Since the 2018 Team World Table Tennis Championships, the Japanese teenager Mima Ito, born in 2000, has become the focus of the entire table tennis circle, defeating all Chinese women’s teams except Chen Meng The current world champion, ranking second in the world, can be said to represent the entire foreign association female players to compete with the national table tennis, which is a great threat.
As of May 2020, Ito has played against the Chinese team 100 times (data source: ITTF), with a winning rate of 36%!
In addition, Mima Ito’s victory against Guoping in the past two years has become more and more frequent, with Liu Shiwen and Zhu Yuling completely winning, and the gap with Ding Ning and Wang Manyu is significantly narrowing. Currently, it is only against Chen Menghe. Sun Yingsha is completely at a disadvantage, but she has also experienced many decisive battles, which also shows that the comparison of strength between the two sides is not particularly unbalanced. There are unlimited possibilities in the future.
However, this article does not intend to sort out Mima Ito’s achievements again, but focuses on the following issues:
The horizontal that Mima Ito belongs to What are the common characteristics of sect players who shoot the forehand and reverse rubber arcs and the backhand particle fast attack? What are the new characteristics of its accompanying table tennis equipment reform?
What is unique about Mima Ito’s own style of play compared to other pros, cons, and anti-particle fast-breakers?
Preparing for the Olympics, how should athletes with different styles of national table tennis guard against Mima Ito?
Advantages and disadvantages of the fast attack method of horizontal racket positive and negative, anti-grain
Table tennis horizontal racket forehand and reverse rubber, backhand particles (raw rubber, ortho rubber, long (Glue, half-length glue) fast attack is a martial art born in the 38mm small ball era. This type of athlete not only catches up with the trend of the circle ball era, but also sticks to the tradition of fast attack, trying to spin with the difference in equipment performance. Perfectly combined with speed, so that there is tension and relaxation, and adapt to different opponents.
But the idea is beautiful, but the reality is very skinny.
Next, let’s take a look at the advantages of horizontal particle fast attack:
As we mentioned earlier, the positive and negative, anti-particle fast attack absorbed two different eras The most advanced technology effectively exerts two of the three power elements of table tennis (speed and rotation), which is a highly compatible play.
In addition, in the 38mm small ball era, because the ball speed is too fast, in many cases it is difficult to complete large-scale twisting and pulling of the backhand, so the processing methods such as pushing, pulling, and bouncing without rotation have become the mainstream , Even anti-adhesive players are no exception-since they don't add much rotation, then the use of granular glue can also have speed bonuses and rotation changes. Wouldn't the effect be better?
The picture below shows the former world champion and veteran national player Wang Tao (Ito Mima’s childhood idol, is also a horizontal forehand reverse rubber, backhand raw rubber play) and French star Elowa through these crickets. We can see that Wang Tao does not need to add any topspin on his backhand. He can mobilize Elowa by directly pressing, pressing, and bouncing. Moreover, the line of the ball is stranger than the backhand. How can he not give his opponent a headache?
But with the in-depth practice and actual combat tests, everyone soon discovered that the horizontal shot, positive and negative, and anti-particle fast attack methods fell into a "high failure, low failure" in the table tennis world. Awkward situation, why?
First of all, compared with pen-hold shot normal rubber fast attack, there is no advantage in the overall speed of horizontal shot, front and back shot, and anti-grain fast attack, and the conversion between forehand and backhand is also more time-consuming, and the ability to hit the ball in the middle is worse;
Secondly, compared with the anti-adhesive on both sides of the horizontal shot, the rotation of the front and back and the anti-grain fast attack of the horizontal shot is obviously insufficient. Once it enters the stalemate stage, there will be various passives;
Finally, because the rubber properties on both sides are completely different, This makes it possible for the two sides to drag each other back for tactical purposes-the backhand particles should try to avoid being clamped by the opponent's looping ball, playing too much and spinning the ball. The problem is that once the forehand is pulled outWhen the arc comes out, it is easy to fall into the upper spin phase, which instead creates pressure on the backhand.
