May 24, 2018
2 DAYS AGO - No Blog on Friday and Monday
On Friday and Saturday I'll be at the Baltimore Science Fiction Expand
2 DAYS AGO - No Blog on Friday and Monday
On Friday and Saturday I'll be at the Baltimore Science Fiction Convention ("Balticon") where I'm a panelist and have a book signing - here's my schedule. My first panel actually isn't until 4PM but I'm going out early (it's an hour away) to spend the day at the Baltimore Aquarium. On Sunday and Monday I'm at home reading and writing, i.e. celebrating Memorial Day, though I may drive over to coach at the Washington DC May Open, if I have the energy. See you next Tuesday!
USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame
Here's a picture of the USATT Hall of Fame at the Triangle Club in North Carolina. I think it's great that after so many years we finally got this, with the grand opening last year. It's a million times better than what we had before, which was no USATT Hall of Fame.
But you know what? I'd like to see something a lot more extensive. Maybe not as big as the ITTF Museum, but a real tourist attraction. Collapse
May 21, 2018
5 DAYS AGO - I'm runnng waaaaay behind this morning as I got started waaaaay later than normal, so Expand
5 DAYS AGO - I'm runnng waaaaay behind this morning as I got started waaaaay later than normal, so you'll just have to waaaaait until probably 11:30AM, though maaaaaybe earlier. (I haven't even gotten to the Tip of the Week, though I know what it'll be on.) But while you're waiting, here's some Royal Table Tennis!
Prince Harry Playing Table Tennis
In "Angry Birds" funny hat
Doubles in "Angry Birds" hat
Stand-up straight backhand
Dubai perfect place to host new Table Tennis adaptation
Prince Harry: A pool king and court jester all in one (and pictured playing table tennis)
Against big brother Prince William
His Dad also plays Collapse
May 16, 2018
16/05/2018 - How the Game Has Changed! A Look Back to 1994
I was doing some research on something recently and Expand
16/05/2018 - How the Game Has Changed! A Look Back to 1994
I was doing some research on something recently and came across an article I wrote in the Sept/Oct 1994 issue of USA Table Tennis Magazine. The article was my diary as the USA head coach at the King Car International Youth City Championships in Taipei, Taiwan, Aug. 22-30, 1994. We had two boys' teams and two girls' teams, with 14 players. Many of the best junior teams from all over the world attended, including teams from all over Europe, Asia, and a few from South America and Africa. The notable missing team was China, since we were in Taiwan.
Before the tournament we had a five-day joint training camp with the Taiwan and South Korean Teams. I noticed that their players had incredible footwork and forehand loops, but their backhand loops were rather weak. So I called our team together and told them our focus during the tournament was simple - get your backhand loops into play as they weren't used to facing them. The strategy Collapse
May 11, 2018
11/05/2018 - Upcoming Tournament, Coaching, and Writing Plans
WORLD VETERANS AND USA NATIONALS.
I'll be at Expand
11/05/2018 - Upcoming Tournament, Coaching, and Writing Plans
WORLD VETERANS AND USA NATIONALS.
I'll be at both, June 18-24 and July 2-7 in Las Vegas. For the Veterans (4046 entries!), I'll be doing daily online coverage for USATT. We also have a USATT board meeting during the Veterans that I'll attend. At the Nationals I'll be coaching, attending meetings, and of course going to the Hall of Fame Banquet where I get the Lifetime Achievement Award!!! (Hope to see some of you there.) Between the two, June 25-July 1, I'm taking a Las Vegas writing/reading "vacation," where I plan on getting a lot of writing done in my hotel room - see my writing plans below. I'm also helping with a pre-Nationals clinic for some of our junior players, plus I'll be running a 90-minute coaching seminar, tentatively on July 1, on Serve and Receive Tactics - you are invited to that! (I may move that to Tue or Wed night.)
TABLE TENNIS COACHING PLANS.
