I Played Vs European Champion Dang Qiu

[Dan]

Hey guys!

Recently I had the amazing opportunity to hang out with the 2023 European Champion Dang Qiu! In this video I do a bit of training with Dang, tested out his equipment and even made him play shakehand in a match, to see if I had any sort of chance! Of course Dang Qiu is one of the best penhold players in the world right now, this wasn't going to be easy!

Dang currently uses Dignics 09C on both sides of his bat.

Enjoy!

 

[vik]

it was there and suddenly disappeared

 

[Dan]

it was there and suddenly disappeared

Back up

 

[Wrighty67]

Hey guys!

Recently I had the amazing opportunity to hang out with the 2023 European Champion Dang Qiu! In this video I do a bit of training with Dang, tested out his equipment and even made him play shakehand in a match, to see if I had any sort of chance! Of course Dang Qiu is one of the best penhold players in the world right now, this wasn't going to be easy!

Dang currently uses Dignics 09C on both sides of his bat.

Enjoy!

Another great video - what a nice guy!

 

[latej]

I need to see you against Wang Chuqin playing pen-holder!

And thanks, really good to hear him...

 

[Zezima]

And what setup is Dan using here? I also didnt quite understand what Dang meant with the legs for Dan. He still has his right leg behind

 

[TampaBayTableTennis]

Amazing!!!

 

[Gozo Aruna]

Hey guys!

Recently I had the amazing opportunity to hang out with the 2023 European Champion Dang Qiu! In this video I do a bit of training with Dang, tested out his equipment and even made him play shakehand in a match, to see if I had any sort of chance! Of course Dang Qiu is one of the best penhold players in the world right now, this wasn't going to be easy!

Dang currently uses Dignics 09C on both sides of his bat.

Enjoy!

Sometime ago I commented that Dan plays a bit like Timo and I guess he heard me and cutely superimposed Timo's face unto himself in the above video. Nice! Very nice.

 

[blahness]

And what setup is Dan using here? I also didnt quite understand what Dang meant with the legs for Dan. He still has his right leg behind

My understanding of this is that you have the step on the right foot when you hit the BH. Once you do that the power from the weight transfer will be activated and the shots will have a lot more sting to them. Notice Dan's right foot in the session before (much more stationary) and the session after (much more active). Similar to reaching out and stepping on the left leg to create a lot more forward momentum during a FH loop you can do something similar with the BH loop.

 

[JJ Ng]

So Dan is about 2100-2200 USATT rating? Dan is like 2400 while playing shakehand? That's like really good!

I wonder if Timo Boll and Franziska can be 2400 playing penhold. We already saw Dima who can really play penhold quite well!

 

[bobpuls]

And what setup is Dan using here? I also didnt quite understand what Dang meant with the legs for Dan. He still has his right leg behind

I was wondering the same way

 

[JJ Ng]

Not sure about the leg comment. Maybe Dan needs to generate power from the legs?

Also, I was taught the Chinese playing style growing up. I am right handed. Therefore, my left foot is ALWAYS in the front while my right foot is ALWAYS in the back, no matter when I am playing forehand or backhand. The reasoning is that, in that position, I can use my legs and weight transfer to generate more power on the forehand side. On the backhand side, well, Chinese players did not emphasize backhand that much back in the 1990's so even though the stroke is a bit awkward, you keep your feet/legs at the same position.

The modern way of playing is to keep the legs parallel to the table so both backhand and forehand are easier to execute.

As for players who are backhand dominant, you can even position yourself with, if right handed, left foot in the back and right foot in the front to generate more power from the backhand side.

As for equipment, it sounds like Dan has always gone back to Timo Boll ALC which is not surprising. Once you are used to a certain blade, and you are confident with your strokes, why change? Changing it would just make you doubt about the quality of your stroke when you use the set-up. As for rubber, sounds like Dan is still most comfortable with Tenergy 05. He might has switched a side or two to Dignic 05. When you listen to his commentary during his video, that's what my impression is.

 

[PaddyPolar]

Maybe he said the leg comment because you might need to generate more power on the RPB?

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

right leg in front can help generate more power but it looks to me in practice its possible only when a bit far from the table or when the ball is coming a bit shorter or towards the middle, else the transition to FH looks difficult.

anyway thats how i see Dan applying the advice

(Btw my coach always indeed tell me to put the right foot forward when executing chiquita or pushes with BH against shorter balls unless ball is really going on the left side of the table.)

@Dan
i'm a bit disappointed you couldn't win at least a game with this handicap. I would say Qiu's FH looks as good as if its his normal grip but his BH seemed inferior (a few direct misses + he waited like for the 3rd shot to go harder on this side) but you didn't try to capitalize on it much. I think a few tactics could have helped you. serve short to FH then push agressively long to BH for example. In all your matches I don't see you serve often short to FH nor use the BH serve.

 

[Dan]

And what setup is Dan using here? I also didnt quite understand what Dang meant with the legs for Dan. He still has his right leg behind

Hey Zezima,

Are you the real Zezima btw 👀 Loved that game!

