(By Larry Hodges) Many matches are decided in the rallies. The Larry Line (can I copyright that?) is that level of speed, quickness, and spin (done consistently) that overwhelms a given opponent so that they start to either fall apart or are forced to back up and play defensively. Everyone has such a line; if […]

(By Larry Hodges) Often an opponent serves short backspin or no-spin serves to the middle or backhand, and all you can do is push it back. If so, you should develop your flip. But there’s an alternative that’s often overlooked – a simple quick, deep push to the wide backhand.   To do this, you […]

(By Larry Hodges) We’re going to have a little fun this week. There’s more to table tennis than just going to the table and relentlessly trying to win. There’s also the fun part! And next to lobbing, the funnest thing I do in table tennis is blowing the ball in the air. I know, because […]

(By Larry Hodges) When you lose a match against someone around your playing level, you didn’t lose because your opponent calculated a series of seven shots of varying types, speeds, spins, depths, and placements, all presumably worked out on a blackboard in advance with lots of X’s and O’s, like they do in football. Nope, […]

(By Larry Hodges) Suppose an 8-year-old, a 30-year-old, and a 60-year-old walk into your club, all beginners, and sign up for lessons. Suppose you were their coach. You’d likely start them off similarly, teaching the fundamentals. But something happens after a time – how you teach them begins to change quite a bit. You, the reader, […]

(By Larry Hodges) Next time you are at the table tennis club or at a tournament, watch some matches from the side, so you are looking directly along the net. Watch how low the serves cross the net. Do this at multiple tables for players of various levels. You may be surprised at what you see! […]

(By Larry Hodges) Serving is considered the “trick” part of table tennis, and this is where you can be most artistic. While you don’t want to rely too much on trick serves to win, having a few tricky ones really helps – both in scoring a few “free” points and making your other serves more […]

(by Larry Hodges) Long ago, I used to coach developing players to return serves aggressively. But then I noticed something – players who did that often never learned to handle the opponent’s attack as well, while those who were more willing to push serves back long as they developed became comfortable when the opponent attacked, […]

(by Larry Hodges) When serving, many players contact the ball on their racket in the same location each time. Many aren’t actually aware of what part of the racket the contact is on. They are dramatically limiting their serves by not understanding how varying the location of contact can vary the spin. Here are some […]