Best forehand in the world ?

[Tony's Table Tennis]

No, he is not the best in lobbing. Xu Xin has more spiny and higher lobs than him.

Please go and check WTTC 2005 in Shanghai and see how he almost destroyed 3 Chinese players in a row and more importantly how he lob (ended) Hao Shuai's career.

Maze achieved so much more in lobbing through out his career, than any other player imo.

 

[Alborz]

Please go and check WTTC 2005 in Shanghai and see how he almost destroyed 3 Chinese players in a row and more importantly how he lob (ended) Hao Shuai's career.

Maze achieved so much more in lobbing through out his career, than any other player imo.

I have seen his match against Hao Shuai . He came back from being 3:0 and 10:7 down and won the match! But still his lobbing is not as good as Xu Xin's. His lobs were only high without spin but Xu Xin's forehand lobs is that high and spinier.
Maze achieved so much more in lobbing through out his career than any other player just because his other skills are not as good as his lobs. If he had Xu Xin's forehand then he doesn't need to lob that much.

 

[mahomedy13]

With regards to him achieving the most out of lobbing, I have to disagree.
He was a good lobber no doubt, but he was not the best ,and especially now he would not fare well against a top Chinese like Ma Long. his reaction is a bit delayed and he is very susceptible to a drop shot(because of his delayed/not very fast reaction/reflexes)

 

[Alborz]

Also Jun Mizutani is very good at lobbing. He even sometimes return the smashes of Chinese players that they didn't expect to come back.

 

[jedimasterplk]

In his prime, for speed, power, footwork and accuracy (and most importantly, the biggest title in TT to go with it) Ryu Seung Min

Hi, who do you think has the best forehand in the world?
For me, overall, it's Ma Long.
Far from the table would be Xu Xin.
Third ball, Ma long.
Counter close to the table, Xu Xin again.

What do you think?

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Also Jun Mizutani is very good at lobbing. He even sometimes return the smashes of Chinese players that they didn't expect to come back.

Yes, Jun is also a lobber
How can I forget.

I think I have all top lobbers autographs

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

In his prime, for speed, power, footwork and accuracy (and most importantly, the biggest title in TT to go with it) Ryu Seung Min

Yeah, I think it is fair to say, his 1 side was better than other players 2 sides, when he was on form.
Sadly, Jpen lifespam is so short (due to strain on footwork). Cpen isn't any longer too

 

[beeray1]

Ma Long's FH is not as good in terms of power as it looks to a lot of people. Zhang Jike, Fan Zhendong, Xu Xin, Wang Hao all have more firepower on that wing than Ma Long does in terms of pure shot quality. Ma Long is a speed player, and excels at using his opponents ball pace to fuel his own shots. His strength is variation and starting strong along with his speed. Clearly he still has good power on more general terms, but his shot quality is considered average by the CNT coaches. This is what I heard from commentary in WTTC trials for the CNT where they were comparing him to FZD and ZJK.

Xu Xin the way I see it has the best forehand right now overall. The touch and ability to play from anywhere in so many ways along with his power and speed off the table make it #1 for me. Nobody can play FH the way he can. He has the best 3rd ball, and he has the best counter-loop IMO as well because he can again do it from anywhere and has more options with it, as well as being more threatening. Him and Ma long always make for really entertaining rallies because they are both so good at counter-loop. However, I think Xu Xin is going to be the most negatively impacted by the ball change for these same reasons.

 

[MDanielCRO]

Ryu Seung-Min, his forehand was absolutely the best in all aspects for me

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Ma Long's FH is not as good in terms of power as it looks to a lot of people. Zhang Jike, Fan Zhendong, Xu Xin, Wang Hao all have more firepower on that wing than Ma Long does in terms of pure shot quality. Ma Long is a speed player, and excels at using his opponents ball pace to fuel his own shots. His strength is variation and starting strong along with his speed. Clearly he still has good power on more general terms, but his shot quality is considered average by the CNT coaches. This is what I heard from commentary in WTTC trials for the CNT where they were comparing him to FZD and ZJK.

Xu Xin the way I see it has the best forehand right now overall. The touch and ability to play from anywhere in so many ways along with his power and speed off the table make it #1 for me. Nobody can play FH the way he can. He has the best 3rd ball, and he has the best counter-loop IMO as well because he can again do it from anywhere and has more options with it, as well as being more threatening. Him and Ma long always make for really entertaining rallies because they are both so good at counter-loop. However, I think Xu Xin is going to be the most negatively impacted by the ball change for these same reasons.

I agree, and my thoughts too.

I think talking about FH, easy way is to see how they cope with choppers.
Ma Long did have problems before, so this shows you the strength of FH players.

 

[MDanielCRO]

I agree, and my thoughts too.

I think talking about FH, easy way is to see how they cope with choppers.
Ma Long did have problems before, so this shows you the strength of FH players.

It's not just about strength, it's more about tactics. You must have a lot of variations with you forehand when you play against chopper, and then comes the strength for kill shots.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

It's not just about strength, it's more about tactics. You must have a lot of variations with you forehand when you play against chopper, and then comes the strength for kill shots.

Yeah, and all that is part of your forehand.
Like you said, some people just say spin, some say speed, some say strength.
The one that can be called best forehand, need to have everything, not just one aspect of the game.
And equally importantly is results too.

