Do you need ‘perfect’ technique to be good at table tennis?

[NextLevel]

Being stuck on technique sounds like a bad thing, so I'll just say I'm glad my coach focuses on it because he's helped me correct a lot of subtle mistakes. I think my shoulder would be out of commission without some of his fixes.

Technique does get bad press from time to time, or I never would have heard a stubborn junior refuse to work on topspin because "Jimmy Connors doesn't use topspin."

Good Technique is also the cause of injuries so it is good that your coach is giving you safe technique. Safe technique is not necessarily the same thing as good technique depending on the individual.
Jimmy Connors doesn't play table tennis. In fact, you hear some people mocking good players because their technique is not textbook Chinese. That is far more common in TT.

 

[TableTennisTom]

It is common to say that players are not good for technical reasons. But after Boll and Mizutani I tend to be skeptical of such claims. People use CNT to support those claims but I still think the CNT is more about Darwinian competitions in a large population. The technical part of it is overestimated.

I often wonder about this. Do Chinese players dominate because their technique is superior or because of volume of participants, intense levels of competition, huge amounts of resources?

And it always makes me smile when people criticise Timo Boll's technique because it is different to CNT. I would love to have 'inferior' technique like Timo Boll and be one of the best players in the world for best part of 20 years!

 

[TableTennisTom]

One thing I am convinced of, at all levels of play, everyone needs at least one serious weapon that (relative to the level they play at), their opponents have to worry about and try to avoid or neutralize. One thing that is a bit unusual and effective. Obviously more than one would be better. But everybody needs one thing that is their hallmark. And for amateur players it is not unusual for that thing to look a bit strange.

Yes! If a stroke is a little unorthodox, but still consistent, it can be very effective. Especially against new opponents who are not used to reading the cues of the stroke action.

 

[NextLevel]

I often wonder about this. Do Chinese players dominate because their technique is superior or because of volume of participants, intense levels of competition, huge amounts of resources?

And it always makes me smile when people criticise Timo Boll's technique because it is different to CNT. I would love to have 'inferior' technique like Timo Boll and be one of the best players in the world for best part of 20 years!

From what I hear, during match broadcasts on CCTV, the commentators criticize the forehand techniques of Boll and Mizutani often enough.

 

[tropical]

Define "perfect" and could you give me an example what you think is "perfect"?

I know if we are exposed to the game early and learn the "good" (different than perfect) techniques then we could be a very good players (2200+) as we grow up. Otherwise it is difficult unless we are talented in sport. One guy I know didn't play TT untill he was 24, but he broke the 2200 level recently (now in early 30's) when he changed his backhand to anti-spin as his BH screw up badly with inverted.

 

[Lightzy]

I'm a professional pianist. If you'd ask me if a pianist needs to have perfect technique then of course yes.
Imperfect technique means you're not as quick, not as accurate, you can't express on the same level and you WILL hurt yourself physically by trying to do something in a bio-mechanically suboptimal way. Wrist inflamations etc etc. Notice I'm not saying "might" hurt yourself. You definitely 100% will hurt yourself with imperfect technique when you try to execute demanding music, guaranteed. So that bears thinking about.

Same goes for TT I think.
Or anything else really.
Unless you're only doing it for amateur fun hour. But I'd argue that then too you will have a lot more fun with better technique.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Okay, first of all, the comments of CNT fanboys....it is worth ignoring them.

The kind of people who are going to say your technique is not good are probably not very high level players and they are probably trying to teach themselves TT by "imitating" Ma Long. The trouble with that is, if they ever saw themselves in videos, they might realize how bad they actually are.

There was this one kid on the forum, who, when he first got on the forum he was trashing the technique of everyone who posted video and telling them just how unlike Ma Long's technique their's was. A few of us, kept on him for being full of BS and explaining to him that if he was going to critique other people's playing in the manner that he was, he would have to post some video of his own play. He avoided doing this for months and we kept pointing out to anyone he critiqued that this character did this all the time to everyone but would not show what he played like in spite of the big talk about Ma Long's FH technique.

