Larry Hodges - Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers

Table Tennis Tactics

for Thinkers

By Larry Hodges

TableTennisCoaching.com

U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Famer and National Coach

2013, v08-27-21

On the Cover :

My fellow MDTTC coach Cheng Yinghua, 2000 Olympian, 2-time U.S. Open and 4-time USA Nationals Men's Champion, and former member of the Chinese and USA National Teams.

Photo by John Oros

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Table tennis has been called chess at lightning speed. There are hundreds of books on chess tactics. Why aren't there more books devoted to table tennis tactics?

Left: Future U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Famers John Tannehill and Dell Sweeris play chess at the 1968 U.S. Open. Photo by Mal Anderson. Right: Chess player Bobby Fischer

The purpose of this book isn't to just tell you how to play tactically against various styles, though we'll do that, but to get you thinking both tactically and strategically. What's the difference? I'll go over that. The goal is to make the most out of whatever table tennis skills you have so you can be world champion, beat the guy next door, or somewhere in between.

This book is for anyone who wants to make the most of his game, especially those who like to think. It is for all ages and levels, including:

• Beginners , who should focus on developing their game strategically so they can later have the tactical weapons needed to win;
• Intermediate players , who can execute many of the shots the best players do, and need to find ways to both maximize their tactical performance with the tools they have, and to strategically develop new weapons;
• Advanced players , who can use this book to developor further developthe habit of thinking tactically and strategically so as to maximize their performance.

There are three ways you should use this book. First and most important, read it through, and develop the habit of tactical and strategic thinking. They are your friends. (I almost called this book "Table Tennis Tactics and Strategic Development," since strategic thinking is so much a part of it.)

Second, learn and understand the general tactics that you and your playing style should use against various playing styles. When I say playing styles here, that includes not only different styles of play, but also different grips and surfaces.

Third, it's a reference for when you are trying to figure out the specific tactics needed to beat a specific player. Once you've analyzed the player in question, go to the appropriate section or sections and understand the tactical ways to overcome that player.

There's a lot to digest here, so perhaps take it in chunks. Take notes or use a highlighter. Think about how each item may affect your game. Most important, don't memorize - understand .

There are some redundancies in the book, with some techniques discussed in multiple chapters. This is unavoidable since there are overlaps between the chapters. For example, pushing short is discussed in both the chapters on Receive and on Pushing. I don't want readers to have to constantly jump around in the book, and it doesn't hurt to hear something twice.

Most of this book is new, but some of it comes from past coaching articles I've written. (And some of the Tips of the Week that I put up on TableTennisCoaching.com came from this book as I was writing it.) And speaking of table tennis past, does having twenty-one chapters bring back some table tennis nostalgia?

Want to know more about the Olympic Sport of Table Tennis? In the U.S., visit USA Table Tennis at www.usatt.org , and learn about the hundreds of tournaments, clubs, and coaches throughout the country, including my club, the Maryland Table Tennis Center, where I've been coaching since it opened in 1992. Elsewhere, visit the International Table Tennis Federation at www.ittf.com , and see their directory for other countries.

You might also want to visit my table tennis website and weekly blog, which goes up every morning, Mon-Fri, at T ableTennisCoaching.com . I started the blog in Jan., 2011. There youll also find a huge number of articles, videos, and just about anything else that has to do with table tennis. (And youll love the Fun & Games section!) You can also find info there on my other table tennis books:

• Table Tennis Tips (2014)
• More Table Tennis Tips (2017)
• Still More Table Tennis Tips (2020)
• Table Tennis Tales & Techniques (2009)
• The Spirit of Pong (2015) - fantasy table tennis novel
• Professional Table Tennis Coaches Handbook (2009, updated 2013)
• Table Tennis: Steps to Success (1993, revised 2006, 30,000+ copies sold)
• Instructors Guide to Table Tennis (1989)

I've adopted two conventions for this book. First, it is written as if the reader is right-handed. Lefties should reverse. My apologies, but this makes explaining things a lot easier. Second, I'm using "he" to describe players. I'm not going to write "he or she" and "him or her" a zillion times, nor s/he, or write everything in the plural so I can clumsily use "they" every time.

You are not expected to memorize this book, or to learn every tactical intricacy on its pages. There's something more important than that, and that is to get in the habit of thinking tactically and strategically. And so at the end of this book, in the Afterword, I will have one question for you: Did I make you think?

Glossary

Table tennis is full of colorful terms that some might not be familiar with. "Heavy no-spin"? "Half-long" and "Tweeny" serves? "Reverse Pendulum serves"? "Fishing"? "Banana" and "Strawberry" flips? Throughout this book, if you find a term you are not familiar with, go to the glossary at the back. Better still, why not browse it now, and familiarize yourself with any terms you might not know?

Editorial Board

I'd like to thank the following "Great Eight" coaches and players who reviewed, edited, proofed, and critiqued this book. Their insights and comments greatly added to the book as well as causing many long, sleepless nights as I pondered their notes.

• Scott Gordon , USATT Certified Coach and chair of the
  USATT Hardbat Committee
• Chris Grace
• Stephanie Hughes
• Dora Kurimay , Sports Psychologist
• Richard McAfee, USATT Coaching Chair, 2009-2013
• John Olsen , ITTF Certified Coach
• Dennis Taylor , former chair of USATT High Performance Committee
• Kevin Walton

And now it is time for you to enter into another dimension, a dimension not only of speed and spin, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of thought. It is a thing we call... table tennis tactics.

CHAPTER ONE

Tactical Thinking

Hopefully I'm giving good tactical advice to USA National Cadet Team Members Jonathan Ou and Tong Tong Gong at the Junior Team Competition at the 2011 USA Nationals. Photo by Bruce Liu

Tactics isn't about finding complex strategies to defeat an opponent. Tactics is about sifting through all the zillions of possible tactics and finding a few simple ones that work.

In simpler terms, the purpose of tactics is to mess up your opponent.

You do this by messing up his game, and by forcing your game on his. More specifically, tactics is finding ways to get your strengths into play while avoiding your opponent's, and going after the opponent's weaknesses while not letting him go after yours. It's figuring out how you win and lose points.

To do this, you have to know both your game and your opponent's. While you might go into a match not knowing much about your opponent (though ideally you would have scouted him out in advance), you should know all about your game. How well do you know your game?