Im losing faith in the sport

[Jan_]

A few months ago I went through covid and it caused a nasty lung infection that didn't allow me to play for about 5 months. I couldn't even walk up stairs without getting extremely tired and seeing black, gradually I've gone off meds and started to live a bit more normally. I couldn't stay in closed spaces for too long, couldn't sleep laying down and even drink much water without choking, it was a struggle.

My doctor recommended that I started to play again since some natural stress to the lungs could help me recover faster, and I'm seeing some improvement and that's great, being young helped as well, but I have another issue now.

The problem is that I've started to play again for about a month and I've been worse than I've ever been. I feel like I can't take power from my legs, when I bend my legs to take power from the ground I can't get back up. I can't move at all anymore and I've lost all feeling with the ball. I can't play more than 2 fh topspins without loosing control and as for the backhand, 3 years of work I did to make it usable are like they never happened, I can't even play drives.

I train and I train and I'm getting nowhere, 7 years of playing and I feel like I'm back to being a beginner, but without being able to progress and develop again.

I'm losing my mind and are almost ready to give up entirely. I was supposed to play in the local league and be the first player in the team, but I can barely do a serve.

Something similar happened years ago when I was sailing, I got a knee injury and quit so that I wouldn't damage it any further leading into years of depression, I can't let this happen again. How do I move forward?

 

[_ak]

It's very pity to hear.
Perhaps at the moment you should lower your expectations and just play casually. It can be TT or any other kind of sport

 

[Jan_]

It's very pity to hear.
Perhaps at the moment you should lower your expectations and just play casually. It can be TT or any other kind of sport

It's disappointing, years of hard work and reaching a great level, just to get knocked down to nothing.

 

[ToH]

Im sad to hear about your story. My advise is to take it slowly. The body need time to build up again. Be in movement, push yourself smart. Not to hard. Take time to rest. With time you will be better, and get back to old your level. Best of luck. T

 

[_ak]

It is. But your training will help you to come back eventually.

 

[Wrighty67]

It’s a long journey back, but every step will take you closer and you will often be further forward than you perceive. Many people quit just before they are about to turn the corner. Hang in there 💪🏻🏓

 

[JustANoob]

Have you considered going to a gym/fitness and doing some strength training for a few months?

The idea is to kind of get the body in a different gear. Would ask the dock first tho, not sure of all the complications.

 

[TackyForehand]

Your TT regression is the least of your worries. You seem to be one step away from being in a wheelchair. What you need now is basic fitness training. The sooner you start regular training, the sooner you'll be able to play at the table. Start slow and ramp up gradually. Sleep and eat well. Your body will adapt and heal.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I can't relate to illness, but I can relate to being slower than my prime.
partially due to gaining weight, being unfit etc.
mind is there, but body cannot cope with the speed or stress.
for amateurs, I am still very fast, for semi pros, I am too slow.

However, for me, when I do play nowadays, it is for the exercise, to sweat and to social.

Obviously there is something there from the side effects of illness, that is making you "not able to serve", and there might be a medical reason that I'm not qualified in, but as a coach, taking time off from competition and rediscover the fun part of it is maybe what you should do. You said yourself, your doctor is talking about do the sport for natural stress to the lungs.... maybe just focus on that and take it step by step?

Maybe if you change your objective, to maybe something less competitive, it can help.
It is healthy to keep playing, not healthy if you get depression from playing.

good luck!

 

[latej]

The way I read it, it seems you couldn't recover fully yet. Human body has capacity to recover, and this capacity can be activated even more than usual, by fasting. I'd recommend you find resources about fasting, autophagy, stem cells. It's not hard nowadays.

E.g. I do approx. 7 days water fasting (although first 3-4 days I also drink apple-vinegar a bit), 3 times per year. It's a form of cleanup. If you happen to have diabetes, consult a doctor first. It's hard to recommend how many days you should fast, you need to find what suits you. For me the first 3-4 days are hardest, then 4-7 is clarity, and 8-9 I usually feel I'm really hungry now, and look at any food in the house.

Don't lose faith. If it is about recovery from infection, it really should get better. But time is needed. Also you should not compare yourself now with how it was before. Take your time... When you watch some videos about fasting, I'm sure you'd tend to believe it can help. Later on, when you fast, you feel it's not so easy, and that you need to do something to endure. And that, will further increase your faith.

 

[riemsesy]

Whish you all the best to r cover.
tt is for me the way to recover after having covid three times.
When I started a year ago my heart rate couldn’t get past 140 bpm. Same symptoms as you describe.
Now I can reach 170 again and now working on a better condition.
Difference is I never was a great tt player so I can enjoy the casual and social game.
Good luck.

 

[Snek]

Hopefully you recover
This is where long pimple material players are born. Maybe you too?
If you are starting all over from beginning should you use beginner equipment? Allround wood -blade and soft sponge rubbers? According to your profile you use Viscaria and Tenergys which are not for beginners.
What about adding running or gym to your life? They could help to build the strenght back and help moving. Also remember recovery, sleep and healthy diet.
I think it will take some time, so just keep on ponging!

