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

[lightspin]

When training in China, one of the head women's national team coaches at the time said if Waldner started playing at age 16, with every possible elite coach and training group, he would be at best an average province team player. The coach considered Waldner the most naturally talented player of all time.

When you start, getting daily proper coaching and who you train with will be way more important than genetics and characteristics. Once the people have similar training scenarios that is when natural talent will kick in. The problem in the USA is that our players don't have access to the vast amount of practice partners or start early enough than their Korean, Chinese or Japanese counterparts. What parent in their right mind would force their kid to start basic training at 2 and full time training at 5 in the USA?

 

[NetProphet]

Training and guidance are secondary.
You need to be born with all the right characteristics to be able to achieve the highest levels.

What a load of absolute horse$#!t.
Training and guidance for kids is absolutely paramount.

I actually have to put you on ignore from here because everything you write is either guided by the absolute worst attitude imaginable or is just trolling for reactions.
In either case you are showing to be an absolute waste of time

 

[NextLevel]

He asks himself and others a lot of great questions, philosophical stuff. He has his head on straight.

Myself, I did not get into TT at early childhood, I started at age 42.I

I love TT. I am not nor will I ever be the best player in the room in any room.

I lose in tourneys, only made finals or won only a small percentage of the time.

What is great about TT is the PROCESS - you learn about yourself and others. You also become a better person - TT journey will humble you.

Even if you crash out doing your best, or simply horrible, there is ALWAYS another BIG TOURNEY goal to work towards and it is even better if you experience it with close friends and go on missions. You might even get the chance to help others.

TT Daily and other TT forums have enabled me to leverage this when I travel and meet friends and enjoy the TT life everywhere.

I shared the video because it resonates with me deeply and I started playing tournament TT at age 34. So does your post (and you are one of the people I met when I was much more active).

 

[the-don]

What a load of absolute horse$#!t.
Training and guidance for kids is absolutely paramount.

I actually have to put you on ignore from here because everything you write is either guided by the absolute worst attitude imaginable or is just trolling for reactions.
In either case you are showing to be an absolute waste of time

Yes.
Here for example there's tons of kids that go to the national team.
They all train together, have the same coaches, similar ages, etc.
Yet there's only one who was able to establish himself in the top leagues of Europe.
Why?
Because he was born with better genes than the others to play TT.
But it's an uncomfortable truth.
They want to sell us that we are all born equal so that when we fail it's 100% our fault and we should burn in hell forever.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

My first ever coach says it is a long bet to be a pro who can make it a career. He does not recommend such a career. Instead he says, " I train these kids, let them play at a fairly high enough level and hopefully they get a sports scholarship into college, that is my goal plainly "

 

[ajtatosmano2]

Yes.
Here for example there's tons of kids that go to the national team.
They all train together, have the same coaches, similar ages, etc.
Yet there's only one who was able to establish himself in the top leagues of Europe.
Why?
Because he was born with better genes than the others to play TT.
But it's an uncomfortable truth.
They want to sell us that we are all born equal so that when we fail it's 100% our fault and we should burn in hell forever.

You sound more and more like a troll, but I will reply anyway: having the same coaches and training the amount does not equal having the conditions. Some people burn out. Some don't have the money for extra coaches. Some players don't benefit from the same training method as much. Some have family issues, or other burdens that stop them from succeeding. People have privileges, but genetics have a very minor effect on tablte tennis.
Read 'Raise a Genius! by Laszlo Polgar'. That's a prime example how the raising and training matter the most. Of course, not everyone will have the monetary background to support this and the guy homeschooled his girls, which is not a given. And I will tell you: the Harimoto kids, the Matsushima kids, they don't succeed because of their inherited talent for table tennis. They succeed because they were raised to succeed at table tennis and no one diverted them from that path.

 

[NextLevel]

When a person talks about his achievements (medals and trophies) 'junk' it literally tells something about his attitude towards table tennis. He never truly loved it.

Ok he actually says that around 7:10, good thing that he understands that and good video overall, I think I personally got to the same conclusions in life when I was around 25. (and now being a father, I hope to teach my kid the best I can)

Now at 34, I can for sure say that success comes only from the inside: your attitude, your focus, your thoughts, your words, basically -- your mind. If you see yourself as successful athlete - you will be.


