I want opinions on my chances of pro

[mamedium]

Having a business at 12 is unusual, but this can be real. It probably comes from the influence from family and friends.

TT is fun and competitive, and the OP is in a fast improving stage. So he's in a enthusiastic mode and set a goal for himself. Very understandable. And I wish every enthusiastic player can improve everyday.

it could be real. but i’ll wait to see his video first

 

[ThePongCommenter]

People tend to peak around 2400 who dont have more systematic dedicated training.

I don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting to 2400 without a significant amount of systematic and dedicated training. Are you basing this comment on people you know who did that? Would love to know who they are if so.

 

[mamedium]

My name is Kennedy Mandle if you want to look me up

i saw your videos.
i would say… if you are serious you’ll need to train at MDTTC with Coach Chen

then in a year go to California (ICC or 888) to see where you are in the US level

then maybe China next if money is not an issue

to reach world level you’ll need to become an athlete, not a player.

Malong made it to national team at the age of 13 Right now you are 12, you should be in a cadet/ junior national team already so I would say it is doable for you to reach pro level (24-2500)

world level is a different story

 

[ThePongCommenter]

lol this seems like a troll to me
12 year old with a car detail business
12 year old trying to break into W50

could be a 48 year old man playing at a community center with reliable internet

but hey so many good advices and insights already

i am eager to see the video of the OP

Nah, this is real, he has given enough information to identify himself in his OP (not sure if that was his goal or not).

@KTableTennis - I will give you advice and comments as someone who is very experienced in the professional development side of things especially in the USA. Keep in mind you are probably already higher level, and being advised by coaches and players who are more experienced and knowledgeable, than a lot of people online. So take any advice, including mine, with a grain of salt, but I can assure you I'm very experienced with people in your situation.


1) First off, 0 to 1800/1900 in one year is very good progress. However, you starting at 11, is in fact quite late compared to your competition, so you will have to make up time. As said, you need hours on hours on hours BUT they need to be quality hours, see point 3. You probably know this already. Sounds like you're off to a good start. Keep in mind that getting to 1800 is the "easy" part of early training, so don't be surprised or discouraged if you aren't gaining several hundred points per year in the coming years, this is expected and part of the process.

2) FOLLOW THE PROCESS, DON'T CHASE RESULTS OR RATING. This has been said on this thread already but it couldn't be any more important. I can't tell you how many promising juniors have burned out because they or their coaches focused too heavily on chasing wins or rating points, at all times. The goal is and always is to follow a process of how you train and how you play matches, set out for you by experienced professional coaches, and let that process happen as it happens. If you compromise this process chasing wins, you will hurt yourself in the long term, perhaps permanently.

3) Find the best coaches and practice partners in your area if you are not already. This matters a lot. While your early progress is very good, what is more important is the foundation you are setting up now and how well that will grow with you later. Training with the best is how you can ensure to hone this. This is not to scare you but many kids have improved fast early on but then hit a wall shortly after because they did not set the correct foundation during their early days. I am not saying this is you necessarily. You mentioned your coach has a record of getting people from 1800 to 2000 or something but when I read this that sounds meaningless to me. You need to be working with coaches who have developed champions, not 2000 players, if this is your goal. Tough reality, but nearly all of the junior or national champions from the USA either lived in or moved as children to the regions and clubs with the top coaches and players to practice with (Bay Area, New Jersey, Southern California).

 

[ThePongCommenter]

HI KTT
plenty of good advice here already
You have made a good start and seem to have a good handle on what's needed.
I note that you have a well planned weekly schedule, including a rest day which is good.
Just make sure that your development as a rounded human being matches your technical improvement
good luck

Very few TT champions are well rounded human beings, no time for that...

I joke...sort of...

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Nah, this is real, he has given enough information to identify himself in his OP (not sure if that was his goal or not).

@KTableTennis - I will give you advice and comments as someone who is very experienced in the professional development side of things especially in the USA. Keep in mind you are probably already higher level, and being advised by coaches and players who are more experienced and knowledgeable, than a lot of people online. So take any advice, including mine, with a grain of salt, but I can assure you I'm very experienced with people in your situation.

I was going to say, get off the forum as it will add no value to the journey.
His coaches/parents should be the one planning. Hopefully the coaching staff has nurtured USA national team members before.

1) First off, 0 to 1800/1900 in one year is very good progress. However, you starting at 11, is in fact quite late compared to your competition, so you will have to make up time. As said, you need hours on hours on hours BUT they need to be quality hours, see point 3. You probably know this already. Sounds like you're off to a good start. Keep in mind that getting to 1800 is the "easy" part of early training, so don't be surprised or discouraged if you aren't gaining 400+ points per year in the coming years, this is expected and part of the process.

