October | 2020 |

Rhode Island’s Rich Table Tennis History

October 31, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) One of the neatest things about living in Rhode Island is the rich table tennis history in the region. Despite being the smallest U.S. State, Rhode Island is prominently represented in Tim Boggan’s History of Table Tennis. The club was a regular stop for regional players and pros for a generation with appearances from […]

PongNow: Joerg Bitzigeio

October 30, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) The PongNow interview series discusses table tennis with some of the best players and personalities in the sport. PongNow is an interview series talking table tennis with some of the best players and personalities in the sport. The guest this week is Jörg Bitzigeio, former head coach of the German National Women’s […]

In Memoriam: George Braithwaite

October 28, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) USA Table Tennis has lost a legend. George Braithwaite excelled in Cricket and Track and Field before starting his career in Table Tennis. In our sport, George was a part of the U.S. Team the launched Ping Pong Diplomacy from the World Championships in Japan. His list of table tennis accomplishments included […]

Ask The Experts: Shahin Akhlaghpasand, No. 361

October 28, 2020

Butterfly Table Tennis Question and Answer Question: I am using Timo boll ALC with Tenergy 05 on forehand and backhand. Looking to move to DIGINICS 09C. Along with looping / topspin will this rubber be good at returning server and chopping the ball back when its on the table. Tenergy pops up the ball sometimes […]

RESTART in TT Minus 11 Days: Lily and Jennifer

October 28, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins, photo by ITTFWorld) NASA coined the term “T-Minus” for space launches with the “T” indicating “Time” as the countdown proceeded. Many of their iconic broadcasts include statements from Launch Control indicating that all systems are “go” before changing over from a countdown of minutes into the final countdown of seconds. The momentous […]

PINGPOD DIVISIONAL LEAGUE – SEASON TWO

October 27, 2020

Dear Table Tennis Lover, Find below a few new announcements! JOIN PINGPOD LEAGUE SEASON TWO – “DIVISIONS” Season Two will be played in 4 divisions based on skill level. Details can be found here. As always, there will be prizes for the top finishers per division. The top 2 finishers in each division will […]

Timo Boll VideoBlog – “Comeback”

October 27, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) Timo Boll posted this video blog this morning. It follows his trip to Dusseldorf for his first league match in 5 months. Aside from hearing from Timo (in English) and seeing a behind the scenes view of preparation and warm-up with his teammates, the quality of the video is very good. In […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Learn To Play Close to the Table

October 26, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) Many players enjoy playing from away from the table, and some (especially defensive players) base their game on this. Others step back in fast rallies to give themselves more time to react. However, for most players, you want to stay close to the table whenever possible, usually no more than an arm’s […]

WAB Featured Club: Silicon Valley Table Tennis Club

October 25, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) The Silicon Valley Table Tennis Club is located in Milpitas, just North of San Jose on the Southern edge of San Francisco Bay. From this spot in Silicon Valley, they have easy access to Oakland (35 miles) and San Francisco (50 miles) finding themselves accessible to one of the largest hot beds […]

USATT’S THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE: Ted Li’s Upset Win

October 24, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) USA Table Tennis continued its T2 Challenge Series this week with an Encore Edition of Thursday Night Live. The team format from previous versions has ended (Team Butterfly overcame Team Nittaku 6-3 in that Series), but USATT continues to bring us quality table tennis. This week, the event matches two young, up […]