iskandar taib wrote:
Actually what I think "belongs to the Chinese style" is the reliance on all-out forehand loop-kills to end points. And the way to get an all-out 100% loop is at full arm's length. So they position themselves appropriately when using this stroke. This is coupled to a short over-the-table game. The Europeans rely more on medium-power elbow loops, until recently at half distance. The use of H3 by the Chinese is because you can get more power out of the rubber IF you can develop the power in the first place.
Iskandar
Yep. The problem with it, is the amount of fitness, power, speed (athleticism) required to do this style. It will work in local clubs at the lower level, but at the higher level, you need a lot more athleticism to pull it off. It works for the CNT because they are the best of the best, biologically perfect, highly trained from the age of 3 and training 6 hours per day with professional training partners, the world's best coaches / scientists and the world's best facilities. Not a popular opinion maybe, but I think it isn't a viable play style for anyone else. That's why it's a bad mindset for your average joe to try to copy the CNT 'because they are the best'.
There was a player who used to be in the junior CNT who moved here, and within the first month he was beating everybody. After that month, however, the other players started beating him consistently. Once you take these CNT style players out of the CNT environment, the CNT play style becomes sub optimal. They can't train enough to maintain the skill needed to pull it off. They need to change to a style that allows them to play shots with a better margin for error.
A few points:
Ma Long had stress fractures in his legs when he was < 30.
Liu Guoliang said that Ma Long couldn't compete in the Bundesliga because he is a 30 year old player.
The recent winner of the China open (I'm sure you know the details) is an older more defensive player. His opponent, a young attacker, apparently had a sore shoulder because he faced a chopper in an earlier round.
In one TTD video, Dan faces Truls Morgard (17) who is using a beginner bat. He mostly chops the ball back. They are both out of breath by about 8 - 8. The first and only game.
In another TTD comp video (maybe ep 3?), the team face another team that has a chopper in it. After maybe the 3rd or 4th match of the video, they make a joke about needing a team physio, as one of the players has a sore shoulder and the other a sore tricep. These are 20 - 30 year old fit players who train regularly and it's not even the top division.