Hell-like Training

China National Women’s Volleyball Team (The History of Spirit)

Kong Ning

Beijing Daily Press

October 2020

128.00 (CNY)

This book objectively records the process of the establishment of the China national women’s volleyball team and their tenth champion. It comprehensively records the development of the team over the past seven decades with many rarely known， behind the scene stories. It contains the highlights of the team and also how they faced illness and questions in difficult times and how they changed dire situations by never giving up， showcasing the true and comprehensive China national women’s volleyball team to readers.

Kong Ning

Kong Ning has been working with the Sports Department of Beijing Evening News since 1998 and is now a senior reporter in the Department of Sports News at Beijing Daily (and the Beijing Evening News Sports Department). In 1997， he graduated from the Department of Economics at Beijing University of Technology with a bachelor’s degree. From 2005 to 2006， funded by the government and sent to the University of Bedfordshire in London for further study， he obtained a master’s degree in media management. He was the first-prize winner of the Beijing News Award.

I have not personally witnessed how Yuan Weimin trained the China national women’s volleyball team of that time， and I have not personally experienced the hardships of that time. But Chen Zhonghe has gone through the whole process. This time Chen Zhonghe led the team， and I finally realized how painstaking the hell-like training was. During this process， it dawned on me where the spirit of the China national women’s volleyball team came from and why the team succeeded.

I have interviewed many sports events with the team， but I have never seen a team train like the China national women’s volleyball team. Such an experience also changed my views completely and offered me an opportunity to learn， because I learned at least what the principle of “three requirements and heavy load” in training was. No one has ever known where hell is， and no one has ever seen the devil. However， in the first intensified training， a new batch of female members of the China national women’s volleyball team experienced the hell-like training led by the “devil” in Chenzhou. That “devil” was Chen Zhonghe.

At the time， the China national women’s volleyball team was already far out of people’s sight because everyone felt that the team would not turn the tables in the short term， and they did not trust Chen Zhonghe. They experienced tough days for a long time.

On the morning of April 14， 2001， the China national women’s volleyball team dressed in uniform stood at the training base in Chenzhou， Hunan province. Captain Feng Kun， standing at the front of the team， took the oath with the team， “It is my will to be a member of the China national women’s volleyball team...fight for the rebuilding of the former glory of the Chinese women’s volleyball team...contribute fully to…”

Military training later became regular during each intensified training of the China national women’s volleyball team. The week-long military training was a time for teammates to get to know each other. More importantly， the whole team took on a new look and laid a foundation for skill training， which was Chen Zhonghe’s first step to training the team’s spirit.

Young players who had just joined the China national women’s volleyball team had great potential， but they were generally not skilled in all aspects. Chen did not slacken his efforts because what he did was a restart. The sheer purgatory of training began. Chen Zhonghe intensively trained players in their physical capability， and each player had a strong physical reaction. In addition， Chen Zhonghe began to carefully hone everyone’s skills. Maybe many people didn’t think it was reasonable to train three times a day， but in the early days of the team， it was worth enduring hardships， because what Chen Zhonghe wanted was to lay the foundation for the next four years.

In Chenzhou， I also saw the “wood floor”. At that time， there were no bamboo sheds in Chenzhou’s training base， and no high-quality plastic court was available in the venue as it is now. The wood floor made me feel a little nostalgic. They rolled over， defended， and covered many times. I thought the person I saw was not Chen Zhonghe who trained players in the center of the field， but Yuan Weimin.

Captain Feng Kun said to me， “I am dog-tired， but I must go through those rough patches so I can become a better player. Now I only phone my family once every two or three days because I am too tired to talk. Every day we go to the canteen， we are not willing to eat， because we think eating is tiring. I just want to rest in bed for a while. Every Sunday afternoon is a break， but no one can have a rest. No one is willing to go out but instead they sleep in the dormitory when they have the time.” After a day’s training， Zhou Suhong， Yang Hao， and others were too exhausted to go upstairs， nor did they want to eat. Only on their hands and feet could they get back to the dormitory.

The intensive training made every player feel unprecedented pressure. Chen Zhonghe said， “I couldn’t recall the training in Chenzhou in 2001， because it was too relentless and intensive. I had reached my limit. In the initial stage， they were not very skilled， so I had to work with them in all the skill training. If I did it over again， I doubt I could make it.”

Due to their poor skills， the young players often could not meet Chen Zhonghe’s requirements， and they were under great pressure. Chen Zhonghe also used harsh words to stimulate everyone. As we all know， Chen Zhonghe has always shown us with a smile. However， he did not smile at the beginning， but instead bared a ruthless face.

Zhou Suhong cried. So did Yang Hao， Zhao Ruirui， Feng Kun and Liu Yanan. But they didn’t cry because they failed to bear the pain of training， but because they failed to meet the coach’s requirements. Hence they felt remorse. “They are worried. They hit a bottleneck then. Remarkable progress may be made when they go through a hard time; if they fail， they will not be truly strong and have no chance to win the world championship”， Chen Zhonghe said with deep emotion.

Captain Feng Kun suffered the darkest times in that training. Feng Kun was tall， so she was adept at sharp attack and stable defense. Her weak spot was her poor organization ability as the main setter and her poor pass work. Chen Zhonghe said to her bluntly， “you’re bad at passing the ball.” This was equal to the denial of Feng Kun’s whole ability as a setter. Feng Kun， who had been working hard， cried bitterly and made a loud noise. But when Chen Zhonghe advised her to remain confident and not to worry， Feng Kun cried even harder.

Yang Hao was also crying out loud because the coach always thought she could do nothing but spike with little use of her brain. What Yang Hao could do was be a power forward， but she was not adept in the drop shot， let alone using her palm to change the rhythm. The result was being easily blocked and as a failure of the task， poor first pass and defense problems also emerged. “Why did everything go wrong?” Yang Hao cried again.

Every player was punished by Chen Zhonghe for not finishing skill training. For example， if the coach asked to spike five balls， but they only spiked four， then another five will be done. So the training time was infinitely delayed. They were not allowed to eat without finishing the task. Many female players always shed tears in this almost cruel training. Zhao Ruirui who couldn’t take the training anymore even asked to return to the Bayi Nanchang Women’s Volleyball Team.

On one occasion， the team trained from early morning until 3 pm and had not eaten lunch. The chief cook of the canteen packed the food and sent it to the training venue. Chen Zhonghe said at that time， “We haven’t finished the training. Take it back!” In this way， lunch became dinner. And when it was the time for us to go to the canteen， no one could eat because everyone was too tired， and some players even fell asleep while eating in the canteen.

Later， Chen Zhonghe said， “Such situations are not often there， but sometimes they are necessary because this is greater pressure on the players. They have to experience such pain， and they need greater stimulation.” I thought Chen Zhonghe at that time was almost another Yuan Weimin.

Chen Zhonghe stayed up late every night because he had to write the training plan for the next day. Sometimes he was too exhausted to write a word down， but he could not afford the luxury to relax. He and the team aimed not only to become a strong team throughout the world but also to regain the world championship.

During the intensive training period of the China national women’s volleyball team， Chen Zhonghe implemented the painstaking training like a devil， where every player on the team shed tears at least once. He said， “They are highly motivated and very united; the reasons why they cry are that they are not satisfied with themselves and are worried about themselves， which shows that they have personality， and players without personality can’t win the world championship. I always encourage them to challenge themselves and overcome their weaknesses.”