Table Tennis books and films - my list and your recommendations

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Hi everyone,

I have spent quite a while to find interesting books and films about table tennis.
And I have made a list on my website: https://pingpongjourney.wordpress.com

Do you have any good suggestions that I'm missing out on? Or any comments on the current selection?
As you can see the range is quite big going from training tips to philosophy.

Here's the list in text:

Books I have read:
Expert in a year - The ultimate table tennis challenge
Breaking 2000
Bounce
Everything you know is pong
Ping pong diplomacy
The metaphysics of ping-pong
The spirit of pong
Get your game face on like the pros!

Books on my reading list:
100 days of table tennis
Ping pong for fighters
Sizzling chops & devilish spins
I can't accept not trying (more a general sports book, but former Danish olympian Mie Skov has read it over and over)
Ping pong fever
The mighty Walzer
The next step
OGI - The life of Ogimura
Table tennis tactics for thinkers

Films:
Top Spin
Ping Pong
Balls of Fury
 
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Holly shet, you really are into it, aren’t you?
Nice to see that. Also, I like that you skipped that month long “need help with a new bat” thread.

Regarding the thread:
Table tennis tactics for thinkers is really helping with my thinking of the game. Nothing mind blowing, but it really helps reminding some stuff you should be paying attention to.
 
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+1 Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers

I've found this two tennis related books very helpful;

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance by Timothy Gallwey
Winning Ugly by Brad Gilbert


As for movies, there is only one table tennis classic;
Forrest Gump by Robert Zemeckis :) :) :)
 
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Holly shet, you really are into it, aren’t you?
Nice to see that. Also, I like that you skipped that month long “need help with a new bat” thread.

Regarding the thread:
Table tennis tactics for thinkers is really helping with my thinking of the game. Nothing mind blowing, but it really helps reminding some stuff you should be paying attention to.

Hah, yeah, it definitely caught my interest. I tried just reading about bats and talking with people at the club about it. Quite happy with my new BTY Grubba.


Maybe I should start reading Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers in the weekend. It's already on my Kindle and ready to go.
 
This user has no status.
Hi everyone,

I have spent quite a while to find interesting books and films about table tennis.
And I have made a list on my website: https://pingpongjourney.wordpress.com

Do you have any good suggestions that I'm missing out on? Or any comments on the current selection?
As you can see the range is quite big going from training tips to philosophy.

Here's the list in text:

Books I have read:
Expert in a year - The ultimate table tennis challenge
Breaking 2000
Bounce
Everything you know is pong
Ping pong diplomacy
The metaphysics of ping-pong
The spirit of pong
Get your game face on like the pros!

Books on my reading list:
100 days of table tennis
Ping pong for fighters
Sizzling chops & devilish spins
I can't accept not trying (more a general sports book, but former Danish olympian Mie Skov has read it over and over)
Ping pong fever
The mighty Walzer
The next step
OGI - The life of Ogimura
Table tennis tactics for thinkers

Films:
Top Spin
Ping Pong
Balls of Fury
I've read 100 Days of Table Tennis and I think its a good book to remind you how to play your strokes and how to effectively play against different types of players. It also gives you tips to keep your equipment in good conditon
 
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I've read 100 Days of Table Tennis and I think its a good book to remind you how to play your strokes and how to effectively play against different types of players. It also gives you tips to keep your equipment in good conditon

Thanks! I'm reading the sample of the book at the moment and I wonder ... did you do the exercises every day? Or was it more "just" reading?
 
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AS a TT historian, primarily, I'm not interested in the coaching manual type of TT book - I like the historical and anecdotal.

These are the best, IMHO

ITTF 1926-2001 TT Legends (Zdenko Uzorinac) (Massive book about all the greats in TT history)
More than a match - Chester Barnes (very entertaining autobiog. of the 60s English star)
The Money Player - Marty Reisman
Sizzling chops and devilish spins - Jerome Charyn
Twenty-One Up - Richard Bergmann
Ogi - Mitsuru Jojima
When the feeling decides - Jens Fellke (Waldner biog)
The Mighty Walzer - Howard Jacobson (novel about TT)
Surbek - Stjepan Kljuic
History of US TT - Tim Boggan (lots of volumes, and by no means only about US TT)
Jens Fellke - TT - Point of no return (subjects - speed glue/Jorgen Persson/TT manufacturers)
Nicolas Griffin - Ping-Pong Diplomacy (valuable insight into the Chinese tradition)
Matthew Syed - Bounce
Zdenko Uzorinac - From Sarajevo to Novi Sad (ie the World Championships 1973 to 1981 - in English and Croatian)
(Uzorinac wrote lots of great books about TT, but mostly in Croatian)
Ron Crayden - The story of TT, the first 100 years (succinct history to 1994)


(and look out for MY book in 2026, a History of 100 years of the World Championships)
:cool:

Films - My Top 3
Ping Pong (the Japanese movie)
Bragden (Swedish docu. about the 1989 World Champs)
As One (dramatised film about the United Korea team at the '91 Worlds)






 
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This user has no status.
AS a TT historian, primarily, I'm not interested in the coaching manual type of TT book - I like the historical and anecdotal.

