Newgy’s Blog

There is one shot in table tennis that will really hurt you. But before I tell you what the shot is, I’ll first make a couple of observations about your body positioning.

If you attack with your forehand from your forehand side, it doesn’t really matter where you attack. You should mix up your placement – wide forehand, wide backhand, and middle transition. Because your body is centrally located in relation to the ping pong table, you will likely be able to recover quickly for the next ball.

If you attack with your backhand from your backhand side, it doesn’t really matter where you attack. You should mix up your placement – wide forehand, wide backhand, and middle transition. Because your body is centrally located in relation to the table, you will likely be able to recover quickly for the next ball.

However, if you step around the backhand side and use your forehand, your placement is absolutely critical. Most Ohio club table tennis players step around the backhand side and use their forehands to go down-the-line to the opponent’s forehand. If the opponent doesn’t touch the ball, this works. However, if the opponent does return the ball, it is very difficult to cover the wide forehand. When you step around the backhand side to use your forehand, I recommend that you hit a winner. Go for it! If you want to hit a weaker ball, then stay with your backhand. And when you do use your forehand from that position, make sure that you are very, very tricky on your placement. If not, your opponent is sure to catch you on the wide forehand.

Samson Dubina

Congratulations to all the winners and everyone that competed in the 2014 Tennessee Senior Table Tennis Olympics this week in Franklin, Tennessee. A special congrats to Newgy’s own Mr. Newgarden and Larry Thoman for bringing home the gold in their age groups!

Men’s Singles, 50-54

First Place – Donny Flowers

Second Place – Slawomir Waclawik

Third Place – Jonathan Foulds

Men’s Singles, 55-59

First Place – Larry Thoman

Second Place – Dennis Rountree

Third Place – Richard Bartelt

Men’s Singles, 60-64

First Place – Phil Yan

Second Place – Charles Collins

Third Place – Kenneth Simcox

Men’s Singles, 70-74

First Place – David Cass

Second Place – Everett Hunley

Third Place – Charles Kolitz

Men’s Singles, 75-79

First Place – John Edd Walker

Second Place – Paul Barnhart

Third Place – Jack Daves

Men’s Singles, 80-84

First Place – Dwain Kitchel

Second Place – Billy Neely

Third Place – Joe Camp

Men’s Singles, 85-90

First Place – Joe Newgarden, Jr.

Second Place – Sam Gennoe

Third Place – Robert Carpenter

Men’s Singles, 90-94

First Place – George Durr

Second Place – Ray Lundell

Women’s Singles, 50/80/85

First Place – Yiqing (Linda) Liu

Second Place – Sheila Arwine

First Place – Maureen Meeks

Women’s Singles, 55-59

First Place – Liliana Kohann

Second Place – Lyn Nunley

Women’s Singles, 60-64

First Place – Carol Sherman

Second Place – Phyllis Finnell

Women’s Singles, 65-69

First Place – Linda Cass

Second Place – Suzanne Glendenning

Third Place – Anne Paine

Women’s Singles, 70-74

First Place – Alice Tym

Second Place – Sondra Tornga

Third Place – Donna Beeler

Women’s Singles, 75-79

First Place – Ruth Gove

Second Place – Joyce Manis

Third Place – Mary Walker

Women’s Doubles, 50-54/55-59

First Place – Liliana Kohann and Yiqing (Linda) Liu

Second Place – Lyn Nunley and Sheila Arwine

Women’s Doubles, 65-69

First Place – Suzanne Glendenning and Linda Cass

Second Place – Anne Paine and Barbara Nelson

Women’s Doubles, 70-74/75-79

First Place – Alice Tym and Ruth Gove

Second Place – Sondra Tornga and Joyce Manis

Men’s Doubles, 50-54

First Place – Larry Thoman and Slawomir Waclawik

Second Place – Jonathan Foulds and Archie Jordan

Third Place – Donny Flowers and Carl Lewis

Men’s Double, 55-59

First Place – Dennis Rountree and Richard Bartelt

Second Place – Donald Rohrer and Ronald Riede

Third Place – Michael Nunley and Tommy Gates

Mens Doubles, 60-64/75-79

First Place – Charles Collins and David Cass

Second Place – Sam Gennoe and Jack Daves

Third Place – John Edd Walker and Charles Trail

Men’s Doubles, 65-69

First Place – Jim Campbell and Sanders

Second Place – Paul Barnhart and Ron Sullivan

Third Place – Mike Pethel and Phillip Kropp

Often times, table tennis players will mistakenly associate ratings with skills. Just because your table tennis opponent has a certain rating doesn’t necessarily mean that your opponent possesses a certain level of particular skills.

For example…

I asked my 1800-rated table tennis student why he wasn’t attacking his (2100-rated) opponent’s half-long serve. My student responded by saying that because his opponent was rated 2100, he assumed that all his serves were short.

I asked my 1200-rated student why he kept hitting to his (600-rated) opponent’s backhand. My student responded by saying that his assumed that all low-rated table tennis players have weak backhands.

I asked my 1700-rated student why he kept trying to smash every ball against his (2300-rated) opponent. My student responded by saying that he assumed that he probably couldn’t return any balls anyway and decided just to go for high-risk shots in the table tennis match.

These hypothetical situations demonstrate that you can’t assume a certain set of skills is used by certain player levels in table tennis. You must approach each opponent individually instead of categorizing players by rating.

Samson Dubina

I have a little homework assignment for you. Stand two feet away from a 5-gallon bucket and toss a penny into the bucket. Easy, right? Now stand two feet away from a gallon of milk (with the lid off) and toss a penny into the milk container. This requires more aiming and more focus, right?

The same is true in regards to your table tennis game. The amount of concentration that most table tennis players use is directly related to the task at hand. A very spinny push to your middle might require some fancy footwork and some good concentration to successfully loop. A sidespin counter loop wide to your forehand might require perfect timing and good concentration to counter loop back around the net. Everyone puts good concentration on these difficult shots. HOWEVER, many players lose focus on “easy balls” like a short high-ball that could easily be smashed for a winner. As soon as they lose 5% of their focus then these players usually don’t move well, become sloppy, lose their spin, miss the “easy ball”, and then become frustrated. Approach these “easy balls” as being difficult balls. Approach these balls with 100% concentration.

The same mental flaw is true in regards to playing lower level table tennis opponents. The amount of concentration that most players use is directly related to the task at hand. Even when playing lower-rated opponents, bring out your best game with 100% focus and you will have no regrets in your table tennis matches.

Samson Dubina