Why is Ma Long so good?

[Dan]

Hey guys,

We're having a blast at China Smash this week and have got tons of content that we will be releasing over the next few weeks! We recorded this training video of Ma Long in the practice hall today:

It's outrageous how good Ma Long is! What I find interesting with Ma Long is he seems so smooth and fluid to the rest of the players.

So my question for you guys is, what do you think makes Ma Long so good at Table Tennis? What attributes is he doing over other players that separates him and puts him on the goat status 🐐

 

[NetProphet]

Who said he is the greatest of all time?
As Michael Jordan said, It's not sensible to compare players from different generations like that, but he's in the conversation for sure!
I don't know if he's more fluid that other great players or not but the best have a way making it look easy that's for sure.
Maybe it's like Federer said, effortless is a myth, there's thousands of hours that go into making it look that way but you work your ass off to address all the weaknesses in your game.
I suppose Ma Long has had great coaches, insane mental fortitude and crazy natural ability that together elevated him to be the best of his generation.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Hey guys,

We're having a blast at China Smash this week and have got tons of content that we will be releasing over the next few weeks! We recorded this training video of Ma Long in the practice hall today:

It's outrageous how good Ma Long is! What I find interesting with Ma Long is he seems so smooth and fluid to the rest of the players.

So my question for you guys is, what do you think makes Ma Long so good at Table Tennis? What attributes is he doing over other players that separates him and puts him on the goat status 🐐

I always felt Ma Long has the safest and most consistent shots, while maintaining high shot quality.

In terms of maximum shot quality, I always felt Wang Liqin had the most dangerous shot, especially on the forehand. I don't think Ma Long ever matched that level of shot quality, but Ma Long is much more consistent and reliable and can execute his game.

 

[mcfly]

he’s not that good - it’s just everyone else is worse than him

 

[dingyibvs]

Who said he is the greatest of all time?
As Michael Jordan said, It's not sensible to compare players from different generations like that, but he's in the conversation for sure!
I don't know if he's more fluid that other great players or not but the best have a way making it look easy that's for sure.
Maybe it's like Federer said, effortless is a myth, there's thousands of hours that go into making it look that way but you work your ass off to address all the weaknesses in your game.
I suppose Ma Long has had great coaches, insane mental fortitude and crazy natural ability that together elevated him to be the best of his generation.

Many people, like the OP

 

[joshmak10]

Best forehand in the world- Insnae power, lots of spin, lots of quality, and always seems to find it and play with quality even if tough spots

Safe backhand: While not as good as say Fan Zhendong, he has great spin and feel on the ball on his BH to set up his forehand. His backhand is very safe and controlled rather than explosive like FZD

 

[PaddyPolar]

He is the cleverest, and adapts the best. Hes been through multiple eras of table tennis and still manages to be in the top rankings through those times.

 

[NextLevel]

I always felt Ma Long has the safest and most consistent shots, while maintaining high shot quality.

In terms of maximum shot quality, I always felt Wang Liqin had the most dangerous shot, especially on the forehand. I don't think Ma Long ever matched that level of shot quality, but Ma Long is much more consistent and reliable and can execute his game.

Give Wang Liqin the plastic ball and no speed glue and we can discuss.

 

[RomanAngerer]

Best forehand in history, maybe Ryu Seung Min could compete.
Excellent short game.
Mental fortitude (World Cup performance showed he still got it in 2024).

 

[AutomaticBackhand]

"Why is Ma Long so good?"

 

[backspacer]

Because his parents named him dragon.

 

[silas6012]

Tons of practice, of course. But considering many other professionals also work hard, this is still a legitimate question: what makes Malong exceptionally good? I guess it is because his early coaches helped him find the most reliable way to hit the ball and control his body, which has become unconsciousness in his later career. There are different ways to play table tennis, as can be found among top players in generations. But I agree that Malong is the outstanding.

 

[Amayzde]

What makes Ma Long so great at table tennis is that he is a perfectionist at heart. Every muscle in his body seems to contribute to his shot quality.

He is also an inventor. He reinvented his backhand technique to allow his forehand dominant play style to work in a backhand dominant era.

And I don’t think there is anyone else that prepares himself as good for an upcoming match. He really showed that at the World Cup. Beating Wang Chuqin 4-0 while having lost to him the last 7 times without having a chance, using mainly reverse pendulum serves and backhand attacks over the table. Winning in a completely different way then he would normally play.

Ma Long just really seems to know what he can do, but also what he can’t do. He really knows where his chances lie, identifies what problems he has and tries every possible way to solve them.

