Zhang Jike Technique Compilation from a ZJK fan

On request from Dan, I have reposted this technique compilation of Zhang Jike on Tabletennisdaily.co.uk.

I have always been a big fan of Zhang Jike, and am always trying to copy his style.This thread is for ZJK fans who want more detailed analysis of his technique. The materials are all from the fantastic Youtube channels and some from the Bokett forums.



Fundamentals(BH, FH)

His basic counter-hit. This surprisingly helped me a lot, to get a lot of the body mechanics of his BH and FH loops.





Zhang Jike BH-FH from mid-distance. He has a kinda sidespinny FH like Kong Linghui, especially when dealing with balls to the extreme FH. This helps a lot in curling the ball back to the table.





Zhang Jike warmup with Xu Xin 2, mainly BH and FH training. Zhang Jike has a very short backswing, and very powerful shots with lots of control. Notice how his wrist doesn’t move much in the backswing unlike other players, and his wrist kinda only moves after he finishes contacts the ball.





Zhang Jike warmup with Wang Hao This video can really give us a clear picture of his fundamentals. He doesn’t like to jump from his feet a lot, having a stable centre of gravity. This helps him to keep his balance really well. His side-jumps are really incredible, probably owing to his enormous leg strength. Also, notice his elbow position when he is playing BH, it’s a bit further to the right than when he is playing his compact FH.





Controlled loops against underspin

Zhang Jike Reportage!

An awesome reportage of his story, and also there’s gold here! The section from 1:20 – 1:50min, there is a rather close-view of Zhang Jike’s controlled BH loop against underspin. Notice the bat position, the change in bat angle, how he uses his whole body in the shot.





His controlled FH against underspin. Look at how well he uses his leg strength to pull the ball up against heavy underspin from Joo Se Hyuk.





1st 3 balls(pushes, serve, receive)

Zhang Jike warmup with Xu Xin 1, mainly serve and receive. Very useful in studying their footwork to do with serve and receive, and distance from the table.





More 3rd balling exercises with Liu Guoliang.





Match with Steger(side-view)- This video shows a lot of very useful information on his ready position, pushes and serves.





Zhang Jike warmup with Xu Xin 1, mainly serve and receive. Very useful in studying their footwork to do with serve and receive, and distance from the table.





The best tutorial of how to do the reverse serve like Zhang Jike.(by Lovett9x)
Close-up video of ZJK's serves (includes the pendulum, the heavy underspin/no-spin and the reverse) , thanks to WeiTTTube




His BH over-the-table loop off short balls.

This is his specialty, and one of the hardest shots to master in table tennis. It’s very demanding on the wrist, and upper body strength(especially the core and back muscles).



http://www.bokett.com/tt/dispbbs.asp...=584&Id=258833


There are more explanation in the pictures, but it’s in Chinese. Main points:

1) Don’t contact the ball on the side but rather on the back of the ball. This will give you much better speed and spin on the ball. Also this would give you more topspin which will make it hard for the opponent to make a strong return off your loop.

2) Don’t step into the table with your right foot too much, otherwise you will be jammed due to the speed of the short serve.

3) Use your left hand to judge how high the ball bounces.

4) Upper body must bend forward to give room for backswing.

5) During backswing, move your wrist as far back as possible, so that the bat points towards your stomach.

, thanks to DiegoTTTube
Personal tips:


1) Think of using the back and core muscles in this shot. The “unarching” of the back can provide surprising amounts of power.

2) When learning, learn it on easy balls first(high and slow short balls with less spin) to get the feeling of contacting the ball, don’t try it on faster, low short serves otherwise you’ll probably hit your bat on the table. Then, increase the difficulty more and more(lower, faster and more spin)

I still find it really difficult to master this shot and once hurt my wrist due to practising this shot for few hours.

Updated with close-up videos of his serve and BH over-the-table loop.

Nicely done buddy, cheers....

Sophisticated !
Puissant to the Zenzizenzizenzic !

The match with Steger is good to see because the angle it is filmed at lets you see how far Jike backs up once an attack is launched. He moves pretty fast.

Really need to start learning that serve.

Originally Posted by Steven

Really need to start learning that serve.

Worth learning; hard to be good at it. But once you are good at it, I have heard, it is a very useful serve, very spinny when you know how to do it correctly.

Originally Posted by Carl Horowitz

Worth learning; hard to be good at it. But once you are good at it, I have heard, it is a very useful serve, very spinny when you know how to do it correctly.

Yeah that's the biggest problem. I can do it when training, but I can't rely on it during competitions.

Originally Posted by Carl Horowitz

Worth learning; hard to be good at it. But once you are good at it, I have heard, it is a very useful serve, very spinny when you know how to do it correctly.

I can never in my life serve this reverse pendulum with enough control. Always can't get the ball contact right... . In matches I use a reverse serve similar to Wang Hao's, it's so much easier to learn.

Originally Posted by blahness

I can never in my life serve this reverse pendulum with enough control. Always can't get the ball contact right... . In matches I use a reverse serve similar to Wang Hao's, it's so much easier to learn.

I do a serve like that that too. Easy to have a lot of control and to switch from topspin to underspin with the reverse sidespin.

When I am in a match and do the reverse pendulum in a match I have control but not enough spin. I use it anyway, because it throws people off. But in practice when I put the full spin, I do not have control and do not always get the spin, in short not enough control and I have been told mine is very easy to read and that I show it too early.

What an awesome thread! I hope members learn a lot from this! You have to be one of ZJK biggest fans :P

Loving your signiture by the way 'Technique is at least 10 times more important than the equipment. When have you seen people giving credit to the shoes when a runner wins?'

Reverse pendulum requires a lot of wrist action. You should often stretch out your wrists for extra flexibility. The toss is pretty critical. If you have tossed the ball too far in front of you when you serve your wrist will not have enough follow through to put the spin and accuracy on the ball. If you toss to close to your body then you'll have the reverse where you can put some spin on the ball, but lose a lot of speed and accuracy on it.

I've posted about it before, but the best way to learn a service is to start high and then lower it steadily for consistency.

Post some videos here if you'd like us to help review and analyze where some mistakes are being made.

Originally Posted by Mr. RicharD

Reverse pendulum requires a lot of wrist action. You should often stretch out your wrists for extra flexibility. The toss is pretty critical. If you have tossed the ball too far in front of you when you serve your wrist will not have enough follow through to put the spin and accuracy on the ball. If you toss to close to your body then you'll have the reverse where you can put some spin on the ball, but lose a lot of speed and accuracy on it.

I've posted about it before, but the best way to learn a service is to start high and then lower it steadily for consistency.

Post some videos here if you'd like us to help review and analyze where some mistakes are being made.

Thanks a lot! I might post something when my exams are over...

just see this old threat and it is INCREDIBLE !
great job blahness

Originally Posted by ulrich

Awesome post.

And thanks for bump, Alborz. I probably wouldn't have seen this if it wasn't for you

thank you ulrich

and i notice ZJK use a lot of his leg power in every shot , great player .