The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes AN Yeongeun (Korea):
Strengths:
good footwork
good consistent defending on both forehand and backhand
consistent pushing
good variety of backhand serves
good forehand topspin
Weaknesses:
generally too defensive. A bit too “old school”.
when defending with forehand she takes too much “swing” to chop. She won’t have enough time to do this against the better attackers since their topspins will be faster.
backhand defense often goes up too high.
too much pushing with the backhand covering 80 % of the table. Too often pushing the ball with backhand from the forehand side with out any need
no attacking skills on backhand shown
forehand topspin okay, but not consistent and not often enough used
backhand serves only
no twiddling of the bat
in push competitions she is “hopping” around to much without any need
Suggestions:
Should learn to attack more often and more consistently
Should learn to twiddle the bat especially when pushing so much with backhand.
Especially with backhand since attackers will rely on her always pushing the ball back from her backhand side
Should practice greater variety of serves also with forehand
should learn to chop with shorter arm strong and stronger wrist impact to save time and give higher backspin to the ball
should try to get away from “hopping” without reason and just move where it makes sense.
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Qianhong Gotsch (China):
Strengths:
good backhand serves
very good forehand smash
good footwork
choppy fore and backhand when pushing
Weaknesses:
seems to play with two sides pips in, which is disadvantageous against better players
haven’t seen a forehand topspin from her yet
forehand defense looks more “shovely” than choppy
Suggestions:
if you don’t want to use long pimples you need to be able to float back fast spinny topspins in order to keep the ball low and deceive the opponent. So practise heavy chop versus float on same kind of topspin
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Kim Youjin (Korea):
Strengths:
good backhand defence/chop
good footwork
consistent pushing with forehand, also seem to be quite “choppy”
good variety of backhand serves
Weaknesses:
generally too much defending only.
forehand defence often come back too high. Technical issue: Like many female defenders she “shovels” round the ball instead of chopping or cutting through the ball or trying a “float”
forehand topspin missing, especially when confronted with pushes down her forehand
no or few twiddling of the bat
Suggestions:
generally she should try to get more versatile: Use forehand topspin more often, twiddle bat (use pips in to push from backhand side), use forehand serves, block unexpectly with backhand (either with long pips or pips-in according to the situation)
improve forehand defence against slow and spinny topspins by either using long pips to defend or taking the ball lower and chop it more than “shoveling” it back.
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Alina NIKITCHANKA (BLR) :
Strengths:
good backhand block with pimples down the line
quite choppy forehand defence
good backhand serves
Weaknesses:
definetively too week attacking qualities, too much old school chopping only
goes back from the table too far and too early
back hand defense not consistent enough
“hopping” with body without need disadvantageous
bat grip issue: the way she grips the bat when defending (thumb middle on the forehand rubber side is disadvantageous if you get a fast topspin into the forehand
not chopping through the ball with forehand but “shoveling” around it. This will not work against better topspins and the ball goes up too high.
Suggestions:
improve general footwork
definitely practise more forehand attacking (topspin on pushes and counter topspin from far behind the table)
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Aikaterini TOLIOU (GRE)): Not much to say from just one video!
Strengths:
good footwork
good fighting spirit (didn’t give up after being down 0:3)
nice use of long pips to attack on pushes with backhand
Weaknesses:
defending generally could be more consistent on both sides
problems when confronted with balls played into her body
hugh problems when confronted with slow topspins into her forehand (often puts them back off the table or far too high)
too many backhand security serves
goes far off the table too early and often without need
footwork and body placement: She often advances her right leg as if she knows that the ball could only come to her backhand thus blocking her forehand completely
Suggestions:
practise versatile serves especially also with forehand
forehand defence should get more constistent, lower and with more chop
should practise more attacking with forehand in all kind of situations: against pushes, from far behind the table etc.
should practise defending balls played into her body with backhand and quick lateral footwork.
