Coaching Tip of the Week Page 6 of 22 Butterfly Online | Butterfly Table Tennis & Ping Pong Equipment

Coaching Tip of the Week: Team Lineup Strategies

May 3, 2021

(By Larry Hodges) In a team competition, you have to set up your team lineup in advance. How do you do this? It depends on your priorities. If your priority is strictly winning, then there are guidelines on how to do this, which I’ll go over below. If your priority is to let the players […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Looping a Push is Not Going for a Shot

April 26, 2021

By Larry Hodges When you push (backspin vs. backspin), you don’t think of yourself as “going for a shot.” It’s just an easy shot that you can normally do over and Over and OVER, with few mistakes. But when you learn to loop (topspin vs. backspin, forehand or backhand), at first it’s a tricky and […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Imagine a Score or Situation

April 19, 2021

(By Larry Hodges) Is there a certain score or situation where you play best? Some players play better when they are behind; others play better when ahead. Some play best when they are way down, say, 4-10, and figure they have nothing to lose and so play relaxed. Others play better when up 10-4, since […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Learn From a Match

April 12, 2021

(By Larry Hodges) The quickest way to learn to beat a stronger player is by losing to him, but understanding why you lost. This way you know what to work on so as to increase your chances of winning next time, or at some time in the future. It’s a continuous learning process, and players […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Reading Service Spin

April 5, 2021

(By Larry Hodges) Returning serves is everyone’s biggest weakness – or at least it seems that way. To learn to read spin, try focusing just on the contact period – ignore the rest of the motion before and after contact. Imagine taking a mini-video of the split second of contact. If you do this regularly, […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Power Player Control Shots

March 29, 2021

(By Larry Hodges) There’s nothing an experienced player likes better than facing a player with big shots . . . but little else. On the other hand, there are few things scarier than an opponent with big shots . . . and little else, i.e. without the “little” shots to set the big shots up […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Rally Down Faster & Quicker Players

March 22, 2021

(By Larry Hodges) When faced with faster, quicker opponents, many players try to match them in speed, and end up losing because of too many unforced errors. Instead, ask yourself if it is realistic to play at the opponent’s pace. You might decide you can do so for perhaps the first shot in a rally, […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Do You Really Play the Middle?

March 15, 2021

( By Larry Hodges) Except at the advanced levels, few players really attack the middle effectively. What is the middle? It is roughly the opponent’s playing elbow, midway between forehand and backhand, where the opponent has to make a quick decision on which to use; move into position to do so; and then try to […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Learn Something New Each Time You Play

March 1, 2021

(By Larry Hodges) One of the interesting things one learns when talking to top players is that they say they are still learning. Some even make it a goal to learn something new each time they play. Do you learn something new each time you play? You can learn from your opponents; from watching or […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Pushing Short: When to Learn?

February 15, 2021

(By Larry Hodges) At the higher levels, pushing short is an important to stop an opponent from looping. (A short push is a push that, given the chance, would bounce twice on an opponent’s side of the table.) It is especially useful when returning short serves to stop the server’s attack. (You should learn all […]