With the progress in the blade and rubber production for table tennis, all the elements became more complicated. Serves werent left behind. In the late 50s and early 60s, Japanese and Chinese tennis players began to make heavy services with a spin.
Further, the level of services grew, more and more tennis players began to use service with the spin. Serve was no longer just the introduction of the ball into the game, but a formidable weapon in the hands of good masters.
In the 70s, the serving complexity began to increase due to the imperfection of table tennis rules. At that time, the height of the ball throwing was not indicated (now it is 16 cm) and many tennis players began to serve from hand.
If you play table tennis for at least a year or two, you perfectly understand how difficult the service can be if you do not throw the ball, but throw it right away on the racket. Hand service can be compared with a goal from offside, when the rules do not prohibit it the chaos begins in the game.
A number of top-level tennis players went even further. They did not just serve the ball from the hand, but they also added an extra spin due to the fingers of the hand that threw the ball. As a result, the atomic mixture was obtained, and it was very difficult to cope with the service.
The peak of such service development was reached by the end of the 70s, after which the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) changed the rules, adjusting the service rules.
Now it was necessary to throw the ball no less than 16 cm high and perform at an angle of at least 45 degrees it is compliance with this angle does not allow to throw the ball immediately on the racket, giving it an additional impulse in the form of acceleration or spin. Also, it was set up in the rules that since now athletes can throw the ball only with an open palm. If the ball is thrown by the fingers, then a point was taken from the player.
The introduction of these rules ended the era of services, the complexity of which was created due to the lack of clear rules. And although the transition was gradual, still many continued to serve, not strongly adhering to the rules, and a number of umpires werent too strict and closed their eyes to those moments: with the change of generations, these serves have gone down in history.
Since the mid 80s, services began to develop in a different direction. They became more difficult, but now the athletes were looking for complexity in other aspects.
At present, the main three components of a service are: the ball processing technique, which has been constantly improved, the position in front of the table and the ability to cover the moment of touching the ball and racket with the left hand and core.
Now the athletes began to use the forehand service more often. At the same time, they approached the table with their left side to hide the moment of touching the ball and racket.
The peak of complexity development of services performed in this way was reached in the mid-90s. Outstanding masters of that time were Jan-Ove Waldner and todays coach of the China mens national team Liu Guoliang.
Those who play table tennis for a long time, remember that at that time the set was played up to 21 points and with 5 services.
In those years service complexity reached such a level that a series of five services became an analogy to the home serve game in tennis. If one lost his series of serves
2:3, and then the opponent converted his series 4:1 then you already lose 7:3. Another unsuccessful series of home serves and chances to win the set are miserable.
The services were so complex that in a series of 5 services there could be 2 errors immediately on return and 2 more passive returns that allowed the server to win the next point in the same manner.
The International Table Tennis Federation believes that complex services to some extent limit the possibility of a long rally and this affects the spectacularity of the sport.
Beginning from the late 90s, the topic of a new round of changes in the service rules was actively discussed. As a result, in 2002, the new rules forbade hiding from the opponent the moment of touching the ball and racket with a hand or body.
As a result, at the beginning complexity of the services fell dramatically, but it lasted a year; and then with the full connivance of the umpires, the athletes began to cover the ball with the core, hiding the moment of touch of racket and ball.
Thus, the International Federation did not succeed, in weakening the influence of the service on the rally. Serves at a high level remained very complex.
And at the moment when these lines are being written, a new storm of discussion has begun in the world concerning the weakening the influence of the serve on the rally. One of the options that is now actively discussed is the complete transition to the backhand serve. If this happens, then it will be a very dramatic change.
Principles of organizing and training athletes in China the world leader in table tennis
Currently, Chinese athletes show excellent results and are the vivid leaders in this sport. It is the Chinese athletes who are now setting the main directions for the development of table tennis. Table tennis is one of the mass and successful sports in China that has maintained world leadership for more than 50 years.
What are the reasons of the phenomenal success of Chinese athletes at all major tournaments? Having answered this question, one can understand modern trends of table tennis development.
Support of table tennis by state leaders. Several generations of political leaders of China have supported table tennis as a national sport. So, Deng Xiaoping constantly kept tab on the success of the adult national team, as well as paying attention at the youth. In 1990 Jiang Zemin even sang a hymn to table tennis and not only regularly attending competitions, but also team trainings. In 1995, he participated in the opening ceremony of the World Cup in China, to meet the leaders of the Committee of International Table Tennis Federation.
The national development strategy.Training at home and competing with foreigners is the main strategy of table tennis development in China. The regional teams support the national team, and national table tennis team oversees the sports schools, student and school teams. The national strategy of the table tennis development respect and support between the upper and lower layers of the sports institutions is mutual.
The scientific approach in training. Coaches use mathematical models in the training process, which simulates main rivals way of playing. In addition, a detailed video analysis, simulation analysis and knowledge about the opponent are implemented. All this adds confidence to athletes in a future game. Through the simulation, they are completely prepared psychologically, not only technically.
Creating competition inside the team. Two national teams are formed in China: the first and the second. On the one hand, of the first team players feel pressure, on the other hand, it motivates second team players to get into the first team. Thus, levels of both teams are growing through mutual competition.
Closed trainings before major tournaments. Wide training camps and closed training process before important matches are one of the vital approaches of the Chinese team. The purpose of camps is that athletes would be fully prepared physically, technically, tactically and psychologically.
