(By Larry Hodges)   The next time you are in a close match, and are worried about making mistakes, and so play super safe to avoid mistakes . . . consider this. Letting your opponent control play is the biggest risk you can take in table tennis. You no longer have control over your fate. […]

(By Larry Hodges) When players loop to the forehand, almost invariably it is returned crosscourt, at least until you reach the higher levels. This can be effective, since it does give a wide angle to the forehand, and about 15.5 more inches going crosscourt then down the line. But it is so common that players […]

(By Larry Hodges) Most players think of forehand looping as a shot done from their playing side. So a right-handed player might think of rotating his right side around as he loops his forehand. However, this will limit your power as well as throw off your balance. You should use your other side as well. […]

(By Larry Hodges) Between points, think about what you want to do, especially at the start of the rally – what serve to use, what type of receives. Think about what shots you want to do during a rally against any given shot as well – looping, hitting, quick blocks, etc. Keep it simple. Your […]

(By Larry Hodges) You are stuck out of position away from the table on your forehand side of the table. Your opponent quick hits the ball to your wide backhand, and you can’t possibly get to it and make an effective backhand drive. What do you do? You could reach out and “fish” the ball […]

(By Larry Hodges) Many players enjoy playing from away from the table, and some (especially defensive players) base their game on this. Others step back in fast rallies to give themselves more time to react. However, for most players, you want to stay close to the table whenever possible, usually no more than an arm’s […]

(By Larry Hodges) In table tennis, it’s good to keep moving the ball around to make an opponent move. You should play all three spots – wide forehand, wide backhand, and middle (roughly the opponent’s elbow, the transition point between forehand and backhand). However, sometimes you want to go to the same place twice. Here […]

(By Larry Hodges) Many players telegraph the direction of their attacking shot. Often, the opponent isn’t sure how he knows where you are going, he just senses it. That’s because when he sees the same stroke pattern resulting in the ball going one way, and another stroke pattern going the other way, it becomes habit […]

Exaggerate Serving Follow-Through in “Wrong” Direction (By Larry Hodges) Many players can put good spin on their serves, but it is obvious what type of spin is on the serve from your racket direction. There are many ways of hiding the spin, but here’s a simple one: the instant after contact, change the direction of […]

(By Larry Hodges) You should have different strategies for returning deep serves and short serves. (Short serves are serves that, if given the chance, would bounce twice on the receiver’s side of the table). Against short serves, you can’t really loop, since the table is in the way. (You can do a backhand “banana flip,” […]