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

[yogi_bear]

Is 39l0k.Euro per season bigger than a monthly salary of a regular paying job in Europe?

 

[CluelessTTDad]

Going back to my plumber, he's definitely pulling in more than 100k euros a year and it didn't take him 10000 hours of practice to get there.

 

[davizoosk]

thank you all and I would like you to end it there, I don’t want to know about money, money and money, I already know that I won’t make a living with this even if I get far, maybe I’ll do something else like digital marketing, I’ll play for love, money makes a difference, but what tt experiences me is not normal, yesterday there was an ugly fight here, the only thing that made me calm was my racket and ball. I like and love this sport. the money he will bring me does not matter, I will strive to pay the bills, but mainly to get as far as possible in the sport.

 

[davizoosk]

sorry, but i never talked about making a living with tt, that's not even my intention. I close this topic here. I will not have a normal job and I may be struggling to get as far as possible. Thanks but I don't care about that much money, I hate those who idolize money.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

thank you all and I would like you to end it there, I don’t want to know about money, money and money, I already know that I won’t make a living with this even if I get far, maybe I’ll do something else like digital marketing, I’ll play for love, money makes a difference, but what tt experiences me is not normal, yesterday there was an ugly fight here, the only thing that made me calm was my racket and ball. I like and love this sport. the money he will bring me does not matter, I will strive to pay the bills, but mainly to get as far as possible in the sport.

not sure this will age well, especially when he learns that chicks prefer rich men to bums, and that TT coaches will not teach him for free because they have a family to feed.

but 15 is a time when to have grand ideas.

 

[davizoosk]

thank you all for the encouragement, about the technicians I’m already seeing this, if you’ve read it, you can see that my father is a physical education teacher and can accompany me on this, I won’t give up and thanks again, you just motivated me to try harder.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

thank you all for the encouragement, about the technicians I’m already seeing this, if you’ve read it, you can see that my father is a physical education teacher and can accompany me on this, I won’t give up and thanks again, you just motivated me to try harder.

Cool. You should look at PingPongPaddy's thread on ideas about training. It will be a worthwhile read for you. Good info for improving skills.

 

[lVegita]

I started practicing tt for now and I dream of becoming a professional, is it still possible?

sorry, but i never talked about making a living with tt, that's not even my intention.

"A professional is a member of a profession or any person who earns their living from a specified professional activity." (Wikipedia)

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

"A professional is a member of a profession or any person who earns their living from a specified professional activity." (Wikipedia)

This is true. But if his goal is simply to get as good as possible and to get to a pro level of play, then, no reason not to go for it. When he needs to be able to pay the bills, he will make choices then. At 15 you can focus on things like TT training. The work and discipline that go into it do transfer into life and profession skills when he needs to make a living. That kind of discipline, if he develops it while working on TT skills can transfer to the skills of any other career.

 

[Simas]

Sorry, if you heard not that what you hoped, but your attitude is great. So keep it up!

 

[davizoosk]

Sorry, if you heard not that what you hoped, but your attitude is great. So keep it up!

I'm sorry, nothing here I expected, you gave me an explanation of the reality and I was angry at the time. but I understood, anyway, I understand a little bit of informatics and digital marketing, maybe I need to use this to make a living if the tt doesn't bear fruit, I'm sorry for the ignorance.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I have had players who were in their mid-twenties, and who were low level players ask what I thought about them working to become a pro. There is nothing wrong with dreams and following your dreams. Sometimes things work out different than the numbers.

In other sports it is much more possible. In TT it is quite hard. But, for someone 15 it is still possible. Just not a viable source of income for most, even the second rung below the top tier players.

But there is still value in going for it. And you never know what could come of the fruits of the effort.

Look at ZJK: he makes far more being a model these days than he ever did as a TT player. And at the height of his career, he was definitely, by far, the highest paid player. And the modeling career would not have happened without the TT career.

 

[Der_Echte]

Ironically, one of my founding members of Korean Foreign developed into a National level Div 1 amateur player winning many tourneys (was about 200 level when he went to Korea) and had a very successful career as a fashion model.

 

[Table Tennis Reborn]

If you surround yourself in the right environment it's possible

 

[yogi_bear]

I say go to college, graduate and get a high paying job while playing table tennis to be on a good level but not a pro.

 

[maldives_girl]

Yes you can. And you even have a chance to participate in local leagues. But I think that everything is possible and you can achieve the great results if you will work hard. Adn maybe once you will take a part at worldwide championship.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Yes you can. And you even have a chance to participate in local leagues. But I think that everything is possible and you can achieve the great results if you will work hard. Adn maybe once you will take a part at worldwide championship.

Just curious. How long have you been playing?

 

[ajtatosmano2]

It is possible, it just depends on you. I would say train like 4*5 hours a week plus 3 hours one-on
-one with a coach. This is 23 hours, IMO it's enough if you are talented. If not, aim at 30-35 hours per week. The real challenge are the money and the schooling. You're 15 and being a full-time TT player you can't expect a stable income. The best if you can participate in a family business. Also, if you are in school and train to become a pro, you can forget your social life. Your team and clubmates will be your friends and you shouldn't start a serious romantic relationship, unless she's a professional too. It's harsh, but it's possible. On the other hand, if you want to become a semi-professional, someone who gets paid for playing but not as his main income, your job is much easier. Then it really depends on how talented you are, how good the coaches are and how can you manage your time. I am 21 and still want to become a semi-pro and I believe that I can become one.
If you decided that you want to take table tennis seriously, I highly recommend to set goals and start to share vids about you training and playing, as it creates pressure on you and helps maintaining a high standard during training.

 

[Baal]

I believe I can fly.

I believe in miracles.

This I believe.

I believe in Santa Claus.

Reason to believe.


I believe to my soul.

Daydream believer.

Don't stop believin'

Do you believe in magic?

I'm a believer.

When you believe.



Nope. A guy just starting at 15 is not going to be a pro, no matter how hard you believe or how many songs you listen to.

 

[Kontra]

Michael Stich was always synonym to me that it's possible, even if you start bit later, but even him had some foundations from early stages of hiss life. Also, every sport in total, was bit "different" 30 years ago.

Born on October 18, 1968, Stich came of age in Elmshorn, a suburb of Hamburg. Though he’d first started tennis at age six, for much of Stich’s childhood, tennis took a back seat to soccer. Tennis was something he played for fun, but not always with a particularly high level of engagement or even good manners. As Stich said years later, “I behaved really bad, and so everybody said, ‘O.K., that guy’s never going to win anything.’”

In the summer of 1985, though, the 16-year-old Stich was quite impressed to see Becker, a mere 11 months his elder, capture the Wimbledon men’s singles title. Becker’s landmark first major victory cascaded in the form of an inspirational shockwave. A year later, Stich had cast soccer aside and ascended the tennis rankings to become become Germany’s best junior.

Stich turned pro in 1988 and began to inch his way up the ranks. Who knew how far he could go? One major believer was Nikki Pilic, a former top ten pro who was also the German Davis Cup captain. As Pilic noted in 1991, “I said when Michael was 400 in the rankings that he had the potential to be in the top 50 . . . He is intelligent. He has great talent, good hands, good eye, great touch. Though he is big, he is not slow.”


​