My shoulder is rapidly improving, Collapse
May 8, 2018
08/05/2018 - Withering Weekend Work and Shifting Shoulder Shockers
Forget Spider-man, it's Spider-day at Expand
08/05/2018 - Withering Weekend Work and Shifting Shoulder Shockers
Forget Spider-man, it's Spider-day at MDTTC! At least on Saturday it was. During a junior session a giant Wolf spider came crawling into the playing area. You can imagine how the kids reacted. At first the coaches shooed them back to the tables, as the spider was near the barrier, away from the table. But someone had to take action we needed a hero! I grabbed a box, and with my paddle, got the thing to crawl onto it. Then I let it go outside, despite several girls screaming, "Kill it!"
Despite all the excitement, we got some serious table tennis in. We did a lot of up-down table games, but had them start with varying scores, such as the server is down 7-9 or 8-10.
In my Sunday Beginning Class the focus was on smashing. Which is almost as exciting for them as the spider was on Saturday. Then we had the more advanced Talent program, where we challenged them with more complicated drills than usual. For example, in one Collapse
World Table Tennis Championships Medal Winners
06/05/2018 - The World Championships first started in 1926. So which players have been World Table Tennis Expand
06/05/2018 - The World Championships first started in 1926. So which players have been World Table Tennis Championships Medal Winners? Find out here. Collapse
May 2, 2018
02/05/2018 - Shoulder Shenanigans
I'm off this morning to the *Piccard Surgery Center in Rockville, MD, for Expand
02/05/2018 - Shoulder Shenanigans
I'm off this morning to the *Piccard Surgery Center in Rockville, MD, for a Shoulder Cortisone Injection with Arthrogram. So no blog this morning. But don't forget that the The World Team Championships continue in Halmstad, Sweden, April 29 - May 6. (Lots of USATT coverage.) And here's a hot chick in table tennis.
*This is what the REAL Jean-Luc Picard says about ping-pong! (Well, Patrick Stewart's voice, anyway. Here's the meme.) Collapse
April 30, 2018
30/04/2018 - Tip of the Week
Strengths Can Be Weaknesses.
2018 Hopes Regional Hopes Camp and Trials at Expand
30/04/2018 - Tip of the Week
Strengths Can Be Weaknesses.
2018 Hopes Regional Hopes Camp and Trials at MDTTC
April 27-29, 2018
The camp had 37 players, ages 7 to 14, including many of the best 12 and under players in the northeast and other regions - including the California invasion that snagged both golds. Most were here for the Regional Hopes Trials on Sunday, April 29, which was for players born in 2006 or 2007. The camp was run by USATT National Team Coaches Pieke Franssen (head coach), and Wang Qingliang, assisted by coaches Michael Lauro, Jeffrey Zeng Xun, Lidney Castro, Rajul Urvashi, John Hsu, and myself. Players from ten states took part - MD, VA, PA, OH, NY, NJ, MA, NC, MN, CA. Here's the group picture!
A huge thanks goes to the ITTF and USATT, to USATT High Performance Director Jörg Bitzigeio, and to Coach Pieke for organizing and running these regional camps and trials all over the country. (This was the sixth and final one in the U.S. this year.) Thanks also goes to the Collapse
April 27, 2018
27/04/2018 - Regional Hopes Camp and Trials
This weekend I'll be coaching at the Hopes Regional Camp at Expand
27/04/2018 - Regional Hopes Camp and Trials
This weekend I'll be coaching at the Hopes Regional Camp at MDTTC (Fri & Sat), and then running the Hopes Regional Trials on Sunday. There's going to be a lot packed into the next few days - we're gonna need a bigger weekend!
This afternoon I'm picking up Coach Pieke Franssen at Dulles Airport at 3:32 PM. He was supposed to come in earlier but his flight was delayed, and so he's on a different flight. It's going to be a tight squeeze as the camp starts at 4:30PM, and the airport is about 45 minutes away without traffic - but we'll be driving during rush hour, which means it could take anywhere from 1-2 hours. We'll see! But Coach Wang Qingliang will run the camp until we arrive.
