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That one serve by freitas was crazy, totally looked like a normal reverse pendulum serve but was hit with topspin. That is impossible to recognize for a non pro player. Could only see that in slow motion or after it jumped up off Dan's bat.

Yeah talent and skill definitely comes first, mental stuff (and fitness) comes in play when skill level is very close. I do think the number of talented players they have in china helps with mental toughness because they can afford to pressure the kids hard and weed out mentally week and still...

I Think the bundesliga shows pretty good how far behind non Asian countries are. Shang Kun is a washed up chinese who had a career high rank of 45 and is now maybe the 10th or 12th best chinese player and he plays the same level as boll, calderano, gauzy and other top non chinese and regularly...

Maybe it is different for penhold players like him?

Wikipedia says he is a nephew of Tibor Klampar.

Great interview, timo is such a friendly guy.crazy that he played in the bundesliga at age 14. Here is him beating former world number 6 Chen zhibin at age 16 (chen was in his mid 30s and past his prime but still one of the better bundesliga players at that time https://youtu.be/JAtIlspPelg I...

I think it is both. Chinese people aren't more athletic, but apart from more and better training they also get more talented athletes. This is because in Europe the most talented athletes tend to play soccer and maybe secondarily handball or tennis and not table tennis. Now for example table...

I think it might be partially technique but training 5-7 hours a day with great coaches probably helps too. They train so much that they can hit every ball with full power without making mistakes.

I think the long arm topspin forehand many Chinese do can generate more power but it also takes a bit more time, energy and space. Chinese players can do that as they are more athletic, have better footwork and reactions and generally train a lot more. I think for recreational players the "arm...

He just is very explosive and thus can generate a lot of power with a short swing. His BH swing is rather short but still powerful while on the forehand he can take big swings but also hit hard with a shorter swing. That is because he has explosive power. Generally a longer swing generates...

I should be clarified weak European era because this is the strongest chinese era of all time. Euro titles are easier but world titles almost impossible for non chinese.

Kind of old interview but probably still applicable. The take that Europeans train not enough and play too many matches is interesting. The European players need to play both in a team league and tournaments to make a decent living and that means lots of travel and limited time for practice...

Mengel has strange technique, almost Looks a bit like a tennis player.

Does it make sense to debate the team now? Olympics will be at earliest in about 15 months and form can change a lot until then.

It makes sense that a block is somewhat similar to a flat drive, just shorter. Btw would you call the BH at 2:26 and the forehand at 2:31 by timo in this video as flat counter hit or is it more a block? https://youtu.be/rYO5qIK-o-8

If you watch pros they will always start with diagonal flat drive rallies. Isn't a flat drive basically extinct at the pro level and more like a beginner level stroke? Pros never hit a flat drive/counter hit and usually hit a loop or loop-drive, right? Couldn't they just start with loop...

I read the Chinese made extreme efforts to beat timo when he came up like training non top prospects to play like timo and work as a sparring partner to figure him out. That is a big advantage the Chinese have, they usually hide their top prospects until they are 17-18 (with a few exceptions)...

That is very stupid by ITTF. American leagues like MLB also used to be very strict with content but now they mostly allow snippets as long it is not monetized because they found out this only helps promoting the league. Of course there are limits to this, you can't upload whole games but...

I would agree with that. He is obviously no Ma long or waldner but still was very good for two decades and I agree he is one of the friendliest athletes I know. Here is a video of him playing a rec player with a frying pan in a German show. He lost but was smiling all the time and having fun...

Which Players were really good (i.e. medailists at worlds or olympics) with Pips since 1990 except LGL? I think at lower levels banning certain pips made a difference but at the world level inverted was dominating anyway.