I am 15 years old, what is the chance of becoming a professional?

I'm feeling very late compared to Tomokazu Harimoto, who is already 16 years old and is at the top of the world ranking, I started practicing tt for now and I dream of becoming a professional, is it still possible? I'm very unmotivated.


I'm feeling very late compared to tomokazu harimoto, who is already 16 years old and is at the top of the world ranking, I started practicing tt for now and I dream of becoming a professional, is it still possible?
 
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If professional == player playing in ITTF international tournaments on a regular basis NO
If professional == player playing in a small upper national league 99% NO 1% YES
If professional == professional coach in a local club 20% YES
 
If professional == player playing in ITTF international tournaments on a regular basis NO
If professional == player playing in a small upper national league 99% NO 1% YES
If professional == professional coach in a local club 20% YES

reasons?
 
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You left out a lot of key information. What is your level now? Do you have good coaching and training available to you? How much of your life are you able to dedicate to TT, are you just going to college in a few years, or do you have the money and time and resources to try to be a pro?

I am guessing it was a mistake when you said "I am very unmotivated"?

The chances of being world class, are very very very very very small. No matter what age you start. You can get to an elite national level having started late, there are several such examples, but again, the chances of that are still very very very small regardless of what age you started. So it really comes down to if you have talent, and money/time/resources for high level training.
 
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the reason is that becoming pro is something very competitive. To make participate in the ITTF world tour on a regular basis, means you are among the top 200 players in the world. they all started playing table tennis when they were much younger than you are and have accumulated at your age already more than 10,000 hours of training when they were your age. Furthermore its much easier to learn at a young age, then at 15. it means to get to the same technical level just to get where they were at 15, you'd probably need twice more time, which brings you at 35, and your body will not be competitive anymore.... if you get the picture

maybe you excel at sports, and you're a trained athlete in another discipline since your youngest age. in this case, maybe you wouldn't need twice much time, but the idea is still there, its too late... there is simply no example of someone having achieved such a thing.

Furthermore, professionals in TT are not making a lot of money, only the ones at the very top.

Its probably way way easier for you to become a top lawyer, or a top doctor and make much more money than become a mediocre TT professional who'd end up coaching in a small club for little $$$. Even if you suck at school right now !

[@zyu81 OP said "i am started practising TT for now"]
 
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Well, I'm not a total beginner, I play ping-pong for a while, about 1 year. I can train at a club, up to 6 hours a week and play freely whenever I want. I am in the first year of high school, apart from the school that runs from 1 pm to 6 pm I have the whole day. I have a table at home and a returnboard, I haven't chosen a college subject or something yet. I know and master a little of most techniques. I think I still don't understand what it really is to be a professional.
 
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Well, I'm not a total beginner, I play ping-pong for a while, about 1 year. I can train at a club, up to 6 hours a week and play freely whenever I want. I am in the first year of high school, apart from the school that runs from 1 pm to 6 pm I have the whole day. I have a table at home and a returnboard, I haven't chosen a college subject or something yet. I know and master a little of most techniques. I think I still don't understand what it really is to be a professional.

A more realistic goal for you would be, maybe, top 250 men (assuming you are a man) in your country, at some point in your life. Brazil has a lot of very good players. Even achieving that goal will be extremely difficult, but definitely something to be proud of if you can achieve it one day.

Maybe if you get to that level, you can play in nationwide leagues. That is a more realistic but still extremely difficult goal.
 
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A more realistic goal for you would be, maybe, top 250 men (assuming you are a man) in your country, at some point in your life. Brazil has a lot of very good players. Even achieving that goal will be extremely difficult, but definitely something to be proud of if you can achieve it one day.

Maybe if you get to that level, you can play in nationwide leagues. That is a more realistic but still extremely difficult goal.

yes, thanks for clarifying the reality, can you tell me if the National School Games (even if you live in Germany haha) can take me one step further? it happens here every year and I have two more years to participate (so I will try), is it something that gives me good progress?
 
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I'm not sure I understand the question. You become a better player through practice. Playing in a tournament is a good learning experience but it will not directly make you a better player.
 