Especially when the ping pong world entered the era of big ball, the particle fast-breaking athletes also had to add the circle ball element to their own style of play, but this way they put a "yoke" on their fast break. For example, in the picture below, Ai Fukuhara's several boards are forehands to form an upspin, resulting in the loss of his fast break advantage, and then falling into a passive situation.
After the ITTF introduced the 40+ new plastic ball reform in the past few years, due to the decline in the rotation of the anti-rubber circle ball, the particle fast attack has rejuvenated new vitality. This is also Ito Mei Cheng, Falk (forehand and fore rubber) and others have improved their performance. But even so, the inherent shortcomings of the particle fast-breaking method cannot be solved, and no matter how rejuvenated, it cannot be compared with the 38mm small ball era.
Regardless of what kind of table tennis players are in a contest, the most fundamental principle of using techniques and tactics is to maximize strengths and avoid weaknesses. Like Ito Mima’s horizontal forward and reverse, anti-grain fast attack is a special style of play with outstanding strengths and obvious loopholes, so the methods to deal with them are mainly in the following three aspects:
to create a spin for the particle glue fast attack The characteristics of poor ability, play and turn the ball more to make the backhand, force the fast attack to make mistakes;
in response to the characteristics of the particle glue's poor fast attack stalemate ability, often use the long ball to rush the backhand and enter the stalemate directly. Avoid short shots with the opponent.
Aiming at the characteristics of granular fast-breakers who rely on their own backhands, try to send the forehand first and then press the backhand to avoid falling into the opponent's routine.
The above three points are general methods to deal with this type of athletes, and playing Ito Mima is no exception. But we must see that Mima Ito’s skills and tactics also have distinct personal characteristics, so specific analysis of specific issues is needed.
Mima Ito’s personal uniqueness
There are many players in the table tennis world of China and Japan, but they can beat Ito. There are not many people at this level of Makoto, so we must admit that Ito must have its own advantages, specifically in the following aspects:
First, Ito’s service level Quite prominent, this is rare in the field of women's table tennis. As we all know, affected by physical fitness and tactical awareness, most of the female table tennis players use stalemate as the main scoring method, so they have little effort in the training of sending and receiving, and most of them focus on stability.
However, Mima Ito is not only good in the first three rebounds, but also gifted in the serve stage. Almost everyone who plays against it is "sufferably hurt". This situation is more common in men's table tennis, but in women's table tennis. It's extremely rare, and people have to be convinced.
As for Mima Ito’s serve, the author will write a separate article for analysis, so I won’t discuss too much here. The main point here is that she has a very large proportion of long shots, so she should reserve a certain amount of space when receiving the serve to avoid directly hitting the muzzle and returning the ball as an opportunity.
Secondly, Mima Ito has a very strong offensive consciousness, and the women do not let their beards. In previous games, former national table tennis coach Li Xiaodong admitted that Ito was fierce and had a stronger offensive awareness than Wang Tao. Li Xiaodong was Wang Tao's coach for many years, so his views are worthy of reference.
For many years, Guoping has been advocating the masculinization of women’s play styles, but the physical fitness of men and women is different after all, so the masculinity reflected in technology is not as good as reflected in consciousness—female players feel good and hold each other well, but must Learning male players' fighting consciousness, daring to get started, and daring to pursue a one-board solution to the battle, and these thinking are precisely what Mima Ito possesses.
For example, the following boards, Mima Ito used four boards continuously after serving without a transition, and the line changed very quickly. First twist the backhand, then transfer to the forehand, and then return to the backhand; wait for Zhu Yuling When she thought she was about to return to the forehand, she changed to a backhand, which was too aggressive!
Third, Mima Ito’s performance during the gameWith a good mentality, I often show people with a smile and create scenes that are beneficial to myself. A good psychological quality is an essential element for an athlete to reach the top of the table tennis world. Mima Ito has played a lot of tailwinds and has many reversal wins. It can be seen that she is still very good in this area.
