Tip of the Week: Elbow Drill Playing the opponent’s middle – roughly where the playing elbow, the midpoint between forehand and backhand – is one of the more difficult tactics for players below the advanced level. It’s easier with the backhand, where the opponent’s right in front of you. But below […]

Push-Button Matches – Playing the Scary All-Out Attacker

December 12, 2017

(by: Larry Hodges) Push-Button Matches – Playing the Scary All-Out Attacker Ever have one of those matches where you felt like the opponent completely dominated with their attack and controlled everything, and yet you won? I call those “push-button” matches. In matches like that, the opponent basically attacks everything, no matter what you do. If […]

How to Mess Up Your Opponent When Forced to Make a Weak Shot

December 4, 2017

(By Larry Hodges) How to Mess Up Your Opponent When Forced to Make a Weak Shot No matter how much you train you will sometimes find yourself out of position and having to reach or lunge for a shot. It’s not something you want to do; it’s something you have to do in those hopefully not-too-often situations. Most players […]

Tip of the week: The Non-Playing Arm

November 28, 2017

(By Larry Hodges / Photo courtesy of ITTF) Tip of the week: The Non-Playing Arm Many players do not use their non-playing arm properly. Often the problem is that you can sort of get away with not using the non-playing arm in many drills – either static ones, where you aren’t moving (i.e. working on basics with […]

Tip of the week: Three Simple Side-to-Side Drills

November 20, 2017

(By Larry Hodges) Tip of the week: Three Simple Side-to-Side Drills Most table tennis movement is side-to-side, and so you need to practice this a lot. Here are three drills you should be doing – but only do the second when you are proficient with the first, and only do the third when you are […]

Tip of the week: How to Play Doubles with a Much Stronger Player

November 14, 2017

(By Larry Hodges) Tip of the week: How to Play Doubles with a Much Stronger Player What are the best tactics when playing doubles with a much stronger player? This often happens in rating doubles. Many believe that a more balanced team has an advantage over a more lopsided team, but that’s mostly true only […]

Tip of the week: Become Your Own Feedback

November 6, 2017

(By Larry Hodges) Tip of the week: Become Your Own Feedback You should make it a habit to be aware of how you win and lose points. If you do this, it will become second nature, and you’ll have immediate feedback when you play on what you need to do to improve, both tactically (what […]

Tip of the week: Top Sixteen Reasons Players Don’t Improve

October 23, 2017

(By Larry Hodges) Tip of the week: Top Sixteen Reasons Players Don’t Improve I really tried narrowing this down, but this could just as easily have been a Top 50 list. As with past lists, these are not necessarily in order of importance. Bad technique. Deep down they don’t believe they can play at a […]

Tip of the week: Always Think of a Loop as a Set-up Shot

September 18, 2017

(By Larry Hodges) Tip of the week: Always Think of a Loop as a Set-up Shot Many players, when they get a chance to loop hard, think of it as a put-away shot. And often it is. However, this can cause problems since sometimes they do come back, especially when you face stronger players. There’s […]

Tip of the week: Covering the Wide Angles

August 28, 2017

(By Larry Hodges) Tip of the week: Covering the Wide Angles Most players have trouble when an opponent attacks at a wide angle, whether it’s to the forehand or backhand. Here are five principles to help you cover them. Position yourself from the previous shot. That means if you put the ball to, say, the […]