 

[doppelmoral]

if you really feel like there arent any other options left and you have checked with medical professionals but had no luck, you could try reading about TMS. always worth a shot and you got nothing to lose.

start with „the mindbody prescription“

 

[Trevize84]

First of all, let me say I'm very sad for your story and wish you to fully recover soon. I usually play with people 65/70+ years old and they tend to take advantage of anti-top and pips out rubbers (especially LP OX) to catch up with the reduced mobility due to age. Now I understand, this isn't your case because for you it's just a temporary situation, but in the meantime you may find these kind of rubbers useful and eventually fun to play with. In example, if you struggle with fh loop, short pips on FH may help if you change the movement into a more direct flat hit that requires less physical effort and legs push. It's a different kind of stroke mechanic and it justifies the need to learn "from scratch". I believe that psychologically it's much easier to accept the challenge to master new kind of equipment rather than deal with the leftover effects of Covid. If you have never looked outside inverted rubbers, it's also a way to explore unknown aspects of a sport that you like. Hope this may help and in any case let us know how things go, we really look forward from reading about good improvements soon.

 

[blahness]

First of all, let me say I'm very sad for your story and wish you to fully recover soon. I usually play with people 65/70+ years old and they tend to take advantage of anti-top and pips out rubbers (especially LP OX) to catch up with the reduced mobility due to age. Now I understand, this isn't your case because for you it's just a temporary situation, but in the meantime you may find these kind of rubbers useful and eventually fun to play with. In example, if you struggle with fh loop, short pips on FH may help if you change the movement into a more direct flat hit that requires less physical effort and legs push. It's a different kind of stroke mechanic and it justifies the need to learn "from scratch". I believe that psychologically it's much easier to accept the challenge to master new kind of equipment rather than deal with the leftover effects of Covid. If you have never looked outside inverted rubbers, it's also a way to explore unknown aspects of a sport that you like. Hope this may help and in any case let us know how things go, we really look forward from reading about good improvements soon.

yep just play with LP OX or antispin and watch everyone suffer as they play you...

 

[Jan_]

I can't relate to illness, but I can relate to being slower than my prime.
partially due to gaining weight, being unfit etc.
mind is there, but body cannot cope with the speed or stress.
for amateurs, I am still very fast, for semi pros, I am too slow.

However, for me, when I do play nowadays, it is for the exercise, to sweat and to social.

Obviously there is something there from the side effects of illness, that is making you "not able to serve", and there might be a medical reason that I'm not qualified in, but as a coach, taking time off from competition and rediscover the fun part of it is maybe what you should do. You said yourself, your doctor is talking about do the sport for natural stress to the lungs.... maybe just focus on that and take it step by step?

Maybe if you change your objective, to maybe something less competitive, it can help.
It is healthy to keep playing, not healthy if you get depression from playing.

good luck!

Thanks, I'll try to forget about competition for now, maybe it'll help me cheer up as well. Maybe I'll try playing a bit differently, maybe a different style and to just have fun.

 

[Jan_]

Hopefully you recover
This is where long pimple material players are born. Maybe you too?
If you are starting all over from beginning should you use beginner equipment? Allround wood -blade and soft sponge rubbers? According to your profile you use Viscaria and Tenergys which are not for beginners.
What about adding running or gym to your life? They could help to build the strenght back and help moving. Also remember recovery, sleep and healthy diet.
I think it will take some time, so just keep on ponging!

I don't think I'll go to long pips quite yet, I'm only 22 and want to first play offensively to the fullest. But I'll keep it to the back of my mind😅

 

[Jan_]

yep just play with LP OX or antispin and watch everyone suffer as they play you...

Not sure I wanna make my friends hate me😂😂

 

[turbozed]

I don't think I'll go to long pips quite yet, I'm only 22 and want to first play offensively to the fullest. But I'll keep it to the back of my mind😅

I'm not your doctor and I can't pretend to know the details about your health so I can only speak in generalities here.

At 22 years old, a person's resliency and ability to recover is absolutely insane compared to someone like me who is double your age. When I was young like you I used to think that physical capabilities were like god given gifts at birth. Of course that's a factor and what separates the highest level of pro athletes from each other given the same diligence in training.

But if we're just talking about being fitter than the average person, a well-planned strength, cardiovascular, and mobility training program done diligently on a regular basis over a significant period of time will make you a better athlete than 95% of the general population.

I know it's hard to think positively with such a shitty situation so maybe try reframing it.

Have you ever played an RPG game where you start off with high level gear and stats/spells/skills, and then it soon gets taken away from you so that you start all over again? You're never too upset about that happening and decide to give up playing the game, do you? Actually it's a better experience and more fun to learn the basics and slowly acquire the skills and knowledge from scratch.

Think of this as your 'reset moment' in the game of life. Most people don't start considering their health, figure how their body works, and just take their strength and physical abilities for granted until they decline in old age. If you take an interest in how to build your body back up again and work diligently to do it, there's a great chance that you'll not only soon get to the same physical level as before, but completely surpass it. From there, your acquired 7 years of TT knowledge can be integrated into your new improved body.

 

[kase]

Forget about playing a power game until you are 100% back to normal. Now is the time to learn the other stuff, that you may have neglected in the past. EG: the close to the table, short stroke game style and serve and return. It requires less physical effort and footwork. It can also be enjoyable, but in a different way.

Learn about sport psychology, proper nutrition, fitness and strength. There is a lot to do / learn here from the mental side of things. Your circumstances preclude you from doing what you previously focused on, so use the opportunity to learn these things in the meantime until you can return to what you enjoyed previously.

You could even adopt a different grip and pimples, to learn how it works, strengths and weaknesses etc. You may even enjoy smacking the crap out of a ball with a nice crisp short pimple.

All this will all add to your development as a player and is not wasted time or effort.