Coaching Tip of the Week: A Trick to Beat a Tricky Pusher

September 14, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) Some players have very accurate pushes, and will push very wide to your backhand over and over – unless they see you stepping around, or even hedging that way. That’s when they push to your wide forehand and catch you off guard. Let’s say your forehand loop is stronger than your backhand […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Tactics Early In a Match: Explorers and Dominators

September 7, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) There are basically two ways to play tactically early in a match. You can either feel your opponent out to see what he can do and then adjust your tactics based on this (“The Explorer”); or you can force your game on the opponent right from the start, making tactical adjustments as […]

PongNow: Larry Hodges

September 5, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) The PongNow interview series discusses table tennis with some of the best players and personalities in the sport. This edition features USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame member, Larry Hodges Larry Hodges is a table tennis player, coach, promoter, writer, classic style specialist, and USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame member. […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Move Like a Pro

August 31, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) Most players go through the following sequence during each shot of a rally: Opponent is about to strike ball. Opponent strikes ball. Player sees incoming ball. Player decides if he has to move. Player moves. He’s slow to get to the ball and complains he’s too slow. Top players go through the […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: On Short Serves to the Forehand, Challenge the Forehand, Often Go to the Backhand

August 24, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) Assuming two right-handers play, a common rally might start with a short serve to the forehand. Many receivers don’t understand the tactics in receiving this shot. The two main things to think about are this: First, if the receiver goes crosscourt, he has the long diagonal to go after (10.3 feet, instead […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Should You Develop Your Forehand Push?

August 17, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) At the lower levels, pushing is often over-used; at the higher levels, spectators often underestimate its value. All top players have excellent pushes. However, advanced players – and even intermediate players – rarely push against deep backspin to the forehand, unless they are very defensive choppers. It’s simply better for them to […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: Two Tips to Increase Forehand Looping Power

August 10, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) If you have trouble generating power when forehand looping, try out these two tips, and you’ll be surprised at the improvement. First, keep your legs farther apart. This gives more stability and more torque into the shot. Second, contact the ball more from your side. This forces you to use your whole […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: How to Vary Your Receive Against Short Backspin Serves

August 3, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) Most players return short backhand serves with a simple push, without much thought to it. This makes the player predictable and vulnerable to third-ball attacks. The key is to vary the return. Let’s take a look at just how many effective returns you can actually do against a short backspin serve – […]

Coaching Tip of the Week: When Playing an Unfamiliar Player, Focus on Serve & Receive

July 27, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) When you face a new and unknown opponent, you aren’t sure yet how the rallies are going to go. But you can control how the rallies start. Learn to use serve & receive force rallies to go the way you want them to go, and so make your opponent adjust to you. It doesn’t […]

Coaching Tip Of The Week: The Importance of Lobbing

July 20, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) One of the strange things top players and coaches often notice is that beginning/intermediate players who “goof off and lob” during practice often improve rapidly. There is a reason for this. When a beginning/intermediate player backs up and lobs, he develops mobility and footwork, and learns to react to hard-hit […]