(by Larry Hodges)

Someone once complained that reading coaching articles was pointless since nobody ever became a champion player by reading. He was absolutely right and absolutely wrong.

No, you cannot become a champion by reading about it. Coaching articles and books (including mine!) are not meant to be used in isolation. They are supplements to improvement. As any good coaching article would say or imply, you need to practice what is being said.

But even more, to learn and improve at table tennis (and presumably all sports) you must watch top players and/or learn from a coach. (At the higher levels you definitely need both.) Coaching articles and books can really help in understanding these things, can point you in the right direction, and can help in your thinking about the game and how to improve. They are especially helpful in the realm of tactics and strategic development, since those are the aspects that require the most thought – but even there, you can’t learn tactics without trying them out and seeing what works.

And since every rule is meant to be broken, somewhere out there is the first future table tennis champion who’ll do it in the comfort of his home, by reading one of my books in a lounge chair. It could be you!