(By Larry Hodges) Some players are too patient – they mostly just keep the ball in play, rallying while missing opportunities to score. Others are too decisive – they jump on every ball with little patience or judgment. Develop a sense of “patient decisiveness” – in other words, pick your shots carefully, but once you’ve […]

(By Larry Hodges) One of the most difficult shots to handle is a ball attacked by a player with long pips. You have little time to react to an attacked ball, and so have to rely on your reflexes – except your reflexes usually aren’t tuned to reacting to a ball attacked by long pips. […]

By Larry Hodges  When you push (backspin vs. backspin), you don’t think of yourself as “going for a shot.” It’s just an easy shot that you can normally do over and Over and OVER, with few mistakes. But when you learn to loop (topspin vs. backspin, forehand or backhand), at first it’s a tricky and […]

(By Larry Hodges) Is there a certain score or situation where you play best? Some players play better when they are behind; others play better when ahead. Some play best when they are way down, say, 4-10, and figure they have nothing to lose and so play relaxed. Others play better when up 10-4, since […]

(By Larry Hodges) There’s nothing an experienced player likes better than facing a player with big shots . . . but little else. On the other hand, there are few things scarier than an opponent with big shots . . . and little else, i.e. without the “little” shots to set the big shots up […]

( By Larry Hodges) Except at the advanced levels, few players really attack the middle effectively. What is the middle? It is roughly the opponent’s playing elbow, midway between forehand and backhand, where the opponent has to make a quick decision on which to use; move into position to do so; and then try to […]

(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 […]