Coach Pieke is the USATT head coach for the camp. He's from the Alameda TTC in California, and has already run several of the regional Hopes camps. Assistant coaches in the camp will be Wang Qingliang, Jeffrey Zeng Xun, Lidney Castro, and Collapse
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May 23, 2018
3 DAYS AGO - Serve and Receive Tactics Seminar at MDTTC and Nationals
As mentioned in previous blogs, I'll Expand
3 DAYS AGO - Serve and Receive Tactics Seminar at MDTTC and Nationals
As mentioned in previous blogs, I'll be running two Serve and Receive Tactics Seminars. The one at the USA Nationals is now the lead story on the USATT News page! (Here's the direct link.) Here are the two, with links to the seminar flyer.
Thursday, May 31, 7:00-8:30 PM at MDTTC in Gaithersburg, MD
Tuesday, July 3, 7:00-8:30 PM at USA Nationals in Las Vegas
The one in Las Vegas is free - I'm running it as USATT Coaching Chair. The one at MDTTC is $15 for members, $20 for others, with 100% of the money raised going to the HW Global Junior Program at MDTTC, to pay for our coaches to go to the USA Nationals to coach the 17 MDTTC junior players who are competing. Here's their funding page - we're now at $14,175 raised of the $15,500 needed. All money raised in the seminar will go toward this - I'm not taking any of it.
Here are the main topics I'll be covering. Much of it will be a combination of Collapse
May 18, 2018
18/05/2018 - I'm running behind this morning - blame a late-night showing of "Deadpool 2" (it was Expand
18/05/2018 - I'm running behind this morning - blame a late-night showing of "Deadpool 2" (it was great!) followed by two hours watching table tennis videos (how did that happen?). Today's blog will be up by 11AM (hopefully sooner) or I have to disarm, giving up all my Tenergy, with regular USATT inspections. Collapse
May 15, 2018
15/05/2018 - USATT Teleconference and the USATT Hall of Fame Banquet
We had one last night, a rather short one, Expand
15/05/2018 - USATT Teleconference and the USATT Hall of Fame Banquet
We had one last night, a rather short one, only about 70 minutes, starting at 7PM. All nine USATT board members (including me) attended, as did the USATT CEO, COO, HPD, LC, and the chair of the HPC. (Awe, c'mon, do I have to spell these out for you? Think of it as a brain teaser.)
The meeting really had two parts, the "Open" session and the "Closed" session. During the open session we primarily discussed:
World Veterans - over 4000 entries. However, there have been problems with visas from some countries, likely due to the U.S.'s changing to more restrictive policies, and we may have lost up to 100 entries. We also arranged to have a shortened USATT board meeting at the Veterans on the night of Tuesday, June 19. (It was originally scheduled for June 20.)
U.S. Nationals. Final entry deadline is May 25, so what are you waiting for?
Para Data Protection Guidelines
Volunteer Recognition
Then we went Collapse
May 10, 2018
10/05/2018 - Early Bird Entries at the USA Nationals and the Coaching Seminar
Here's the USA Nationals Expand
10/05/2018 - Early Bird Entries at the USA Nationals and the Coaching Seminar
Here's the USA Nationals page, July 2-7 in Las Vegas. The early "Early Bird" deadline is tomorrow, May 11, so don't forget to enter NOW!!! On May 12 cost for adults goes from $250 to $325, for juniors from $225 to $300. So maybe, just maybe, you should consider entering NOW!!!, and save yourself $75? It's like getting a free sheet of Tenergy!!! (Did I mention you should enter NOW!!!?)
I blogged about the USA Nationals on April 19, where I wrote about the 91 events, spectating, equipment booths, the Hall of Fame Banquet, the VIP package, the USATT board meeting, and the coaching seminar I'll be running.
The coaching seminar will be on Serve and Receive Tactics, tentatively held on Sunday, July 1, from 5:30-7:00PM. (I might see if it can be moved to perhaps Tue or Wed night.) It will be FREE to all USATT members. Here are topics I will be covering:
Serve Tactics
The purpose of the serve
Set-up Collapse
May 7, 2018
07/05/2018 - Tip of the Week
Serve and Attack . . . Almost Always.
World Team Championships
The World Team Expand
07/05/2018 - Tip of the Week
Serve and Attack . . . Almost Always.