My setup in this video was the Boll ALC with 09c on both sides. Will respond to the right leg comments later in this post

Sometime ago I commented that Dan plays a bit like Timo and I guess he heard me and cutely superimposed Timo's face unto himself in the above video. Nice! Very nice.

Haha you inspired this video edit

My understanding of this is that you have the step on the right foot when you hit the BH. Once you do that the power from the weight transfer will be activated and the shots will have a lot more sting to them. Notice Dan's right foot in the session before (much more stationary) and the session after (much more active). Similar to reaching out and stepping on the left leg to create a lot more forward momentum during a FH loop you can do something similar with the BH loop.

Hey blahness, yes you're right. It helps with power, also using your right leg means you don't need to use your wrist as much which could make the shot breakdown. Dang also said to me it's a timing thing on when to know when to use your right leg, he said when the ball comes a touch slower over the table, use your right leg to press into the ball.

So Dan is about 2100-2200 USATT rating? Dan is like 2400 while playing shakehand? That's like really good!

I wonder if Timo Boll and Franziska can be 2400 playing penhold. We already saw Dima who can really play penhold quite well!

I actually think Dima would be higher, his pen-hold level is very good haha. He told me he has beat many players in the training hall using pen hold.. I wonder which players he meant

Maybe he said the leg comment because you might need to generate more power on the RPB?

Perhaps, not a bad theory. But also you can see Fan Zhendong use his right leg a lot during the backhand.

right leg in front can help generate more power but it looks to me in practice its possible only when a bit far from the table or when the ball is coming a bit shorter or towards the middle, else the transition to FH looks difficult.

anyway thats how i see Dan applying the advice

(Btw my coach always indeed tell me to put the right foot forward when executing chiquita or pushes with BH against shorter balls unless ball is really going on the left side of the table.)

@Dan
i'm a bit disappointed you couldn't win at least a game with this handicap. I would say Qiu's FH looks as good as if its his normal grip but his BH seemed inferior (a few direct misses + he waited like for the 3rd shot to go harder on this side) but you didn't try to capitalize on it much. I think a few tactics could have helped you. serve short to FH then push agressively long to BH for example. In all your matches I don't see you serve often short to FH nor use the BH serve.

Hey Takkyu, good advice on tactics there, I agree I should have varied my serves more and pressed into his backhand. I was in a bit of a daze during this game on how well he was playing haha. I am going to rematch him in the future and get the win

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

So Dan is about 2100-2200 USATT rating?

I am not sure but I don't think Dan has a USATT rating. However, I think 2100-2200 might be selling Dan a little short. It is possible he has dropped to that level from not having played competitively in quite a while. But back in the day Dan was top 50 or 51 in UK. Worth knowing. And also worth distinguishing someone who once was 2500+ but does not play competitively and has dropped to 2200-2400 level from someone who just got up to 2200-2300 level.

I will give you an example. I know someone who is 2200-2300 who, you know, that is the level he got to. And he was complaining that he is about the same level as this other guy, David Fernandez (USATT ratings says he is now 2316). And this guy is telling me how frustrating it is that he can never beat Dave even though they are similar levels.

And I told him, that he needs to remember, Dave was at one point over 2600 and Dave played international tournaments and took Werner Schlager to 7 games in one match. So, even if his current rating and level of play is one thing, that does not say everything about his actual skill level.

Worth understanding. Dan was the man before his back injury. And Dan still the man.

 

[JJ Ng]

I am not sure but I don't think Dan has a USATT rating. However, I think 2100-2200 might be selling Dan a little short. It is possible he has dropped to that level from not having played competitively in quite a while. But back in the day Dan was top 50 or 51 in UK. Worth knowing. And also worth distinguishing someone who once was 2500+ but does not play competitively and has dropped to 2200-2400 level from someone who just got up to 2200-2300 level.

I will give you an example. I know someone who is 2200-2300 who, you know, that is the level he got to. And he was complaining that he is about the same level as this other guy, David Fernandez (USATT ratings says he is now 2316). And this guy is telling me how frustrating it is that he can never beat Dave even though they are similar levels.

And I told him, that he needs to remember, Dave was at one point over 2600 and Dave played international tournaments and took Werner Schlager to 7 games in one match. So, even if his current rating and level of play is one thing, that does not say everything about his actual skill level.

Worth understanding. Dan was the man before his back injury. And Dan still the man.

Adam Bobrow narrowly beat Dan once and Adam is about 2150. Now Dan's backhand has improved a lot.

Let us just say Dan is 2150 to 2250?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Adam Bobrow narrowly beat Dan once and Adam is about 2150. Now Dan's backhand has improved a lot.

Let us just say Dan is 2150 to 2250?

One match does not make a level especially not a match against a weird player like Adam. And again, at some point, Dan was top 50 or 51 in UK which means his level has dropped notably from when he used to play competitively.

One match is never how you determine much of anything. And who knows what level Dan would have gotten to if he had not had a back injury that forced him to stop playing for a decent amount of time.