Table Tennis Styles - Where Are They Now?

I miss table tennis from the eighties - the decade in which I started to play seriously. It seems to me that back then there was a wider diversity of styles among the top players than there is today. There were blockers and choppers and penholders and loopers and hitters all vying for the titles, with a number of interesting match ups occurring at the various tournaments. I can't seem to get quite as excited about watching endless matches between two glued up power loopers, whether they be shakehand or penhold.

Take a look at the players below and see if you can name their modern day counterparts.

Then and Now

Then JO Waldner - magic man
Now JO Waldner - still magic!

Then Chen Xinhua - defender with great attack
Now Joo Se Hyuk, Chen Weixing

Then Jiang Jialang - penhold short pips hitter
Now ????

Then Dragutin Surbek - forehand looper
Now ????

Then Erik Lindh - over the table looper
Now ????

Then Carl Prean - looper/long pips hitter
Now ????

Then John Hilton - antispin combination bat looper
Now ????

Then Teng Yi - short pips combination bat hitter
Now ????

Then Des Douglas - blocker
Now ????

Then Jacques Secretin - looper/lobber
Now ????

Then Tibor Klampar - straight arm looper
Now ????

The Power Loop Rules, OK?

It seems that the modern game has evolved so that the speed gluing power loop dominates. I understand that this is the natural evolution of the game, which has been brought about by refinement of technique, improvements in rubber and blades, and the use of speed glue. I also realize that many players will say that this is simply the way of the future, and the ruling body of the sport should not interfere with how table tennis develops.

Variety is the Spice of Life

Personally, I believe this attitude is wrong. I believe that table tennis was more interesting to watch back in the days when other styles of play could survive in the top ranks. I would like to see a variety of styles in the top 100 players, with no one style dominating the others. If one style gets to be too powerful, then steps should be taken to cut back its advantage so that all styles can survive. Otherwise we are faced with the situation that the one style that is best suited to modern technology and equipment will kill off all the other styles, and we will have match after match that is pretty much the same.

At present, it looks like the power looping style is killing off all the others, but imagine if technology comes up with something that gives the pips out hitter an overwhelming edge. Would we want to watch endless matches of pips-out players smashing the ball at each other, with rallies lasting 2 or 3 shots maximum? At any rate, I certainly don't want to watch match after match of power-looping rallies and nothing else.

What I'd Like to See

Based on this approach, listed below are a few suggestions that I wish could be implemented

1. Limit the amount of spin and speed that can be put on the ball. The power loopers are getting incredible amounts of spin and speed which is driving out the other styles. A suitable cap on the amount of speed and spin that can be generated would level the field out a bit.

2. Have regular evaluations of the styles of the top players. If 80% of the top players are power loopers, what does this tell us? Probably that this is the style that wins tournaments. Why can't we try to aim for a sport where a number of styles can all be competitive? I do realize that this opens a can of worms in that we then have to decide which styles should be recognized as being worthy of survival, but I'd rather pick eight styles that I'd like to survive equally in the future, than have one style being king of the hill.

3. The styles I'd vote to survive would be, in no particular order:
   • Shakehand Looper (ie Waldner)

   • Blocker (Des Douglas)

   • Defender (Chen Xinhua)

   • Aggressive Defender (Joo Se Hyuk)

   • Penhold Pips-Out Hitter (Jiang Jialang)

   • Penhold Looper/ RPB Looper (Kim Taek Soo, Wang Hao)

   • Looper/Lobber (Secretin)

   • Combination Bat Hitter/Looper (Teng Yi, Carl Prean, John Hilton)

   • Miscellaneous Styles(Seemiller, Shakehand pips on FH/BH hitters, others I can't think of at the moment)

Conclusion - Never in a Million Years

I know, I know, it will never happen. But a guy can dream, can't he? Take a look at the styles in (3) above. I think it's a pretty good mix of playing styles and techniques. Just imagine for a moment that in the next World Championships, that the final 128 men players had about 15-20 players of each style mentioned above, all about the same level (don't worry about the exact maths please). Don't you think that there would be some wonderful matches to look at?