How I got started in table tennis

How I Got Started in Table Tennis
or How Marty Reisman Ruined My Life
By Larry Hodges

Back in 1976 (age 16), I was on my high school track team as a miler. I went to the library to get a book on “Track & Field.” I happened to look to my left ... and there was a book on table tennis, “The Money Player,” by Marty Reisman! I had been playing “basement” ping-pong at a neighbor’s house, and spur-of-the-moment checked the book out. From it, I found out about USATT (then called USTTA). I contacted them, found a local club, and went there. I got killed, but I stuck with it, and a few years later became the best at the club. I later became a professional table tennis coach and writer, and from 1985 on, I’ve been full-time table tennis almost continuously in various capacities. In 1991, I was hired as editor of USATT’s national magazine. About a year later, at a tournament in New York, I met Marty for the first time (although I had probably seen him before), and told him this story. His response? “Great ... another life I’ve ruined!”