Are You Too Backhand Oriented?

December 18, 2023

(by Larry Hodges) A common problem for players at all levels is being too backhand oriented. Backhand orientation (BO for short) means that you favor your backhand too much over your forehand, and try to cover too much of the table with the backhand. Some players are better on the backhand, and so should cover […]

WAB CLUB FEATURE: Song Jeho Table Tennis Club

December 17, 2023

(by Steve Hopkins) The Song Jeho Table Tennis Club (“SJHTTC”) is centrally located in Los Angeles. The club is located in Korea Town near the intersection of S Grand View St. and W 11th St. with easy access to the Santa Monica Freeway and the 110. The club’s namesake is “Jay” Song Jeho, a strong player […]

China Wins Both Titles at WTT Women’s in Nagoya

December 17, 2023

(by Steve Hopkins, photo by WTT) The WTT Finals Women Nagoya concluded today with World No. 1 Sun Yingsha defeating World No. 4 Wang Yidi 4-2 in the Final. Its sometimes hard to decipher the seeding between the top Chinese women, as China has 6 of the top 7 ranked players in the World. As […]

Lily Zhang Finishes Second at WTT Series Event in Biella

December 17, 2023

(by Steve Hopkins) USA’s Lily Zhang entered the Women’s Singles draw at the WTT Feeder Biella as the third seed. The top two seeds fell early – with top seed Egypt’s Hana Goda falling to Ukraine’s Margaryta Pesotska in the Round of 32, and Manika Batra of India losing to Katarzyna Wegrzyn of Poland in […]

Duda Takes Men’s Title in Biella

December 17, 2023

(by Steve Hopkins) Jonathan Groth, Sora Matsushima, and Chuang Chih-Yuan were the top seeds at the WTT Feeder Biella, but it was the fourth seed, Benedikt Duda, who claimed top honors at the last WTT Series Event of 2023. Top seed Groth fell to France’s Adrien Rassenfosse in the Round of 16. In the tumultuous […]

Pan Am Gold for Jenson Van Emburgh

December 17, 2023

(by Steve Hopkins) Earlier this week, we took a few moments to catch up with Jenson Van Emburgh. If you don’t know, in the world of Paralympic table tennis, Jenson is one of the best known players. He’s an exceptional American talent consistently winning medals at major events on the international stage. (Q1) Focusing on […]

Why Aren’t You Pushing Heavy?

December 11, 2023

(by Larry Hodges) It never ceases to amaze me at how many players push serves back safely, essentially patting it back, perhaps with good backspin, and then mentally pat themselves on the back for making this excellent return. And this works . . . at lower levels. But why put good backspin on the ball when […]

China, Korea, Japan Top 3 in Mixed Teams

December 10, 2023

(by Steve Hopkins) The ITTF Mixed Team World Cup finished today in Chengdu, China. There is no surprise that China won the event in dominating fashion with 56 games won and 10 games lost. The scoring in this event is unique, with five matches played in a particular order with each match three games only. […]

2023 US Open Preview

December 10, 2023

(by Steve Hopkins) The 2023 US Open Table Tennis Championships will begin next weekend in Ontario, California. This signature American event will include 1012 players taking part in 118 events with the truly open title events at the top (Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles), age events from from U11 up […]

WAB CLUB FEATURE: Washington DC Table Tennis Center

December 9, 2023

(by Steve Hopkins) With three league nights each week, open play, tournaments, camps for kids and adults and coaching opportunities, Washington DC Table Tennis Center something for everyone. The 5,000 square foot dedicated table tennis facility has 10 professional Butterfly tables and 2 robots on wood flooring. In addition, there is a lounge with chairs, […]