OOAK Table Tennis Forum

It is a good video. It was posted before, here viewtopic.php?f=62&t=18057 by MNNB in Decembre 2011 and has been discussed before (e.g. here viewtopic.php?f=62&t=18109, also in December 2011) as an excellent example of how to block actively, demonstrating superb technique. If one would like to use it as an example for present-day tactics, one would have to take into account the fact that in 1991 the ball was smaller, which means reversal was different, but by and large it would still be very useful. Still, that doesn't mean, in my opinion, it is the only or even the best way to use anti. It likely was and perhaps is the best way for Eric Boggan to use his equipment; but lots of players are different from him in enough respects to make his style impractical or ineffective for them. I'd like to emphasize again that in the end the individual characteristics of players determine how they should play and what they should use - nothing else can. Table tennis is different with different people and there simply are no universal rules or recipes to hand out or to follow; every single one of us has to find his own way. Offering different examples to players is very useful, the more the better, as they may offer insights that otherwise might have been missed. But telling players to copy this or that one is seldom helpful, as it ignores individual differences between people that are essential. Instead, analyzing these examples of effective play, intending to find out how and why they are effective and for what kind of person, may be much more helpful. For instance, in the case of Boggan it is important, I think, to point out he is capable of using his backhand with great precision (timing and aim) and in very quick repetition; his footwork, needed to be in the right place at the right time, is matching this. Players who need a little bit more time for their backhands or are just a bit slower on their feet, will be much less effective if they try to play like him. They might be better off using anti for less active blocking, or for chopping at mid-distance - which actually can be done quite well using an anti suitable for these tactics - or doing something else again.

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