He had an incredible feel for the ball like no other player in the history of the game and loved to make the impossible possible. It was his love of playing, experimenting, being different, standing out from the rest and the trickery which made him so difficult to play against. No matter how hard his opponents trained and found variation of training partners i.e. right handers, left handers, power players, spiny players, etc. no training could prepare you for a Jan Ove Waldner in full flow.

Many points in this clip is Waldner when he is past his best so didn’t necessarily have the sharpness of his opponents but what he retained was the ability to know what his opponent was going to do before they themselves did.

Whilst these clips are filled with magic, we can still learn a lot. I adapted a service technique which is very different to Waldner by studying how he created the spin and deception that he did. Take not of the variation in his game and his use of the whole table and not allowing his opponent to get into any rhythm or routine.

Lastly, look at his opponent’s reaction after some of the points, you can see what they are thinking “How did he do that?”. You will quite clearly see the look of amazement written all over their faces.

Enjoy

I never thought I would see the day when a player so young would achieve such greatness. Being a champion takes many attributes, concentration, fitness, technical ability, mental toughness etc. Mental toughness, tactical awareness, ability to handle pressure in extreme circumstances and to express yourself on the table in these circumstances normally comes with experience (with age). 

This is why we commonly use terms like “been there, done, that, got the t-shirt”. For Harimoto he skipped the first phase and at a young age has already “done that and worn the t-shirt”. Harimoto is a special table tennis player for many reasons. You could argue that it is his raw talent and table tennis brain that makes him special but, in my experience, it is more than that. I do think that all of these have contributed to his achievements thus far and so early on in his career. As well as all of this, I believe that what sets Harimoto apart from the rest is his pure grit, determination, will to win and leaving it all out on court, knowing that he could not have done anymore to influence the result.

Harimoto has a combination of all the attributes above. I don’t know Harimoto personally, but I am willing to take an educated guess that in the training hall he has obscene work ethic, intense concentration, that he listens well, eats, sleeps and breathes table tennis. I listened to interview with Steven Gerrard not too long ago and he said, “to be successful you have to be obsessed”. I believe that the only way it is possible to have the mental strength that Harimoto has at his ripe age of 14 is to be “obsessed”.

Hope you enjoy the clip.

Once in a while as special player outside of Asia comes along with the natural ability to challenge the Chinese elite. There is often something very unique about their character, style of play, mental, physical and technical approach to the game, their belief in their own ability as well as technical brilliance. I see all these qualities in Brazil’s Hugo Calderano. Hugo is world renowned for his simply world class backhand, his ability to hit clean winners and ability to mix it up and string together consecutive backhand attacks in quick succession. The world of table tennis are constantly, quite rightly discussing his backhand and the threat that it poses which leads me to the question that is obvious in my mind “Has anyone seen his forehand?”. Sometimes when a player has such strength in one area, other strengths can be missed or ignored. Make no mistake, Hugo’s forehand is world class, as good as any player outside of China and it is clear to me that he has worked extremely hard in this area of his game and his forehand continues to develop. It appears that with every performance, his forehand is becoming, stronger, quicker, spinier, more powerful and in a nutshell “more clinical”.

It seems to me as an on-looker that he has no fear, no limits and is trying to master every element of the game which is a concept that The Chinese players and coaches believe in “Mastery”. He is good around the net, extremely good feel, variation and timing, sometimes uses the swivel wristed backhand which opens up the point allowing him be aggressive on both wings and you can see through his conduct, game management, competitiveness and you can see that he loves playing on the biggest stages and is not intimidated by the occasion. He is happy to go blow for blow with the Chinese players, can win points early on the 3rd or 5th ball but at the same time has the ability and self-confidence like the greats such as Boll and Samsonov to be patient and play the long rallies as well. He has great hand feeling, can retrieve the ball well and has even audaciously included the double handed backhand to his repertoire , normally seen in tennis and mastered by legends like Andre Agassi, Djokovic or Nadal. He has a great appetite for the game and a natural will to succeed.

Calderano recently lost to the current England number 2 in the German Bundesliga. Paul was magnificent, at the top of his game and took his chances well. I watched this game on youtube when I heard of Paul’s victory and I could see that regardless of the result, Hugo was incredibly positive throughout the match, albeit making lots of mistakes but he simply did not let up, continued to play with a positive mindset and with an aggressive style that if mastered will mean the sky is the limit for him. In my experience, I would say that Hugo is still evolving as a player, still learning still improving and whilst he is doing very well now, he is aware that sometimes you need to push yourself that much further if you want to compete with the best, beat the best and be the best.

I have chosen a video showing some of Hugo’s best bits, drive and determination.

Enjoy.

When I first started playing table tennis I repeatedly watched a video called “The Wacky World of Table Tennis”. I was obsessed with it because it displayed everything that excited me about table tennis and that is “everything and anything is possible”.

Many of the best table tennis shots happen when the point appears to be over, you are under extreme pressure and there seems like there is no way out. You end up digging yourself out of a hole through extreme shot making, power, spin, reactions or adopting the “nothing to lose” attitude so you attempt a shot that even you yourself have doubts about.

I hope you enjoy this clip, appreciate the skill level of these players and also see how they push the boundaries of the sport to the limit and most importantly see how these players adapt to pressure situations and come out on top.

It is fair to say that the best shot is saved till last so please watch to the end.