Training camp in Zhengding

Hi,

this is a thread about the table tennis base in Zhengding, China.

I will try to make two posts, one about the actual practice and one about the facilities and travel to Zhengding, China. I met @thethundertt there and he might want to comment on some of the details.

This one is about the practice. Just to give you an idea of what it looks like, see the picture below.



Breakfast starts at 07:20 and is followed by practice which starts 08:30.

First, you warm up for about 10 minutes which consists of running around the hall, stretching arms, core and legs.

After that, a grueling experience awaits when the coaches line you up and choose your partner. They try to arrange one Chinese player with one foreigner. When you have a partner, one of two things happens.

A) Multi-ball. For the reminder of the session you will practice multi-ball. This is quite straightforward, as you together with one or two players depending on the coaches wishes, will play the living daylights out of each other.
Normally you start with two-point forehand. This is my worst exercise as it is so tough on your cardio.
Then it is usually irregular topspin balls all over the table.
Then half long backspin in forehand.
Then you might play the Falkenberg drill.
Then backhand loop against backspin.
Now you are really tired and the clock is around 10:00 which means you might have a break, but this is not guaranteed. Time to get an ice cream for 2,5 RMB!
10:20, back to work.
Forehand flick.
One backspin to your backhand followed by one topspin to your backhand and one topspin to your wide forehand.

Things might cool down now and you can either play matches (rare) or practice serve and receive.
11:20, time for lunch!

B) Single ball practice.
This is really single ball, you will get one three star ball and you will keep it for the remainder of the session.
First, 15 minutes of forehand from your backhand to your partners backhand.
Then, perhaps 15 minutes of alternating forehand and backhand in your backhand.
Then you might do 15 minutes of the Falkenberg drill.
What about 15 minutes of irregular all over the table?
Keep on with these steady drills until the break.
Keep on after the break until lunch.

Before each session, when you have your partner you warm up by doing simple counter strokes in forehand and backhand for about 10 minutes. This is repeated after every break.

Depending on your skill level you get to do more advanced exercises. I'm not that good so I'm stuck with the basics.

At 14:30 the machine starts grinding again and warm-up begins. Exactly the same as above happens in the afternoon. The difference is that if you have played multi-ball then it's single ball time and the opposite.

That's it! Your highway to table tennis mastery. No complex drills, just keep on pounding the basics until you are fast and stable in your play. If you are lucky, the coaches might comment on your technique and try to help out. Most of the time they are lingering around and the master coach can be seen smoking in the corner.

Matches? Once a week you might have some matches. Otherwise, it's back to the basics.

The venue.

Zhengding is a famous table tennis center where the national team often do their "closed training" before a big championship.



This is the main building. In it you have the main hotel rooms and the main practice hall. Note the table tennis racket on top of the building.



This is the main practice hall. In the front you have the defender Ma Te. Shang Kun is picking up the ball on the next table.

There is a second hall as shown in the first post. It is used when there are too many players in the main hall. This hall has worn tables and a gritty feeling. This is where we are playing now when the national team is here. It will be rebuilt in the next 12 months to be as good as the main hall. We'll see if that schedule holds.

There is a third hall currently used by the girls here. I have a picture of what I believe is the winner of the Paralympics doing serve practice.



In the back, Bora Wang is feeding multi-ball. This hall is a combined museum and practice hall, quite strange but I like the bounce.

All halls have air conditioning. It helps a lot, but it is very hot anyway. Without it, I wouldn't be able to play.

You'll have three meals per day. Breakfast begins at around 07:15 and consists of vegetables, tomatoes, steamed buns, tofu, fried eggs, fried bread, toast and noodle soup.

Lunch begins at 11:30 and normally has beef stew, chicken skewers, chicken nuggets, fried bread, some vegetables and rice.

Dinner starts at 17:00 and is quite similar to lunch. I'm a vegetarian so I don't keep track of the meat dishes. There are more meat dishes then I listed above. I'm struggling sometimes to get enough protein, but they sometimes get me tofu.

There is a gym in the main building which is medium good. We don't have any scheduled gym or fitness classes so I tend to rest instead of lifting weights. There is also a tennis court in the center but it is normally too hot to play.

The normal hotel rooms are nice. This is a normal European 3-star hotel. They are equipped with two beds, shower, toilet, TV, washing machine on the balcony, AC, fridge and an internet connection. There are smaller and cheaper rooms that do not have all of the equipment.

To get here you'll fly to Beijing (PEK) and get to Beijing West train station. Take the bullet train to Zhengding Airport. From there, take a taxi (less than 100 RMB). It can be difficult to find a official taxi late at night so you might want to arrange that in advance. Black cabs are dodgy and I avoid them.

We have a packaged deal but I hear that it costs around 60 USD per day here for food, standard hotel room and practice. You'll have to negotiate the price with the center.

Almost no one of the staff or coaches speaks English. Sign language, mobile apps and drawings are your friends here. Zhengding is a very sleepy little town in China. There is not much to do here. There is a KFC and some local restaurants. There is two proper table tennis stores close to the center if you have to purchase anything. Shijiuazhuang is 30 minutes away by cab and a much larger city.

Their website can be found here together with more pictures, http://en.chinesetabletennistrainingcenter.com/

Preparation.

If you want to come and play here, there are some things to consider.

Physical fitness The more fit you are, the more you'll get out of the practice and lessen the risks of injury.
Be prepared. Be very prepared. Increase your VO2 max by all means, running, cycling, etc. Do strength training such as deadlifts, squats, etc. Build your core as the coaches will tell you to keep your posture.

Do multi-ball with 120 balls for two hours every day before coming here. That will get you up to speed quite quickly. Being able to do two sessions in one day might be difficult for most people so you have to accommodate to that on site.

Take rest days when your body says so. There is no reason to strain yourself or get an injury. Remember that you are in it for the long haul.

Practice to do consistent looping with 80% power. The better you are at this, the better practice partners you'll have. If you are really good, you can even play matches against the Chinese during whole sessions. If you are a weak player such as me, expect to play against unmotivated players. See if you can arrange a private coach that speaks English. The Danes I saw here had done that.

As you will get little feedback from the coaches, there is a lot of responsibility on yourself to improve. There is also a mental aspect of playing every day, doing the same drills, eating the same food, being tired. Expect boredom. Expect the table tennis of your life as a counterweight.

This place is not for quick fixes or quick wins. It is about a solid foundation with physical stamina and blazing speed.