World Team Championships
The World Team Championships finished yesterday in Halmstad, Sweden, April 29 - May 6. SPOILER ALERT! Yes, China won Men's and Women's Teams (again, for the 21st time each), this time over Germany and Japan. So it was more of the same, but also more of the new. (See the numerous links on this below, as well as Team USA info.) Basically, only three men's team can give any serious challenge to the Chinese right now - Germany, Japan, and South Korea - but they are big longshots. It's unfortunate that Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov (world #3) was injured and couldn't play in the final, but it's unlikely that would have changed the final result. It's easier for a ping-pong ball to go through the eye of a needle than to beat a team that has Ma Long and Fan Zhendong.
On the women's side, Japan (and perhaps Hong Kong) are the only countries that can challenge the Chinese, but Collapse
May 4, 2018
04/05/2018 - Some last minute things keep coming up, and people conspiring to delay my blog keep calling me on Expand
04/05/2018 - Some last minute things keep coming up, and people conspiring to delay my blog keep calling me on the phone. Blog will be up by 10:30AM or the Unified Korean Team gets to smack me with spikey ping-pong balls as in upcoming segment, "Bodybuilder VS Thumbtack ." Collapse
May 1, 2018
01/05/2018 - Articles and Newsletters and Pulitzers, Oh My!
I quietly reached a few milestones recently, though Expand
01/05/2018 - Articles and Newsletters and Pulitzers, Oh My!
I quietly reached a few milestones recently, though I didn't realize it until last night. On April 20, USATT and Butterfly both published my article, $2700 3-Star Butterfly MDTTC April Open. It was my 1800th published article. (I count that as one article, though it was published in two places.) I've had two more articles published since then, for a total of 1802. Why is that number important? (Other than, of course, being the year the Treaty of Amiens was signed between France and the United Kingdom, ending the War of the Second Coalition, and the establishment of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the U.S.)
This morning's blog is my 1802nd blog entry since I started tabletenniscoaching.com in January, 2011, so I've now had as many blog entries as published articles, or 3604 total. Since I blog Mon-Fri, the number of blog entries will soon far exceed the number of published articles. (I don't count blog entries Collapse
2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships - Men's Team Event
29/04/2018 - The 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships, Halmstad, Sweden. Get the men's team event results Expand
29/04/2018 - The 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships, Halmstad, Sweden. Get the men's team event results here... Collapse
April 26, 2018
26/04/2018 - I'm Off to See the Surgeon - in Song
I see him at 11AM this morning. (I blogged about this Expand
26/04/2018 - I'm Off to See the Surgeon - in Song
I see him at 11AM this morning. (I blogged about this yesterday - it's just a consultation about whether I should get shoulder surgery.) Then I buy advance tickets for The Avengers: Infinity War tickets (via Moviepass, which requires I go in person) for the 8:30PM showing at Germantown. Then I spend the day doing the MDTTC Newsletter and a bunch of other TT stuff. Then I teach a junior class from 6:30-7:30PM. Then I see The Avengers! And now, in honor of my upcoming visit to the surgeon, I give you . . .
I'M OFF TO SEE THE SURGEON
By Larry Hodges
(Sung to the tune of We're Off to See the Wizard, with Apologies to Harold Arlen, the munchkins, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion.)
I'm off to see the Surgeon
The wonderful Surgeon of Oz
I hear he is a jock of a doc
If ever a doc there was
If ever, oh ever a doc there was
The Surgeon of Oz is one because
Because, because, because, because, because
Because of the great Collapse
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May 22, 2018
4 DAYS AGO - Man in the Arena
Many years ago, when I was in one of my many battles with USA Table Tennis or Expand
4 DAYS AGO - Man in the Arena
Many years ago, when I was in one of my many battles with USA Table Tennis or with some other group of naysayers, I received a note from USATT Hall of Famer Wendell Dillon (one of the all-time great USATT officials, and still active) that I was "The Man in the Arena." To my great embarrassment, I only vaguely knew of this famous speech by Teddy Roosevelt, and had to look it up. Here it is:
THE MAN IN THE ARENA
Teddy Roosevelt Speech, April 23, 1910
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who Collapse
May 17, 2018
17/05/2018 - Table Tennis vs. Science Fiction Writing
Outside table tennis I also write science fiction - see Expand
17/05/2018 - Table Tennis vs. Science Fiction Writing
Outside table tennis I also write science fiction - see larryhodges.com and my bibliography. (Short version - 90 short stories sold, 4 novels, and 2 short story collections. I have a story coming out in the next issue of Analog.) However, table tennis is still the main priority and it pays the most of the bills, both coaching and writing (eight books).
