Gunter Straub

Association of German Table Tennis Coaches (VDTT), Halle (Saale), Germany

Bilateral training has also been empirically proven in the ranks of racquet sports. Especially with regard to the improvement of placement accuracy but also early with regard to technical aspects of the stroke movement. In the second part of our review article, implications for training practice are presented. With this in mind, four questions are...

Bilateral training has also been empirically proven in the ranks of racquet sports. Especially with regard to the improvement of placement accuracy but also early with regard to technical aspects of the stroke movement. In this review article, the mechanism of bilateral training is explained and corresponding studies are presented.

This chapter discusses both the logic of categorizing approaches for table tennis-specific game analysis and diverse forms of game analysis in this sport. It is illustrated that descriptive and analytic research instruments to investigate table tennis matches can serve applied as well as basic scientific intentions. Within the application-oriented...

The purpose of this study was to analyze serve receive activities in elite European players. Twenty matches (78 games, 1466 points) of the semifinal and final German League and Europe TOP 16 in men’s (in the top 30 of ETTU Rank list) were analyzed. Differences in serving activities (type, stroke type, outcome, and placement) were analyzed according...

The structure of table tennis training is governed by the training rules that outline all organized sports and divides into two categories; general and specific training. General training refers to the development of physical abilities while specific training refers to the improvement and development of technical and regular skills. This review aim...

The term “defensive play” is known in many different sports. In the field of racket sports, however, the word defensive player is quite distinct to table tennis. While technically relying to a great extent on backspin defence, defensive players in table tennis are also called “choppers”. This article on the technical development of table tennis sho...

The fact that there is a connection between the reaction speed of a player and his or her playing strength, especially in table tennis, is not only extremely plausible, but also scientifically proven. Both with regard to children and - with some reservations - with regard to adults.

Recently, Gunter Straub came across the name of Kurt Defris in the autobiography of the legendary Richard Bergmann (1919-1970), a four-time World Singles Champion in table tennis. This shed some light on a man from Europe who helped to lay the foundations for table tennis in China, at a very early stage in the development of the sport. But the name...

The purpose of this study was to analyze the serve activities of elite European table tennis players. Twenty matches (78 games, 1466 points) of semifinal and final German League and Europe TOP 16 in men's (in the top 30 of ETTU Rank list) were analyzed. Differences in serving activities (type, stroke type, outcome and placement) were analyzed accor...

Maximilian Siener and his colleague Andreas Hohmann from the University of Bayreuth have recently made an interesting contribution to the screening of athletic talent in table tennis (Siener & Hohmann, 2019). The two researchers are thus participating in a discussion that has been largely determined in the ranks of European table tennis over the la...

Notational and Match analysis are very well-recognized methods to collect information about the most common technical-tactical performance indicators in table tennis: footwork and stroke types. The aim of this study was to compare footwork distributions in men (M) and women (W) elite table tennis competitions. Nine men's and nine women's matches we...

The objective of this study was to analyze the differences in table tennis games between winning and losing players, considering changes of rules. The data taken from four major rule changes in 122 games between 244 players in the period 1996 – 2015 were analyzed. Performance indicators were 30 technical and tactical activities (type, total number,...

The belief that children should ideally commit to a sport as early as elementary school age and train properly from then on in order to be able to compete quickly and for long stretches of the year is also widespread in table tennis. Often this takes the form of individual training, where a child practices systematically with a parent and/or their...

The structure of table tennis training is governed by the training rules that outline all organized sports and divides into two categories; general and specific training. General training refers to the development of physical abilities while specific training refers to the improvement and development of technical and regular skills. This review aim...

The purpose of this study was to analyse serve activities of elite European players.in elite European players. Twenty matches (78 games, 1466 points) of semifinal and final German League and Europe TOP 16 in men’s (in the top 30 of ETTU Rank list) were analysed. Differences in serving activities (type, stroke type, outcome and placement) were analy...

The purpose of this study was to analyse serve receive activities in elite European players. Twenty matches (78 games, 1466 points) of semifinal and final German League and Europe TOP 16 in men’s (in the top 30 of ETTU Rank list) were analysed. Differences in serving activities (type, stroke type, outcome and placement) were analyzed according resu...

The term “defensive play” is known in many different sports. In the field of racket sports, however, the word defensive player is quite distinct to table tennis. While technically relying to a great extent on backspin defence, defensive players in table tennis are also called “choppers”. This article on the technical development of table tennis sho...

Parental investments in competitive youth sport are just as indispensable as manifold. Parental ambition against this background can be thought as a particular, inner psychic resource which is brought into the young athletes’ career in a similar way just like periodic chauffeur services or financial support. Parental ambition can be defined as an i...

This poster deals with the topic of performance loss under psychic strain. The cognitive mechanisms which underlie “choking under pressure” are revealed; these are if an athlete consciously observes his own movement execution (“explicit monitoring”) and if an athlete is distracted by irrelevant environmental stimuli or useless thoughts. A special f...

