February 12, 2015

Chinese Domination

There's no question the Chinese dominate table tennis. It isn't even close. At the World Championships they've won Men's Teams seven straight times and nine of the last ten. In fact, other than that blip when Sweden won it three straight times from 1989-1993, and the two times they missed due to the Cultural Revolution (1967 & 1969), they've won it 19 out of 22 times. On the women's side they are even more dominant, winning 18 of the last 20 times. They've also won Men's Singles four straight times and six of the last seven times, and Women's Singles ten straight times and 18 of the last 19.

In the World Rankings, China has the top four men and top three women in the world, and dominate below that level as well. Only a few countries have an outside chance of occasionally defeating the Chinese in team competition - probably only the German and Japanese men, and the Singapore and Japanese women.

I wrote an article about Chinese domination in Sports Illustrated in June, 1999, and since then the domination has only gotten greater. This leads to a lack of suspense in many major tournaments. As long-time Chinese star Ma Lin said in an article I linked to yesterday, "Before every World Cup (football), no one can confidently say which team will win the championship title because they are just popular. But that is not the case in table tennis because there is no suspense." He also wrote, "The decrease of the competency level of other countries in the world has resulted to the lack of eye-catching competitions and confrontation."​

The key part here is where he refers to the "The decrease of the competency level of other countries in the world." While I'm not so sure it's a decrease on their part so much as an increase in the Chinese level and depth, the root of the problem is that these other countries have fallen farther behind the Chinese. There was a time, at least on the men's side, that there almost always was at least one other country battling with them. At various times it was the Japanese, the Swedes, or the Hungarians. In recent times Germany has become slightly competitive with Dimitrij Ovtcharov (world #6) and Timo Boll (world #9), but unfortunately for them Ovtcharov came along only after Boll (former #1) was past his peak. On the women's side, the Koreans have occasionally competed with them, and Singapore pulled off a huge upset to win Women's Teams in 2010, but it's mostly been non-stop Chinese domination on the women's side.

It is in China's interest that they remain the dominant power, but not so dominant that it becomes repetitive and boring. So how can the rest of the world become more competitive, and what should China do?

Actually, I would argue China is already doing its part. All over the world former Chinese stars are now coaching and acting as practice partners. By letting these players move to other countries and teach and practice with up-and-coming players, China's doing about all it can to level the playing field, short of requiring its players to dump matches or handicap itself. (Maybe they should use hardbat?) To be the best, you have to compete with the best. Which is what USA players did all year in the North American Tour, and in the NA Tour Final this past weekend. As expected, it was dominated by Chinese players, with 11 of the 16 finalists Chinese immigrants (non-citizens), with five USA citizens battling with them and gaining experience. In fact, at the club yesterday one of our players who competed there was working on a new serve he'd seen one of the Chinese players use, something he probably wouldn't otherwise have been developing. U.S. players can learn by how these players dominate with serve, receive, looping and other strokes, and footwork. It forces competitors to aim higher. So I'd like to see even more top Chinese players and coaches in the U.S., all working to develop the next generation of USA players. 

We do need a balance, where we have events for USA citizens (so they can win prize money and be full-time players), but the ultimate goal is for them to learn to compete and beat these Chinese players - who, as good as they are, are considerably weaker than the actual members of the Chinese National Team, the ones we'd like to someday battle with.

And how can players reach the level where they can beat these Chinese players? By competing with them in tournaments, and by training and receiving coaching from then in training centers. Full-time training centers are popping up all over the U.S., and the bulk of them have Chinese coaches training U.S. players. (There are many highly successful coaches who are not Chinese, but the Chinese make up the bulk of them.) Even at my club I'm just one of eight full-time coaches - and the other seven are all Chinese immigrants, two of them former members of the Chinese National Team. And guess what? As successful as the Chinese are in playing table tennis, they are just as successful at coaching it, and that's why I see a promising future for table tennis in the U.S.

USATT Insider

Here's the new USATT Insider and the second one ever. It comes out every Wednesday morning. If you are a USATT member you should have received it via email yesterday; if not, email USATT to make sure they have your email address.

Eight Simple Steps to Hit Peak Form for Major Events

Here's a great new coaching article from Matt Hetherington.

Neuropsychologist Serves Up Pongpong to Promote Brain Fitness in Virginia Beach

Here's the article.

Ask the Coach

Episode #75 (20:21) - Portugal's Future

  • Yesterdays #PQOTD  - 1:02: Where will Portugal be ranked at the end of 2015?
  • #PQOTD  - 4:10: Have you played in a tournament?  If so what were your experiences at your first tournament?
  • Question 1 - 4:45: How do you do the spiniest serve so people cant return the ball on the table? Abdul
  • Question 2 - 6:14: How can I block a low heavy backspin, would a backhand push be good or have you any other ideas? Brock
  • Question 3 - 7:02: Which table tennis brand do you think is the best?
  • Question 4 - 8:10: How do you practice to not miss shots in sessions an how to lower your fear when playing in tournaments and how to play backhands like the pros? Abdul
  • Question 5 - 10:34: Tam: Hi Alois, I'm left handed and I'm having trouble with hitting wide shots is there a way I could improve this?
  • Question 6 - 12:26: Ilia: I use the pendulum and the reverse pendulum services in my play. I'm also a very forehand oriented player. My rivals often return my services with backspin to my backhand to force me to pivot. How can I "enforce" the service return to my forehand? 
  • Question 7 - 14:19: Abdullah: Is there a certain technique to multiball? My brother and I have tried it, but it ends up making a very awkward arc could you help us?
  • Question 8 - 16:01: Dakota: I have been thinking of looking for more control in my game. Should I simply drop my thickness from MAX down to maybe 1.8 and keep using Vega Pro or try a different slower rubber that has better control, but use MAX to retain spin? 
  • Question 9 - 17:43: How can i improve my table tennis reflexes?

North American Tour Grand Finals

Here's video highlights of Day One (64 sec) and the Final (31 sec) between Eugene Wang and Bob Chen.  

Asian Power at Werner Schlager Academy

Here's video (4:37) of Tamolwan Khetkuen (Thailand) and Shiho Ono (Japan) practicing together. Ono (green shirt) is a pips-out penholder, a rarity these days.

International Table Tennis Thailand

Here's a new inspirational music video (5:07).

The Next World Champion

Here's 17 seconds of him (age three?) shadow practicing his big forehand.

Adam Bobrow on Vietnam TV

Here's the video (12:36).

Is This You?

Is this how you see yourself when you play? It's how I see myself!!!

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