maybe she should learn to use defending with long pips on forehand if getting ball low and consistently with pips-in doesn’t work out
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Li Qian (POL):
Strengths:
consistent defending on backhand with long pips
very good physically fitness with some limitations though (see below)
good attacking quality with long pips on backhand on high pushes or slow blocks
good backhand serves
Weaknesses:
forehand attacking quality too poor especially topspin
defence on both backhand and forehand still often goes up too high
forehand defence ball taken too high when confronted with very spinny topspin
forehand push and defence ball is generally not choppy enough (not enough use of wrist)
a lot of unnecessary “hopping” between ball contacts thus waisting energy and risking not having the legs touching ground when needed
places the ball still too often down the middle making it too easy for opponent to attack with forehand
There seems to be a physical limitation where it is not clear to me whether that is hereditary or just a bad habit: Here arms and legs seem to be a little “glued” to the center of the body where as they should be much more flexible.
Suggestions:
practise more versatile serves also with forehand
practise more dynamic forehand topspin on pushes
try counter topspinning from far behind the table with side spin
test twiddling the bat when pushing to try to force unforced errors
try to “loosen” arms and legs somehow from behind to close to body when playing
try to get rid of “hopping” between rallies (probably not possible, I know)
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Riyo Nemoto (Japan):
Strengths:
good physical fitness and footwork
consistent defending on backhand with long pips
consistent defending on forehand
Weaknesses:
“attitude” problem: Her body language often shows frustration or resignation which you should never show to your opponent
main weakness is her feeble topspin on pushed balls as you can see in this defender against defender match (Xue Li) even though she beat another defender in the 2014 US open QF
very much backhand serves only, no versatile serves
forehand defending consistent but generally to high. In my view because she is not using wrist enought to chop “through” the ball
not taking advantage of opportunities to attack with forehand topspin. She gets a lot of long pushes into her forehand which she could attack
often puts the backhand defense ball into the same place on the table making it too easy for the opponent to topspin all the time
never twiddles the bat
never blocks back a fast topspin into her forehand
Suggestions:
practice more versatile serves
use more often pips in on backhand to push ball back with heavy backspin in order to prevent fast first topspins by opponent
practice twiddling the bat, make use of pips-in on backhand pushes and block with backhand spontaneously
attack more with forehand on forehand pushes but also counter topspins from far behind the table
should practise using long pips for “push-lifting” the ball in order to put pressure on the attacker
learn to block topspins with forehand also from far behind the table to break the rhythm of the opponent
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Camelia POSTOACA (ROU):
Strengths:
very good attacking qualities especially forehand topspin in all situations
good footwork
nice use of long pips when taking pushes early above table: Pushlifting the ball thus putting pressure on the attacker
good backhand defence
good forehand serves
nice occasional blocking with long pimples on backhand
Weaknesses:
sometimes attacking too often or too rushy
never defending on forehand, not even when it makes sense or attack is not really an option
not defending with backhand when confronted with topspins down the middle/into her body which would be better than just lifting the ball back with forehand
Suggestions:
practise defending with backhand from middle of the table
practise occasional defending with forehand
practise some serves with backhand
try to find better balance between defending and attacking
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes CHOI Moonyoung (Korea):
This is the only video I currently found and may not be very representative since the attacker is using short pips on the forehand which is always very awkward for 3 reasons:
you don’t get real and normal topspins as expected but just “lifted” ball which are difficult to defend and difficult to attack
very often those players are very good at smashing pushes and defence balls. Defendig fast hits is always more tricky than defending topspins
when the attacker plays a push/stop-ball the ball generally gets topspin in the other direction and the defenders tends to put the next push off the table as you can also see in this video
Strengths:
good general physical fitness
good but not very consistent backhand defending
good forehand topspin on pushes and topspins down her forehand
Weaknesses:
too vulnerable on “pseudo” or “empty” topspins=topspins with nearly no topspin. She puts them too often into the net.