Ma Long.

I guess you needed to watch the whole video before commenting. That said, i can tell you that many people who are decent table tennis players could have gotten better rewards investing their time in other things. So i think even if his conclusion had been different, it would have been respectable and worthy of discussion.

 

[the-don]

When training in China, one of the head women's national team coaches at the time said if Waldner started playing at age 16, with every possible elite coach and training group, he would be at best an average province team player. The coach considered Waldner the most naturally talented player of all time.

When you start, getting daily proper coaching and who you train with will be way more important than genetics and characteristics. Once the people have similar training scenarios that is when natural talent will kick in. The problem in the USA is that our players don't have access to the vast amount of practice partners or start early enough than their Korean, Chinese or Japanese counterparts. What parent in their right mind would force their kid to start basic training at 2 and full time training at 5 in the USA?

Jan ove waldner has a brother and they played together when they started.
There you have your proof that it's more about the individual, not so much the training system.

 

[lightspin]

Yet there's only one who was able to establish himself in the top leagues of Europe.
Why?
Because he was born with better genes than the others to play TT.
But it's an uncomfortable truth.

Hmm. What makes Kanak different? I will grant you that Kanak is very talented and an awesome player. He might be the most talented in the USA to pick up a racket. However, his development regime is similar to those other players in the top 20. Kanak's dad used to post on another forum so maybe he could chime in here.

Kanak started playing at age 5.
Kanak had an older sister to practice with if he wanted.
Kanak had coaches Li ZhenShi and Stefan Feth to teach him how to play. I wouldn't be surprised if Zhang Li helped out a bit as well. That is an extremely impressive list of world class coaches.
Kanak apparently had 12-14 hours of lessons a week as a kid.
Kanak played a lot of soccer to cross train.
Kanak moves to Sweden to train full time at age 15.
Kanak moves to Germany to play professionally at age 17.

Suppose Kanak picked up a racket at age 22? Do you think he would be top 20 in the world? We will never know and I am glad we won't because Kanak is playing awesome now and does have a chance to break into the top 10 or higher if he keeps working hard.

With respect to the Waldner's, the older brother started at 8, the younger brother started at age 6. So starting earlier determines who is the best RIGHT? Well maybe, maybe not but Waldner went overseas to train quite a bit whereas the older brother apparently didn't. Their training regimines were quite different.

To me the bottom line is this: if you don't start young and have world class training you are going nowhere fast. I do not care how talented or genetically gifted you are. If you start training seriously at age 5 you have a reasonable chance of breaking 2500. If you are Mr. Supreme MLB/NFL prospect and start playing at age 22, your chances of breaking 2500 are pretty much zero. You need a lot of things in place to become a pro-player. If many people have basically the same system in place, then over time desire and talent are going to come into play.

 

[the-don]

Hmm. What makes Kanak different? I will grant you that Kanak is very talented and an awesome player. He might be the most talented in the USA to pick up a racket. However, his development regime is similar to those other players in the top 20. Kanak's dad used to post on another forum so maybe he could chime in here.

Kanak started playing at age 5.
Kanak had an older sister to practice with if he wanted.
Kanak had coaches Li ZhenShi and Stefan Feth to teach him how to play. I wouldn't be surprised if Zhang Li helped out a bit as well. That is an extremely impressive list of world class coaches.
Kanak apparently had 12-14 hours of lessons a week as a kid.
Kanak played a lot of soccer to cross train.
Kanak moves to Sweden to train full time at age 15.
Kanak moves to Germany to play professionally at age 17.

Suppose Kanak picked up a racket at age 22? Do you think he would be top 20 in the world? We will never know and I am glad we won't because Kanak is playing awesome now and does have a chance to break into the top 10 or higher if he keeps working hard.

With respect to the Waldner's, the older brother started at 8, the younger brother started at age 6. So starting earlier determines who is the best RIGHT? Well maybe, maybe not but Waldner went overseas to train quite a bit whereas the older brother apparently didn't. Their training regimines were quite different.