The best example of this was the the WTT Incheon semi-final against Liang Jingkun he pulled off something I have never seen before. Being down 2-0 he started game 3 with red rubber on his forehand. My guess is he did this to slow down the backhand exchanges and have some extra power on his forehand to finish the point sooner when he got the chance.

Unfortunately he didn’t win in the end. But he nearly managed to pull it back. He conquers his opponents with all the tools and tricks in his arsenal. Thats what makes him so great.

 

[blahness]

One thing a lot of ppl dont give credit enough is Ma Long's understanding of spin. It was demonstrated some time ago when WCQ and LJK lost to Hou Yingchao, ML later demolished Hou Yingchao (i think maybe 11-3 or sth), reading the spin so effortlessly and barely making any unforced errors when looping, against one of the choppers with the best spin variation.

 

[Wakkibatty]

His movement & positioning is flawless. The guy moves like a cat. But he also has the anticipation and game sense to both enable and leverage it. As a comparison, FZD moves well but he isn't quite as lithe, as efficient, or as early with it.

The better & earlier you move in this game, the more options you have. I've seen ML be cramped up, but it's very rare I've seen him genuinely wrong footed or be caught out flat footed.

In the above video, watch the way his rolls his feet to control his weight shift as he's moving laterally while also looping on his FH. His weight alternates from heel to toe on both feet as he's moving laterally both left and right. Watch also the way he rolls his weight across his feet on that final slow-mo FH side-top loop... He's rolling his feet like this during the rally too, it's just not as pronounced.

Far as I can tell, he's doing this to allow himself to add weight transfer to each FH loop to avoid just swinging with his arm. A lot of other lesser players (like me 🙄) plant their feet more or keep their weight on their toes when moving. In this vid, ML's feet are dancing and rolling as he swings, very much like an old-school boxer (...which makes enormous sense, as with both boxing and TT, power comes from the ground up, and requires proper placement of your feet.) He only really plants his feet on his BH counters.

Time I add a skipping rope to my regular training regime methinks... and buy some better shoes.

Growing 20 years younger wouldn't hurt much either...

 

[backspacer]

One thing a lot of ppl dont give credit enough is Ma Long's understanding of spin. It was demonstrated some time ago when WCQ and LJK lost to Hou Yingchao, ML later demolished Hou Yingchao (i think maybe 11-3 or sth), reading the spin so effortlessly and barely making any unforced errors when looping, against one of the choppers with the best spin variation.

I remember that match. I think it was an internal tournament. Hou talked right after the match to LGL saying how no amount of spin variation worked against Ma Long.

 

[Dominikk85]

Hey guys,

We're having a blast at China Smash this week and have got tons of content that we will be releasing over the next few weeks! We recorded this training video of Ma Long in the practice hall today:

It's outrageous how good Ma Long is! What I find interesting with Ma Long is he seems so smooth and fluid to the rest of the players.

So my question for you guys is, what do you think makes Ma Long so good at Table Tennis? What attributes is he doing over other players that separates him and puts him on the goat status 🐐

Definitely an insanely good player. I would actually say his game is a bit outdated, he backhand is good of course but still his game is very forehand oriented. I would say he is an upgraded version of wang liqin while the modern game is more backhand and close to table oriented with a lot of backhand flicking like FZD or ZJK.

I would say what he does well is the little things. He obviously has great footwork and a great forehand as his big strengths but apart from that he is also mentally very strong, has great serves, great tactics and great passive game with some tricks too. Also of course worked very hard on improving his backhand. All that allowed him to hang in with his "old" forehand step around oriented game against more technically versatile and complete players like FZD.

In that way he reminds me a little of ma lin. Obviously very different player than ma lin but ma lin also was able to leverage some "tricks" to use a forehand dominant game against more complete opponents. Obviously ma long has a way better backhand and more complete game than ma lin but also was kinda using some tricks to beat better backhand players.

 

[Kopp]

Mind your words. He's not so good!

He's the greatest!!

 

[canonFH]

I think its his drive to win. Even after winning everything there is to win, this guy just refuses to rest. I have no doubts in my mind that he probably outworks everybody else in the CNT even at this stage of his career.

 

[NetProphet]

All this 'greatest FH in history' talk is nonsense, FZD has been overpowering him on both sides of the table for 5 yrs now and there are plenty of FHs from the past that match up just as well.
It's his signature of course but it's not the reason for his success.
His brain for the game is totally underestimated. His touch, service receive, tactical awareness and flexibility, all second to none. I think that more than anything is why he has been so successful.
I still don't know who's the goat, different generations being incomparable but I definitely think that attributing his success to just his FH is selling him short.

It was a pleasure to watch him play live, in Frankfurt last year. I hope he is there again this year!