The concept of connecting, to my understanding, is the relation between a shot and the next one. They could be the same type of shots or they could be entirely different.

So the connections are wide open in scopes, ranging from paces and rhythms to power and speed. For example, I hit a power shot and my opponent makes a fast return. If I try to hit the next shot with even more power, such two shots connect poorly and the combination loses productivity. I would rather play a medium power shot or a spinning one. Then the shots will connect nicely and produce good results.

Some people would talk about transitions. Transitions and connections do have points in common but connecting covers a much wider scope. Transition deals with two different types of shots, which are a lot more difficult. Namely, players always have to switch from offense to defense, or vice versa.

In offense, players have to use their own power. In defense, players will usually make use of their opponents' power. There are also differences in center of gravity and strokes. Offensive players put the center of gravity forward while the strokes are more open. On defense, players' center of gravity tends to be less forward and the strokes are closed. All these involve transition of some sort.

I. Speed is the focal point

Transition and connecting of shots become all more important when the rallies become more ferocious. Then speed is the focal point. Power also comes from speed. Therefore we must stress the pursuit of speed.

In my opinion, the transitions usually come in the first few rallies. That is the moment when most changes occur. When the match comes to a long protracted rally, the changes in power and speed will not be as many.

When I first worked with the women's team, I proposed "Grab the first initiative and stay ahead". That is when we have opportunities to use more power or change directions, we will do it first. In other words, we will always stay one step ahead. Then we will be in control of the pace.

II. Machine gun or canon

For those players who have speed but not enough power, the matter of connecting shots become even more crucial.

Players such as Kim Taek Soo and Jorgen Peerson, who have tremendous power, are considered to be "canons". They can overpower their opponents with two to three shots. On the other hand, Chinese players are the "machine guns". Shot after shot we hit our opponents until they are out-matched.

In the 43rd World Championship, the Chinese team worked on the principles of "taking initiatives, sharpening forte and eliminating obvious weaknesses". People tend to think that a player who has no forte can never be successful. But then look at Kong Linghui. He has merely average power and spin. His killer shots are less than spectacular. However he has speed--speed in connecting his shots. In hindsight, that is the secret of his success. The transitions are always fast and ahead of his opponents. In fact, he is a vanguard of the concept of winning with speed transitions.

III.Adjustments in the grips

Shakehand: some players pay too much attention to backhand at the expense of forehand. They stand with their right feet forward. Such stance is great for backhand. But when they try to hit forehand shots, it is likely to contact the ball behind the body or just use the wrist, thus losing power. One must try to adjust his grip in such situation.

Penhold: for forehand drives, the power comes from the thumb. For backhand blocks, the power comes from the index finger. Hence, a player must realize that when he switches from forehand to backhand, there is a transition in shifting power from one finger to another. There should also be a change of wrist motion. Such transitions must be practiced repeatedly, whether at the table or away from it. Some may want to practice with a heavy racket in shadow stroke. I feel that as long as one is relaxed, with a lot of practice and good anticipations, the transitions can be made relatively easy in the heat of a match.

IV Shifting of the center gravity

One should not misunderstand that by stressing the effects of fingers and wrist in transition, the center of gravity can be ignored. In a very fast exchange of shots, one can always be rewarded with a certain quality return as long as there is a shift of the center of gravity. In fact, if one does it well, he has less to do. For example, a player attacks with his forehand after the serve. If he does it well for the first shot, he can continue attacking with the forehand instead of switching shots.

In my opinion, this belongs to the basic technical level. However, some of our young players pay little attention to basic. They would consider this difficult and purposely avoid it. In the long run, such laziness hinders their developments. It is important to pursue excellence from the very beginning. That is how one can always stay ahead of others.

IV. Many players habitually retreat from the table when there are long rallies. In such situations, they are actually being pushed away by faster and more power shots from their opponents. This is surrendering the initiatives and is considered to be a deadly disadvantage. Therefore I suggest a certain drill in training: the racket hand is always above the table level, in front of the body and elbow. In such case, we can play our shots more at ease.

V.The use of power

When I was working with the Beijing team, we emphasized the use of power. The distribution of power becomes critical in playing different shots. We advocate using medium power and make use of our opponents' power. It is good to hit shots near the top of the bounce. In such instance, our opponents' spin is not at the strongest, and we can play a shorter stroke, thus taking less time and being more deceptive in the direction. We may be hitting with 20% of our power on top of the 80% of our opponents' power. Such shots can be equally powerful and we put ourselves in a position to play easier shots. This is definitely conducive in connecting shot after shot.

VI. How to connect shots need to be drilled

We must drill the techniques in connecting shots, such as counter-looping or turning defense into offense. When one is standing close to the table and the incoming shot is very spinny and has a high trajectory, it will be difficult to counter-loop. Using a quick punch flat (flick) hit will be more appropriate---something, Jan-Ove Waldner always uses. Later, Ma Wenge and Kong Linghui use that a lot as well. On the other hand, if the trajectory is low and has less spin, a quick half-volley and counter-loop will produce better result.

For the backhand, flicking, jabbing and counter-looping won't be enough. In today's game, we want to be as all-round as possible. There is a time and a place for every technique. In the case of backhand, there is also blocking. Nevertheless, I do not mean evenly distributing the shots. We still need to use our forte more. In the near future, I believe spin post the biggest threat to all players.

VII. Globalization

Even though there are many different tactics and styles in today's table tennis world, I dare to say that eventually they will all arrive at the same ends. In a nutshell, everyone wants to take the offensive initiatives and outplay their opponents with power and changes. Some may take a longer path but the destination or the promise land is always the same. Waldner's innovations in serves and flicking are now widely used. At the same time, Chinese players' techniques are also copied by Europeans. Consequently, everyone is learning from each other and this becomes Table Tennis' Globalization. (by Li Xiaodong - Chinese national team coach)

Source: Xinhua