Author : Larry Hodges
Comments : The Amazon website was a little vague as to who was the author of this book and having acquired a copy, I can see why. It is because the author’s name does not appear on front or rear covers, nor in the frontispiece. Neither does the date of publication appear anywhere. However by scouring the pages it is a simple enough matter to deduce that the author is Larry Hodges. The content of the book is helpful, thorough and interesting. Photographs are plentiful and useful, but perhaps a more modern cover photo could have been used, rather than the Gatien one of 25 years ago. I would have preferred the pages to have been numbered and although the ‘Table of Contents’ list shows a section ‘About the Author’, mine is missing. I enjoyed the book, but the lack of some of the finishing detail was a disappointment.
Author : William Rees
Comments : A very entertaining tale of the Authors’ belated return to the game he so enjoyed many years ago. However this time the author lives and plays in the South of France. A most amusing book describing the trials, tribulations, struggles, and limited successes of his game. What a shame the book only ran to 71 pages! I greatly enjoyed it. I hope there is more to come.
Author : Charles Cranel
Comments : The laminated cover photo has been used at least 3 times by 3 different authors. The author of this one suggests the rules of International competition say the ball ‘should be a high bouncing hollw celluloid ball’ ??? I would advocate that anyone buying a book on ‘How To Play’ should choose a book by a suitably qualified player or coach. I would certainly not recommend this book to any pupil of mine..
Author : Graham Frankel
Comments : Graham Frankel, who did a good job on his ‘Ping’ of 2020, reaches out with his first fictional account of a young lady he has called Kate Beavis. The book describes Kate’s development and the family issues and also the growth of the fictional Shawton TTC. I agree with the front cover description of ‘an inspiring Table Tennis Story’.The intriguing story is well written and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book does som e futuristic estimates of how our game will progress into standardisation of racquets, no coaching between games, professional players, amongst others. I wonder?? I remember the sadly missed Maurice Goldstein telling me in about 1980 ‘We should never have allowed the bloody sponge in the first place’. Things don’t always change for the better.
Author : Jack Wilson
Comments : A simple guide for beginners. Nothing really wrong with the book, but there are better beginner books at similar prices. No photos or even sketches.
Author : Danny Seemiller
Comments : The 5times US Champion sets out the Scrapbook of his exciting career. Lots of action photographs, lots of interesting stories, homilies and tales of his travels and tribulations in his global adventures. A worthy addition to my collection.
Author : Ram Krishan Saran
Comments :A short book on the basic principles of the game. No action or demonstration photographs, but there are a few sketches of posture and positions etc. Well, the title says it’s basic. What do you expect?
Author : Kevin Finn
Comments : The book is all about the cutting edge of Sports Science curated specifically for Table Tennis. When you have 469 pages at your disposal and not a mention of how to play, then you must expect this book to go behind the scenes and teach you about technical skills, tactical skills, psychological skills, emotional skills, readiness, sports nutrition, and physical skills. I will comment further when I have finished reading this monumental work. I may be some time.
Author : Larry Hodges
Comments : Tips from the last 3 years of Larry Hodges Web Site up to May 2020
Author : Des Flanagan
Comments : Amusing book from Northern Ireland. I didn’t learn much about Table Tennis from this book, but my knowledge of the local disputes and politics is significantly better. Des seems to have achieved his goal of playing international TT (at the over 50 level at least) only to have been foiled by the outbreak of the Coronavirus.