Best FH in the world at the moment?

watcher · Dec 6, 2018

Xu Xin's forehands are powered by his fundamental understanding of spin and his level of touch and anticipation that helps him generate beautiful FH returns. So I disqualify XX from having the best FH, as it's an extension of his game IQ.

Ma Long, on the other hand, loops/drives any ball into oblivion as long as the ball travels to his right side. Therefore, ML possesses the ultimate FH.

Honorable mentions to FZD and Mima Ito for their lightning fast FH counter hits. They deserve a category of their own.

passifid · Dec 6, 2018

agreed, I meant that by he lost it, not the argument about needless pedantry, just that if you are not a top 5 player and are backhand dominant than its unlikely that you are going to surpass XX or ML as they are both top 3 players with forehand dominance.
Harimoto reminds me a lot of WCT and XF, great backhands and good forehands with some holes, XF and WCT are too inconsistant TH seems to struggle with putting on huge amounts of spin (I mean compared to other professionals in the top 10 not compared to average joe) Which is why he struggles into defenders a bit (again compared to ML, FZD, Timo etc)
Relly to be a contender for top 1 forehand you have to have somthing special about you, FZD is a pure machine, ML has all the power and also places some amazing balls instead of machining it across everytime and XX is more of an artist than machine.
Also I must admit I do not know enough about the CTTSL where i'm sure players who are every bit as good as FZD (who out of the three mentioned i feel is weakest on FH specifically) and probably better as some real gems exist there.

also all you's arguing are happy to assume what people mean when it suits you like the definition of can't and contend (both ways) but refuse to take anything but dictionary definitions of the argument you are not in favor of. If TH cannot contend now currently as specified in the OP by the words AT THE MOMENT then why is 80% of the thread dedicated to discussing him?
can we get back on track and maybe post some fantastic forehands?

this is my case for XX:
He can do it all, smashes power shots placements. He by far has the best FH flick of any current player, is the best FH into backspin of any current player (fliks and long balls) and has IMO the best ability to loop with sidespin to angle the ball of a top 10 currently.
I will concede that he is less powerful than ML who has a dominant power and less consistant than FZD into repeated loops however please look at this point below and tell me of any player who can do a flick like that on the FH side (i know penhold is kind of cheating but to me its still a FH flick) and for the rest of the case feel free to leave the video on. It has some nice angles
EDIT: video did not auto load at 2:04 however thats roughly where the mad flick is

TableTennisNerd · Dec 6, 2018

Imagine how good Harimoto could be in ten years at his prime though...

TableTennisNerd · Dec 7, 2018

passifid said:
agreed, I meant that by he lost it, not the argument about needless pedantry, just that if you are not a top 5 player and are backhand dominant than its unlikely that you are going to surpass XX or ML as they are both top 3 players with forehand dominance.
Harimoto reminds me a lot of WCT and XF, great backhands and good forehands with some holes, XF and WCT are too inconsistant TH seems to struggle with putting on huge amounts of spin (I mean compared to other professionals in the top 10 not compared to average joe) Which is why he struggles into defenders a bit (again compared to ML, FZD, Timo etc)
Relly to be a contender for top 1 forehand you have to have somthing special about you, FZD is a pure machine, ML has all the power and also places some amazing balls instead of machining it across everytime and XX is more of an artist than machine.
Also I must admit I do not know enough about the CTTSL where i'm sure players who are every bit as good as FZD (who out of the three mentioned i feel is weakest on FH specifically) and probably better as some real gems exist there.

also all you's arguing are happy to assume what people mean when it suits you like the definition of can't and contend (both ways) but refuse to take anything but dictionary definitions of the argument you are not in favor of. If TH cannot contend now currently as specified in the OP by the words AT THE MOMENT then why is 80% of the thread dedicated to discussing him?
can we get back on track and maybe post some fantastic forehands?

this is my case for XX:
He can do it all, smashes power shots placements. He by far has the best FH flick of any current player, is the best FH into backspin of any current player (fliks and long balls) and has IMO the best ability to loop with sidespin to angle the ball of a top 10 currently.
I will concede that he is less powerful than ML who has a dominant power and less consistant than FZD into repeated loops however please look at this point below and tell me of any player who can do a flick like that on the FH side (i know penhold is kind of cheating but to me its still a FH flick) and for the rest of the case feel free to leave the video on. It has some nice angles
EDIT: video did not auto load at 2:04 however thats roughly where the mad flick is

I agree. The arc that XX gets on his loops is unmatched.

Tony's Table Tennis · Dec 7, 2018

TableTennisNerd said:
Imagine how good Harimoto could be in ten years at his prime though...

Yes, that is why I won't write out Harimoto who "doesn't know" how to top spin or counter top spin.

His coaching staff is working on his technique and heck, who are we compared to the top staff that Harimoto has hired with his millions of dollars of budget.

The kid is still reaching puberty. Lots can happen
I still remember a young Ma Long, who has so little power on his FH
now today, his FH (same technique) is 3 times more powerful than his cadet/junior days

TableTennisNerd · Dec 7, 2018

Tony's Table Tennis said:
Yes, that is why I won't write out Harimoto who "doesn't know" how to top spin or counter top spin.

His coaching staff is working on his technique and heck, who are we compared to the top staff that Harimoto has hired with his millions of dollars of budget.

The kid is still reaching puberty. Lots can happen
I still remember a young Ma Long, who has so little power on his FH
now today, his FH (same technique) is 3 times more powerful than his cadet/junior days

Oh no that means his screams will be louder once his voice breaks...

