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| Source: CTTA |
A Transition From Athlete to Coach
Ma Lin entered the Chinese national team in 1993 and represented China in numerous international meets from 1998 to 2013. After his retirement in 2013, he became the head coach of the Guangdong provincial table tennis team and the director of Guangdong Table Tennis Center.
Ma Lin said he remains stay in touch with table tennis after being the head coach of the Guangdong provincial team. In 2015 Suzhou World Championships, Liu Shiwen, from the Guangdong team, almost broke down after losing to Ding Ning in the women's singles final. Ma Lin knows that feeling so well as he also ended up second in 1999, 2005 and 2007 Worlds men's singles. He understands that players usually cannot deal with the upcoming competition rationally after losing significant matches. They need to communicate with people around them. In Liu Shiwen's case, she had to play against the Singaporean doubles the next day after the loss. Ma Lin stepped in and helped Liu Shiwen to analyze her problems for four hours. He thinks this experience has helped him to become a better coach. Ma Lin also thanked the national team for allowing him to join the training camps for WTTC and Olympics as a coach and learnt from the camps.
Ma Lin's Olympic experience is full of ups and downs. As the 1st runner up of the 1999 Worlds men singles, he missed the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, which is a painful regret to him. In 2004 Athens, he bowed out early in the men's singles but won gold in the doubles. 2008 Beijing Olympics is the moment of pride and honor as he won golds in both the team and singles event. Worth-noting that, it was the one and only time the Chinese swept the men's singles' podium in the Olympics as the 2 per country rule was in play after the Chinese domination in Beijing. In 2012, Ma Lin followed the team to London as the supporting member and was reported doing the team's grocery shopping during the Games. Ma Lin joshed about that by saying "I played in the Olympic arena and cooked for the Olympians. Every Olympic moment is a valuable experience in my life. That's the reason for me to apply for national coach. I wish I can have a chance to work towards 2020 Tokyo Olympics and be part of this honorable team.”
3 Thoughts on the Training Plan
1. Increase the Diversity of Winning Methods, Enhance the Players' Soft Power
Many people think table tennis nowadays is missing something. In the past, table tennis was a competition of wisdom and tactics but the present table tennis reflects few of these. Most of the current players win with their strong ability. This has to do with the development of the sport. Everyone is playing similar style. International meets appear to be alike, as players win in the same way but when their ability is not enough to win, they show nerves and have no way to walk out of the plight.
Competition tests the integrated ability of a player. In the past, technique took up a large part of the competition. Players nowadays are more capable than those in Ma Lin's times but there were more content and diversity back then. Integrated ability in Ma Lin's definition is players' soft power, things other than their technique and ability. Ma Lin recalled that the communication with coaches have a profound impact on his personal values. He believes close communication can make things done.
Many national team member are the post-millennials, it is crucial to understand what they are thinking. Ma Lin finds that the young players are very different from players of his time. As players nowadays are surrounded by temptations and distractions in society. Some might not be able to hold back from short-term interest. If athletes do not have a positive personal values and when pursuing World champion and Olympic champion is just an empty talk, it will be difficult for them to make a break through when they face difficulties in matches and in intense competition in the team. Only setting clear goals can help players to work towards their dream.
2. Pass Down the Culture, Learn and Coach Simultaneously
Coaches should set great examples for athletes and guide them to develop personal values. The Chinese national team has great traditions and Ma Lin deeply understands it. One of the great tradition is self-discipline. Ma Lin said athletes thoughts have changed under new social trend and become more self-centered. Therefore, the team must emphasize the importance of self-management and the players' inner qualities.
Coaching table tennis is a simultaneous learning and teaching process. Ma Lin raised an example of him helping Liu Shiwen. In the communication process, coaches and athletes exchange ideas on table tennis. After all, it is the athletes who play in the court but not the coaches. Athletes have the most direct feeling on table tennis. Thus, Ma Lin believes through communication, coaches and athletes can learn from each other and be more mature.
"It is relatively simpler and easier to communicate between male coaches and male athletes." Ma Lin has confident in having good communication with athletes. Some of the athletes were once opponents of Ma Lin. In Ma Lin's days those athletes were young players and as they grew up, they gradually became Ma Lin's teammates and now Ma Lin is the observer. Ma Lin look forward to joining the national coaching team and being a friend-like teacher who helps athletes to analyze their problems rationally.
3. Major Opponents in the Tokyo Quadrennium
Ma Lin thinks Japan, Korea and Germany are the major opponents of the Chinese team, especially the Japanese team. First, the Japanese team is very young and will reach their peak 4 years later. Second, Japan will be hosting 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. They will enjoy the home advantage and pour all resources into the Games. The Japanese targeted finishing top 3 in the Olympic medal table. They have put lots of resources to build their team. After 1979 World Championships the Japanese won the title in singles, they have been silent for awhile and sprung up in recent years. They entered the finals in 2016 Worlds and Olympics. They are likely to make a comeback in the Tokyo Olympics. That's why the Japanese is China's strongest opponent.
The German team with Timo Boll semi-retired, they might not have a full strong team but their strength in singles cannot be overlooked. The Koreans' overall ability is quite average but they often stand out in the singles and play aggressively. The Chinese team cannot not let their guards down.
Ma Lin thinks, the Chinese team has a clear understanding on their opponents and will work on their techniques. The Chinese will keep their attitude up when pursuing of champion and be confident but not overly optimistic.
Sorry for not updating ‘’From Rio to Tokyo‘’ series in the past few days as I have been following matches of the Asian Championships. There are more articles from the series "From Rio to Tokyo"coming up, so make sure you stay tuned and let me know your thoughts about this blog!
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