2018 MDTTC October Open

October 16, 2018

2018 MDTTC October Open (By Larry Hodges, tournament director/Photo by PongMobile.com) This tournament is dedicated to those who don’t believe ratings mean anything. Okay, they really don’t . . . except when they do. As they did this tournament. What am I talking about? Here’s a quick rundown of the eleven events: Open Singles top seed […]

Counterlooping and the Forehand Block

October 10, 2018

Counterlooping and the Forehand Block (By Larry Hodges) At the higher levels, most players essentially counterloop any topspin ball on the forehand side. (Many also do it on the backhand side.) But that’s almost inhuman. And yet, many players try to do that. Here’s the problem with doing that. If you play close to the […]

Tip of the week: Style Experimentation

October 1, 2018

Tip of the week: Style Experimentation (By Larry Hodges) Many players know their own game, but don’t really know or understand other styles – leading to tactical problems. How can you work out what tactics to use if you don’t understand the style you are playing? For example, a looper might feel like he can’t […]

Tip of the week: Top Ten Guidelines for Playing the Unconventional Style

September 25, 2018

Tip of the week: Top Ten Guidelines for Playing the Unconventional Style (By Larry Hodges) When a conventional player plays an unconventional style, they each face a different fundamental problem. The conventional player has to deal with the fact that the unconventional player is used to playing conventional players while he is likely not as […]

How to Punish those Slow, Spinny Loops

September 17, 2018

How to Punish those Slow, Spinny Loops (By Larry Hodges) It’s almost a cliché that players have more trouble with slow, spinny loops than faster ones, at least below the higher levels. There’s a simple reason for this – slow, spinny loops are mostly against backspin, and come out with a higher spin-to-speed ratio than […]

Develop Ball Control by Playing with Different Surfaces

September 10, 2018

Develop Ball Control by Playing with Different Surfaces (By Larry Hodges) Today’s tip will be controversial. Some might not agree the following, but I’ve found it to be consistently true, and it makes sense if you think about it. Have you ever noticed how some players seem to have great ball control? They can seemingly […]

The Flat Smash That Isn’t

September 4, 2018

The Flat Smash That Isn’t (By Larry Hodges) Many players with good looping strokes, and others that don’t, have trouble doing “flat” smashes because they don’t understand what the shot is – or more exactly, what it isn’t. The main thing to understand about a flat smash is that it is NOT flat. There is […]

Development of an Outrageously Great Spin Serve

August 29, 2018

Development of an Outrageously Great Spin Serve (By Larry Hodges) Here are six steps to doing so! Spin and catch. Practice tossing the ball up, spinning it with your paddle, and catching it. Do this over and over, in various ways with different spins, until you can put an outrageous amount of spin on the […]

Butterfly MDTTC August Open

August 21, 2018

Butterfly MDTTC August Open Gaithersburg, MD • August 18-19, 2018 By Larry Hodges, Tournament Director (Featured photo: Under 15 Finalist James Zhang and Champion Jackson Beaver. Photo care of PongMobile) It was time for Alguetti confetti as the two 17-year-old fraternal twins, Sharon and Gal, met in the final of Open Singles. But it wasn’t […]

Tip of the week: Make Up-and-Coming Players Your Rivals – and Stay With Them!

August 14, 2018

Tip of the week: Make Up-and-Coming Players Your Rivals – and Stay With Them! (By Larry Hodges) Here’s a little trick that will give you both incentive to improve, and lead to real improvement. Next time you are at your club, pinpoint someone who is perhaps a little weaker than you, or perhaps your level, […]