(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame Most often coaches and top players (including me) talk about attacking the “three spots” – wide forehand and backhand, and middle (opponent’s transition point between forehand and backhand, roughly the elbow). But there are really five spots to play, though not always in the […]

(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame One of the banes of my coaching existence are players who lazily block in drills by just holding their racket out, relentlessly blocking back ball after ball with great efficiency in a way they would never do in a real match. And, of course, […]

By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame Many players with strong backhands cover the middle of the table with their backhands. It’s a smart strategy, and allows them to dominate with their best shot to all parts of the table. To stop this, players often play to their forehand – only […]

(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame, www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog) This could be the most important part of these four parts about positioning. So often players feel they are slow and are unable to cover enough ground to play effectively, when in fact they have all the footspeed needed – not as much […]

(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame, www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog)   Many players do not really prioritize the importance of getting back into position after every shot. Instead, they might move two feet to hit a shot, and perhaps step back a foot, and think that’s good enough. It’s not. Unless you simply […]

(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame, www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog)   Where to position yourself on the receive is one of those things that has evolved over the years, especially with the advent of the banana backhand flip. There was a time when many top players favored forehand receives, even against short serves. […]

(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame, www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog)   Where should you position yourself after serving? It depends on your playing style, footspeed, and the opponent. If, for example, you favor your forehand, then you might position yourself toward your backhand side, so as to cover as much of the table […]

(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame, www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog)   What’s the biggest threat from your opponent? One of the best ways to consistently beat weaker players (i.e., avoid upsets) as well as knock off stronger players is to neutralize whatever his biggest threat is. It’s hard for an opponent to win […]

(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame, www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog)   The short answer is . . . whenever you want to. But that ignores a problem players face when both competing and trying to improve. Let’s supposed you’ve spent a lot of time working new techniques, but haven’t quite perfected them yet. […]

(By Larry Hodges, Member of US Table Tennis Hall of Fame, www.tabletenniscoaching.com/blog)   Unless it’s a put-away shot, you should approach every shot as if you are setting yourself up for the next shot, and sometimes the next two. I’m always amazed at how many players play it one shot at a time – it’s […]