How can I copy Ma Long's playing style?

Take my advice with a grain of salt:

Develop your own technique, find what's right for you, and don't base your technique off of professionals. It's not going to work out. Unless you have the time, money, and dedication to go to China and train there or hire a really good coach, there's nothing you can do to get to that technique and level.

It's nice to think that anyone can do anything if they believe in themselves, but chances are, so many people also think the same way. They all want to achieve greatness and they will definitely do much more to get there than you are. I've always believed that I will eventually get to compete at the Nationals in Las Vegas and probably win something that may provide recognition for all the hard work I've done regarding table tennis. And I still do.

Realistically, in order for me to win at the Nationals, or in order for you to play at world rank level, you need money and ultimate dedication. Are you willing to risk your future against tens of thousands of people that have the money and dedication to do the same?

I'm only 15 too, and I started at age 9. I realized that even if you started early, you'll never be able to be world ranked. I have small goals for myself in table tennis, goals that I know I can achieve if I dedicate myself enough to it. (Reach 2000 USATT is my goal for now, and I've improved by 700 points in a year, hopefully I can get there by next year). But setting a long term goal like that without even being sure I can get there sounds like a real challenge, and I'm not willing to risk my future for that.

Alpay said:

Is it impossible without money? We dont have that much.

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Get the best training you can get and afford locally or internationally, and train as hard as you can. Always try to reach the next level without trying to skip steps. If the next step is finding a better coaching structure and training partners and you're good enough for that, then they'll take you in. If not you'll need money to be worth their time, whether it's at one of the top training centers in your country or another country.

I am not a pro by any stretch of imagination .. but since you have been open enough to ask this question on a public forum , I will take a shot at it .. my qualifications .. I have been playing the game for the last 5-6 years in amateur leagues and understand a little bit of the game , have seen a lot of juniors being trained by professional coaches in tables next to me, have been lucky enough to get some coaching from them for some time .. and have seen them grow in their careers ...
... and I love table tennis and I like your enthusiasm for the game ...

Question : Why do you think its important to copy exactly Ma Long's playing style ? Why not zhang Jike's playing style or Fan Zhendong Playing style ? ... or anybody else ? ...if the answer is that they are the best in the game and I want to be the best , I hate to spoil the fun .. but its not the way to go ... the little bit I understand about table tennis is that getting better overall , or getting better than your opponent in the course of a match is about problem solving ... it has nothing to do with playing style ... their playing style is the final evolution of a kid with certain physical attributes and specific talents training under great coaches from when they were 6-7 10-12 hours a day every day of their life ... . do you have the same set of talents ? Do you have the same physical construction ? do you have the same coaches ? ... if you don't, then this is not the way to go ... you should leave such exercises for us , semi amateurs who just play for fun ...

by table tennis standards you have started late ... late by atleast 6-7 years .. can you catch up , well nobody can say and nothing is impossible , but are the chances lower than if you had started at 6-7 years under good coaches .. obviously ... but do you need to copy Ma Long ... NO .. it will be a waste of time .. instead you should be focussing your energy to refine your technique , make video recording of all of your matches , spend time in analyzing them with your coaches ... putting a lot of effort to become physically fitter .. the kind of fitness that is required in table tennis .. try to play tournaments against all kind of players and try to find better and better facilities and chances that will help you grow ...

you have a lot of enthusiasm ... but you will also need a lot of support , and a lot of perseverance ... and if you have other things that you have been doing since you were a kid and you are equally good at them, lets say education or music or something else , the chances in succeeding in them are better ...

You should just focus on what your coaches are telling you to do and try not to copy from professional players .. .

Alpay said:

I chose Ma Long because my forehands are very powerful like him. And I don't have physical attributes like him. I am 1.83 69kg. And should I get techniques from different players? Like ZJK backhand, Ma Long forehand, etc.?

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At 15 with only a year background in TT the best you can do for yourself is to focus at your education and play tt for fun.

In terms of style, just play forehand-oriented game with lots of pivots from the backhand corner. I guess your coach can help with that better than anyone here

You can always borrow or try to borrow from players that are better than you or great coaches, you can start by doing that from the best players or coaches at your club, then at the next better club, level etc etc. not just from videos of the best players in the world. You don't become Ma Long or WR 200 or for that matter Turkey Top 200 over night. You have to take in from what's around you first, then expand your horizons bit by bit. If you have the level for more, take the next step and move to a better training facility where you can get invested in a club and the club will invest in you, otherwise you have to invest money into a coach or training facility that can't justify coaching you for free if he doesn't think you have the level or potential.

If you have the opportunity to train at a better facility, yes of course. Otherwise why change? Only your level or connections pr money can open you the doors of a better training facility at home or abroad.