too much backhand serves of same style
too inconsistent in forehand defending and pushing
too vulnerable on sidespin serves
Suggestions:
practise more consistent defending on various topspins
practise greater variety of serves
attack more often with forehand
learn to break up the game by push-lifting the ball with long pips on backhand or even learn backhand topspin on pushes
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes LIU Fei (China):
This is a great one:
Strengths:
good footwork and general physical fitness
very good, low and consistent forhand defending with pips-in rubber which is very rare in female table tennis.
forehand push with pips-in is very choppy producing a lot of first topspin errors by the opponent
backhand defence also very low and choppy
Weaknesses:
generally too much defence only, nearly no attacking capabilities shown over whole match
too many backhand serves of same style and placement
Suggestions:
absolutely needs to work on attacking capabilities, especially forehand topspin on pushes down her middle or forehand
also counter topspins or aggressive blocks from behind the table with forehand need to be developed, same as most of male defenders and also female players as Wu Yang f.e
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”! Here comes Isabelle Siyun Li (Singapore):
Strengths:
very good forehand topspin
good backhand serves
very consistent defending on both sides but generally too high
good forehand counter loop from far behind the table
Weaknesses:
defence on forehand and backhand often returned too high, so that she gets punished by unretrievable smashes
not a great variety of forehand serves shown
forehand pushes too high and not choppy enough
backhand defense takes the ball too high (with short pimples as far as I could see)
Suggestions:
a simple “beginners” error in my view is: She does not clean her pimples in-rubber on the forehand when it is covered by dust. You can see loads of white powder on the rubber in close-ups in the video. On any of these spaces of the bat you won’t get any spin when chopping, the ball “slips” through the racket when you attempt to block and finally you rapidly damage the rubber which is unnecessary (even if you get loads by your sponsor!)
get more versatile serves, also with forehand
take the ball lower when defending with short pips on backhand
Forehand defense is rather “showeling” the ball back instead of chopping/cutting through the ball. She should practise chopping which deserves the name!
I also the a rubber issue here: The short pips are not choppy enough and she doesn’t win a lot of points by blocking or counter hitting the ball with the backhand. So they are not very useful in my opinion. I thing she should try long pips or the short pips that Hou Yingchao is using.
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Linda Bergström (Sweden):
Strengths:
good but not tremendous footwork
heavy chop when defending heavy topspins
versatile serves
good mixture of defending and attacking
good blocking and smashing with pimples out
Weaknesses:
sometimes twiddles the bat without any need or system
backhand defending could be a bit more consistent
forehand defence goes up too high too often.
not using enough wrist to chop down the ball when defending thus returning quite a few balls too high.
forehand topspin too inconsistent especially when far off the table
a bit to vulnerable to tricky and fast serves
Suggestions:
she should twiddle the bat according to whether it makes sense or not which means according to what stroke the attacker played or is most likely going to play
she should practise forehand counterspinning with sidespin from forehand side. The trainer should double check the technique (the body is not turning, only the arm which is not powerful enough on the long run and produces too many errors)
practise consistent returns on tricky serves
practise defending lower and more consistent with forehand. Learn chopping either with “float” with pimples in or with long pips on the forehand.
practise footwork especially when having to defend balls from into her body
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Alina Arlouskaya (Bielorussia):
Strengths:
good footwork
nice versatile attacking skills and instinct: forehand topspins, backhand smashes
good twiddling of the bat, often returning topspins into her forehand with the long pips with heavy chop and pushing with a lot of backspin with her backhand into the forehand of the opponent forcing him to spin the ball up
Weaknesses:
sometimes to rushed to attack all the time once she has started with a forehand topspin
overuse (?) of pimples out when forehand defending
backhand serves only?
pushes too often with backhand from forehand side thus preventing herself from attacking with forehand
even pushes too much from forehand with forehand (at least in the second video)
Suggestions:
get greater variety of serves
defend with floats on forehands with pimples in occasionally
practise lifting the ball up with long pimples down the line with no spin (a lot of attackers don’t like this)
learn to attack pushes with a lot of backspin into her forehand
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”! And just one video is not enough to tell the whole story.
