Table Tennis News: Players, tournaments, products, tips & more

BUTTERFLY FAVORITES: Timo Boll v. Ma Long 2017 World Cup

June 4, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) This is a Butterfly Favorite. To set the stage, World No. 1 Ma Long entered the tournament as the top seed. Timo Boll was not the top European qualifier – that honor went to Dimitrij Ovtcharov. In fact, at the European Top 16 qualifying event, Shibaev had finished second and Gauzy had […]

Unveiled Smashfest: NHL’s Brad Marchand and Mitchell Marner Design Pong Tables

June 2, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) “Unveiled: Smashfest” debuts on Tuesday June 2nd at 6:30p (EDT) on NBCSN. This week, Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand and Toronto Maple Leaves forward Mitchell Marner work with Canadian graffiti artist Alex Bacon to design customized ping pong tables. The host of the show is former NY Rangers player Dominic Moore. Smashfest […]

Open Doors: USATT to Allow Sanctioned Tournaments in July

June 1, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) A USA Table Tennis announcement released today allows for the sanctioning of tournaments beginning July 1. This will end the March 13th order that suspended all events – a part of a broader series of suspensions and cancellations across all sports including ITTF and USOPC events. This is welcome news after so […]

Ask The Experts: Di Yu, No. 345

June 1, 2020

Butterfly Table Tennis Question and Answer Question: what’s the difference between Timo Boll ALC and Timo Boll ZLC blades? Answer: Your Ask the Experts question was answered by Di Yu. He is a Senior/Elite Coach in Morrisville, NC. Hi Bikash, Timo Boll ALC: It will be better for defensive players because you can feel the ball stay […]

Butterfly Training Tips – Backhand Looping with Coach Ojo (Video)

June 1, 2020

Ojo Onaolapo is a coach at San Antonio Table Tennis Club. One of Ojo Onaolapo’s standout moment from the early stages of his table tennis career came at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore where he achieved a quarter-finals finish in the Men’s Singles competition before missing out to the eventual champion Koki Niwa. Ojo Onaolapo also […]

Butterfly Buzz: A Tour of the PingPod Facility

June 1, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) During a recent interview with Ernesto Jon Ebuen, we were provided a walk-through of the new PingPod facility in New York City. We thought this might make a nice feature on its own, so we have provided a longer version of the tour here. The new facility features custom tables, two walls […]

Coaching Tip Of The Week: Do You Have a Quadruple Threat Receive?

June 1, 2020

(By Larry Hodges) Many players get used to receiving any given serve the same way, because it’s safer that way. This is especially true against short serves, where many players predictably push everything back long. Others reach in and predictably flip over and over. But this makes things easier for the server, since he knows […]

It’s Time to Restock: We’ll See You at the Tables in June

May 31, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) Some of the country has opened and most of the rest is on schedule to open in the next few weeks. Table tennis clubs will need time to comply with local rules and regulations, but very soon we are all going to have opportunities to return to the game that we love. […]

WAB FEATURED CLUB: World Champions Table Tennis Academy

May 31, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) The World Champions Table Tennis Academy (WCTTA ) was the USA’s first full-time, professional table tennis Academy. Located in Santa Clara, California – in the heart of the Silicon Valley – the WCTTA offers private lessons, group training sessions, training camps, league competitions, and other special events. Created to serve the community, WCTTA […]

Open Doors: Texas Table Tennis Center (Houston)

May 30, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) The Texas Table Tennis Center (TTT) opened last week in Houston, Texas. Beginning Wednesday, May 18, the State of Texas allowed gyms to reopen and TTT opened for the first time two days later on May 20th. When they opened, they did so with reduced capacity. The tables were rearranged with mostly […]