Closed trainings before major tournaments. Wide training camps and closed training process before important matches are one of the vital approaches of the Chinese team. The purpose of camps is that athletes would be fully prepared physically, technically, tactically and psychologically.
Training plan. Chinese coaches put emphasis on what to train?, how to train? and how much to train?. The establishment and implementation of the training plan is the basic need for every athlete and coach. Training plan is the basis of the training system. The content of training schedule of a given sportsman is decided by a team of researchers and coaches.
Summation after responsible and important games. Regardless of the achievements of the national team, Chinese experts collect all materials into a large report for analysis and summation.
Having examined the basic organizational scheme of the Chinese national team lets move to the main principles used in the preparation of Chinese athletes.
Recapturing initiative in the game
The fundamental premise of athletes tactical action sounds like this: creating moments to recapture the initiative. What does this mean? When making strikes one should impose a defensive style of game to his opponent, performing hard strokes to inconvenient spots. The initiative should be seized at each stage of the game process, starting from service and ending with the block. While in defense, you should look for an opportunity to weaken the opponents pressure and make counterdrives, taking game control by the throat.
Developing the strengths
Coach must identify the strengths of the athlete and build the training on the basis of his strengths development and its variation. When strengths become second nature, it allows one to be all over the game. Thats how a unique style of player emerges.
Mastering weaknesses
Constant mastering of the athlete weaknesses during the training process. The modern player should have versatility and ability to play in different situations. Obvious weaknesses are identified by the opponent, who puts his efforts into focusing on them.
Constant competition
Learning the necessity to constantly seek the opportunity to attack and possess the initiative in the rally. Attacking, aggressive style of play and the constant competition is one of the critical success factors in todays tennis.
The balance between defense and attack
The player should be mature both in attacking and defensive style this will create additional space for maneuverability and variety during the game. The opponent must never predict how one returns the ball.
The aggressiveness, speed, spin and unpredictability
The aggressiveness throughout the game and a desire to take the game control over. The ever-increasing speed along with the spin. Only their combination will lead to success. The unpredictability of the game in order to not let the opponent unlock your game strategy, so he would always be under pressure and constrained in his actions.
Chapter 2. Basic strokes of modern table tennis
Lets start with the most important stroke in table tennis topspin/loop. Top-spin (top-spin) is translated from the English language as the top rotation (spin). In fact, any ball that has a top-spin in table tennis logically should fall within the definition, but it is actually more complicated.
When we say top-spin, we mean a powerful attacking element, which provides maximum top rotation and the speed of the ball.
Top-spin is a table tennis game element that is the most acute and difficult to return.
All players with senior adult degree and higher are capable of forehand top-spin, but in the hands of the masters among first one hundred strongest athletes in the world it is a powerful weapon, which they seek to apply in every rally (of course, in except the players, advocating a protective style) and win a point due to this element.
Were going to devote this chapter to the forehand topspin the most powerful and commonly used element in modern table tennis.
Different variations of the forehand top-spin
Forehand top-spin, as already mentioned, is an integral part of the technical arsenal in modern table tennis. Athletes playing in an attacking style (more than 90%) who perform 6070% of attacks use exactly forehand top-spin. The number of points won due to forehand top-spin, in total, exceed 50% in the most matches.
The number of variations of the forehand topspin is outplayed, perhaps, only by the number of table tennis serve variations. However, if we consider only gaming elements,
the forehand top-spin is the most hygienic stroke.
To show you the importance of the forehand top-spin as an element, lets imagine the following situation: imagine that an athlete cant perform forehand top-spin at all, but he masters all other tennis elements. What are the chances of such athlete? Perhaps his chances, in this case, tend to zero.
Now, for example, lets take away the backhand top-spin from our imagined character. Will there be any chance to succeed for such an athlete? Definitely! Do not believe? Remember who became the Olympic champion in 2004. Right, Rue Seun Min. The representative of classical penhold with the ability to perform only a forehand top-spin.
The point is, that even without having a backhand top-spin in the arsenal, one can become an Olympic champion.
The same is with any other game element (serve is not a gaming element). The absence of any element can be compensated. But the absence of the forehand topspin cannot be compensated. All this stresses the crucial importance of this stroke in todays table tennis.
Now lets talk about the variability of the forehand topspin. Stroke technique is unusual due to the fact it has a lot of variations. And this is the last choice. Depending on a height, speed, rotation of a received ball, the top-spin technique is being changed. And thats when the forehand top-spin technique changes are most significant than in other elements. Often, even different principles are used, but more on this later. For now, its enough to remember that forehand top-spin has many variations that differ significantly from each other in the T. Committee manner.
Lets open a small secret. Most table tennis players make a lot of mistakes when performing forehand topspin on the right because they do not understand that each variation of the forehand topspin requires a separate insight and technical workover.
Conditionally, we can distinguish 10 variations of the forehand topspin shot; whereas, it can be divided into some subvariations. It is worth noting that its not widespread. So, lets now briefly consider the following: What stroke variations exist and in what situations are they used?
Variation #1. Forehand top-spin against a simple ball or block
This is a classic top-spin, the basic version of which is being mastered at the earliest stages of learning table tennis techniques. We can say that everything starts with this variation. Not mastering it sufficiently, you will not be able to master the other. Not even worth trying. Its like learning to run if you didnt learn how to walk. Everything is good in its season