(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 […]

(By Larry Hodges) The easiest and simplest way of beating a player is to “lock him up.” This basically means forcing him to do what he doesn’t want to do. A classic case would be to force an opponent with a weaker backhand to go backhand to backhand with you. Another example would be take […]

(By Larry Hodges) A tall player’s forehand and backhand shots are farther apart than a short player’s. So he is usually weaker in the middle area, where he has to decide whether to hit a forehand or backhand. So against a tall player, play aggressively toward his elbow, which is roughly the midpoint between his […]