IMO, these kind of threads are just for fun debate. Means nothing in TT as there is way too many little aspects to measure.
Its unlike tennis where the best service can be measured by say speed, or number of aces.

A good forehand player is nothing if he/she doesn't have good service, shot game, 3rd ball, backhand, tactics, power/strength, footwork etc.
A good forehand player can not just be a good forehand player against one style of play, needs to be against all different style of play

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

It's not just about strength, it's more about tactics. You must have a lot of variations with you forehand when you play against chopper, and then comes the strength for kill shots.

Oh, when I said strength of FH players, it doesn't refer to the power or strength of the forehand shot.
It refers to the level of the FH player.

 

[Alborz]

I agree, and my thoughts too.

I think talking about FH, easy way is to see how they cope with choppers.
Ma Long did have problems before, so this shows you the strength of FH players.

Ma Long's problems were because his tactics. He tries to power-loop every ball unlike Zhang Jike. Zhang Jike play mostly control loops and when the ball is high enough he end the point by a power loop.
Zhang Jike's backhand is much better than Ma Long so when chopers attacks surprisingly to his backhand he is able to return them unlike Ma long.
Also Zhang Jike sometimes play surprising backhand attacks that the chopers doesn't expect them. I heard it from the commentator at his match against Joo Sea Hyuk in 2011 WTTC.
Playing against a choper surely needs good forehand but it also needs good backhand or the choper will win many points by countering the loops to the backhand.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Ma Long's problems were because his tactics. He tries to power-loop every ball unlike Zhang Jike. Zhang Jike play mostly control loops and when the ball is high enough he end the point by a power loop.
Zhang Jike's backhand is much better than Ma Long so when chopers attacks surprisingly to his backhand he is able to return them unlike Ma long.
Also Zhang Jike sometimes play surprising backhand attacks that the chopers doesn't expect them. I heard it from the commentator at his match against Joo Sea Hyuk in 2011 WTTC.
Playing against a choper surely needs good forehand but it also needs good backhand or the choper will win many points by countering the loops to the backhand.

So thats what I'm saying, FH + Tactic is one thing. You can't have a good a FH and no tactics, and rated "best FH in the world".
Also, you don't need a strong backhand to win against choppers. I never see RSM using his backhand against JSH
Its called pivoting

 

[countrybread]

I think Ma Long has the best forehand swing of any player I've ever seen. Textbook form, really. But the kinds of shots that Xu Xin can make with his forehand are astounding. Probably the most fun player to watch.

 

[Alborz]

So thats what I'm saying, FH + Tactic is one thing. You can't have a good a FH and no tactics, and rated "best FH in the world".
Also, you don't need a strong backhand to win against choppers. I never see RSM using his backhand against JSH
Its called pivoting

RSM had the best footwork ever. No one today, except of Xu Xin, has that footwork.

Anyway, You don't need to have a strong backhand to beat choppers. But your backhand must not be pretty weak comparing to your forehand unless you have the footwork of Xu Xin or RSM. Ma Long has this problem. When a chopper counter his loops back to his backhand he usually can't block them a loss the point. But when a chopper counter Zhang Jike's loops back, ZJK is able to block them quickly with his backhand an continue the point. This is why he always beat JSH 4:0.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

RSM had the best footwork ever. No one today, except of Xu Xin, has that footwork.

Anyway, You don't need to have a strong backhand to beat choppers. But your backhand must not be pretty weak comparing to your forehand unless you have the footwork of Xu Xin or RSM. Ma Long has this problem. When a chopper counter his loops back to his backhand he usually can't block them a loss the point. But when a chopper counter Zhang Jike's loops back, ZJK is able to block them quickly with his backhand an continue the point. This is why he always beat JSH 4:0.

I assume the "always beat JSH 4:0" is another one of your wild guess lol

ZJK won 6 vs JSH 2 from ITTF data
Set scores is 25 vs 12 combined.
So your 0 needs to be changed a bit lol

RSM footwork is not the best, I think you are missing out the 2 Koreans before RSM.

 

[Alborz]

I assume the "always beat JSH 4:0" is another one of your wild guess lol

ZJK won 6 vs JSH 2 from ITTF data
Set scores is 25 vs 12 combined.
So your 0 needs to be changed a bit lol

RSM footwork is not the best, I think you are missing out the 2 Koreans before RSM.

I didn't mean he always win 4:0 just saying he is playing great against defenders.

Also Ma Long won 45 games vs JSH 27. So JSH has more chance against him than Zhang Jike.

Maybe RSM footwork is not the best but it isn't important. His footwork is still far better than Ma Long. That is why he never play BH against JSH but Ma Long plays.

 

[matzreenzi]

RSM had the best footwork ever. No one today, except of Xu Xin, has that footwork.

Anyway, You don't need to have a strong backhand to beat choppers. But your backhand must not be pretty weak comparing to your forehand unless you have the footwork of Xu Xin or RSM. Ma Long has this problem. When a chopper counter his loops back to his backhand he usually can't block them a loss the point. But when a chopper counter Zhang Jike's loops back, ZJK is able to block them quickly with his backhand an continue the point. This is why he always beat JSH 4:0.

This show you how your argument is VERY VALID...LOL