I started a new science fiction novel last week, but every time I tried working on it, some table tennis issue came up and I'd put it aside. There was the Hall of Fame program; researching some history and photos for one of this year's Hall of Fame inductees; a USATT Board of Directors teleconference; proofing some USATT documents; an ongoing confidential issue I've hinted about and spent nearly 100 hours on and can't wait to blog about hopefully this summer; some Coaching Chair issues; planning out junior training group sessions; preparing Tim Boggan's History of U.S. Table Collapse
May 14, 2018
14/05/2018 - Today's blog will be up by 10:30AM or USATT must disarm, allowing the United Nations to Expand
14/05/2018 - Today's blog will be up by 10:30AM or USATT must disarm, allowing the United Nations to do regular inspections to make sure we aren't speed gluing, boosting, or even using sponge rubber, and in fact are all using hardbats and sandpaper. Collapse
May 9, 2018
09/05/2018 - Today is "Larry's Gripes" Day!
Everyone should be allowed to air their gripes once a Expand
09/05/2018 - Today is "Larry's Gripes" Day!
Everyone should be allowed to air their gripes once a year. Here are mine.
Dealing with constant shoulder problems, though they seem to be getting better. I think I'll start an association, Union of Shoulder Recoverers (USA). Let's make USA #1!
Dealing with a certain USATT member who has wasted more USATT time and energy than anyone in the past ten years. I've spent 90 hours on this person's issues (others have spent far more), and am doing all I can to get out of the web of intrigue and accusations (and, unfortunately, nonsensical, time-wasting grievance cases) he makes on a semi-regular basis.
Dealing with the daily requests for articles - or more specifically, the ones who don't understand that just because they preface their request by saying, "Larry, you are such a great writer!" doesn't mean I have the time or energy to write an article about anyone or anything that someone asks me to do - and Collapse
World Table Tennis Championship
06/05/2018 - Where are the next World Table Tennis Championships being held? Who is the current World Champion? Expand
06/05/2018 - Where are the next World Table Tennis Championships being held? Who is the current World Champion? Find out here... Collapse
May 3, 2018
03/05/2018 - This morning's blog will be up by 10:30 AM or they stick the cortisone needle in my shoulder Expand
03/05/2018 - This morning's blog will be up by 10:30 AM or they stick the cortisone needle in my shoulder again, this time without any anesthetic. Collapse
May 1, 2018
01/05/2018 - Articles and Newsletters and Pulitzers, Oh My!
I quietly reached a few milestones recently, though Expand
01/05/2018 - Articles and Newsletters and Pulitzers, Oh My!
I quietly reached a few milestones recently, though I didn't realize it until last night. On April 20, USATT and Butterfly both published my article, $2700 3-Star Butterfly MDTTC April Open. It was my 1800th published article. (I count that as one article, though it was published in two places.) I've had two more articles published since then, for a total of 1802. Why is that number important? (Other than, of course, being the year the Treaty of Amiens was signed between France and the United Kingdom, ending the War of the Second Coalition, and the establishment of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the U.S.)
This morning's blog is my 1802nd blog entry since I started tabletenniscoaching.com in January, 2011, so I've now had as many blog entries as published articles, or 3604 total. Since I blog Mon-Fri, the number of blog entries will soon far exceed the number of published articles. (I don't count blog entries Collapse
2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships - Women's Team Event
29/04/2018 - The 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships, Halmstad, Sweden. Get the women's team event Expand
29/04/2018 - The 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships, Halmstad, Sweden. Get the women's team event results here... Collapse
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