Momentum, hot hand, and flow are terms that are mentioned periodically at competition sites as well as in academic institutions dealing with sport. Phenomenologically, it seems from time to time that these concepts, including also the notion of a “run” in the course of a game or match, are three, or four, of a kind. Having a particular view on net...

In table tennis, many different approaches to scientific founded match analysis have been developed since the first ones in the 1960s. The aim of this paper is to give a review on some of the most acknowledged methods of match analysis in table tennis. The first chapter presents a historical overview of match analysis from all over the world. The s...

The Chinese research activities in the field of tactical performance analysis in table tennis are traditionally based on a diagnostic method using indices to evaluate skills in three different stages of the rally. In the light of the 2014 world championships, an analysis of strong and weak points of the best men´s and women´s teams was conducted by...

Prior to the Olympic Games of Rio de Janeiro, Germany´s ranked number five player in the world (as of July 2016), Dimitrij Ovtcharov, underlined his claim to challenge the Chinese competitors. In considering this proposition, an analysis using the three-phase method of performance diagnosis was done in regard to 18 matches against the four players...

In the field of table tennis, there are a variety of approaches for systematic match analysis, as well as various ways to categorize these approaches. In this review article, first, diverse forms of game analysis in table tennis, and—as far as methodologically reasonable—in other fields of racket sport and team sport are collected and illustrated....

An summarizing analysis of 18 matches between Dimitij Ovtcharor and Fan Zhendong, Ma Long and Xu Xin (Olympic cycle 2013-2016) using "three-phase evaluation theory"

An introductory text on "three-phase evaluation theory" and Wu and Escobar-Vargas' method of notational analysis for competition in table tennis (2007)

The Chinese research activities in the field of tactical performance analysis in table tennis are traditionally based on a diagnostic method using indices to evaluate skills in three different stages of the rally. In the light of the 2014 world championships, an analysis of strong and weak points of the best men´s and women´s teams was conducted by...

An analysis of three men's singles matches played in the year 2013 using "three-phase evaluation theory"

This inquiry shows that, despite the decline of backspin defence in the world of table tennis, this recession proceeds rather slowly as far as the presence of defensive players on a world-class level is concerned. Besides this, it seems obvious that defensive players were not that widespread on a world-class level in the recent past as suspected. M...

Seit Ende der 1990er Jahre sind in Deutschland immer wieder Lehrtexte erschienen, in denen Trainer aus dem Leistungsbereich einen Einblick in die Grundausbildung von Verteidigungsspielern gewährt haben. Die verschiedenen Schriftstücke sind weniger Ausbildungspläne im strengen Sinne als vielmehr Handreichungen für Basistrainer. Methodisch-didaktisch...

Um einen Einblick die Technik und Taktik von Abwehrspielern im Weltklassebereich zu erhalten, wurden sechs Spiele, die im Rahmen der Individualweltmeisterschaft 2011 in Rotterdam stattfanden, systematisch beobachtet und ausgewertet. Es handelt sich dabei um vier Einzelbegegnungen bei den Männern und um zwei Begegnungen im Dameneinzel. In sämtlichen...

Two analyses of men's singles matches of the 2013 World Table Tennis Championships applying "three-phase evaluation theory"

This presentation shows that, despite the decline of backspin defence in the world of table tennis, this recession proceeds rather slowly as far as the presence of defensive players on a world-class level is concerned. Besides this, it seems obvious that defensive players were not that widespread on a world-class level in the recent past as suspect...

Um den gegenwärtig existierenden Pool an Daten hinsichtlich der Belastungen, denen Abwehrspieler im Wettkampf unterliegen, zu erweitern, wurden im Zuge der Weltmeisterschaft 2011 mehrere Begegnungen zwischen jeweils zwei Angriffsspielern sowie Matches, an denen Abwehrspieler beteiligt waren, analysiert. Von Interesse waren dabei die Ballwechselläng...

Ausgehend von der Frage nach der sportlichen Entwicklung von Abwehrspielern habe ich in den Jahren 2010/2011 eine Saison lang – mit nur einer einzigen Ausnahme – alle Defensivspieler, die ich in meinen Funktionen als aktiver Sportler und Zuschauer in pfälzischen Sporthallen getroffen habe, einem kleinen Interview unterzogen. Die Kernfrage bei diese...

Contents of Part IV: Chapter 8. Defence Play in the Third Millennium (Source: The Table Tennis Collector No. 66, 2012)

Contents of Part III: Chapter 7. 1984 – and the Time Period after (Source: The Table Tennis Collector No. 65, 2012)

Contents of Part II: Chapter 4. Hardbat versus Sponge - "The Future belongs to Offensive Play" (1952-1959) / Chapter 5. The Rise of the Loop (1960 -1969) / Chapter 6. The Combination Bat Players are coming (1971-1984). Source: The Table Tennis Collector No. 64 (2012)

Contents of Part I: Chapter 1. Early Techniques - Early Strategies (1901-1910) / Chapter 2. Ping Pong´s Return (1921-1929) / Chapter 3. The "modern" Game (1929-1952). Source: The Table Tennis Collector No. 63 (2012)