Table Tennis "BACKHAND" (Video)

says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
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I see a very worrying trend here. The overall FH quality of European players has stagnated, perhaps even regressed, in the last 2 decades. The 1st point makes an excellent example here. It should and would have ended on the 4th shot(2nd forehand shot) if you go back a decade or so.
 
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says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
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It's not just me. Former English coach Liu Jiayi, who coached Drinkhall, had this to say about European table tennis in 2007.

http://sports.sina.com.cn/o/2007-05-21/12492934210.shtml
  上个世纪80年代末和90年代初,欧洲乒乓球技术处世界领先地位,但现在明显落后于亚洲。刘加诒说:“欧洲人太懒,他们站在球台中间两面打,不像当年瓦尔德内尔那样注重正手侧身攻。正手侧身需要很好的步伐。而坐惯汽车的欧洲人腿部机能退化,他们想跑都跑不起来。”
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the European was the world leader in techniques, but now it is clearly behind Asia. Liu Jiayi said, "Europeans are too lazy. They stand in the middle of the table, playing both FH and BH. They don't pay attention to the forehand step-around like Waldner did. The forehand step-around requires good footwork. The Europeans are used to sitting in the car and their leg functions have regressed. They can't run even if they want to."

Back in September, Japan and South Korea held a U12 and U15 joint training camp. Miyazaki was most impressed by the strong difference in philosophy.

http://sports.sina.com.cn/others/pingpang/2018-11-29/doc-ihmutuec4620460.shtml
  宫崎义仁表示,在合练当中感受最强烈的是日韩两国教学方法的差异化,宫崎义仁举例说在联合训练当中,通常日本球员在反手击球之后侧身的幅度都不会很大,因为会考虑到还原的问题,但韩国的教练员在指导时强调一定要加大侧身的幅度,将脚迈出去,在韩国教练的亲身示范下,日本球员也看到了这样练习的威力,但因为在日本的训练体系当中,很少有这样的训练,所以合练中日本球员对这样的技术还不能很快掌握。
  宫崎义仁总结说,“虽然日本和韩国两个国家都属于乒乓球比较强的国家,也都是亚洲国家,但是彼此之间训练体系和思路的差异化,的确是很让人觉得有意思的事情。”
Yoshihito Miyazaki said that the strongest feeling in the joint training is the difference of teaching methods between Japan and South Korea. For example, Japanese players usually do not step around that much after making backhand shots, due to recovery concern. However, Korean coaches stress during the guidance that they must increase the range of the step-around and let the feet out. Under the personal demonstration of the Korean coach, the Japanese players also saw the power of such exercise. Still, because there is very little such training in the Japanese training system, Japanese players can't master this technique quickly.

Miyazaki concluded "Although both Japan and South Korea are relatively strong table tennis countries and Asian countries, the difference in training systems and philosophies between them is indeed very interesting."

I should point out that Japan used to stress about FH only, and they admit that neglect of the BH in the late 80s led to their decline. For this reason, they now stress so much about drilling the BH to the young players. Yet, Harimoto said in a recent TV program after losing to WCQ in the Youth Olympics singles final that he relied too much on the BH and once his weapon got sealed he was helpless.

For China, the BH has undoubtedly gained more weight in recent years, but the central philosophy of "反手得勢,正手得分(lead with BH, score with FH)" still dictates.
 
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I still remeber when Wang Liqin only started to have used his backhand extensively when his career is almost done. In the beginning he just return or blocks using his bh and is mainly fh dominated. Nowadays it is both but still finishing the point with a strong fh.
 
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I see a very worrying trend here. The overall FH quality of European players has stagnated, perhaps even regressed, in the last 2 decades. The 1st point makes an excellent example here. It should and would have ended on the 4th shot(2nd forehand shot) if you go back a decade or so.

Maybe there are more balls on the table due to no more speed glue and the bigger slower ball?
 
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Maybe there are more balls on the table due to no more speed glue and the bigger slower ball?

Ahem...Liu Jiayi made note of that trend in 2007, when table tennis was still played with 40mm and speedglue.
 
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Ahem...Liu Jiayi made note of that trend in 2007, when table tennis was still played with 40mm and speedglue.

That would be the time Waldner, Persson and Saive retreated from the main stage. No lazy players.

But still, it was prime time for Boll, Samsonov still, and ipcoming Ovtcharov. No laziness there either.

Generalizations are easily made, and always carry the weight of some anecdotal evidence and are prone to confurmation bias. That does not mean they ate easily sustainable under scrutiny.

I think the portee if such sweeping generalizations is motivational rather than alethic and should be treated accordingly.
 
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says Shoo...nothing to see here. - zeio
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Not on the same page again.

It's not generalization. It's not motivational. It's not confirmation bias. LGL also took note of that fact when he commentated for the England VS China match at the Team World Cup 2018.


BTW, Liu Jiayi actually commented in the article that Germany was the strongest in Europe and Boll the only threat to the CNT because they took a page from China. He also talked about how France had the best system in Europe, with 3 major table tennis districts cultivating future prospects for the national team, and how they could've achieved better results if they hired quality Chinese coaches.

Austria is a prime example here. Austria was the first country to field former CNT players. Ding Yi and Qian Qianli(former and current head coaches) have had an influence on their subsequent players. Schlager, Gardos and Habesohn would turn the corner to use the FH for shots that other players wouldn't.

Sweden is probably the only country without Chinese coaches that emphasizes on stepping around, perhaps due to Ogimura's influence.

If you folks have time, check out the WJTTC men's team final, especially Tanaka VS Yu Heyi and Togami VS Xiang Peng. The commentators(one of them an Australian player) couldn't help but noticed that Yu and Xiang stepped around a lot and the strength of their FH. Tanaka and Togami both played like Harimoto with lightning-fast BH and caused so much trouble. In Tanaka's case, he could've won if he would step around to finish those pop-ups.
 
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Added clip of LGL.
 
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