To me the bottom line is this: if you don't start young and have world class training you are going nowhere fast. I do not care how talented or genetically gifted you are. If you start training seriously at age 5 you have a reasonable chance of breaking 2500. If you are Mr. Supreme MLB/NFL prospect and start playing at age 22, your chances of breaking 2500 are pretty much zero. You need a lot of things in place to become a pro-player. If many people have basically the same system in place, then over time desire and talent are going to come into play.

They are different persons.
We are all born different with different skills.
It makes no sense what you are trying to argue, it's like talking to a 6 year old kid.
You think humans are all made identical in a machine.

 

[Tyce]

Such a shame when people are attacking the people who posts, rather than discussing the content of what they said. It kills the discussion and creates a hostile environment.

 

[mihalichtheone]

I guess you needed to watch the whole video before commenting.

I did.

it would have been respectable and worthy of discussion.

good thing that he understands that and good video overall

Not sure what your comment is about, I did point out what I personally think and was exactly on point.

 

[GhostBackhand]

Maybe this guy doesn’t suffer from the EJ syndrome — buying table tennis equipment impulsively like I do — so he finds table tennis meaningless now

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Maybe this guy doesn’t suffer from the EJ syndrome — buying table tennis equipment impulsively like I do — so he finds table tennis meaningless now

Sponsored players missed out the joy of EJ. They have to play with whatever material their club give them from the sponsors.

 

[Angerer]

The Onion golden era, often related to that video myself

 

[kase]

What a load of absolute horse$#!t.
Training and guidance for kids is absolutely paramount.

I actually have to put you on ignore from here because everything you write is either guided by the absolute worst attitude imaginable or is just trolling for reactions.
In either case you are showing to be an absolute waste of time

Yes, it is a very toxic attitude and the very definition of fixed mindset. Sport psychologists know that talent is mostly beneficial in the early stages of development, and as the level becomes higher, hard-work and a growth mindset matter much more. Fixed mindset is an excuse used by people who aren't strong enough to own their own failures.

You need to be able to lose, analyse and fix issues (repeat ad infinitum). Some people may not have strong enough self-esteem to do that (lose) continually for an extended period of time - it's very tough on most people. Remember that this type of toxicity is often a by-product of despondence, depression or other inner pain belonging to a real human being, not necessarily a troll just trying to offend others. Instead, someone who may be dealing with a somewhat overwhelming emotional state, and is just compelled to vent dark and depressing thoughts on the internet, as a way of dealing with it.

 

[piligrim]

You asked question and answered by yourself. Does what basicaly the-don said

Hmm. What makes Kanak different? I will grant you that Kanak is very talented and an awesome player. He might be the most talented in the USA to pick up a racket.

 

[Tyce]

Sponsored players missed out the joy of EJ. They have to play with whatever material their club give them from the sponsors.

Only for matches

 

[yoass]

Philosophical reflections from a young man who didn't get to the top of the sport despite investing a lot of time playing.

I really think that framing in the thread subject is so counterproductive. At least for me.

Only when you utterly reduce the merit of the activity of playing TT solely to winning, winning, winning and gut out the intrinsic rewards the time spent is "wasted". At least in my reality the joy of playing is reward. Winning games, tournaments, competitions doesn't hurt, but if it's only the win you care about, then hoooo boy are you missing out on the fun.

Have fun playing. That's key. Winning, losing, doesn't matter much as long as you obtain the power points from enjoying the game.

 

[NextLevel]

I really think that framing in the thread subject is so counterproductive. At least for me.

Only when you utterly reduce the merit of the activity of playing TT solely to winning, winning, winning and gut out the intrinsic rewards the time spent is "wasted". At least in my reality the joy of playing is reward. Winning games, tournaments, competitions doesn't hurt, but if it's only the win you care about, then hoooo boy are you missing out on the fun.

Have fun playing. That's key. Winning, losing, doesn't matter much as long as you obtain the power points from enjoying the game.

Winning is important in life for many things. Losijg comes with that but success is tied to Winning. Do we watch and celebrate Ma Long because he is a loser?

Asking whether it is worth enjoying something without having grealt/professional success is a reasonable question.