If there is a technology that has changed the world table tennis world, it must be backhand twisting.
From Kerber, known as the "originator of twisting", to Zhang Jike, who carried forward this technology, after the efforts and practices of one or two generations of athletes, this technology has swept the entire table tennis world, almost becoming the standard for professional players, and even driving many amateurs to start using it.
So, what does this technology that changes the overall style of the world table tennis bring to table tennis?
1. Twisting and pulling improves the backhand system
Before the birth of twisting technology, the forehand was always the core technology of athletes.
Quite a few athletes, even using one-sided play, using forehand throughout the stage, have achieved a lot of excellent results under the guarantee of strong pace ability. Until the era of Wang Liqin and Chen Xuan, even if there was a backhand, the technical and tactical aspects were still based on the forehand as the core, and the backhand was mainly transition, pushing and defending.
Since the backhand hits the ball in front of the body, it is difficult to send out a large force, and it is difficult to create rotation, and the smaller range of action is conducive to stable defense and the articulation of the action, and it is a natural idea to take the forehand as the core.
However, with the backhand twist, in many cases the backhand is ahead of the forehand, because of the ability to play the short ball in the stage. In the face of a short ball in the forehand position, if it is not high, it is more difficult to pick the shot; but the backhand can insert the racket under the ball, by increasing friction and rotation to ensure the success rate, so that the backhand position to achieve no dead angle attack.
Many athletes even handle the ball in all positions after mastering the backhand twist. Therefore, the backhand system is more complete, giving birth to a large number of athletes with the backhand as the core.
2. Twisting shortens the training cycle of athletes
Cultivating a good table tennis player with strong practical ability is not an easy task.
For example, receiving the ball is a very difficult, very testing technique for basic skills and game experience. After accurately judging the rotation, landing point and speed of the opponent's serve, it takes many years of skill and experience to choose the right technology to return the ball.
However, twisting, to some extent, circumvents these problems. Proficient in twisting, you can better cope with a considerable number of serves (side spin, down spin).
Moreover, because the rotation of the twisted back ball changes less, after the formation of the hold, it is often what we often call the big road ball, which makes the change of table tennis more single, the training is relatively simple, and the cycle of training athletes is greatly shortened. Many excellent backhand system athletes can already show strong competitiveness in their teens.
3. It is easy to form technical dependence
It is precisely because the twisting technique is relatively easy to learn and the results are fast, many athletes have formed a dependence on it, and almost all balls are handled using twisting.
In the short term, twisting is indeed a very good means of receiving the ball, which adds a lot of pressure to the serving party.
However, once you rely on twisting, the change in the serve is much less, which is equivalent to directly telling the opponent what to do, which provides convenience for the opponent's tactical formulation.
Specifically, when the other party knows that you want to twist, you can limit the success rate and quality of the twist by sending a ball that is not easy to twist, or not turning, or combining length and short, or sneaking up on the landing point, thus establishing a huge advantage in the serve.
At this time, even if you want to change, it is very difficult, because the transition dependence on twisting and pulling is likely to shorten the training time of your control techniques such as short swing and split length, and even if you want to pursue change, there is no technology that can stand up. From first-class to super-first-class, what needs to be trained and learned will not be reduced by twisting.
In this way, the twisting technology is first of all a powerful supplement to the existing technology, making the backhand system more complete and giving the backhand system the opportunity to compete with the forehand system. This is clearly an overall advancement in technology and philosophy.
Because the twisting technique is easy to use and easy to learn, the road to becoming a talent for young athletes is greatly shortened, and it can be used to replace a considerable number of difficult control techniques. However, if you want to become a super-first-class player, it is not enough to rely on the backhand with the twist as the core.
When Fan Zhendong first debuted, he was called "only twisting" by Coach Wu Jingping, and after gradually maturing, the serve also began to be dominated by short control, forming the characteristics of balanced playing style of forehand and backhand; Wang Chuqin has high-quality twisting ability, and in the past two years, he has gradually optimized the control technology in the stage and gradually improved the forehand; Zhang Jike, as the integrator of the backhand system, the means of receiving the ball are also changeable, and the forehand is still used sideways at key moments.
More and more first-class and super-first-class players prove to us that twisting is a good technology, all relying on twisting is not a good thing, after perfecting various technologies, flexible use, the pursuit of change, is the best choice!