After Zhu Feng finished telling his father's story, he finally talked about himself.
"My grandfather and my father put the hope of entering the national team on me. When I was three years old, my grandfather started training me to play table tennis. To be honest, I can't remember what happened at that time. It’s so clear. I only remember that my grandfather cleared out the living room and bought a table tennis table to put there. At that time, I was not as tall as the table tennis table.”
"Later, not only my grandpa, but also my dad also joined in training me. I didn't go to kindergarten when I was a child. I trained with my grandpa on weekdays, and my dad trained me on weekends. Our family trained for me. I spent a lot of money on table tennis, buying nutritional supplements to replenish my body, and hiring coaches for guidance. Almost all of my father’s salary and my grandfather’s pension were spent on me.”
"When I was seven years old, I started to participate in amateur table tennis competitions. When I was eight years old, I got my first result. It was the championship of the children's group of our city table tennis competition. It didn't take long for me to be selected by the city sports worker. I was selected as a team player and then selected for the provincial youth team. When I was fourteen years old, I was selected for the provincial sports team.”
"Not long after I joined our provincial team, the coach of the national team came to select players. The coach from the national team was very optimistic about me, but I had just joined the provincial team at that time, so he did not take me immediately. Instead of going to the national team, let me practice on the provincial team for another year or two to gain more experience."
"From then on, I started to train hard and train myself day and night. I know that my grandfather and my father are eager for me to enter the national team. I don't want to let them down!"
"When I was sixteen years old, people from the national team came again. This time it was another coach, and they came specifically to inspect me, but in the end, I was not selected by the national team."
When Zhu Feng said this, a bitter look appeared on his face.
"Why?" Dai Li asked immediately.
"The coaches of the national team thought that I was not strong enough, and they felt that my playing style was a bit behind. I was indeed very thin at that time, short and skinny, and my strength was not outstanding..." Zhu Feng paused for a moment, then continued Said: "And my playing style was learned from my grandfather and father. The table tennis in their time was different from modern table tennis."
Dai Li nodded and expressed his understanding. In the past ten years, the International Table Tennis Association has constantly changed the rules of table tennis and introduced new table tennis equipment. The main purpose is to restrict the national table tennis team. It is hoped that the national table tennis monopoly on table tennis can be broken.
These changes make the table tennis ball slower and it becomes easier to hold the ball. Take game balls as an example. In the past, small balls with a diameter of 38 mm were used, but now large balls with a diameter of 40 mm are used. Although the diameter difference is only 2 mm, the ball's speed is 17% slower and its spin is reduced by 23%. This makes the previous small, fast, and flexible style of play obsolete.
The world champions of twenty years ago were basically players with very flexible bodies and extremely fierce fighting styles. The most popular style at that time was a style similar to "Cheng Yaojin's three-blade axe". Two or three shots would kill him. The opponent will be in a hurry and the battle can be resolved in five or six shots. It is almost impossible to maintain a stalemate!
Especially some short athletes, because of their short stature, are at a disadvantage when it comes to movement. If others take one step, short people need to take two steps. Therefore, they must deliberately pursue a fast and fierce playing style, so as to seize the initiative and not let others take the initiative. The opponent leads the way. Once the ball enters a long stalemate, or the opponent takes the initiative, the short man's weaknesses will be magnified, and the possibility of losing will increase.
But in today's table tennis, the old way of playing won't work. Modern table tennis requires not only skill and flexibility, but also sufficient strength. Without strength, the ball will have no speed and spin, and the attack will not be fierce enough. The opponent can easily catch the ball and launch a counterattack.
When it comes to power and rotation, taller athletes with longer wingspans definitely have an advantage. It is a consensus in the entire sports world that bigger players will have greater strength. And due to the leverage principle, a longer wingspan can also easily give the ball greater rotation. Therefore, among the world champions in recent years, there are no such short players.
Zhu Feng is not very tall, less than 1.7 meters tall. For a male player, it would have been insignificant twenty years ago, but now he is definitely at a disadvantage.
