I wasted 12 years of my life trying to play table tennis

[piligrim]

To be doctor also very hard, many years in university, very hard exams not everyone pass. Also to be doctor it's not for everyone. Same about lawyers

 

[PickleRick]

whatever profession you choose you will only get paid if you are really good at it.
be it table tennis player, doctor, lawyer, architect....

the idea that being a pro tt player is incredibly hard and being a lawyer is an easy way out for the lazy seems ludicrous to me.
it depends on the characteristics of the person.
some were born with more physical attributes like agility, speed.
others were born with more mental faculties like memory, logic thinking.

It’s a bad comparison, isn’t it? There are like 15 million doctors in the world and they can all make a living out of it. You just need to obtain the mandatory medical degree. You don’t need to be exceptional.

As a table tennis player you need to be one of the hundred best players in the world to even be able to make a living. And it will end when you are 40.

 

[lightspin]

Maybe from a financial point of view, you are better off realizing that you can not be a professional TT player.

I believe that other than a very small percentage of professional players (top 10 or top 20 caliber of player), most players are not able to save any money that they have earned during their playing career and have probably given up on their general education in order to be a pro TT player. At some point, they can no longer play any more due to injuries or just getting old. Then their only career choices are to coach TT and that occupation may not be suitable for every retired player.

In the USA, you can make way, way more money coaching than playing. The only people playing tournaments, outside of maybe Kanak, are doing so because they enjoy competition. The cost of plane flights, hotels and missed coaching opportunities rarely are covered by prize money. I have heard 3rd hand that Kanak is making decent money playing in Europe. I know several coaches on the East Coast making 100k-200k a year just coaching. Again, outside of Kanak, I doubt anyone is clearing 100k-200k in prize money after expenses.

In China, if you are a decent tournament player there are opportunities to make that much money just playing tournaments even if you are not on the national team. Tournaments pay appearance fees, cover travel and hotel fees and then prize money is decent. One Chinese player who visited the club I practice and coach at said they can clear 150k USA just playing tournaments in China. When asked if they wanted to ever move to the USA they laughed and said they still enjoyed playing competitively and preferred to stay in China.

 

[the-don]

It’s a bad comparison, isn’t it? There are like 15 million doctors in the world and they can all make a living out of it. You just need to obtain the mandatory medical degree. You don’t need to be exceptional.

As a table tennis player you need to be one of the hundred best players in the world to even be able to make a living. And it will end when you are 40.

you need to have certain exceptional mental capacities to get a medical degree.
not everybody can do it.

and even if you do get the degree not all doctors have the same working conditions.
a doctor in luxembourg might have an impressive salary.
a doctor in congo might work for free or for a very small amount.

 

[Archosaurus]

you need to have certain exceptional mental capacities to get a medical degree.
not everybody can do it.

and even if you do get the degree not all doctors have the same working conditions.
a doctor in luxembourg might have an impressive salary.
a doctor in congo might work for free or for a very small amount.

I don't really think so, but let's say so. There's no need to compare to "high-end" jobs.

You can make more money working at a fast food restaurant or in labor than from tabletennis in almost all countries. It'll probably also damage your body less and leave you with more free time and opportunities to learn other things. Let's just be real.

It's the same for most other fun things that people want to get paid money for but which are not seen as useful, like art.

 

[the-don]

I don't really think so, but let's say so. There's no need to compare to "high-end" jobs.

You can make more money working at a fast food restaurant or in labor than from tabletennis in almost all countries. It'll probably also damage your body less and leave you with more free time and opportunities to learn other things. Let's just be real.

It's the same for most other fun things that people want to get paid money for but which are not seen as useful, like art.

there's many ways to make money with tt.
-you can have a club.
-you can have a shop.
-you can be a coach.
-you can be part of a coaching team.
-you can give out courses.
-you can have a youtube channel

it's not only the top ittf 100 that make money.

but yeah in general the professions that use the brain pay much more than the professions that use the body.

 

[Archosaurus]

there's many ways to make money with tt.
-you can have a club.
-you can have a shop.
-you can be a coach.
-you can be part of a coaching team.
-you can give out courses.
-you can have a youtube channel

it's not only the top ittf 100 that make money.

but yeah in general the professions that use the brain pay much more than the professions that use the body.

The thread title is "playing", not "doing economical activity related to".

Coaching is pretty bad money too unless you're an Olympian, but it's still some money.

 

[Metaxa]

No not really, most world class players are actually smart

I always say that table tennis is like chess played at a very high and fast level.

 

[NextLevel]

Since a lot of you are not familiar with @the-don , let me warn those of you debating with his claims in good faith that you might not get closer to the result that you are looking for and not because of any serious flaws in how you represent your claims.

