Recently, Xu Shaofa, a legend of Chinese table tennis, wrote an open letter to Yang Xinli, director of the Table Tennis Center of the Sports Federation, and Liu Guoliang of the Chinese Table Tennis Association. In this affectionate letter, Xu Shaofa confronted the existing problems and shortcomings of the Chinese table tennis team and put forward his valuable opinions and suggestions. This eighty-year-old old-timer, with his profound insights and rich experience, makes this open letter extremely precious and heavy. His deep reflection and frankness on the current situation of the national team pointed out that it is not only an appeal and warning, but also out of concern and care for the future development of the national team. Mr. Xu Shaofa's remarks were not only shocking, but also aroused extensive thinking and discussion.
Xu Shaofa mentioned in the open letter that the national table tennis is deficient in many places now, and the strength is deafening, pointing to its biased horizontal board double reverse play, and losing the straight board and chipping particle play. He believes that the leaders of the national team have gradually forgotten the development policy of "letting a hundred flowers bloom and bringing forth the new", resulting in the traditional housekeeping skills are not as good as foreign players. This view has sparked extensive discussion and reflection. Chinese table tennis was once known for its unique technique and tactical style, but now with the rise of a new generation of players and the challenge of international opponents, traditional advantages have been greatly challenged. Whether the national team training system needs to be adjusted and improved, and how to better train a new generation of players and inherit traditional skills are all issues that need to be studied and considered urgently.
In terms of training system, the national team needs to pay attention to team history education and cultural education, and cultivate the comprehensive quality and awareness of players. Traditional table tennis players have a higher level of education, which reflects the successful experience of cultivating sports talents in the past. How to pay attention to knowledge learning and spiritual cultivation while ensuring professional training has become an urgent problem for the current national team to face and solve. At the same time, it is also necessary to strengthen the understanding and response to various equipment and playing styles during training, and other types of playing styles cannot be ignored because of the prevalence of horizontal board double reverse play. Only by integrating various techniques and tactics can we better adapt to the fierce competition in international competitions and maintain the leading position of the Chinese table tennis team.
Table tennis equipment has undergone tremendous changes over the past few decades, which not only affects the rules and style of the game, but also poses new challenges to the training and performance of players. Xu Shaofa mentioned in the open letter that the ITTF has been gradually changing the diameter of table tennis balls, in order to reduce the ball speed to increase the number of rounds and improve the spectacle of the game, so as to facilitate TV broadcasting and commercial operations. This change has affected the performance and strengths of different styles of play and styles to a certain extent.
China's Chinese straight board fast and clever once dominated the world table tennis world for many years, but with the increase in the diameter of the ball, the use of this technique has been limited. Especially in the face of the straight and horizontal skills of players from other countries, the Chinese players seem to be a little helpless. It is worth noting that chipping is becoming increasingly rare in the national team, which makes it especially difficult to deal with outliers. How to deal with different equipment and playing styles, so that Chinese players can not only play their own advantages, but also effectively deal with the challenges of their opponents, has become an urgent problem to be solved by the current national team.
The rise of the international table tennis team and the erosion of the traditional advantages of the Chinese team have also forced the Chinese table tennis team to re-examine its training system and tactical layout. In the past matches, players such as Felix Lebrun of the French team and Qiu Dang of the German team showed a new style of straight and horizontal hitting skills, prompting the Chinese team to rethink how to develop and inherit the traditional style of play. Only by adhering to the principle of "knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent and letting a hundred flowers bloom" can the Chinese table tennis team remain invincible in the fierce international competition and maintain its world-class level.
Through an in-depth analysis of the content of Xu Shaofa's open letter, it is not difficult to find that the Chinese table tennis team needs to be more open and inclusive of various techniques and tactics when facing new challenges and opportunities. Only by maintaining traditional advantages and constantly innovating and expanding playing styles can Chinese table tennis continue to maintain its leading position in the world. Liu Guoliang and the leaders of the national team should also listen carefully to Mr. Xu Shaofa's advice, and make reasonable adjustments and optimizations to the existing training system and equipment playing methods to meet greater challenges and broader development space in the future. May the Chinese table tennis team continue to make brilliant achievements in the new journey and add glory to the national table tennis cause!