With skills, brains, and a good mentality, Mima Ito already possesses the abilities that a top table tennis player should have. It is no accident that it is now ranked second in the world. We have to admit this. . In that case, how should the Chinese team guard against such a powerful enemy?
How will the National Ping Ping public defend against Mima Ito?
Through the previous article, we have already understood the characteristics of Mima Ito and her type of table tennis player, so the overall defense method is clear at a glance. However, since each player in the national table tennis has its own distinct characteristics, everyone must choose the most suitable technique and tactics to deal with Ito. They must not simply and mechanically apply the same method.
Due to space limitations, this article does not intend to review all Chinese female players one by one, but mainly analyzes several main players (in recent years, there have been selected World Table Tennis Team lineups):
The advantage of Ding Ning is to rotate He has a good understanding, strong tactical awareness, and left-handed. The disadvantage is that the quality of the veneer is not high. In addition, he is old and cannot keep up with his physical footwork. Therefore, she must try to delay the pace of the game, and turn the ball back to avoid Mima Ito playing fast and slow. In addition, she must use the left-handed advantage to mobilize the opponent to make the short figure Ito tired of running around, causing movement deformation.
For example, the following cricket Ding Ning has made full use of his own advantages and managed to exploit his strengths and avoid weaknesses, making Mima Ito out of reach:
Zhu Yuling’s play style is similar to Ding Ning’s. , She feels good and has good tactics, but her offensiveness is not high, so she must change her defensive style from the bone, and specialize in training to strengthen her offensive awareness, otherwise there will be no way out to defend Mima Ito’s ball. It is a profound lesson!
And if Zhu Yuling dared to take the initiative, even if he can't directly kill the opponent, she can still carry it to the end in a stalemate. For example, the cricket in the picture below is the force of the board, and there should be no transition that causes the quality of the ball to decline:
Liu Shiwen's style is different from the above two. She is a speed-type play, but she is not as fast as Mima Ito, so she has always been "played fast" by the opponent recently. In view of this, she has to change her mind. Instead of head-on the opponent’s expertise, she should make good use of the advantages of anti-adhesive, first transfer to Ito Granules to face the backhand, and then take a long forehand to force her to retreat or have no time to retreat. Row.
For example, Liu Shiwen’s first backhand is actually not fast, but because of enough turns and long lines, Ito Mima is afraid of making mistakes and can’t attack fast, so the initiative returns to Liu Shiwen’s side:
Wang Manyu's play style is significantly different from the above three. She is good at backhand technique, and has very strong in-stage screwing strength. In theory, she is the person who restrains Mima Ito the most. However, Xiao Wang's forehand lethality still needs to be improved. If he can't follow up after a chance, he will easily be counterattacked (like Wang Hao was suppressed by Ma Lin), so he has to compensate for the quality of the forehand and the speed of connection.
Twisting is Wang Manyu’s advantage, so we must make good use of it, and we must act decisively, without any hesitation, and high-quality return can create a sense of oppression for the opponent:
Chen Both Meng and Sun Yingsha belong to athletes with comprehensive skills in all aspects, so Mima Ito feels "unbeatable". Relatively speaking, Chen Meng's ball strength is greater and Sun Yingsha is faster. Although the characteristics are different, they can effectively break through the loopholes of Mima Ito while ensuring the stability of other links.
The two people have no technical problems with Mima Ito. The key is to maintain a good attitude and avoid being disrupted by Mima Ito's fight. Steady fighting is king.
In summary, although Mima Ito is strong, the technical loopholes are also very obvious. With the talents of the Chinese table tennis players and the ability of the coaching team, they are fully capable of deciphering her routines, so everyone must be determined. Don't panic or show fear of fighting after being shocked for a few times-and Waldner back then Compared to Er and others, what is Ito's threat now!
If you want to win, you must not be afraid of losing; if you lose, don’t panic. Competitive sports has no victorious generals. You always think that you will win every time and others will not be able to win. How can it be possible? No matter who can participate in the Olympics next year, I wish everyone a good performance. If you meet Ito, try your best to win and become the hero of the national table tennis: Come on, everyone!