When we finally did pressure him into showing footage of himself, it was evident that he was a total beginner, that he was hitting the ball flat, and that he was not even doing a stroke, but pushing forwards instead of making a stroke.

So don't take the comments of CNT fanboys to heart. And a reasonable response to someone saying something like that in the comments of your videos would be: "Can you show me footage of you doing this?" Or something to that effect. My money says, most of the guys who make comments like that, there technique will not be as good as yours.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Okay, first of all, the comments of CNT fan boys, it is worth ignoring them.

The kind of people who are going to say your technique is not good are probably not very high level players and they are probably trying to teach themselves TT by "imitating" Ma Long. The trouble with that is, if they ever saw themselves in videos, they might realize how bad they are too.

There was this one kid on the forum, who, when he first got on the forum he was trashing the technique of everyone who posted video and telling them just how unlike Ma Long's technique their's was. A few of us, kept on him for being full of BS and explaining to him that if he was going to critique other people's playing in the manner that he was, he would have to post some video of his own play. He avoided doing this for months and we kept pointing out to anyone he critiqued that this character did this all the time to everyone but would not show what he played like in spite of the big talk about Ma Long's FH technique.

When we finally did pressure him into showing footage of himself, it was evident that he was a total beginner, that he was hitting the ball flat, and that he was not even doing a stroke, but pushing forwards instead of making a stroke.

So don't take the comments of CNT fanboys to heart. And a reasonable response to someone saying something like that in the comments of your videos would be: "Can you show me footage of you doing this?" Or something to that effect. My money says, most of the guys who make comments like that, there technique will not be as good as yours.

btw I haven't seen him posting for a while

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

Personally, i've been training with coaches for a while. Of course, they've been showing me techniques... but technique is not everything. There is only limited time for training. You have to improve everything in parallel, technique, consistency, footwork, placement, reaction, etc...

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Do these two guys have perfect technique:

Both of these guys have taken matches from players in the 2500-2600 (USATT rating range). My money says, either of them could give an ugly lesson to the people making negative comments on your technique.

Here is Rich Dewitt vs Adam Hugh, who at the time was in the high 2500s:

In the next video, JP is the lefty and Edmund is the righty:

JP's "technique" is very unorthodox. But he has also taken down some 2400+ level players.

What I am saying her, game skills and technique are not the same thing. And to play at a decently high level, perhaps game skills are more important than technique. It probably isn't till 2400+ that you start needing both game skills and decent mechanics.

But decent mechanics still have nothing to do with looking like some CNT fanboy's favorite CNT player. Decent mechanics have to do with the combination of power and efficiency used to produce a consistent and high quality ball. David Song already gave a decent account of what a high quality ball is. I would actually only add one thing to his definition and it would be that with a high quality ball you may also get some big angles.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I guess I will give more details. I am in my 50s. I started playing in my 40s. As a kid I played recreationally but really did not know how to play. I also played for about 3 months, while in between jobs when I was 27. But I really sucked.

When I started to play and learn, in my 40s, I hit everything flat. I had a lot of guys look at their rackets and then check to see if I was using pips when I would play them. With the unorthodox way of playing that I didn't know was unorthodox, I actually beat a decent number of guys who were 1500-1600. Nothing special. But interesting because, from a technique standpoint, I was really terrible.

At a certain point I decided I wanted to have decent technique and did not much care about how good I was or my overall level.

Over years of working on the technique of spinning the ball on loops, I think my technique is adequate. Nothing special. But I can get a lot of spin on my topspin shots. I know, when I hit with a guy like Michael Landers, he will laugh that I am so good at certain things and so bad at other things. And he is happy to say that despite my overall level, with a few shifts, I could probably jump 300-400 rating points in a very short time because of how well I do certain things.

