"Euro" vs "Chinese" Play Style

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Hey guys

As you can read in the title I want to discuss the two main play styles in table tennis.

The chinese play style: with the big forhand swing and the mainly short backhand action. Lot's of short balls in the beginning and big third/fifth-ball attack. Also with more emphasis on the backhand flick to start the huge forhand exchanges.

And the european play style: with the quicker and shorter forhand movement and with an also short backhand action but with lots of wrist. More long pushes and slightly faster ball exchanges.


I generalized a little bit so that you understand what I mean. And the backhand can vary a lot as well between chinese players and european players.


The results speak for themselfs and show clearly that the supperior players are the players who play the "chinese" play style. Why? This is something I am not sure of.

The chinese players and coaches have a huge training effort. But for me the gap between the strength of the chinese vs the rest of the world is too big to justify putting all their advantage in their training because everyone of the pros train very hard.


Is it because the "chinese" play style has an advantage over the "euro" style?

Reasons for an advantage of the "chinese" play style:
The forhand stroke is stronger compared to the european forhand. It has so much energy in it which makes it very hard to handle. I think this is because you can generate more spin and speed with the chinese technique and the tackier chinese rubbers compared to the european play style with tensors. And supperior foot work allows to play all those huge forhands. And it seems that the "chinese" forhand is even more reliable than the euro "forhand".

Also the tacky chinese rubbers allow for a slower and more controlled short game which is also an advantage.

And I don't see any major disadvantages of the standard "chinese" backhand vs the "euro" backhand. It may even be that the "chinese" backhand is easier to play because it has not as much wrist action in it compared to the "euro" backhand. And that makes it more reliable.


So why do so few people try to play a more "chinese" way with more emphasis on big forhand swings and crazy footwork?

Is it because it is more difficult to learn than the "euro" way? And I think one big reason why so few players outside asia play the "chinese" way is because of the equipment and the coaches. Isn't it like that that most young people getting into TT get rubber recomendations which suit the "euro" playstyle more because the coaches and the majority of the players play the "euro" style?

Or am I totaly wrong and the "chinese" style has no significant advantages that would make it favoured over the "euro" style?


What do you guys think?



Sorry for the long post ;)
 
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better footwork is the main reason for the difference in style. all pro players train hard but chinese culture allows for pushing kids to train harder from a younger age, with a more strict training regime and a fierce selection process.

the big forehand is an obvious way to go when you have better footwork.
 
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better footwork is the main reason for the difference in style. all pro players train hard but chinese culture allows for pushing kids to train harder from a younger age, with a more strict training regime and a fierce selection process.

the big forehand is an obvious way to go when you have better footwork.

I think it is the number of kids and the amount of training that people like to gloss over. Even players in Europe trained to play in the Chinese way don't get as good as fast.
 
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with fewer hours of training kids in europe probably benefit more from a more "european" style of coaching, with more emphasis on spin than speed and equal focus on both wings.

it wouldn't make sense to train someone in "the chinese way" if they can't put in the same volume of practice as the chinese.
 
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to expand a bit more, the chinese style is simply an answer to the question: how do you coach someone when you have 2 training sessions a day every day from a very young age with them, you know they won't quit (they might but there are a lot more just like them) and their parents won't complain if you are being too hard on them?

in europe coaches are hard pressed to teach kids advanced techniques before the fundamentals are solid enough in order to acquire results early on and keep both the kids and the parents interested.
 
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Well, for me it is not that obvious that a forehand-dominated style is more effective than a more balanced two-wing one, or even backhand-oriented. After all, ZJK is still the reigning Olympic champion :)

Funny you say FH dominant style is more effective and then mentioning ZJK because ZJK probably has one of the most stable and consistent backhand in the world
 
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I hear that kids in chinese ping pong schools sacrifice their education for this sport.

Does anyone know if the europeans do the same?

if not, then the reason for chinese dominance might not be style, but due to the fact that many chinese kids spend more time at the table.

for these kids, ping pong has to be with them for the rest of their lives since they don't have normal schooling.
As a student myself, if the only education I got was ping pong education, then I'd better work my butt off and become really good in the ping pong field and get a good ping pong job.

Imagine the all the hours you spent in school learning about math, science, history, language, and literature, and replace that with ping pong. I feel that this REPLACEMENT is the cause of dominance.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

if the reason is style, then it would be because the forehand shot usually has more potential to make higher quality shots since forehand shots tend to be much stronger. After all, people like Zhang Jike and Ovtcharov don't make bad forehand shots.
 