These are the best, IMHO

ITTF 1926-2001 TT Legends (Zdenko Uzorinac) (Massive book about all the greats in TT history)
More than a match - Chester Barnes (very entertaining autobiog. of the 60s English star)
The Money Player - Marty Reisman
Sizzling chops and devilish spins - Jerome Charyn
Twenty-One Up - Richard Bergmann
Ogi - Mitsuru Jojima
When the feeling decides - Jens Fellke (Waldner biog)
The Mighty Walzer - Howard Jacobson (novel about TT)
Surbek - Stjepan Kljuic
History of US TT - Tim Boggan (lots of volumes, and by no means only about US TT)
Jens Fellke - TT - Point of no return (subjects - speed glue/Jorgen Persson/TT manufacturers)
Nicolas Griffin - Ping-Pong Diplomacy (valuable insight into the Chinese tradition)
Matthew Syed - Bounce
Zdenko Uzorinac - From Sarajevo to Novi Sad (ie the World Championships 1973 to 1981 - in English and Croatian)
(Uzorinac wrote lots of great books about TT, but mostly in Croatian)
Ron Crayden - The story of TT, the first 100 years (succinct history to 1994)


(and look out for MY book in 2026, a History of 100 years of the World Championships)
:cool:

Films - My Top 3
Ping Pong (the Japanese movie)
Bragden (Swedish docu. about the 1989 World Champs)
As One (dramatised film about the United Korea team at the '91 Worlds)







Wauw, so many great ones that I haven't seen before. Thanks a lot! I guess you, as a TT historian, are looking forward to next year and the 50 years anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy?
 
This user has no status.
AS a TT historian, primarily, I'm not interested in the coaching manual type of TT book - I like the historical and anecdotal.

These are the best, IMHO

ITTF 1926-2001 TT Legends (Zdenko Uzorinac) (Massive book about all the greats in TT history)
More than a match - Chester Barnes (very entertaining autobiog. of the 60s English star)
The Money Player - Marty Reisman
Sizzling chops and devilish spins - Jerome Charyn
Twenty-One Up - Richard Bergmann
Ogi - Mitsuru Jojima
When the feeling decides - Jens Fellke (Waldner biog)
The Mighty Walzer - Howard Jacobson (novel about TT)
Surbek - Stjepan Kljuic
History of US TT - Tim Boggan (lots of volumes, and by no means only about US TT)
Jens Fellke - TT - Point of no return (subjects - speed glue/Jorgen Persson/TT manufacturers)
Nicolas Griffin - Ping-Pong Diplomacy (valuable insight into the Chinese tradition)
Matthew Syed - Bounce
Zdenko Uzorinac - From Sarajevo to Novi Sad (ie the World Championships 1973 to 1981 - in English and Croatian)
(Uzorinac wrote lots of great books about TT, but mostly in Croatian)
Ron Crayden - The story of TT, the first 100 years (succinct history to 1994)


(and look out for MY book in 2026, a History of 100 years of the World Championships)
:cool:

Films - My Top 3
Ping Pong (the Japanese movie)
Bragden (Swedish docu. about the 1989 World Champs)
As One (dramatised film about the United Korea team at the '91 Worlds)






I have most of the books mentioned above either in my own or dads house. Are you genuinely writing a history of the World Champs? There really aren't enough books about TT out there and i really cannot believe there is no english language magazine out there!
 
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Hi killiegradge, I think we've chatted before or you bought some TT stuff from me on eBay?
Anyhow, YES, I am genuinely writing a book about the History of the World Championships; I've been working on it for several years, in part amassing many statistics that are difficult to find anywhere. It was originally going to be a website but I'd like a bit of remuneration for my efforts rather than it all being copied and uncredited, so it'll probably be a self-published book. The hardest part is trying to find something new and interesting to write about the endless domination of China over the last 20 years...
 
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Hi killiegradge, I think we've chatted before or you bought some TT stuff from me on eBay?
Anyhow, YES, I am genuinely writing a book about the History of the World Championships; I've been working on it for several years, in part amassing many statistics that are difficult to find anywhere. It was originally going to be a website but I'd like a bit of remuneration for my efforts rather than it all being copied and uncredited, so it'll probably be a self-published book. The hardest part is trying to find something new and interesting to write about the endless domination of China over the last 20 years...
Yeah perhaps you could try a crowd funder to at least pay for the publication and get some recognition. It's not easy researching a book.I'm doing the same for the History of my own local club. Having said that I'm enjoying researching it though it takes lots of time.
Maybe I'll send you through my draft copy for you to look at? I think I've still got your email address?
 
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talking about films: not exactly a table tennis movie, but how cool is that?

themasterspin-1581636524232.jpg

"I played ping -pong so much, I even played it in my sleep"
 
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Look up ryu sung min coaching on youtube and Its is very beneficial if you play table tennis by "feeling"
 
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