(By Larry Hodges) A player isn’t a threat to you if, at their best, they can’t beat you at your worst. But there’s an underlying assumption here that your “worst” is when you are taking the opponent serious and playing your normal game. Often, when playing a weaker player, one is overconfident and so doesn’t […]

(By Larry Hodges) If you want to improve, then it’s important you develop standard third-ball attack serves – serves that are difficult for opponents to attack and set you up to attack, but usually don’t win the point outright except when the opponent is overly aggressive. These are usually short or half-long (where second bounce […]

(By Larry Hodges) Here are ten “mini-fixes” for little problems you may face as you move up the table tennis rankings. Slippery floors? Put a wet towel on the floor and step on it between points. You’ve probably seen top players do this; try it, it really works. Also, get new shoes if you are going […]

(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! […]