More on why XX is not the ideal role model for learning if you also want a good RPB. Here are the comments from various coaches and figures on XX's game. As XX admitted in 2016 (see last quote), he had been trying to figure out the force generation of RPB for a long time before he had his eureka moment.
2014/9/4
功勋教练:为什么让我带许昕 他正手杀伤力提高明显
http://sports.sina.com.cn/o/2014-09-04/16257321800.shtml
http://mytabletennis.net/forum/este...97_post1398073.html?KW=esteemed+coach#1398073
Aside from that, I have made adjustments to the train of thought behind his backhand, with an emphasis on strengthening the driving element and all-out confrontation.
Nonetheless, while stressing on his forehand, conflict with the linking to his backhand will arise, a problem that is being tackled still. These changes take a lot of time, which I feel I have so little, and so I told him to cherish every training session to patch it up. Penholders have got to play up the traits of the penhold grip, and there are many things I need to start over with him. Last but not least, I also need to demolish his old belief, and work on his third ball attack.
2015/4/22
乒乓三强仅中国还有直拍 昔日经典如今穷途
http://sports.people.com.cn/n/2015/0422/c395343-26887047.html
How Xu Xin breaks through
Among the three main players of the China men's table tennis team, Xu Xin, who was cultured in Shanghai, has not achieved outstanding results and has never been able to reach the super-first-rate (TL's note: 超一流, a Japanese loanword) level of Zhang Jike and Ma Long. In the competition for the qualification for the Rio Olympics, he faces the impact of young players Fan Zhendong and Yan An.
Liu Guoliang commented: "Xu Xin is now ranked first in the world. It is not easy to play like this with a penhold grip, but he is in an awkward bottleneck stage."
In Liu Guoliang's eyes, Wang Hao's RPB is one of a kind in the world, Ma Lin's 3rd ball aims for the throat on the first try, and Xu Xin is just one breath away.
"Xu Xin's skills are not solid enough. He can entangle his opponent, but he just can't bite and make the fatal move in one go. He has to sharpen the last thrust."
Can penhold players break through the competition? Liu Guoliang expressed, "You see, Ma Lin and Wang Hao are both penhold players who have dominated for so many years. If the level of two players, one penhold and one shakehand, is neck and neck, then the penhold player will definitely have a greater advantage against foreign players, because foreign players have fewer opportunities to play against penhold opponents and it is difficult for them to adapt."
Recently, Xu Xin's coach was replaced by Wu Jingping. The latter is the champion coach who trained Ma Lin and Wang Hao and is also more knowledgeable about the penhold style.
Liu Guoliang believes that the coach is not the decisive factor, that it still depends on the character of the player.
2015/6/7
昔日主流打法今成另類
許昕 直拍最後強者
https://dw-media.tkww.hk/epaper/tkp/20150607/A10_Screen.pdf
Cao Yanhua (former world champion and one of Xu Xin’s early coaches):
● Xu Xin is like my second child. This child is kind and grateful.
But he lacks Zhang Jike’s fierceness, nor is he as down-to-earth as Ma Long,
he has also failed to successfully combine the advantages of Wang Hao and Ma Lin's penhold styles,
and his uniqueness is still being cultivated.
2015/6/12
国乒金牌教练：马琳智慧过人 樊振东让世界都震动
https://sports.sina.cn/2015-06-12/detail-ifxczyze9435970.d.html
In 3/2014, Xu Xin was transferred to Wu Jingping's group and officially became Wu Jingping's disciple. Regarding Xu Xin, who also uses penhold, Wu Jingping said:
"He is different from Ma Lin and Wang Hao. I don't know if I can bring Xu Xin to a higher level. This is a very difficult challenge, and I have also devoted a lot of effort to it."
Wu Jingping said:
"After taking over Xu Xin, I emphasized several of his movements, including force generation and footwork, as well as linking. At that time, I hoped to guide him in the direction of Wang Hao. Now Xu Xin is getting better and has his own characteristics."
Wu Jingping's disciples are almost all super-first-rate players. Regarding these four players, Wu Jingping commented:
"When he first joined the national team, everyone looked down on Ma Lin and didn't expect him to have any development. Wang Hao's playing style when he joined the team was one of a kind. No one knew how to guide him, so we could only cross the river by feeling the stones. At that time, everyone thought Xu Xin was very talented and were always optimistic about him, and the same for Fan Zhendong."
Wu Jingping said
"In terms of playing, Ma Lin has the best comprehension. He has a thorough understanding of the game and the opponents. Ma Lin's technique is almost entirely based on his forehand, so it would have been impossible for him to stand among the world's top players for so many years without extraordinary wisdom and strong psychological quality."