Der_Echte · Dec 7, 2018

I agree, dude stepped on his wee-wee, but what the heck, I have stepped on my own wee-wee sometimes too, so it isn't terminal cancer case.

TableTennisNerd · Dec 7, 2018

Haha nicely put

Tony's Table Tennis · Dec 7, 2018

TableTennisNerd said:
Oh no that means his screams will be louder once his voice breaks...

I hope not......
But seriously speaking, the scream is not as bad live in person than on TV,

TableTennisNerd · Dec 7, 2018

Tony's Table Tennis said:
Yes, that is why I won't write out Harimoto who "doesn't know" how to top spin or counter top spin.

His coaching staff is working on his technique and heck, who are we compared to the top staff that Harimoto has hired with his millions of dollars of budget.

The kid is still reaching puberty. Lots can happen
I still remember a young Ma Long, who has so little power on his FH
now today, his FH (same technique) is 3 times more powerful than his cadet/junior days

Tony's Table Tennis said:
I hope not......
But seriously speaking, the scream is not as bad live in person than on TV,

Fair enough. And I kind of empathise with him over his screaming. Like he’s 15 and playing the world’s best players. Of course he’ll feel nervous and so if it helps him calm down I don’t have a huge problem with it...

Tony's Table Tennis · Dec 7, 2018

TableTennisNerd said:
Fair enough. And I kind of empathise with him over his screaming. Like he’s 15 and playing the world’s best players. Of course he’ll feel nervous and so if it helps him calm down I don’t have a huge problem with it...

you know this is so funny
his coaches taught him to scream when he was smaller

and i'm sitting with friends who are struggling to get they kids to scream.
mind you, these includes medalist at WJC 2018 and they play with no sound or emotion

i'm not sure what is worse lol

TableTennisNerd · Dec 7, 2018

Yeah I only started saying stuff when I won recently instead of playing silently and I was surprised at how much it helps...
Maybe just cos it makes me feel like harimoto but ya know...

FruitLoop · Dec 7, 2018

Tony's Table Tennis said:
you know this is so funny
his coaches taught him to scream when he was smaller

and i'm sitting with friends who are struggling to get they kids to scream.
mind you, these includes medalist at WJC 2018 and they play with no sound or emotion

i'm not sure what is worse lol

Oh god why oh why oh why would you be trying to get them to scream??

Tony's Table Tennis · Dec 7, 2018

FruitLoop said:
Oh god why oh why oh why would you be trying to get them to scream??

They toooooooo quiet
holding too much pressure in,
need to learn to release some

and then you can be Top FH players in the world

StehTischtennis · Dec 7, 2018

Is it coincidence that this video was released a few hours ago?

They're both saying Wang Liqin had the most deadliest FH they've encountered.

Tony's Table Tennis · Dec 7, 2018

I think to compare players of different generations is too difficult.
WLQ never used the 40+ balls
imagine if Ma Long was using 38mm

there is too many possibilities with the past 20 years of 3 different ball sizes.

NextLevel · Dec 7, 2018

Tony's Table Tennis said:
I think to compare players of different generations is too difficult.
WLQ never used the 40+ balls
imagine if Ma Long was using 38mm

there is too many possibilities with the past 20 years of 3 different ball sizes.

This!

jamesmith · Dec 7, 2018

Xu Xin is the best , fast, powerful, spinny , he is getting a bit old and slower than before but his forehand is really the best. Especially when he was in the top form, no one can return his top spin attack

jawien · Dec 7, 2018

Yeah, so I read the whole thread so far and wondered how this discussion could be so passionate ... ; ) It's silly to argue over "who said what" ... Anyways abstracting from the Yogi - Danny controversy ... I must admit I smiled for a while when I read that Harimoto could be "a contender" ... I mean I appreciate your expertise Yogi_bear, but there are a least two problems that would come to my mind immediately:

One ... it is already quite risky to argue the value of Euro/Jap style players forehand stroke against the top Asian style players ... not to mention the CNT itself.
Two ... fh it the most physically demanding stroke in this sport, so the 14 or 15 yo boy ... a contender with Virtuosos like Ma Long, Fan Zhending or Xu Xin ... ? ( [edit] or Ma Long, Xu Xin and FZD I should say).

aj aj aj ... ; )

tropical · Dec 7, 2018

I love to watch kids compete than adults. They play emotionally and seriously so they will show their emotion when they win or lose. It is like watching a drama! I was excited when a kid lost to an adult friend by a few nets and edges such that he became so emotional couldn't execute his normal kill shots to end the match. After the match I came to tell him he could easily beat her by calming down more next time. And he did!
As a spectator I love to see players show emotion (even in a bad way, seriously!) Remember John McEnroe?

Back to the OP, XX's FH flip is excellent and not many players could do the same (even CNT players), but such flip is only effective in double as he would be out of position if the flip didn't end the point. Penhold style favors FH more than BH so in a game XX probably has more FH winners than BH. That gives him more advantage in getting the best FH title but still not the GOAT. ML has the best FH among shakehand players as many folks here observe.

The OP is a bit dumb and loaded if we examine it a bit more carefully. And people forget that the OP is about current players, not players in the past so we could just rule out WLQ, Ma Lin, ...

Maybe next time we could ask who has the best footwork, best BH, best serve, best defense, best strategy, best ... oh god!

Best FH in the world at the moment?

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