Height may not be apparent in teenagers, but when athletes reach adulthood, the disadvantage of height will become more and more obvious.
This is the case in professional sports. No matter what the sport is, those who are great in their youth are not really great. Many children who seemed very talented when they were young have become unknown little people when they reach adulthood, and will eventually be lost to everyone. A very important reason for this is physical condition.
When teenagers engage in sports, the physical requirements are not very high, and even the physical gap between teenagers is not very big. However, in adulthood, being taller, shorter, fatter, thinner, arms not long enough, legs too short, shoulders too wide, hands not big enough, etc., will all be further obstacles. As far as basketball is concerned, it is almost impossible for someone with a height of 1.8 meters to play professional basketball. If you are 2.2 meters tall, even if you don't know how to play, basketball coaches will come to you.
In addition, Zhu Feng's playing style is also another problem.
Zhu Feng was trained by his grandfather and father. They still used the playing methods of the last century. The Zhu Feng they trained naturally also used outdated playing methods.
Pursuing speed and playing fiercely, there is nothing wrong with this as a teenager, it is enough for Zhu Feng to crush his peers. Even in the provincial team, Zhu Feng relied on this style of play to become a star of hope.
However, in the view of the national team coach, this style of play is indeed outdated, at least it cannot survive in the national team.
There are too many good young players in table tennis in China. Many young people are not as skilled and experienced as Zhu Feng, but they have better physical conditions and greater potential. The coach selection of the national table tennis team also values the potential of athletes, rather than immediate combat effectiveness.
Because there are so many talents in the national team, the most important thing is real-time combat capability. Many athletes have been in the national team for seven or eight years and have not yet had the opportunity to rise to the top. How can Zhu Feng’s achievements be eliminated by the national team? The coach takes it seriously!
…
Just listen to Zhu Feng continue to say: "After the national team coach left, I started to practice strength. I know that compared with those tall athletes, I have no advantage in strength. I can only practice harder. Others practice for an hour. I just practiced for two hours! In terms of playing style, I also started to make adjustments, and I started to adopt a power-based playing style... "
"I heard Coach Wang Ping say it!" Li Dai recalled something, and then said: "Coach Wang Ping said that your strength is very good, the speed of the ball is very fast, and the spin of the ball is also very strong. In this regard, , many tall players are not as good as you, and because of this, you are the number one in our team!"
While Dai Li was speaking, he also admired Zhu Feng in his heart. Although his physical talent was lacking, he made up for it with hard work. In terms of strength, if he competes with larger athletes, he will have to put in several times the effort.
"There is no doubt that Zhu Feng is a very hard-working athlete. However, in order to enter the national team, such a hard-working athlete resorts to such evil methods of bribing coaches. I really can't understand it. Perhaps it is his deep love for the national team. The obsession is too deep!" Dai Li sighed silently in his heart.
Next to him, Zhu Feng sighed: "My strength has indeed improved, and my playing style has also changed. I thought that if this was the case, I would be able to enter the national team, but two years ago, the national team coach came Selection, and I lost again.”
"What's the reason this time? Two years ago, you were eighteen years old, which is not too old. It shouldn't be because of your age, right?" Dai Li asked.
"It's flexibility. The coaches of the national team think that my technical movements are too stiff. They think that my body is not flexible enough. This will affect many difficult technical movements and the continuity of technical movements. In the past, I did not There is no problem in this regard." Zhu Feng replied.
"Is it caused by strength training?" Dai Li asked immediately.
Zhu Feng nodded: "The team's coaching staff has analyzed that the decrease in body flexibility should be caused by strength training."
Excessive strength training will definitely lead to a decrease in body flexibility.
Many people may think that male gymnasts or divers have a lot of muscles on their bodies, not to mention eight-pack abs, but they can still perform difficult technical movements and their body flexibility is absolutely amazing. It's top notch. This proves that muscular men can be flexible.
In fact, those difficult technical movements are all driven by strength, such as aerial turns in gymnastics and diving. The completion of the movements does not rely on the flexibility of the body, but on the large initial strength. , and the strength of the waist and abdomen in the air to complete.
