USATT’S THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE: Zhou over Nikhil

Posted on September 10, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) USA Table Tennis conducted its sixth Challenge Series event this week.   The event matched two US Olympians: Nikhil Kumar (for Team Butterfly) and Xin Zhou (for Team Nittaku).  With both players over 2750 in US rating, they seemed to be pretty evenly matched.  Nikhil is the younger of the two at just […]

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BUTTERFLY FAVORITE: The Rise of Brian Afanador

Posted on September 9, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) This video is from the Serbian Open last year.  It was uploaded by the Official ITTF Channel on Youtube and shows Puerto Rico’s Brian Afanador taking on Japan’s Yuta Tanaka.  Both players are still early in their careers and are still improving.  Afanador is 23 years old, and Tanaka is 20 years […]

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USATT’S THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE: Wang Makes It 4-1 for Team Butterfly

Posted on September 8, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) USA Table Tennis conducted its fifth Challenge Series event last week.   The event matched US Women Olympic Team Member Huijing Wang versus one of USA’s top juniors, Michael Tran.  Table tennis is one of the few sports where men and women compete against each other in major tournaments using the same rating […]

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SPIN & SMASH FALL OPEN 2020

Posted on September 8, 2020

USATT Sanctioned 2-Star Table Tennis Tournament with $2,400 in Cash Prizes! Friday, October 2 – Sunday, October 4, 2020 What You Can Expect Spin & Smash will be fully disinfected daily Clean, disinfected Butterfly A40+ balls will be used for each match New masks will be given daily to each player.  Hand sanitizer will be […]

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

Posted on 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 […]

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WAB Club Feature: Los Angeles Table Tennis Club

Posted on September 6, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) The Los Angeles Table Tennis Association (LATTA) is located in El Monte, California, just to the east of Los Angeles.  The facility is just off of the 10 with easy access to the greater Los Angeles area. LATTA is a non-profit organization established in 1998. The center is one of the largest table […]

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History of College Table Tennis: Leparulo Part 1

Posted on September 5, 2020

(Intro by Steve Hopkins) In an interview last month with Willy Leparulo, President of National Collegiate Table Tennis Association, he referenced a research paper that he created that followed the development of table tennis on college campuses.  You can view the full interview here. Willy Leparulo has provided the document to Butterfly for us to […]

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ITTF Announces November Restart Events

Posted on September 5, 2020

(by Steve Hopkins) ITTF announced on Friday that three of the most prestigious events of the year will be scheduled for November.  These events, the Uncle Pop 2020 ITTF Women’s World Cup, the Liebherr 2020 ITTF Men’s World Cup, and the 2020 ITTF Finals will all be held in China. The World Cups will feature […]

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PongNow: Larry Hodges

Posted on 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.  […]

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Ask The Experts: Byung Jung An, No. 354

Posted on September 4, 2020

Butterfly Table Tennis Question and Answer Question: I have a good backhand flip against short underspin balls. My backhand flip is fast and very effective. I am now contemplating, developing a forehand flip but I am not sure if it would be as effective. What I see from players is not as fast and hard […]

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