I don't really think so, but let's say so. There's no need to compare to "high-end" jobs.

You can make more money working at a fast food restaurant or in labor than from tabletennis in almost all countries. It'll probably also damage your body less and leave you with more free time and opportunities to learn other things. Let's just be real.

It's the same for most other fun things that people want to get paid money for but which are not seen as useful, like art.

 

[piligrim]

but yeah in general the professions that use the brain pay much more than the professions that use the body.

Not really. Track drivers get good pay and they body, not brain )))

 

[Archosaurus]

Since a lot of you are not familiar with @the-don , let me warn those of you debating with his claims in good faith that you might not get closer to the result that you are looking for and not because of any serious flaws in how you represent your claims.

Oh, I'm familiar. There is some truth to what he says, but it's very absolutist. Maybe he will get over it.

Not really. Track drivers get good pay and they body, not brain )))

Track, as in racing? Most people pay big money to race. Almost nobody making any money at all. Motorsport is mostly a way to burn money, and even less people make money as drivers than people who make money as tabletennis players. I can also drive at a gold, near-platinum level and I don't really agree that it's mostly body. There's some minimum requirements for fitness (the brake loadings in ABS cars are beyond most people) but it's mostly skill based, and you can be competitive even in older age.

If you mean truck, then can't agree either. Pay is dog for what they have to do, and it's a job with high risk and responsibility that taxes mental ability a lot.

 

[piligrim]

Oh, I'm familiar. There is some truth to what he says, but it's very absolutist. Maybe he will get over it.


Track, as in racing? Most people pay big money to race. Almost nobody making any money at all. Motorsport is mostly a way to burn money, and even less people make money as drivers than people who make money as tabletennis players. I can also drive at a gold, near-platinum level and I don't really agree that it's mostly body. There's some minimum requirements for fitness (the brake loadings in ABS cars are beyond most people) but it's mostly skill based, and you can be competitive even in older age.

If you mean truck, then can't agree either. Pay is dog for what they have to do, and it's a job with high risk and responsibility that taxes mental ability a lot.

It was typo. Should be truck. Doctors and lawyers mentioned in this thread have even more responsibility then truck drivers

 

[NextLevel]

The point here that Archo made (entertainment activities generally tend to make less than professional services or manufacturing leadership for the vast majority of reasonably vs exceptionally talented individuals ) doesn't need a body vs mind argument to make it. Truck drivers are supporting general commerce. Basketball players are not unless they are part of a league that is accessible to a small % of people on the planet. And Table tennis is not even at the level of basketball. If you are performing a reasonably in demand service, you will be paid for it. Table tennis as entertainment is just not at high in demand at the level that many players who work hard at the sport play at. And many of these people would be decent professionals doing things that paid more, in some cases the individuals could earn significantly more as TT tends to be played by fairly smart people in many countries. So the question of whether and how long to play TT and whether the rewards of TT could not be gained doing something else isn't simple for everyone.

 

[Archosaurus]

The point here that Archo made (entertainment activities generally tend to make less than professional services or manufacturing leadership for the vast majority of reasonably vs exceptionally talented individuals ) doesn't need a body vs mind argument to make it. Truck drivers are supporting general commerce. Basketball players are not unless they are part of a league that is accessible to a small % of people on the planet. And Table tennis is not even at the level of basketball. If you are performing a reasonably in demand service, you will be paid for it. Table tennis as entertainment is just not at high in demand at the level that many players who work hard at the sport play at. And many of these people would be decent professionals doing things that paid more, in some cases the individuals could earn significantly more as TT tends to be played by fairly smart people in many countries. So the question of whether and how long to play TT and whether the rewards of TT could not be gained doing something else isn't simple for everyone.

Basically. One hard truth of the world is that people don't assign value only to valuable things, and people don't (always) pay money for or otherwise support things that they assign value to.

At the same time, though, it's probably good that critical-to-life services are easier to make basic money in than arguably less imminently important things like sports or art.

There will always be people who will play sports or make art even if it's not a good deal, but there might not always be people who will do the mundane and boring jobs that are necessary.

But it doesn't mean that everyone gets what they deserve for what they contribute; they get what people feel like paying for.

 

[yoass]

whatever profession you choose you will only get paid if you are really good at it.
be it table tennis player, doctor, lawyer, architect....

May I humbly suggest a little exploration of the notions of "privilege" and "failing upwards"?

 

[the-don]

May I humbly suggest a little exploration of the notions of "privilege" and "failing upwards"?

right.... either you are really good or you know certain people.
could also be a combination.... like you know certain people which puts you in the right groups where you end up advancing faster than someone without any weight in the company or tt club.