(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 […]

(By Larry Hodges) The opening lines to my book, Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers, is, “Tactics isn’t about finding complex strategies to defeat an opponent. Tactics is about sifting through all the zillions of possible tactics and finding a few simple ones that work.” But how do you find these simple tactics that work? Simple – […]

(By Larry Hodges) Returning serves is all about ball control. In a rally, the incoming shot is usually more predictable than a serve, which has a much wider range of variation – topspin, sidespin, backspin, at all speeds, amounts of spin, directions, and depths. To control your return of serve, shorten your stroke. This cuts […]

(By Larry Hodges) With games to 11, few leads are really safe. It only takes a short series of careless shots, and what seemed like a big lead becomes a big loss. However, if you do have a big lead, and the match won’t be over if you win that game, consider experimenting with different […]

(By Larry Hodges) Many players who want to improve make the mistake of trying to play mostly stronger players. The result is the opponent controls play, and all the player can do is react to the stronger player’s shots, or go for wild shots. A player may develop some shots this way, but it’ll be […]

(By Larry Hodges) Many players use pushing as a neutral “sparring” shot. Instead, use it as a weapon. You do this by pushing quick, fast, heavy, and deep, usually to the opponent’s wide backhand, either deep to the corner or even outside the corner. (You should also sometimes aim to the backhand and at the […]

(By Larry Hodges) When a player finds a part of his game is not working as well as he’d like (because he hasn’t been practicing it, is getting older or slower, or because it simply wasn’t a strong shot to start with), the tendency is to use that technique less and less. Result? The technique […]

(By Larry Hodges)   The next time you are in a close match, and are worried about making mistakes, and so play super safe to avoid mistakes . . . consider this. Letting your opponent control play is the biggest risk you can take in table tennis. You no longer have control over your fate. […]

(By Larry Hodges) When players loop to the forehand, almost invariably it is returned crosscourt, at least until you reach the higher levels. This can be effective, since it does give a wide angle to the forehand, and about 15.5 more inches going crosscourt then down the line. But it is so common that players […]