As for the personalities of the four disciples, Wu Jingping smiled and said,
"Everyone is different. Wang Hao is down-to-earth and has got to where he is now step by step, which is world-leading technique. Ma Lin relies on his ferocity and comprehension of table tennis. Xu Xin is somewhat wise, but sometimes lacks ruthlessness. Fan Zhendong is more mature than his age suggests and dares to take action at crucial moments, which is very desirable. He has a strong psychological quality and comprehensive skills."
Wu Jingping also commented on the impact of the new plastic ball on the players: "It's actually hard to say now. We can only see who has the stronger ability to adapt. The uncertainty factor is still relatively large."
An interview with Wu Jingping on the RPB by the magazine Ping Pang around 2016(?)
吴敬平讲诉：乒乓球直拍横打比横拍更先进
https://hkttf.com/viewthread.php?tid=80873
http://www.dku51.com/article-7157.html
"Ping Pang": Wang Hao, Xu Xin, and Ma Lin all have different RPB strokes. What are the differences between the three of them?
Wu Jingping: There are still big differences between the three of them. Wang Hao has been practicing RPB since he was a child, and he doesn't use TPB, so his strokes are smoother. Moreover, he has strong spatial awareness and natural adjustment ability in the backhand position, and his best talent has been demonstrated in the best place.
Xu Xin and Ma Lin are both half-learners (TL's note: 半路出家 in the original text, lost in translation), especially Ma Lin. His RPB strokes are not very standardized, mainly relying on wrist adjustment, and not being able to use the strength of his shoulders and low back. His RPB is just for the transition of a shot and to find an opportunity to step around, and the consciousness is also different.
Xu Xin is different from Ma Lin. He has also practiced the RPB since he was a child, but he didn't practice systematically. Sometimes he uses the TPB, and other times he uses the RPB. His backhand can only attack but not defend, which appears not very solid, unlike Wang Hao who follows one shot closely with another.
2016/7/21 (roughly 2 weeks before Rio 2016)
专访许昕：新技术乃灵光一现 奥运盼每人一金
https://sports.sina.cn/others/pingpang/2016-07-21/detail-ifxuhukv7031402.d.html
Sina Sports: During the 50-day closed training in Xiamen, what areas have you improved that you feel have made you the happiest?
Xu Xin: Actually, it was my backhand. The coach asked me what I felt most during this closed training. I said that some parts of my fingers could not exert force before, but now they can.
Sina Sports: Can you elaborate on this new skill?
Xu Xin: Actually, it is not a new skill. I had been exploring it before. After playing for 20 years, I finally know which fingers to exert force. (Laughs) This morning, I told coach Wu (Jingping) that for someone with a foundation such as Wang Hao, he has probably known since he was a child which fingers to exert force would help his backhand. I also tried to correct it by changing my grip and the feeling of force generation, but I had been unable to find a direction and so couldn't adapt.
This time, I suddenly had a light-bulb moment and felt good in training, which was completely consistent with what the coach thought. Because when the coach told me to do it before, the contrast was quite big. I have been making changes all the time, and there is also a process of adaptation.
This morning I told the coach that this feeling of backhand force generation in the RPB shot may not have been felt by Ma Lin after playing all these years, or even after his retirement, because it is still quite difficult. I'm lucky to have found this feeling before I retire. Because my playing style is closer to that of Ma Lin, with more forehands and a backhand that I learned halfway, I have always wanted to make up for my shortcomings, rather than trying to form my own system or an advantage on the backhand, and I have been in a state of half-exploring and half-testing.
Sina Sports: When did you have the so-called "eureka moment"?
Xu Xin: It was three or four days before the Japan Open, when I suddenly felt that the force generation was quite smooth during practice. At first, I felt that it was not the fingers that were exerting force, but that the force generation was more comfortable and I could exert force, but I didn't find the specific feeling. When I got up the next day and practiced again, I still felt the same way, and gradually I had some feelings, and then I practiced every day to make the muscle memory solid, so that I could use it more casually in matches.
Sina Sports: What is the difference between these two points, and what is the difficulty of force generation and vice versa?
Xu Xin: Because the penhold style has relatively more loopholes, and the rules have been changing, that it is becoming increasingly disadvantageous to the penhold grip. The backhand of penhold is a fatal weakness. As long as the opponent cannot get hold of the weakness of penhold players, it feels like they have an advantage over the whole table. However, once this weakness is exploited, they can be defeated with just one set play and/or one tactical skill throughout the whole match.