Here comes SATO Hitomi (JPN):
I see a lot of improvement by Sato and think she is currently physically and tactically the best female defender in the world. There are little issues she could still work on:
Long pips rubber. I think there is a material issue here. From what I can see the oponents hardly ever put a topspin into the net and rarely push the ball off the table. So my conclusion is that the long pips do not generate enough backspin. I would recommend considering choppier longpips.
Often backhand defense goes up too high because she takes the ball too high/too early (or the pips don’t “eat” enough of the topspin. This is too often punished by smashes she won’t get back any more.
The forehand chop is still too much “shoveling” technique instead of chopping technique. She is going slowly “round” the ball instead of “cutting” through the ball.
If she gets these issues sorted she will be in the top 5 female in the world 🙂
Eventhough she lost 4:0 here, I can also see a lot of improvement in versatility: Twiddling of the bat, topspins with backhand, blocking with backhand with both rubbers etc. A bit downside is: Too much defending with backhand from forehand side and pushes are too short to put pressure on opponent.
She really improved a lot recently!
Strengths:
good footwork
good backhand serves
good backhand defending
good backhand smash with long pimples
occasionally nice twiddling of the bat
occasionally nice counter topspin with forehand (a bit slow though)
Weaknesses:
forehand defending too often to high
forehand push is a “security push”, not enough backspin on it.
is playing backhand pushes from forehand side too often without need thus preventing herself from attacking with forehand
forehand topspin too undynamic and too inconsistent
to much unforced errors especially on serves as shown in first set here.
not using the chances of attacking long pushes down here forehand
Suggestions:
should practice to chop with forehand low in defending
should use wrist and chop also pushes thus preventing opponent from getting in with fast forehand topspins
should practise greater variety of serves especially with forehand
should develop forehand blocking techniques or counterspinning techniques when confronted with fast topspins down her forehand
should learn to attack more often on passive balls down her forehand side
should learn to twiddle bat to make her pushes more unpredictable for the opponent
should try quick “roll in” serves with long pimples without forward spin (very surprising for most attackers)
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Maria Malanina (Russia): One video/one set is not enough to do a thorough analysis. So just a few observations.
Strengths:
good footwork, especially when defending spinny topspins into her forehand with the backhand
quite consistent defending on both forehand and backhand
Weaknesses:
not sure: backhand serves only?
occasionally takes spinny topspins too early/too high thus returning the ball to high
no twiddling of the bat at all during rallies.
Suggestions:
get greater variety of serves
practice twiddling the bat especially when confronted with slow spinny topspins into her forehand (use long pimples then) and when confronted with a long push or stop ball into her backhand use pimples in to push back with heavy chop in order to prevent fast topspins from the opponent.
The following observations are of course my personal view and do not claim to be the “truth”!
Here comes Ayuka Tanioka (Japan):
Strengths:
Very choppy forehand pushes
good backhand serves
good awkward backhand sidespin push
occasionally heavy chop when backhand defending (looks like shot pips to me).
Weaknesses:
very much “old style” defending: too passive, pushing and chopping too much
no great and surprising attacking skills
forehand defending too inconsistent. She especially misses too many defence strokes when confronted with “lifted” topspins with little spin.
tries to attack often with backhand smashes with pimples out and misses too much of them
Suggestions:
should work on attacking skills especially with forehand (topspins) on long pushes to her forehand.
when smashing with backhand she should aim at smashing down the forehand side of the opponent (when righthanded) rather than into the backhand where the ball is often returned easily.
should work on greater variety of serves especially with forehand. But also backhand serves are pretty much similar all the time.
should try to learn “float” defending on forehand side which is often more effective against good chinese players who can spin a choppy defence ball up easily a couple of times.
should learn to counterspin slow and long topspins to her forehand in order to break the rhythm of the attacker.
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