says
Spin and more spin.
says
Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
This is actually the thing that people should realize here. What Fan Zhendong is doing is actually the next evolution in table tennis. There is a reason why he is that good that young. He has the backhand like very few people have. That backhand is the same kind Zhang Zike was developing and that Dimitrij Ovtcharov also has. It is a combination of a European backhand and the kind of backhand that a reverse penhold player would use.
That is not it though. That backhand is really a great weapon especially for over the table looping on return of serve and third ball. But, this is where Fan is special. That is a Chinese forehand and a European forehand mixed. Sometimes he does just forearm snap and the forehand is a very small stroke. Not as often, but sometimes he does the whole arm swing of the Chinese forehand. The result is, he has pretty decent power but he gets to every effin' thing. And he keeps moving the ball around because he can hit the ball at pretty much any angle at will.
When Wang Liqin came up, it was a new innovation. That was a giant forehand but from a shakehand grip. It is almost like a penhold forehand with the shakehand backhand. However, that is one giant forehand and the backhand, in comparison to what guys are doing today, is not so great. So, if the ball is coming back as quickly as it is now, and it is going all over that style is, in the future going to have a hard time against guys who can play the way Fan is playing. But, what Fan is doing will be picked up by other players. People will figure out the nuts and bolts of the techniques he is using and why he is sooooo good in rallies. When Waldner came up, that blocking added to the looping skills and the two winged attack was a new thing.
What Fan is doing is the direction the new techniques and developments in table tennis play are going. But European countries and other countries will catch on to that evolution of the sport.
That is not it though. That backhand is really a great weapon especially for over the table looping on return of serve and third ball. But, this is where Fan is special. That is a Chinese forehand and a European forehand mixed. Sometimes he does just forearm snap and the forehand is a very small stroke. Not as often, but sometimes he does the whole arm swing of the Chinese forehand. The result is, he has pretty decent power but he gets to every effin' thing. And he keeps moving the ball around because he can hit the ball at pretty much any angle at will.
When Wang Liqin came up, it was a new innovation. That was a giant forehand but from a shakehand grip. It is almost like a penhold forehand with the shakehand backhand. However, that is one giant forehand and the backhand, in comparison to what guys are doing today, is not so great. So, if the ball is coming back as quickly as it is now, and it is going all over that style is, in the future going to have a hard time against guys who can play the way Fan is playing. But, what Fan is doing will be picked up by other players. People will figure out the nuts and bolts of the techniques he is using and why he is sooooo good in rallies. When Waldner came up, that blocking added to the looping skills and the two winged attack was a new thing.
What Fan is doing is the direction the new techniques and developments in table tennis play are going. But European countries and other countries will catch on to that evolution of the sport.