(Chung's notes: This article appears in the October issue of Table Tennis World. It is interesting not only because it summarizes the Chinese national team's initial experiences with the new 40mm ball, but it also describes how the Chinese train their junior players.)
While the first national team was preparing for the Olympics, the Istitute of Table-Tennis and Badminton held a group training session for the elite juniors, with the 2nd national team coaches acting as trainers and teachers. The purposes of the group session are to provide advance big ball training for the young players, to understand the charactersitics of the big ball, and to establish a training strategy. Here is a preliminary summary of what we have learned.
A. Technical Aspects:
1. Because the ball is bigger and heavier, serves have less
spin. Players who relied on good serves to gain initiatives will
face new challenges.
2. The forward speed of loops is reduced, making it hard to loop
with power, and also hard to finish points. Some players would
easily get frustrated and try too much or too hard, resulting in
needless unforced errors. This tells us that we have to focus on
strengthening the ability to continuously attack.
3. The "2nd trajectory" of the incoming ball is shorter, and appears to drop sharply. If one tries to hit the ball based on previous experiences, one often feels that the ball is "hard to reach". So the contact point has to be moved forward. The height of the 2nd trajectory inside the table appears to be about the same (as with the small ball), but when away from the table, it is lower. Because it is shorter and lower, loops often get into the net. (I thought at first that 2nd trajectory meants the descending portion of the trajectory, but as a reader pointed out, it probably means the trajectory after the bounce on the table..)
4. Because the speed and spin are both less, it is easier to counter loop.
5. Choppers felt that it is hard to put a lot of spin on chops, and also hard to chop long. Counter looping or attacking away from the table is not as powerful as before. But since the opponents' loops are not as powerful, it is easier to chop safely.
6. The traditional close-to-the-table, fast-attacking, pips-out penhold style is not disadvantaged. Because of the close-to-the-table position, and because opponents' loops are not as powerful, penholders find it easier to defend against loops, and easier to hit loops coming from a distance.
B. Equipment:
We used the new Double-Happiness G888 and G777 rubber/sponge sets. Thickness of the sponge varies from 2.2-2.25mm, with a hardness index of 40-42. We previously noted that using standard 2.0-2.1mm, 43-45 hardness, G888 rubber/sponge sets, it is easy to hit into the net when counter-looping away from the table. The new equipment corrects that problem. Choppers still have the problems mentioned earlier; we need to work on this issue.
C: Conjectures and Recommendations:
1. The increased ball size leads to increased air friction, which slows down the ball in mid-flight and reduces its spin. In order to add speed, forward kick, and spin, we have to improve our application of force on the ball. We can increase the range of some motions, and we also need to increase explosiveness by strengthening the waist, arm and wrist.
2. Because rallies are longer, we need to increase the ability to rally without sacrificing our first-3-shots advantages. Developing footwork so that our players can move quickly and (get in proper position) accurately is key to developing superior techniques.
3. The new ball naturally has its own characterstics, and we need to continuously experiment with the new ball to develop new techniques. This will insure the continued success of our national team.
Background:
Training Period: July 18-August 18, 2000. Training site: Shandong Province CTTA training base.
Personnel: Since some of the 2nd national team players were training with the first team, we added new players from the 24 province capitals. This would help us develop prospects for the 2008 Olympics. Out of these players, 28 of them had never been to group training, and that constituted 52% of the players. This was the largest group of players to participate in group training, and also the youngest group. Average age is 15.4 years.
Training Focus:
1. Increase theoretical understanding. Coaches from the 2nd national team taught table-tennis expert knowledge, so that the young players could understand general and specific technical issues. The groups watched videotapes of international competition to understand the trends of the sport, and the techniques of top players.
2. Solid funadamental training. Since the players were generally younger, they had less overall experience than previous groups. We spent a lot of time in correcting handwork and footwork. For the more experienced players, we taught them how to integrate (or link) their techniques into multiple combinations.
3. Increase the awareness of strategy. We focused on correcting the problem of being too random or too lax in "serve and attack" training. We prepared two serve-and-attack drills. First was practice serving one's best serve and attack. Second was practice with 5 different serve-and-attack sequences. Some of the players reported afterwards that in the past they did not know how to play at critical instants of a match. Now they have several "sets" they can use, and they are more confident.
4. Diversify competition. The younger players had less competition experience. We arranged 5 different kinds of competition that had different focus or requirements, so as to bring out their desires to compete, and to increase their competiton abilities.
5. Establish a database of our young players. We have
collected data on playing styles, experiences, strengths and
weaknesses, etc., so that the 2nd national team can have an
up-to-date database of the better players. This will prepare us
for the future.
Here's a picture of Chen Junji, member of the
Sichuan team, which lost its first ball ball league match to
Shandong, captained by Liu Guozheng.