China Super League 2017

This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2016
1,659
1,140
5,311
You and NextLevel are both presenting valid points. I'd like to add that LJK also needs to work on his patience, it's many levels below Ma Longs. It's important to value the occasion/play opening. LJK far too often stresses to kill the ball when he should just push it calmly.

What do you mean by fast, look at how early he takes the ball both with BH and FH. Of course he could improve his footwork, but that kind of things we can say about each player. Last year he beat all players in china and thanks to him his team went to final. So I wouldn't say he needs much improvement in technique or footwork. Mainly it is mental and maybe also strategy. Look how often he leads with great players and then somehow he cannot finish the match.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Oct 2016
966
1,012
2,596
Nothing you said addressed the point I made. And since I said he lacks variation, that is the same thing as your saying it is mental and strategy. Fan Zhendong can make up for his relative lack of variation with his ability to move and be extremely consistent. If you think LJK is as fast as Fan, let me know. It is hard to move faster without dropping some weight. Just a fact of sports.

Absolutely agree. Optimal Weight is key to fitness and hence a hindrance to any sport.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Sep 2016
1,024
1,960
3,016
The problem of LJK is not the mental strength or toughness but the ability to read matches and adapt quickly. I think I told the story in this thread or somewhere else that during Marvelous 12 Trails, Ma Lin commentated LJK vs ML match and complained that why LJK never made reverse pendulum serve which used to be a threat to ML. He told LJK after match and LJK did reverse pendulum serve in the following match, but to a player who has no problem with his reverse pendulum serve!
Most mental problems are actually technical/tactical problems.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2016
1,659
1,140
5,311
I'm surely no LJK but when I have small problems during club matches is solely boils down to confidence. I have pretty solid fundamentals but sometimes hesitate or think too highly of the opposition, something one can never do in TT.

The problem of LJK is not the mental strength or toughness but the ability to read matches and adapt quickly. I think I told the story in this thread or somewhere else that during Marvelous 12 Trails, Ma Lin commentated LJK vs ML match and complained that why LJK never made reverse pendulum serve which used to be a threat to ML. He told LJK after match and LJK did reverse pendulum serve in the following match, but to a player who has no problem with his reverse pendulum serve!
Most mental problems are actually technical/tactical problems.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jun 2017
330
219
552
Very interesting to see Liang JingKun playing in the Super League against Zhang Jike in 2013. He had not developed his stay-within-three-feet style fully, although he did win. I certainly wonder if Tomo's dad was following LJK back then. He probably was being a professional Chinese coach in Japan. Tomo was 9 but from videos, he was concentrating on tactics so there might have been the issue of "how do we defeat the cloud-walkers"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4azvDPRwgk
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Mar 2013
1,589
743
2,438
Read 3 reviews
Nothing you said addressed the point I made. And since I said he lacks variation, that is the same thing as your saying it is mental and strategy. Fan Zhendong can make up for his relative lack of variation with his ability to move and be extremely consistent. If you think LJK is as fast as Fan, let me know. It is hard to move faster without dropping some weight. Just a fact of sports.
well I meant fast play, in my opinion LJK try to play as fast as possible taking the ball very early, which is also very risky and that is why he looses some points. This is different then fast movement. I do not think he needs to move faster to improve his wining ratio. Problem of LJK is that he looses to players which are worse then him.
I remember one of the first FZD torunament it was in Poland when he was 15 (how won the tournament in final beating Zhou Yu). The thing is he won all matches quite easily and did not see him hasitating or beeing stressed. Since that time he did have hard Times mainly when facing ML in world tour finals, but I do not remember him loosing to any foreigner.
LJK looses quite early in world tour and when winig it is mostly 7 sets. So I think he needs to work more for mental things. Variation will come as he gets older and more experienced. I do not think he needs to be faster.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Oct 2014
12,276
17,740
44,291
Read 17 reviews
well I meant fast play, in my opinion LJK try to play as fast as possible taking the ball very early, which is also very risky and that is why he looses some points. This is different then fast movement. I do not think he needs to move faster to improve his wining ratio. Problem of LJK is that he looses to players which are worse then him.
I remember one of the first FZD torunament it was in Poland when he was 15 (how won the tournament in final beating Zhou Yu). The thing is he won all matches quite easily and did not see him hasitating or beeing stressed. Since that time he did have hard Times mainly when facing ML in world tour finals, but I do not remember him loosing to any foreigner.
LJK looses quite early in world tour and when winig it is mostly 7 sets. So I think he needs to work more for mental things. Variation will come as he gets older and more experienced. I do not think he needs to be faster.

The reason why he tries to take the all very early is open for others to speculate but IMO it all goes back to his movement issues as someone who has that much power should not be forced to take the ball so early if it is hurting his consistency. It really comes down to how your style allows you to adapt. FZD can play like LJK but he can also step back to loop the ball and cover more ground especially with his forehand though he has the power to step back and use his backhand. You see how that helps him when he is playing someone who has the power to force him back a little. He steps back and uses his spin to turn the person into a blocker as much as he can.

You can't take the ball early all the time unless you know something about your opponent, you need some plans Bs and Cs when plan A is not working.

Harimoto currently has no choice bit it will be interesting to see what happens when he plays more top CNT.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
Mar 2013
1,589
743
2,438
Read 3 reviews
The reason why he tries to take the all very early is open for others to speculate but IMO it all goes back to his movement issues as someone who has that much power should not be forced to take the ball so early if it is hurting his consistency. It really comes down to how your style allows you to adapt. FZD can play like LJK but he can also step back to loop the ball and cover more ground especially with his forehand though he has the power to step back and use his backhand. You see how that helps him when he is playing someone who has the power to force him back a little. He steps back and uses his spin to turn the person into a blocker as much as he can.

You can't take the ball early all the time unless you know something about your opponent, you need some plans Bs and Cs when plan A is not working.

Harimoto currently has no choice bit it will be interesting to see what happens when he plays more top CNT.

There are some nice points you put and that are useful. Of course plan B and C are very important and it seems LJK does not have them. If he does he will not Play risky shots with the opponents who does not go further then 1st round at world tour.
Still I am quite confident he does not need to be faster to defeat players at lavel 100 in the world ranking.
And I do not see any comparison with TH who just Play more fast punches and is much closer to the table.
 
Top