"Coaching girls, you need to treat them with sincere and concern."
Li Sun is talktive, generous, and a little rough in manners. But in the eyes of his disciples, he is humorous, considerate, and trustworthy.
He says, To be a competent coach he himself went through a growth process, "Coaching girls, you need to let them feel you're treating them with sincere and concern."
Q: Li Xiaoxia said there's once a distrust between you and her?
Li: It was the time of 2010's Guangzhou Asian Games. I set a high target for her without exchanging ideas much with her. I thought it is enough for you to follow my instructive to exercise and I'd guarantee you a good result. One day she was pushed too hard by me and said in front of others, "I'm not Zhang Yining." And I immediately knew something severe happened. She is more emotional, more thinking, especially sensitive to the views of the outside. She underwent all the ups and downs and all the splendid achievements Zhang Yining has where she thought she may never attain.
What she spoke reminded me that we didn't have enough trusts yet. The key for a coach is to be trusted by his team members, to be believed in that you can help them to do well. Then I talked with her everyday. When she tended to be worried, I managed to brighten her mood. In training, I myself helped her to do the streching and recovery exercises, showing considerations to her. These young girls, with their parents away, are confronted with intense competitions. You've got to let them know you care for them, and then trust can be built step by step.
Q: You look like an crude and careless man. How do you deal with women players?
Li: These years I've been working on the mentality and perspetive of girls. Most girls tend to play passively, thinking a lot before and after. For example, when it comes to attack, they seldom think "I can make a kill within one shot", while they are likely to consider what if they didin't get ready in case that their opponents return it. So I ought to direct them to consider problems more actively, and change their way of thinking subtly.
I feel that working with girls is kind of like playing house. They are sensitive. Consolation or a white lie is necessary at times. You must let them know you want to do good to them, and of course, you should let them win on the aspect of technique, then they will give you their trust.
Q: Is that to say you need to attain a state of mutual understanding?
Li: Yes. Such as Zhang Yining, we can understand each other even with a glance or an expression on the face. Sometimes when she lost a game, I asked "Why you didn't win since you can win?" She answered:" You don't mind the outcome, why should I go for it?" She knows my attitude towards a game at a glance, so does Li Xiaoxia. Everyday I meet her, I can tell whether she is happy or not. Understanding each other to such an extent helps a lot in body language reading during the match.
Q: You seems to like playing jokes, is that a reason why your team members like you?
Li: Actually I was very irritable around the time that I just joined the national team. Zhang Yining was kicked by me to run everywhere around the court, even under the table. Wang Nan once hesitated to turn into my group, because "It is heard that Coach Li beats people a lot." At that time I had far less experiences while more pressures. Sometimes I didn't know how to deal with things, only lost my temper when players wasn't training well. Now I am a joyful person because I have the confidence of being a coach with less metal stress, knowing how to deal with different problems of players at different stages. A coach needs to grow up step by step.