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Well, I'm not a total beginner, I play ping-pong for a while, about 1 year. I can train at a club, up to 6 hours a week and play freely whenever I want. I am in the first year of high school, apart from the school that runs from 1 pm to 6 pm I have the whole day. I have a table at home and a returnboard, I haven't chosen a college subject or something yet. I know and master a little of most techniques. I think I still don't understand what it really is to be a professional.

6 hours a week is nothing.
 
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Sorry to disappoint you, but the chances of becoming a professional are almost none. If by professional you mean making a living from playing table tennis.

That being said, you can still become quite good, if you are willing to play at least a couple of times a week in a decent club. However, this requires that you absolutely focus on learning good technique and have access to a good coach in your club, and some practice partners that may teach and exercise with you. At least in my country, the biggest issue will be being able to train with a coach. Most coaches will focus on younger kids, but if you are lucky, maybe there is some organized training with a coach in your club that you can join.

If you are determined, then say in a 5 years time frame you should be able to have a lot of fun playing in a local league.

However, do not waste too much time on just training alone. Yes, you need that too, but you will get nowhere without good technique.
 
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What other sports are you good at? What do your friends mostly play?
 
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I know too many people who tried to become a professional and never got anything out of it. In China, since there is so much competition for national, and even provencial team spots, the coaches look at the young kids too see if they have any talent. No talent means that highest level of competition, a lack of talent compared to others will hold you back and so the coach may not pay 100% attention to them. I know someone who said his coach doesn't think he should go pro because he had a relativly low foot arc. Talent isn't everything, but it helps a lot.

Another thing to highlight is that almost all the top players, started at a really young age. The fact is, someone with 10 years of 3-5 hours a day of professional level experience versus your one year in ping pong, you will loose. Experience is a very heavy deciding factor in table tennis. You also have a small window of success, since age is a pretty big factor in any sport. by the time you are good enough to be at the national level, you might be 3-4 years away from having to retire.

Good news is, there are some exceptions like Hugo Calderano! I think he started when he was around 14 and now he's a top ten player. ofcoarse, Hugo is a great example of someone with extreme talent, but it is also important to note that he has experience in racket sports, previously playing tennis.

The sad truth is, if you don't have the right talents and training conditions, you probably won't make it. Table tennis isn't a big enough global sport either, so it'd be hard to make a living out of it. an athletes life in any sport is very hard, just be safe and don't go proffessional, but you can still train hard and have fun.
 
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I would not want to say impossible. Many things that are unlikely are still possible.

If, at 15 you have a little experience, but experience in other racket sports and are extremely talented and spent about 4-5 hours a day training, maybe 2-3 hours a day of that training supervised by coaches, and you did that 6 days a week for 4-5 years, by 20, you might be able to get to top 100 in your country. But that would cost a lot of money to have that level of training with coaches.

Also, a lot of the time, the guys who get the most serious coaching and get to those high levels nationally, travel to countries where they can get higher quality coaching.

But, if the idea of trying to get to be a pro player is a motivation for you to play, use it to keep you motivated to train and improve.

However, if you really want to get to a decently high level though, you have to train with people who can get you to work on the things you need to improve to get you to those higher levels. Just playing with friends, hitting with a return board or a robot, or any other fun things that are not specifically tailored to helping you improve on the skills you need to work on, would not be what gets you to the elite levels of play.

4-5 hours a day, 6 days a week of TT training
2-3 (of those 4-5 hours) a day of training with or supervised by coaches on at least 4 of the 6 days a week

So, approximately 12 hours a week of training with a coach (approx $700.00 per week).

And if you did that, you might get to a high level. But, you might not.

And if the only thing that makes you interested in playing is becoming a pro, maybe play futball instead.
 
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Just started at 15 and gunna be a PRO on the TOUR in TT.

NOPE.

PERIOD.

Is it possible to be relatively good and maybe lead a team, run a club, or earn money as a coach...

SURE. CAN. HAPPEN.

If some ole crusty jokers like Next Level and a certain Der_Echte can start at said age as crusty jokers and still become tourney players and coaches...

YEAH. U younger, should be moar possible for you.
 
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If you don't enjoy the sport why bother wether you can become a touring pro.. If you enjoy the sport why bother thinking if you become the pro, why not just have fun, improve and go through whatever player evaluation system your country has (wether it is elo system or league system).
 
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