2) FOLLOW THE PROCESS, DON'T CHASE RESULTS OR RATING. This has been said on this thread already but it couldn't be any more important. I can't tell you how many promising juniors have burned out because they or their coaches focused too heavily on chasing wins or rating points, at all times. The goal is and always is to follow a process of how you train and how you play matches, set out for you by experienced professional coaches, and let that process happen as it happens. If you compromise this process chasing wins, you will hurt yourself in the long term, perhaps permanently.

3) Find the best coaches and practice partners in your area if you are not already. This matters a lot. While your early progress is very good, what is more important is the foundation you are setting up now and how well that will grow with you later. Training with the best is how you can ensure to hone this. This is not to scare you but many kids have improved fast early on but then hit a wall shortly after because they did not set the correct foundation during their early days. I am not saying this is you necessarily. You mentioned your coach has a record of getting people from 1800 to 2000 or something but when I read this that sounds meaningless to me. You need to be working with coaches who have developed champions, not 2000 players, if this is your goal. Tough reality, but nearly all of the junior or national champions from the USA either lived in or moved as children to the regions and clubs with the top coaches and players to practice with (Bay Area, New York, Southern California).

with the other kid we have, where money is not a problem and he constantly when 1900, trains full time with many 2500+ one on ones.
his "late start" has made the growth from 2100 to 2200 very slow. He went from 0 to 1900 inside a year, and 1900 to 2100 inside 8 month so.

Certain shots, he is 2300-2400, but overall, the late start leads to inconsistency.
late start also means his lack of match experience.
never the less, I feel his peak will be around 2300 soon, and then very slow climb to 2400, that is provided if he wants to continue training full time.

he is just short of 2200, and 13~14 years old now. Also started at 11.

and he has been training at Taiwan's most prestige junior boys team (that has alumni including LYJ, KCJ, Feng, etc)

 

[ThePongCommenter]

with the other kid we have, where money is not a problem and he constantly when 1900, trains full time with many 2500+ one on ones.
his "late start" has made the growth from 2100 to 2200 very slow. He went from 0 to 1900 inside a year, and 1900 to 2100 inside 8 month so.

Certain shots, he is 2300-2400, but overall, the late start leads to inconsistency.
late start also means his lack of match experience.
never the less, I feel his peak will be around 2300 soon, and then very slow climb to 2400, that is provided if he wants to continue training full time.

he is just short of 2200, and 13~14 years old now. Also started at 11

Seen this story a million times, but no way to know until you try. There are people who started at this age and reached quite high levels, not WR50, but certainly could be one of the top players in the USA still, but yes the odds are greatly against you if you start late

Best thing KTableTennis can do now is make sure he is working with coaches and in training systems that have developed champions and make sure the foundation is rock solid and hope the rest can work itself out even if its later than most.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Seen this story a million times, but no way to know until you try. There are people who started at this age and reached quite high levels, not WR50, but certainly could be one of the top players in the USA still, but yes the odds are greatly against you if you start late

Best thing KTableTennis can do now is make sure he is working with coaches and in training systems that have developed champions and make sure the foundation is rock solid and hope the rest can work itself out even if its later than most.

yep, same time this 13 year old kid of ours has his resources, and him training in Taiwan to get in USA junior national teams.
so are other competitors also training in Taiwan, China and you name it.

no one is snoozing for you to just overtake easily.
Even starting at 6, only 1 in few thousands with full resources can get to WR50 and being in USA where national teams are all based on self funding - gotta make sure the side hustle goes from 10k to 100k p/a soon

 

[BlopChock]

Yeah, I forgot to add that I do a lot of strength training, but not a lot of heavy weights tho, I do a lot of push ups sit ups squats and other exercises every day. In my pe class I did 53 push ups in 60 seconds😂

I hear ya. I specifically mentioned core exercises, though, as that strength is essential to high level, consistent and powerful play. Things like this:

20-Minute Core Workout: 7 Exercises You Can Do at Home

Learn 7 basic exercises for core workouts, including planking, bicycle crunches, bridges, push-up rows, and skipping with a twist.

www.verywellfit.com

If you watched Tony's day in the life at Cathay TTC video I shared in my first post for you, you'll see his highly dedicated and knowledgeably trained students performing variations of the first three exercises in that link above.

