2022/13 original
Author:Yang Lei
This article is especially grateful to enthusiastic netizens "Hanjiang 150k" for their discussion messages and technical sharing, and are hereby thanked.
Table tennis is a sport of wisdom, no physical contact but everywhere tit-for-tat, you have Zhang Liangji I have a wall ladder, this and the other long inch of land does not let go.
In the game, everyone is thinking about the same problem: how to "guide" the opponent to return the ball in the way that is most comfortable for him, while suppressing the opponent's special skills.
Easier said than done. It is very difficult to do this, but it is not without methods.
The answer is the word "arithmetic". Learn to count the ball to become a master.
01
Counting the ball, in a word, is prejudgment.
The premise of prejudgment is solid technical ability, high concentration of attention and meticulous observation, but also includes game experience, understanding of ball rotation, etc., which is by no means an overnight achievement, but a long-term accumulation of performance.
02
Counting the ball, the most concentrated embodiment is reflected in the first three boards, serving and receiving the ball is almost one person and one like, kaleidoscopic, almost irregular.
For the master, the chance of directly eating the serve is very small, especially after the implementation of the unobstructed serve.
On the other hand, if your calculation is to let the opponent eat the serve directly, and the opponent receives it back, then it is easy to cause your own passivity. Scoring directly on the serve is a "catch-not" effect, a shortcut to winning, but it should not be the only goal to pursue.
The ideal serve is not to let the opponent eat the serve directly, but should be a kind of conspiracy - according to the opponent's technical characteristics, deliberately send a ball to the other party, if the opponent is not willing to take a big risk to receive high quality, then it will definitely return the ball in the way that the serving side expected (or "well designed"), then the serving side occupies the initiative, one step ahead, the overall lead, until the score.
For the side that receives the ball, if you want to break the calculation (routine) of others, the arsenal should be rich, the opponent has a ball over, you have 3 or more means to deal with, he has to prepare 3 or more kinds of return plans, the difficulty is very large.
For example, the other side sends a short ball over, you can swing short, can split long, can swing, can twist, can pick, then the whole table is your return to the ball landing point, coupled with your high technical proficiency, small action and fast shot, then the opponent is almost difficult to predict you in advance. The strength and weakness of the moment are reversed, and the "passive" of the serve becomes the "active" of the serve.
I don't know if you have observed that many professional players of comparable level have not played each other many rounds, often sending two or three crickets.
Is it that the level is not enough, and the basic skills are not solid?
On the contrary, it is precisely because the level is close, so the level of prejudgment of the two people is comparable, it is difficult to make a high opponent's advance prediction, resulting in both sides on the field appear to be somewhat "panicked" and "busy", which is a very clear embodiment of restraint and anti-restraint.
03
With the reform of 40+ and new material balls, many senior fans said, "Now table tennis, more and more rounds, but the degree of excitement is getting lower and lower"! Such a feeling, it is difficult for young golfers to understand now, "More and more rounds, isn't it more and more exciting?" ”
The essence of this is because with the reform of equipment and the decline of rotation, it is easier and easier to predict, and the "exquisite connotation" of table tennis is invisibly "diluted".
This reminds me of a classic clip of the men's singles final between Lao Wa and Xiao Sa at the 1997 World Table Tennis Championships in Eindhoven: between the electric light and flint, a straight line of Lao Wa's serve directly scored, and the opposite Xiao Sa was like a wooden chicken, shaking his head slightly, sighing slightly and then silently picking up the ball, and the applause of the whole audience was thunderous and endless.
Why is a "simple serve direct score" so wonderful?
Because in the top stage and the top duel, Lao Wa prejudged Xiao Sa's prediction in advance, thought of it and did it, which is so rare!
04
There is no 100% accurate arithmetic in the world, but "calculating accurately" can still be done.
The reason why the arithmetic ball can be realized is to "exploit the loophole of people's subconscious", in the case of too late to think, 99% of people will make instinctive reactions, rather than rational choices.
Based on this, in order to improve the success rate of the ball, you must "force" the opponent to make more subconscious return balls, and do not allow him (her) to think too much.
How?
The core winning factors are: speed and landing.
Fast enough, fast enough to exceed the opponent's conventional reaction, then he or she can only be tired of coping, making the most secure return ball, and the most secure return ball is exactly the "trap" you have already set.
Another factor is the landing point.
For example, the trickier the slash ball given (the greater the angle), the more likely it is to return the same way, and you can almost "wait" in advance. Another example is "every straight change oblique", not to encounter a straight ball must change the diagonal line, but to say that when the straight ball is unexpected (the straight line is the shortest, too late), the line is particularly "straight", the back slash is the instinct of people, nothing can be ignored.
05
Anyone has the ability to count the ball, but whether they can play it often depends on the opponent standing opposite you.
I don't know if you have ever felt this way? When you face an opponent who is lower than your own level, you feel "very relaxed" in all aspects, a feeling of being at ease and in control, and one of the important aspects is that you can predict the other party's prejudgment in advance.
Just as you are Rulai, the other party is Sun Wukong, no matter how he (she) jumps and changes, after all, he can't escape the palm of your hand.
Therefore, Deng Yaping once said: "After retiring, I almost didn't play table tennis anymore, and it was difficult to find an opponent." Because I have already played by prejudgment, every serve and return of the other side is basically in my expectations. I don't have to fight for physical strength (and I win).".
In recent years, the strength of the little fat has not lost to anyone, but the competition has repeatedly paid fees to Ma Long, and the gap in "counting ability" is one of the main factors.
In fact, there is no need to be too frustrated. Double Circle Grand Slam "Malone is the top existence of today's counting ability, and the previous Marlene was also the leader in this field, and the strong Dragons also "paid tuition" to Marlene for a long time.
Failure often contains transcendence.
06
Counting the ball, saying a thousand ways and ten thousand, is ultimately a kind of "software", and "software" needs "hardware" support no matter how strong it is.
Solid technical ability, competition experience, understanding of rotation, and so on " hardware" are indispensable, require hard work and long-term accumulation, and cannot tolerate sloppiness.
Behind any confrontation is a contest of strength.
"Hardware" must be improved, and "software" cannot be left behind. Who does not "count" people behind their backs, who has no one behind them "counts", first "counted by others", slowly long memory, and gradually learn to "count others", is nothing more than a necessary way to grow.
"Be counted by others", don't be annoyed; "count others", don't be crazy. I think it is the highest state of "counting the ball".