(by Steve Hopkins)

This is a March 2020 video with clips of Japanese player Kenta Matsudaira.  The title is “8 Ridiculous Skills No One Expected” and it focuses on some of the shots that Matsudaira plays that are out of the norm.  The first shot is the Tomohawk serve – and the Reverse Tomohawk serve.  Some players use the Tomohawk as a change-of-pace and others occasionally throw out the reverse stroke as a surprise, but it is difficult to land the reverse Tomohawk consistently as Matsudaira does.   The video then follows his blocks, his sidespin blocks, and his incredible touch at the net.  With Matsudaira, you never know what you are going to get.  He might play three shots with full, booming strokes and push you away from the table, and then follow that with a chop block that bounces twice on the table or heavy sidespin.  He is fearless at the table, and his creativity and arsenal of shots harkens back to the creativity of the top Swedes in the 80s and 90s.

Sit back and enjoy the creativity of Kenta Matsudaira.

Kenta uses a special Arylate Carbon blade, and Dignics 05 on both forehand and backhand.

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