How many hours a day are you able to train with high quality coaches or partners? Not just playing matches but multiball and drills specifically chosen to help you improve. Like Tony said, there are other kids who are ahead of you who are training 6-7 hours every day at serious national training centers. If you are super talented it is possible to play at a pro level in less than 20 years training, or else Harimoto, Fan, etc could not have done it. But be assured they put the work in. So if you are super-talented, as in one of the most talented kids playing TT in the world, then yes, it's possible you could reach wr200 someday. But if you aren't able to train and compete every day at the level the others do, it won't matter if you are 10x as talented as ma long. Still you can get to be as good as you can be, and that's really the best goal. Try your hardest, do everything in your power, and be happy with the results of your effort, whatever it end up to be.

Everyone in the top 20 has a different technique. Ma Long's technique is actually not the "best" technique in my humble opinion. His backhand technique (while still extremely strong) is not as good as some players in the top 10 (take FZD, Timo Boll, Ovtcharov etc.) . His forehand is a pretty long stroke. Only someone with his amazing overview for the game can execute his forehand.

What he does have is the strongest short-game right now and extremely fast transition between forehand and backhand strokes (owing to a smaller grip change which also kind of hinders his backhand stroke). Ovtcharov just wrote on the tt-news.de forum that Ma Long dominated the Olympics because of his short push. That's pretty telling.


If you want to copy Ma Long, copy his serves and receives (what I mean is copy the kinds of variations he is able to do, the movement is always individual). We don't have today's players copying Wang Liqin's technique after he was dominant for so long. Nor did we have a ton of Waldner or Persson clones in the 2000s.


There's a lot more to it than technique. The decisions Ma Long makes in a game and how quickly he reads a situation, the spin on the ball and starts to move to the correct position makes him the best. Let's just put it this way. If Ma Long still had his physique, his overview,mentality, tactics, serves and receives and Samsonov's technique was somehow miraculously transplanted into him, he would still be just as good.


The best thing that you can do is that you should keep adjusting your technique with the help of your coaches until you can do every type of stroke reasonably well (counter, block, opening loop, half-distance, counter-topspin) and a few exceptionally well (depending on how you want to play). For example, I have a forehand loop that's more suited for spin over speed but that's ok at my level because placement and spin are enough to win a point. My coach did suggest sometimes that I shorten the stroke a bit and play the ball earlier which I'm experimenting with, but I won't completely change my stroke because that's just not how I play. I could change my grip more for my backhand and makes my backhand more powerful but the trade-off is switching time. I prefer to just play safe topspins with the backhand because I'm just not good enough to transition so quickly if the ball does come to my forehand afterwards. I did watch Ma Long's tutorial and I've tried to copy some things for my forehand strokes (like how he opens the racket when taking the racket back for the forehand) but my forehand doesn't even remotely look like Ma Long's. I think you should always think along these lines so that you work towards a good technique.

I think it's impossible to copy someone 100% if you just have video footage and everyone's is built differently. For the reasons given above, it's not even necessary or even helpful to copy if you want to be a good player.

You started at 14. Now you are 15. Now you are a pro? Hmmm.

Well. Der_Echte was a pro his first year in Korea... a pro hustler of chicken and beerz from fellow Div 4 amatures...

Who knows the potential of the young blood?

Alpay, it would be nice to see some video of your play in a real competition. Just a game or two would give enough information for others to give you more accurate feedback.

Alpay said:

Should I get different stroke types from different players? I love Zhang Jike backhand attacks.

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What you should do is train and develop the game that works for you and your body while developing the skills to read the game and understand game tactics so that you are playing a three dimensional game. Not thinking about how someone else plays, but thinking about what you need to do to improve.

Watching footage to see how someone else reads the game, and learning the inner game of TT is important. So, watching, breaking down and examining how different players construct their points is very valuable. If you are looking at footage, that is worth doing. But in training, you probably should not be trying to imitate other players. You should be trying to work on the things you need to work on to help you improve.

Can you outline your daily training regimen?

How long do you run in the morning for cardio training? How about core work? Ladder footwork drills?

How many hours of multiball training do you do each day?

How much time each day do you spend on practicing serve techniques?

How many hours a day do you work with your coaches?

Can you show footage of your training?

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Tony's Table Tennis said:

I guess it takes a Pro (me) to answer another Pro (Alpay)

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@TTTony, can you outline the different training regimens your 15 year old prospects go through in a day when they are in a period where they will not be playing a tournament in the next month or two? How does the regimen change when you are approaching a big tournament. I know that the first time I saw how detailed your training regimens are, I was impressed.

Why not copy FZD or Harimoto's style. IMO, their technique(s) might be more suitable for plastic ball era.

It seems that there's a slight misinterpretation of the word pro league between OP and I but I can tell you starting at 14 isn't too bad.

U12 players in Japan who play competitively practice 20 hours a week on average. Although 90% of TT population in Japan starts at the age of 13 (after primary school), there have been no instance that those 90% winning any national titles. That gap tends to widen as performing well in U12 is crucial for obtaining schalarship and sponsors.

Having said that, some of them do carry on to become pro player in Japan so it's not impossible to have reasonably successful career. Calderano started late too right? And Harimoto doesn't practice long hours either so it's not all hours I guess. I hope you'd become a player you want and become a top player in Turkey.