"Straight stroke" is the product of the struggle between straight stroke and horizontal stroke.
In the early days, going straight was to push left and attack right. It can be said that forehand wins the world. Even if the Japanese invented the loop ball, it still hasn't changed. Later, those Europeans who were born with only horizontal strokes, with their powerful loop balls, had a great influence on China's sideways attack. Soon, the world table tennis horizontal bar, including Asia, gradually became the mainstream, and so did China, especially women's table tennis, from the early world champions, Deng Yaping, Wang Nan and Zhang Yining to Li, Ding Ning and Liu recently. But for men's table tennis, it seems to be more inclined to the straight bar. Liu, Wang Hao, Xu Xin, whom we are familiar with, still stick to the only positions left in the straight bar.
Why is this happening? To put it bluntly, there is a bottleneck in the development of the straight bar. The straight bar is flexible in playing, strong in ball control and sharp and violent in sideways attack. Ryu Seung-min is a typical example. However, the push block is really unremarkable, even if it is pushed, it depends on the timing. To put it bluntly, there is no powerful backhand countermeasure. The forehand stroke of the crossbar is also very lethal, and the backhand can defend and attack, and it still has certain strength. In short, the forehand is strong and the backhand is not weak. In this way, the advantages of the straight board are not much. No matter how hard your sideways attack is, your backhand is always a gap or weakness.
In this case, "vertical and horizontal" came into being. The appearance of the horizontal shot of the straight board really made the fans of the straight board suddenly see the dawn, thinking that the straight board will return to the invincible situation in the world, and the best code can compete with the horizontal shot! Yes, the appearance of "direct pass" really caused great trouble to the opponent and made up for the lack of backhand.
There is only one Wang Hao who has never practiced pushing.
But we soon found that not every player can practice Wang Hao's selfless "direct hit" technique. When the ball is slow, we can retaliate with "direct pass", but sometimes it is really difficult to use it when the ball is fast, and the push block comes out unconsciously. In addition, the offensive and defensive conversion always feels uncoordinated. I don't think it's a problem to hit an opponent by surprise with three or five "straight strokes" in a game, and sometimes it can have good results. If I use both boards, I still feel powerless!
If you look closely at Wang Hao's playing career, you will find that Wang Hao has been practicing "straight horizontal playing" since he was a child. I don't know, and Wang Hao won't push it. Let's watch the video of Wang Hao's game. No matter who he fights, he will never push the block more than 10 times in the whole game. Every time he pushes a block, he is either killed by someone who picks up the height or accused of being short! Therefore, in a sense, Wang Hao can't push the block at all, but even if he only pushes the block and doesn't practice, we amateurs can't win him! After all, he is a professional player of the national team. When I say he can't push, I mean he hasn't practiced straight!
This illustrates a problem. None of us can be the second Wang Hao, because he has never practiced pushing since he was a child. No matter what the ball is, he will hit back horizontally. Can you do it? Can you do it in practice and competition? You can use a few boards occasionally, or you can always use a horizontal board. That's only Wang Hao!
Is there a contradiction between direct hitting and pushing?
Many table tennis friends are struggling with this problem. Some people say that if you want to be invincible, you must forget to push the block, just like Hao and Xu Xin in the later period, because pushing the block will leave opportunities for each other. Others say that fighting and pushing are not contradictory, but a better combination. Marin agreed with this view, and he did the same. Others simply say that "playing straight and horizontal" is useless and there are too many mistakes.
People who feel different have different opinions. Everyone's playing style and physiological structure are different, and the final playing style and effect are definitely different. What suits you is not necessarily suitable for others. I don't think this needs to be forced. But the fact is that "horizontal stroke" is absolutely useful and an indispensable skill in straight strokes. How to apply it to the actual competition, I think it has to be suitable for everyone! To put it bluntly, "vertical and horizontal" and "push" are not contradictory!
Wang Hao also made many lateral mistakes.
Because I am Wang Liken, I have watched almost every video of Wang Hao's game. The more I look at it, the more I feel that there are many mistakes in Wang Hao's backhand cross shot, many of which are fearless mistakes. In my opinion, although Wang Hao's forehand is sharp, it is never as violent as Ryu Seung-min's forehand, nor as domineering as Marin's forehand. For Wang Hao's forehand, I feel that it seems to be more balanced with backhand! And the overuse of horizontal hitting has lost some fatal lethality and flexibility!
As for Wang Hao's understanding of his rampage, I think I have to ask Wang Hao himself. We're just talking about phenomena and results!
Concluding remarks
Although "hitting the horizontal straight" is a double-edged sword, if it is used well, it will give a powerful blow to the opponent, but if it is not used well, it will make a mistake without fear. But it is indeed a skill that straight players must master at present! Really make up for the lack of backhand! The key is to see how you apply this technology!
This technology is both difficult and difficult. At the beginning, it is suggested to practice from hitting the ball first, not from friction at the beginning, otherwise it will affect the final strength and effect. How much can it be achieved and how much improvement can it bring to the competition results? This is absolutely suitable for everyone! But there is one thing you must do, and that is "practice"! And practice in the right way!