Ma Lin's Touch Shot

Extremely soft hands and the angle that he come in at using his penhold grip allowed ma lin to pull of the shot like that

Olecool said:

I think the fact that the ball touches the net plays a big factor..

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I concur! And we can see that the ball is being sent to Ma Lin with heavvvvvy underspin. Not to take anything away from Ma Lin, I think if any one of us pushed it back close to the net we would see the same behavior. ~Tilden

I concur! And we can see that the ball is being sent to Ma Lin with heavvvvvy underspin. Not to take anything away from Ma Lin, I think if any one of us pushed it back close to the net we would see the same behavior. ~Tilden

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Actually buddy, I've seen Ma Lin doing it against top spins a few times. On one occasion, the ball was returned to him from his initial smash far from the table, and Ma just stabbed chop the ball dead, and it trickled back into the net. And that was against a topspin...The man can do it without the net caught..
I can't remember whom he was playing against, but I surely can remember that evening going back into my club trying to do what Ma Lin just did. and failed miserably.

I concur! And we can see that the ball is being sent to Ma Lin with heavvvvvy underspin. Not to take anything away from Ma Lin, I think if any one of us pushed it back close to the net we would see the same behavior. ~Tilden

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Actually buddy, I've seen Ma Lin doing it against top spins a few times. On one occasion, the ball was returned to him from his initial smash far from the table, and Ma just stabbed chop the ball dead, and it trickled back into the net. And that was against a topspin...The man can do it without the net caught..
I can't remember whom he was playing against, but I surely can remember that evening going back into my club trying to do what Ma Lin just did. and failed miserably.

great shot!! thanks for the explanation azlan

Simply amazing!

True I think he can do what he wants

Look when he was against me at 4.51..! He drop shot the ball and I remember looking at it and it was spinning insanely!

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I remember watching the video the 1st time, your "what the...." expression was just priceless mate! It was a great video, and proves that when players play Ma Lin, Ma Lin calls the shot....

I cannot agree with you all that its so impressive and amazing. the ball touched the net and that slowed the it a lot. A lil bit of backspin and the ball comes back. Nothing special in my opinion.

Dan said:

True I think he can do what he wants

Look when he was against me at 4.51..! He drop shot the ball and I remember looking at it and it was spinning insanely!

So much ball control!

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OMG what a touch lol

Mattis said:

I cannot agree with you all that its so impressive and amazing. the ball touched the net and that slowed the it a lot. A lil bit of backspin and the ball comes back. Nothing special in my opinion.

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The ball hit the net, yes.. But Ma Lin still has got an amazing touch in his short game and that video is a good example of it even thought the ball hit the net.
If you tell me you and all of your club mates can take a ball that early with such touch and consistency, I guess it's nothing special then.

ttmonster said:

agree with you dan .. not for nothing Schlager and company said that even though Wang Hao has crazy both winged looping abilities ... technically Ma Lin is the most accomplished ..... guess read it somewhere in Henzell's post

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Yeah, I noticed that too and pointed it out in one of the threads asking Henzell questions. I think it speaks volumes, when some of the other top players immediately single you out as the most technically advanced player. Specially someone like Schlager. Ma Lin's touch is second to none. It's why his short game is far above anyone else's in the game, even fellow penholders like Wang Hao and Xu Xin.

there isnt that much backspin as it seems....he just hit the ball off the bounce, making the ball very low over the net with very little forward motions causing the ball to bounce forwards a little and the backspin made it comeback

Yes its true, that a good deal of the spin comes from the serve he is hitting back, and hitting the net slowed the ball down so it had more backward movement on the other side of the table, but that still doesn't make his touch and service return any less impressive. To be able to time it perfectly and have the amazing touch to hit it right after it bounces, while imparting some back spin onto the ball isn't easy, or at least doing it that well isn't easy.

I don't think there is really any debate that no one in the game has a better short game mastery than Ma Lin.

I've been using Skyline 2 for a few months now and have really stepped up my training with Chinese Penhold. To be honest it isn't that hard. I'm not saying that the timing is easy or that the technique is very simple to learn. It requires a good knowledge of service and the proper angle closing the service. In that particular video the coach serves right and underspin so Ma closes the left side of the ball (right for the server) and keeps his paddle steady while slightly going forward.

I'm only personally rated at 1041 in the U.S. as I don't often go to tournaments, but I went to the club last week and upset a couple 1800's while playing penhold which is not my strongest style of play and did the exact same thing. They would serve left spin however and I would close the right side of the ball and just let the spin carry it back over the net and it'd bounce twice and surprise the crap out of them.

For Shakehanders I'd suggest practicing the same thing by closing the side which it's spinning regardless of the underspin if it has a little of left or right on it just close that side slightly while still having the racket open for the underspin and keep the paddle at the level of the net. You'll be surprised how easy it becomes when you break down the technique to the basic principles of spin.

Guys, did anyone just read the first comment on the video?
"He just returned the spin."

That's just the most logical explanation to this. Look well: he face the forehand almost on the top, the best thing to do while you get a backspin ball (which otherwise will hit the net).

Don't forget you can't break the laws of physics just because you're the best pingpong player ever

Amazing shot!That's Ma Lin for you,the 2008 Olympic Champion.

Ma Lin the Majestro!

azlan said:

Actually buddy, I've seen Ma Lin doing it against top spins a few times. On one occasion, the ball was returned to him from his initial smash far from the table, and Ma just stabbed chop the ball dead, and it trickled back into the net. And that was against a topspin...The man can do it without the net caught..
I can't remember whom he was playing against, but I surely can remember that evening going back into my club trying to do what Ma Lin just did. and failed miserably.

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The WTTC this yrs if am not mistaken... some dropshot, and a dummy as well.

Thanx Isaac...I think so too