Also, you're obviously getting plenty of leg endurance built through your track practice and many hours TT training, but you might also want to mimic the footwork agility training exercises (ladder and high-stepping) you see Tony's students doing in that video.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Yeah, I’m going to Portugal next summer to train for 3 months. It’s my first year so I haven’t played the big tournaments like nationals, but I will be playing all of them next year. My coach is a national champion for the Trinidad, but he is much different from other national champions, he is like the absolute best coach I can’t even count how many people he has gotten from 1800 to 2000 in less than two months. He says I am on track to get near 2100 by the end of this year

1800 to 2100 in 5 months...possible, given your progress, but still highly unlikely. Don't be discouraged if you don't get there. I am a bit surprised that a professional coach would give a young student an expectation like that or even be discussing rating goals at all. It is normal to have an attachment to your first and/or only coach but realistically if you want to reach your goals, a national champion for the Trinidad is probably not going to be the way to get there.

Why Portugal? Just curious.

 

[BlopChock]

thanks for sharing

My pleasure. For one thing, I think it's a fascinating look at a world class facility and worth watching for anyone who's passionate about our favorite sport. For another, it was the first and best thing that came to mind to graphically illustrate for young Mr K what diligent and technical effort goes into the process of building aspiring world class players.

 

[BlopChock]

lol this seems like a troll to me
12 year old with a car detail business
12 year old trying to break into W50

could be a 48 year old man playing at a community center with reliable internet

but hey so many good advices and insights already

i am eager to see the video of the OP

Well, you can look up his USATT and it matches exactly what he stated in his initial post: first competed last August (at ~ 400 ranking) and most recently in June with his ranking at 1807.

 

[BlopChock]

i saw your videos.
i would say… if you are serious you’ll need to train at MDTTC with Coach Che

Ah, I see your suspicion of trolling has been allayed. The video looks to be from back in Feb/Mar when he was rated ~1400.

And yes, it looks like he's at MDTTC: one of the first full time TT clubs established in the US (in part by Larry Hodges, btw). If you look at the bios of their coaches, they're well qualified to get young Mister K well on his way with a solid foundation.

 

[golden_son]

OP:

"I'm gonna be WR50... Believe it!"

HI KTT
plenty of good advice here already
You have made a good start and seem to have a good handle on what's needed.
I note that you have a well planned weekly schedule, including a rest day which is good.
Just make sure that your development as a rounded human being matches your technical improvement
good luck

(Emphasis mine.) This is the best comment of the thread so far, along with maybe Tony's suggestion that you think about a future in business. Table tennis almost certainly won't be your career. "Passion" and "determination" are fantastic, but real life often doesn't care how much passion and determination you have.

Since you live in the US, let me make an analogy to one of the most well-funded, well-supported sports we have here: football.

Every young football player dreams of playing in the NFL; it has the most prestige, the fiercest games, and the largest paychecks.

• There are 32 NFL teams comprised of 53 players each, or 1,696 professional football players at the top of the sport. Each year, only 257 new players are drafted to these teams (as of 2025) out of college.
• There are 136 teams at the top college level (FBS) that can send players to the NFL, with a maximum of 105 players per team; meaning every year there are 14,280 players at the top college level vying for 257 spots. (That's not counting the additional thousands of FCS and junior college players also vying for one of those spots, of which an average of 15 and 12, respectively, get drafted each year.)

Do you think only 257 players out of 14,280+ (less than 1.8%) have the passion and determination to be the best football players in the world? Certainly not. It's the ones that start young, attend multiple camps, have high-level coaches, attend the best high schools for the sport, and have their family + coaches market them to the best colleges that make it the farthest. And even then, there's thousands of other kids who have done the same, any number of which may simply have more talent and out-compete you.

Now extrapolate that to table tennis, which has a far weaker support system in the US, and a much smaller top tier of athletes competing in tournaments of note, and you can see why people are telling you that money, facilities, experience, and family support are all equally or more important than a never-give-up attitude if you're trying to break into the top 50 in the world. Don't lose that attitude...but don't bank on that alone being enough, either.

This is why student athletes are student athletes, and continue to work toward a degree while trying to break into the pros. (Coincidentally, many often end up with business degrees.)

To be clear, none of this is to say you shouldn't continue to pursue your dream of being a top TT player! However, it's important to have perspective—and a backup plan. Sports aren't everything. Continue to focus on the things that make you a well-rounded human being in addition to your training: School. Your business(es). Learning to manage money, learning to cook. (You're never too young to start learning these things from your parents!) It's nothing to worry yourself with now, but as you get older try to find something in a more "traditional" career path that you're equally—or almost equally—interested in. That way, if your dream doesn't shake out at the very least you're in a good position to support yourself and continue to enjoy TT at a high level throughout your life.

