Liu gouliang was a pips out player and won many world ranked titles with a pips out rubber. (Clippa FH and Mendo BH, which he seldom used). Yes in this video, he was using a smooth rubber. He is just making a demo. Maybe he used Ma Lin's blade or Wang Hao. He zhi wen's serve? Yes, personally it's not that good because it's just a simple fast ball with a side spin and with proper direction. Good serving is not about giving the ball tremendous spin, It's about placement & 3rd ball attack.
LGL basically said they cannot do it simply because there were pressure, especially in the critical moment/required you to serve to certain spot. It is the practice to balance out the pressure to ensure they can still serve normally no matter what the score is.
To the boys: Look, I can normally serve like that, but you guys can't, because you have pressure. To the camera: when you have to serve to that particular spot, you will be psychological disturbed. That disturbance causes changes and ruins your fluidity. To the camera: this is a mental trick. In high pressure situations, like the critical points of World championship and Olympics, they become nervous, think too much, arm muscles tense up, and causes deviation. To the boys: I can do that all the time. See, he can't do it. Like that, you are welcome.
Great Servers? How about He Zhi Wen? I think pips out players like Liu Gouliang and He Zhi Wen have done a good job in serving with a pips out rubber. Very tricky. Watch how He Zhi Wen owned Schlager.