But I know, that the time I spent making my FH loop a decently good shot (it was terrible, now it is okay), MY OVERALL LEVEL has really not changed more than 100 rating points from when I flat hit and did not understand why people would check my racket to see if I used pips.

From a technique standpoint, I got way way better. From an overall game skills standpoint, I may even have gotten worse.

 

[TableTennisTom]

Hi UpSideDownCarl

I really appreciate your input, not just in this thread, but the entire forum. You do a great job.

Actually this entire TTD forum has been a revelation to me. I put off posting for a long time, as I was a bit apprehensive of what other's would think of may articles and videos. I know internet forums can sometimes be a bit volatile. But I have been amazed by how supportive most people are on TTD. There is a real sense of community and people wanting to help each other improve their table tennis.

I think big credit should go to you for all of your detailed and balanced wisdom and creating an environment where people provide constructive feedback, rather than trashing each other.

I am a convert to TTD!

Tom

 

[berndtjgmann]

There is no such thing as perfect technique in any sport that I can think of. With respect to table tennis, perfect technique might be construed to imply "perfect" mastery (impossible) of every stroke, offensive and defensive, idiomatic to the sport, in addition to having "perfect" footwork and "perfect" mastery of table tennis strategies and tactics. No player in the 91 year history of competitive international table tennis has ever achieved this, and no player in the future ever will.

It is quite possible to play a very fine game of table tennis with an unorthodox style. Dr. Herbert Neubauer and Steve Hall of Hallmark table tennis are good examples of players who can play at the high elite level playing in a fashion rather out of the norm. So is penhold backhand long pips pushblocker Peter Chen and former Florida State Champion Olivier Mader.

John Tannehill and Steve Berger in the early 2000s played at the near USA Table Tennis 2300 level using rackets covered with hard rubber (short pips without sponge).

Even if you choose to play, as most players have done since the 1970s, with inverted rubber, so long as you can play consistently, avoid trying to hit a hard shot from your opponent that your limbic system tells you to hit harder, and develop a few effective and hopefully legal services, reaching that coveted expert level in table tennis is a goal that with practice, tournament toughness, and a few pints of stout, you just might achieve.

 

[tropical]

Perfect techniques in playing any instruments are different than in sport when you deal with another living person, not dead ones like instruments. But I do think better techniques help to minimize injury and generate more effective shots in sport.

However, I am still puzzled on what the OP means "perfect". Perhaps perfect techniques is not how you hit the ball at your stationary positions but how you deal with different scenarios assuming your reflects are decent and matching your opponent's.

 

[langel]

I just imagined a piano with keys changing their position, size and weight.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I just remembered a funny story related to what I said about how I used to flat hit everything and didn’t know how to loop.

My EJ friend who worked at NYTTF and had me try tons of setups, he also got people to play with me.

One time he got me to play with a pips player who was about 1800 at the time. Now, at best I was 1200-1300. But that guy with his pips had a lot of trouble with my slappadadelic slapshots. When we were done, my friend asked what happened and I said I won. He said, “I have no idea how you could beat that guy.” [emoji2] Hahahaha.

Now that I loop with fairly heavy spin, I have no chance against him. Hahahahahaha.


Sent from The Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

 

[Ilia Minkin]

IMHO when talking about technique, most people assume ML/FZD/ZJK's technique or something very close (talking about SH players). So the question can be safely rephrased as "Can you be good at table tennis if your technique is way too different from the CNT's latest golden generation".

 

[ttmonster]

No , because the game is not played only with the body but with the mind as well ... infact the higher you go in terms of level the more important the mind becomes ... isn't the answer that simple ?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

No , because the game is not played only with the body but with the mind as well ... infact the higher you go in terms of level the more important the mind becomes ... isn't the answer that simple ?

Top quality post. Right to the point. And it somehow makes me think of this:

 

[ttmonster]

Thanks Carl !! Excellent video , I was ROFLMAO while watching this ...

Top quality post. Right to the point. And it somehow makes me think of this: