OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Keen to hear forum members opinions on how they would feel about competing in an important tournament with the following:

Just 12 tables for over 120 players - with the tables in constant use, and every time a table becomes free, there is a mad rush with all sorts of players vying with each other to be able to hit just a couple of balls on the table to see how the tables feel, their speed, hall conditions etc

Players who are not aggressive/don't want to be involved in the pushing mad rush don't even get a chance to get their equipment out of their bags before they are expected to play a competitive match. This means that you have not even FELT the ball a single time on your raquet before you are expected to play, with the token one minute on the table.))

Your thoughts, and would this be a scenario you would expect to see in a major tournament?

PS - I know for a fact that elite players and pros (if anyone should be able to step up to the table and just play without any warm up, its them) NEVER play a competitive match without at least 45 minutes warm up. Usually they do more...

I just played in the Arnold Classic in Columbus, OH yesterday and ran into this issue. In the middle of the day, there were several tournaments running at the same time and with 22 tables, there were none to be had for warming up. However, one of the round-robin stage finished and cleared up space in time for me to get a half hour to get going.

It wasn't the director's fault at all - They are limited in space and then about 40% more people signed up this year compared to last year. They handled it well and ran very close to on-time. The only downside is that there was almost no time for pick-up games on the side unless you were there very early or very late.

It sounds slightly better than your situation, but I also the aggressive table snatching you referred to.

_________________
Offensive Setup: Blade: Tibhar Stratus Power Wood, BH Friendship 802-40 (black) 1.8, FH Friendship 802-40 (red) 2.15
Defensive Setup: Blade: Butterfly Joo Se Hyuk, FH Friendship 802-40 (red) 1.8, BH TSP P-1R (black) 0.5

CG - I completely agree and sympathise with you, as have felt it. However, in the case I describe, even a few SECONDS of table time was unavailable!)) and this was not just any tournament, this was the national championships of a major European nation we are talking about... I was so disgusted with the set up I just walked out, despite having travelled all day to get there.

This is one of the reasons I've all but stopped playing tournaments. That, and the poor playing-to-waiting ratio, especially when one makes it to the playoff rounds.

Agree. I lose poorly in one of the tournament I have joined due to lack of proper warm up. I only peaked on the middle of 3rd set but its too late.

_________________
Enjoy the game. It is a never ending learning experience once you play and keep the ball on that 45 sq ft of space or should I say half of that space.

At most tournaments I attend, there aren't tables set aside for warm-up. Generally at the bigger tournaments there are a couple of tables that aren't being used for competition, but it's tough to get on them. That just makes it important to arrive at the venue before play officially starts, even if your event doesn't start until later in the day, and get a warm-up in when it's possible.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

Fortunately there are only 2 venues like this, out of around 6 that I might play tournaments at in a year. Unfortunately one of them is my own club, even though we have 16 tables (which gets cut to 15 for tournaments as seating gets set up on one court). Usually some free time opens up later in the day though. The other venue only has 9 tables and is running at near 100% usage all day long. If you manage to get seeded and get some easier matches early on, this can help (unless you get someone unrated who is better than the seeds ).

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.