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A few months back in October 2025, China
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managed to defend its boys singles world
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junior championship gold medal and
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earned a back-to-back win. However, it
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was not a repeat win by former winner Hu
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Jian, but rather another rising star
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named Liu Yang Ming Yu.
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And during his matches, the coach
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sitting behind him was none other than
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former Olympic gold medalist and
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multi-world champion Chen Long.
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If you guys didn't know, Chen Long has
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been leading the Chinese junior men's
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singles players as the junior national
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team head coach, and it does seem like
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he has made a significant impact.
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The boys singles players from China play
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noticeably more like Chenl Long now, and
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Chenl Long has a nickname, the Great
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Wall of China, for a good reason.
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Players who play him often feel like
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everything always comes back and you
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have to do more than just pin the lines
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to get a single point.
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If you look at Chenlong's gameplay more
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deeply, however, you'll find that
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there's much more to Chenlong's gameplay
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Chenlong is a master at
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In particular, we want to highlight how
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Chenlong's gameplay often revolves
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around punishing his opponent for
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changing pace too quickly.
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We talk a lot about using pace changes
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to create opportunities to score on your
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opponent. What we don't talk a lot about
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though is that changing pace does not
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guarantee that you'll score.
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And in fact, if you change speed at the
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wrong time, it can very much lead you to
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Just think about it this way. If you
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full smash randomly, you may catch some
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players who are not ready and win the
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point. For those that are ready, though,
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that full smash requires you to expend a
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lot of force and you're not guaranteed
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to be able to quickly follow up on the
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next shot. And even if you do follow up
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early at full speed, what are the
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chances you're able to go back to the
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back court at the same speed as well?
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As long as your opponent plays decent
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quality shots, the chances of you
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maintaining full speeds and switching
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directions are very little. Even if
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Chenlong understands these concepts very
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well and has developed his game to focus
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on readiness and playing highquality
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What this means is that Chenl Long plays
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Not too many crazy holds or deceptions
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are used to outmaneuver an opponent. And
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the focus is on playing basic shots with
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very high quality and keeping him in
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For example, you'll notice that Chen
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Long will almost always opt to play
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shots that don't require full body
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commitment, like half smashes and drops
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in the back court because it keeps him
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in position to move to the next shot.
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And what Chen Long will often do is just
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keep a rally going and move his opponent
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back and forth from front to back. If
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the opponent ever decides to speed up,
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Chenlong will not necessarily
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immediately counter the initial pace
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change, but will look to attack the
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For example, if his opponent full
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smashes, the counter does not
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necessarily come on the smash,
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but the next shot. Chenlong often finds
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opportunities to kill on the follow-up
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where he either smashes a late lift or
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changes speed at the net.
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And of course, he's particularly good at
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recovering immediately and driving back
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any follow-up drives.
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Chenlong can play this way partly
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because he has extremely strong physical
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capabilities. as many will point out his
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strong legs and height. While he won't
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be able to transfer these attributes to
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other players, we can see how Chinese
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juniors have been replicating Chen
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Long's style even without the same
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When you watch some of the Chinese
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juniors play, you'll immediately notice
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how most of them play very simply with a
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core strategy that begins with moving
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their opponents back and forth across
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the court. There aren't many deceptions
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or sudden pace changes in the back
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court. They don't rush to attack either
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and only fully commit on halfcourt
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Now, to get those halfcourt kill
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opportunities, the game plan is about
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punishing your opponent's pace changes.
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Most players play with a mindset of
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trying to win the rally and will
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generally try to attack. Under
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Chenlong's coaching, current Chinese
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juniors play with the idea of punishing
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players who attack too early.
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Like we mentioned earlier in this video,
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if you speed up and fully commit to any
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shot, your ability to maintain your
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speed while changing directions [music]
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is significantly reduced.
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With this idea in mind, the focus for
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Chinese juniors was to be ready. When
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your opponent is the one trying to
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inject speed in the rally to pressure
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you, that's when they're least ready for
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defense and is the opening for you to
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While this type of gameplay isn't
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everybody's style, there are many
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benefits to playing like this. First,
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the focus is much better. What you'll
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notice is that the Chinese players
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rarely make mistakes themselves, and
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it's for a good reason. They're not as
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much focused on things like changing
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speed or playing deceptions to break
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their opponent's rhythm, but instead on
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the quality of their shots and movement.
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Lifts and pushes must be played at good
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heights and depths. Blocks, nets, and
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drops should be hard for your opponents
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And most of all, the recovery after
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every shot should put you in a position
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ready to continue the rally.
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Contrast this to the play style of
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someone like Ubadila. This is very much
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a player that looks to create
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opportunities to win the rally himself.
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And you can see how he was using pace
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changes and deceptions far more than the
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But he was also making far more
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This is because there's too much for him
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to think about in control. He might be
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thinking about how he wants to quickly
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speed up at the net and take it early.
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But because he is so focused on that
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pace change, it is very realistic for
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Uidilla to forget the control that was
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needed, which was why you can often see
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him driving out or smashing into the
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And the main reason we wanted to make
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this video in the first place is because
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there is a noticeable difference between
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the current Chinese juniors and the
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When we compare the current junior world
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champion, Lu Yang Ming Yu, to the former
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one, Hujan, you can see that Hujan's
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gameplay is much more about creating
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opportunities for himself.
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He actively plays towards his spin net
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skills [music] to ultimately get lifts
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that he can not only smash but also make
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use of other skills such as slices and
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Current Chinese juniors are different in
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that sense. [music] There's less create
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opportunities for yourself and more
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leverage your opponent's speed against
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Thus, you'll see more simplicity in
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their gameplay and a focus on shot
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quality and movement.
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Now, that isn't to say that pace changes
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and deceptions are bad, but it's
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something that comes after shot quality
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and smooth movements.
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Just as how a pace change can win you
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the rally, it can also be the reason you
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lose the rally when done at an incorrect
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In fact, players like Chenl Long and the
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Chinese juniors that he coaches have
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learned to weaponize their opponent's
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pace changes against themselves.
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Instead of trying to create
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opportunities yourself, another option
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is to be a more patient player and
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punish opponents for being impatient.
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After all, the best openings can often
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be found after your opponent strikes
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first. Like this video. Make sure to hit
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