And overtraining the muscles will also reduce the body's control. Many muscular players in the NBA have great physical talents, but their free throws are inaccurate. This is also due to body control problems. They have too many muscles and too strong strength to perfectly control the intensity of their free throws, plus some psychological factors. , so there will always be missed free throws.
In table tennis, flexibility is an essential physical quality.
Judging from the characteristics of table tennis, it is a very skillful sport. Especially in professional-level competitions, because the speed of the ball is very fast, athletes have to make judgments in a very short time and change various delicate hitting movements. This requires athletes to be flexible in their joints, and to be able to stretch and contract freely. To do this, you must have strong body flexibility.
From the perspective of the technical development of table tennis, the handling of small balls in the table has become more and more important. If the small ball is handled well in the table, even if it cannot cause trouble to the opponent, it will be in an invincible position; If the ball is not handled well, even if there is no direct mistake, there will be flaws and the opponent will catch it. To handle small balls on the table, you must have good physical flexibility.
The flexibility of the body is closely related to and affects the athlete's agility, speed, strength and endurance, and these are all essential elements for playing table tennis. Good body flexibility can increase the range of movements, improve joint flexibility and muscle elasticity, thereby making movements more labor-saving and saving more energy.
Therefore, for table tennis players, not to mention lack of flexibility, even if the flexibility is not good enough, it will become a weakness.
The selection of coaches for the National Table Tennis Team is naturally based on the best of the best. There are many table tennis talents in the country, so the National Table Tennis Team does not have to worry about having no one to choose from. Even if an athlete has only the slightest flaw, the coach of the National Table Tennis Team will reject it. reason.
…
Just listen to Zhu Feng continue to say: "Since then, I have begun to try various trainings to enhance body flexibility, but..."
"But the effect is not obvious, right?" Dai Li interrupted Zhu Feng.
Zhu Feng nodded: "It should be said that it has almost no effect. It is because I am too old. If I start practicing flexibility at this age, it is indeed too late."
"Flexibility is indeed Zhu Feng's main flaw now." Dai Li thought to himself.
Dai Li had detected Zhu Feng earlier and already knew Zhu Feng's shortcomings. The training plan formulated by Li Dai for Zhu Feng was also focused on improving flexibility.
However, for a twenty-year-old adult athlete, it is indeed difficult to achieve results by training the body's flexibility. For example, female gymnasts with the most flexible bodies are at their peak age from fourteen to sixteen years old. After the age of eighteen, they should retire. The main reason is because at this age, no matter how much practice they do, , the body's flexibility is difficult to improve, and may even decline.
So Dai Li continued: "You should be able to feel that the training plans I have prepared for you in the past few days are all improving your body flexibility. For example, kicking training while walking can develop forward flexion of the hip joint. Flexibility. There are also knee joint circle training and kneeling instep training... "
Zhu Feng nodded: "I know that these are exercises to improve flexibility, but I have been doing these exercises before, but they have no effect. If I can't improve my body's flexibility, then the national team will definitely not Choose mine!”
"Because you can't improve your flexibility and can't be selected by the national team, that's why you think of these evil ways?" Li Dai said, pointing to the envelope with the bank card in Zhu Feng's hand.
Zhu Feng lowered his head in shame: "I'm sorry, Coach Li, I really want to go to the national team. This is the dream of three generations of our family!"
"But that's not the reason for you to take the wrong path!" Li Dai repeated this sentence again, and then continued: "If you work hard on your own, even if you are not selected by the national team, you are still an admirable athlete; But you want to spend money to join the national team. Even if you finally join the national team, I will look down on you!"
"I'm sorry, I really have no choice. I'm doing it for my grandpa!" Zhu Feng raised his head with a painful look on his face: "My grandpa has just been diagnosed with lung cancer. I don't know how long he can survive, but I hope he can survive during his lifetime. , fulfill his wish, and don’t leave with regrets when you let him go!”