OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Just kind of a rhetorician question. I’m pretty sure we have pretty decent basics.
But even then, it always seems we are never going to go from the regular joe to a professional?

_________________
Setup 1:
Forehand: Globe 999
BH: 755
Blade : Matsushita Pro

Starting out too late in life without proper coaching + lack of talent + using pips with the ABS ball

So are you saying those of us who "only" use pips have no chance?

first of all you would need to define "professional"

_________________
Blade: Barna Original Triumph Forehand Yasaka Razka Po Backhand Der-Materialspezialist Störkraft 0.8
http://www.instagram.com/dragontattooguy

Making TT training a 9-5 job, get sponsors, play in tournaments and make enough through the sport to put the kids through college. Hopefully with enough leftover to retire once out of the competitive "condition".

A LOT of things. First, a huge percentage of us do NOT have good "basics". But I think it all can be summed up as sheer "lack of ability". All the coaching and practice in the world won't help (especially since many of us are well into geezerhood).

And there's this - think about it. How much money is there in table tennis, and how many "professionals" can this money support? Only those at the pinnacle can actually make a living at this, and I suspect that around World Ranking of 200 or above, these "professionals" either have a day job or are living hand to mouth. Even the top pros make a fraction of what, say, Nadal or Federer or Mbappe makes. Table tennis is a penny ante sport (and I didn't invent that last sentence).

Iskandar

If we could ever become professional, we would stop enjoying the sport . Also, we would be forced to treat the rubbers to compete against those who do . The Ittf knows this already, but remains silent, of course .

The professional world in ANY SPORT is corrupt. Any sporting activity involving money is corrupt, hence, to survive in this world, you must do things you do not agree with, hence, treat the rubbers .

Ask Timo Boll , who - in an interview- claimed that about 80 % of professionals treated the rubbers in some way .

I do not envy the professionals, really ,but I would like to have more training days to see how far I can get in this sport, for the moment, for the time I can train, my level is decent , especially, after never having had a coach .

Friendly, honest and non-cheating table tennis compeers here on OOAK which is far better than being professional

Well, consider becoming a professional violin solist, a chess grandmaster, a professional free climber - you name it. Think you can make it? If not, the reasons are more or less the same. Some things can't be learned...

(I've been playing violin at a decent level, practicing several hours a day - no way to ever get close to a true talent).

_________________
- style: modern defense -

Make this "any activity involving money" ...

_________________
- style: modern defense -

Hamburgers cost money. A guy has got to eat right?

I believe table-tennis is game for all ages. Even if you don't have the youth training and coaching in the sport, even if you haven't benefited from playing competitively there is always the chance to get "good enough" to play competitive / amateur / professional level in table-tennis.

Some ppl have the "natural" talent and others have the youth advantage and rest of us have the "passion" and "hard-work" and "effort"

Also there is no telling when we "git gud" table-tennis players can play into their late 70s !!! and I have PERSONALLY MET and PLAYED AGAINST and SPECTATED the previous generations of players who would THRASH the living daylights out of any "Youff" players of today !

_________________
__________________________________________________________
Backup C-pen blades:

• TSP Black Balsa 7.0 :
  1. FH/BH-YRakza9/XOmegaVT
  2. FH/BH-TSP Spectol/Yinhe Qing OX
• 729 Bomb C-P : FH/BH-DHS H2 Orig/DHS H3 Orig
• TSP Versal :
  1. FH/BH-XOmegaVA/YJupiter-II
  2. FH/BH-*blank*

Fun blades:

• Yasaka Battle Balsa(ST) : FH/BH- DHS TG2Neo/Gewo HypeXT 47
• Dr. Neubauer
  High Technology
  Cypress-Carbon(ST)
  ***************************** : FH/BH-YRakza7/YRakza7

==========================================================

I suppose we could all go back to the barter economy, since jobs, and commerce, involve money...

(Reminds me of middle school level debating contests - "Today's debate topic will be 'Money is the Root of All Evil'.... " )

Iskandar

the truth is that most people could...its not a genetic requirement people are missing in most cases..of course there are those that are naturally gifted and require less training than the rest / or would play even better if the trained more...but in reality becoming a pro has more to do with commitment and dedication, meaning training several times a day intensely , having a trainer, having learned a good technique (at best at an early age) and having some degree of intelligence to come up with your own type of game and to be intelligent enough to be able to analyze the weaknesses of your game and taking the steps necessary to improve...the more talent comes with this and other gifts such as anticipatory skills and the like the better.. the main reason most never reach this level is simply that they dont pour in the same degree of dedication to the sport that the pros do.

_________________
Blade: Barna Original Triumph Forehand Yasaka Razka Po Backhand Der-Materialspezialist Störkraft 0.8
http://www.instagram.com/dragontattooguy

I don't think it's genetic - it's developmental. And something mental as well. See what the Chinese do - they identify people at a young age with superior athletic abilities, and then they put them into special schools where they do nothing but train and train for several years. Eventually a SMALL number of these people make it to the top, the rest? I suppose they become ball feeders and assistant coaches and the like. If EVERYONE had it in them to make it to the top, you'd find MOST of these people becoming pro players.

Iskandar