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It is certainly possible that the Chinese approach to stroke production is in some ways "better".

But how do you weigh in contribution of other factors?

Is it possible that if you took a talented young 12 year old European player and subjected him to the same intensity of training regimen and the same constant high level competition and practice partners that every player in the CNT has been subjected to since young childhood, you might still end up with someone in the top four in the world -- even if that player had more European approaches to stroke production? I for one think it's possible. For cultural reasons, I don't think it's possible to train kids in Europe the same way CNT kids are trained (they essentially don't go to school).

I think it is hard to separate out all the factors, but the ones I just mentioned are really important. Numbers. Infrastructure.
 
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I hear that kids in chinese ping pong schools sacrifice their education for this sport. Does anyone know if the europeans do the same?

nope, most don't. gionis panagiotis is actually a qualified dentist, that should tell you something about the whole thing. :D
 
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Well I think that the domination of the chinese players are because of this millitary-ish training since they were young.

But still, what if someone from outside of china trys to play the "chinese" way? I am sure some people in this forum at least have to know people who do it or are one of those rare "chinese" play style players. I have seen a few that have chinese equipment which also means "chinese" play style.

So there are people who play the "chinese" style and don't train like the chinese into oblivion from young age. How do they play? and do they feel that the have a little advantage or disadvantage if they play against "euro" players? Or what is with the people with "euro" style who play against "chinese" style players? How do they feel?
 
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I also think that it depends on your coach and your environment. When I was 8, my first coach taught me and about 30 other students the "Chinese" style with the help of her aids. I only trained 2 hours a week and was for fun only but having an environment where everyone was doing Chinese style strokes made things very conducive to learn that style. I dont think there is much difference if a Chinese style player plays against a Euro style player. As long as you do your best, it is fine. I dont even consider looking into my opponents stlye during matchplay. I wont change my game play if Im playing against Euro or Chinese. Even now when I coach new players in my club on how to play, I subconciously teach them the Chinese style because that was how i was taught. (FYI, Im in UK right now so my new "students" are European learning Chinese stlye and they dont seem to mind)
 
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The question is too simplistic, there are many other factors at play in terms of answering why the Chinese are dominant. Xu Xin, Ma Long and Zhang Jike are all Chinese but have very different approaches and styles. One thing I would agree with, and this is a generalisation, Chinese players tend to have great footwork, excellent conditioning and great stamina in matches.
 
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It does not matter what style you play but the how much quality you put in your training and practice. the Chinese are very hardworking dedicated and have perfected their style. The Chinese player all train togather improving all the time , are well supported by their table tennis association. All the top players have individual coaching , practice partners to excel in their style.so they are always on top of game.

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But still a perfect "chinese" forhand is stronger than a perfect "euro" forhand. The energy that you can develop with the swing of your full arm and bend your straight arm to angled arm combined with body twist is bigger than the energy in the "euro" forhand with the swing of an already angled arm with less upper body movement.
And the you can shorten the "chinese" movement to only the bending of your straight arm to an angled arm which still allows you to play emergency shots which have more power than the push blocks of the "euro" player because they can't shorten their strokes so easily.

For me the "chinese" motion has much more potential power than the "euro" motion on the forhand. Now generalized speaking the chinese players outclass their oponents with their footwork which allows them to play those strong forhands. Yes the "euro" style players still make points and not all points of the "chinese" players are forhand winners. But the big gap of strength between chinese players and the rest is shown most clearly in their forhand play (yes, combined with footwork, but still).
 
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But still a perfect "chinese" forhand is stronger than a perfect "euro" forhand. The energy that you can develop with the swing of your full arm and bend your straight arm to angled arm combined with body twist is bigger than the energy in the "euro" forhand with the swing of an already angled arm with less upper body movement.
And the you can shorten the "chinese" movement to only the bending of your straight arm to an angled arm which still allows you to play emergency shots which have more power than the push blocks of the "euro" player because they can't shorten their strokes so easily.

For me the "chinese" motion has much more potential power than the "euro" motion on the forhand. Now generalized speaking the chinese players outclass their oponents with their footwork which allows them to play those strong forhands. Yes the "euro" style players still make points and not all points of the "chinese" players are forhand winners. But the big gap of strength between chinese players and the rest is shown most clearly in their forhand play (yes, combined with footwork, but still).

That's good if it works for you, but you need to be young and athletic and have perfect footwork to go with it. Otherwise you will find yourself off balance a lot for the next shot. It is not a style that IMHO lends itself to amateur play.
 
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