...but I hope we'll be watching you in a WTT Contender in 2030!

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Ah, I see your suspicion of trolling has been allayed. The video looks to be from back in Feb/Mar when he was rated ~1400.

And yes, it looks like he's at MDTTC: one of the first full time TT clubs established in the US (in part by Larry Hodges, btw). If you look at the bios of their coaches, they're well qualified to get young Mister K well on his way with a solid foundation.

If you read his description of his coach earlier in this thread and check his club assignment on the USATT page you've mentioned, you will see that this is not the case. @KTableTennis will probably need to upgrade his training environment sooner rather than later if being one of the best in the country is his goal.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

This is footage from today and yesterday

for a 12 or 13 year old, you definitely have a long way to go.

i think you should put short term goals, more like making USA national U15 team, which equates about 2350+.

If I was your coach and if your parents are clear of getting 2350 before you are U15, you would need to sacrifice a lot, including your time on the internet and your business, even your education.

You would require to train morning and afternoon, and fit in some hours for home schooling/internet schooling.
service practice every night.

Have 3 sessions a day, 2 to 3 times a week, and 2 to 3 x 2 sessions a day, with Sunday off, for the next 2+ years.
A lot of money will be required to hire training partners, and taking part in training camps in Asia.

I work with pros and am part of they training programs - so I am very sure on the above, or else, don't bother.
I currently manage 33 of them in playing pro leagues. While not on my website, is probably another 100 players and many of them are close to calling it quits, as you end up getting 2400~2500 level by 18, and you are just one of another thousand in the same level/age.
www.tonytt.com

 

[Tyce]

This is footage from today and yesterday

This is lovely and all, but the people you're playing are zero challenge to you. Can't judge anything about how you handle pressure, or how much quality you can already produce because you're not challenged to do so.

I see some lazy popup balls (because you can get away with it easily) and not a lot of footwork.

Get yourself more challenges. Like a lot more.
This is one of the best kids in my country, he's 12 in this video, playing a training match.

And the same kid playing international U13 in Metz just now

He does make some similar errors so perhaps that's just an age/height related issue.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

for a 12 or 13 year old, you definitely have a long way to go.

i think you should put short term goals, more like making USA national U15 team, which equates about 2350+.

If I was your coach and if your parents are clear of getting 2350 before you are U15, you would need to sacrifice a lot, including your time on the internet and your business, even your education.

You would require to train morning and afternoon, and fit in some hours for home schooling/internet schooling.
service practice every night.

Have 3 sessions a day, 2 to 3 times a week, and 2 to 3 x 2 sessions a day, with Sunday off, for the next 2+ years.
A lot of money will be required to hire training partners, and taking part in training camps in Asia.

I work with pros and am part of they training programs - so I am very sure on the above, or else, don't bother.
I currently manage 33 of them in playing pro leagues. While not on my website, is probably another 100 players and many of them are close to calling it quits, as you end up getting 2400~2500 level by 18, and you are just one of another thousand in the same level/age.
www.tonytt.com

The USA U15 team is weak currently, 2500 is kind of a reasonable estimate for where you would want to be AT THE MINIMUM at 15 to have a chance for future low-level prospects. If not, at least you can be one of the top players in the USA.

But I don't think 3 sessions a day is necessary to reach that. As long as he is using all his free time after school and on the weekends playing table tennis with the right coaches and training partners, he could get there with some luck and a lot of hard work.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

@KTableTennis No doubt you like your coach but at the national level in the USA he has no history as a coach (developing players to national teams) or as a player. Look at all the top American players and who they were coached by and where they trained at, from the time they started playing. It is not a coincidence that they all come from former Olympians, Chinese or other Asian national team or provincial team members, and 2600/2700+ players. This is a tough reality but if you want a chance one you will have to accept. As mentioned above, many top players got to where they are because their families were willing to move to where the best coaches and players are, and on top of that spent summers in Asia training all day.

 

[BlopChock]

If you read his description of his coach earlier in this thread and check his club assignment on the USATT page you've mentioned, you will see that this is not the case. @KTableTennis will probably need to upgrade his training environment sooner rather than later if being one of the best in the country is his goal.

Quite right, I missed that - made faulty assumptions based on where his most recent competing was done. Dawned on me when I saw all the Butterfly branding at the DC club (rather than Joola in MD) in his brief video from today, before I read your post.