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

[NextLevel]

I did.




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

Ah okay. The idea of whether it is worth spending a lot of your time doing something that doesnt pay the bills or yield huge achievements is an important one. You seem to dismiss it as not being a sign that someone doesn't enjoy something.

 

[Tembel]

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.

If winning is the most important thing than better to play in the lower leagues with guaranteed wins. Competing is about seeing how you measure up against others. Just look at a regular WTT tournament. 50% of the participants go to the venue, play one match, lose, go home. Then another 25% of the participants go home with a one win, one loss record. Only a quarter of the participants' end up with a positive win/loss-ratio. So even most pros' are losers, but keep at it, hopefully because they find it fulfilling at some level(and not only because they are forced by sponsors or the WTT) .

 

[NextLevel]

If winning is the most important thing than better to play in the lower leagues with guaranteed wins. Competing is about seeing how you measure up against others. Just look at a regular WTT tournament. 50% of the participants go to the venue, play one match, lose, go home. Then another 25% of the participants go home with a one win, one loss record. Only a quarter of the participants' end up with a positive win/loss-ratio. So even most pros' are losers, but keep at it, hopefully because they find it fulfilling at some level(and not only because they are forced by sponsors or the WTT) .

I don't diaagree with you, I am just pointing out largely that these are philosophical discussions with many valid perspectives. Sometimes, you get good enough to beat many players but not good enough to be #1. In sports where only #1 gets the respect that one needs to make money and when one could semi-enjoy other things successfully, what is the right balance? Is it simply about enjoying the journey? If a child stops playing TT after getting to the top 20 of a country like France or Sweden in order to pursue a career in tech or medicine, is he a failure? What is he doing like or differently from those that continue?

 

[the-don]

Ah okay. The idea of whether it is worth spending a lot of your time doing something that doesnt pay the bills or yield huge achievements is an important one. You seem to dismiss it as not being a sign that someone doesn't enjoy something.

It is worth it.
If the kid finds something that gives him a sense of achievement he should take it
I know many adults who's greatest achievements were their ping pong years.
Not everybody in life gets to be an accomplished doctor or lawyer.

 

[NextLevel]

It is worth it.
If the kid finds something that gives him a sense of achievement he should take it
I know many adults who's greatest achievements were their ping pong years.
Not everybody in life gets to be an accomplished doctor or lawyer.

An unaccomplished lawyer or doctor can pay his bills. A unaccomplished TT player, well that is debatable.

 

[piligrim]

If winning is the most important thing than better to play in the lower leagues with guaranteed wins. Competing is about seeing how you measure up against others. Just look at a regular WTT tournament. 50% of the participants go to the venue, play one match, lose, go home. Then another 25% of the participants go home with a one win, one loss record. Only a quarter of the participants' end up with a positive win/loss-ratio. So even most pros' are losers, but keep at it, hopefully because they find it fulfilling at some level(and not only because they are forced by sponsors or the WTT) .

Its not same people each time go home after playing one match ))
If it happen to you at every tournament you definetelly wasting time

 

[the-don]

An unaccomplished lawyer or doctor can pay his bills. A unaccomplished TT player, well that is debatable.

Most people will not become doctors, lawyers or be college graduates.
For all those people things like tt medals are achievements of their lives.

 

[NextLevel]

Most people will not become doctors, lawyers or be college graduates.
For all those people things like tt medals are achievements of their lives.

But many of the people who have the ability to become good TT players also have the ability to become decent, sometimes even very good lawyers, doctors or college graduates. That's the balancing act. Something similar happens with chess, it would be one thing if chess was the only thing those players could do. But many good chess players would also make good computers scientists, doctors, investors etc. So they get pulled away to the safety of those fields rather than take the risk of a chess career. It is rare that a TT player who is really good has TT as his main path. It is more common that unless their TT talent is extremely unique, they had many paths open to them.

 

[the-don]

But many of the people who have the ability to become good TT players also have the ability to become decent, sometimes even very good lawyers, doctors or college graduates. That's the balancing act. Something similar happens with chess, it would be one thing if chess was the only thing those players could do. But many good chess players would also make good computers scientists, doctors, investors etc. So they get pulled away to the safety of those fields rather than take the risk of a chess career. It is rare that a TT player who is really good has TT as his main path. It is more common that unless their TT talent is extremely unique, they had many paths open to them.

not really.
actually people who are very good at sports are often assumed to not be very intelligent.

the people I met in real life generally go by this rule.
either they are intelligent or good at sports.
not both.

"no but ariel hsing was in the usa team and she has 3 university degrees and she is friends with warren buffet...."
well bro I don't know.... I'm telling you about real people we meet in life not this weird cases from the news.

 

[NextLevel]

not really.
actually people who are very good at sports are often assumed to not be very intelligent.

the people I met in real life generally go by this rule.
either they are intelligent or good at sports.
not both.

"no but ariel hsing was in the usa team and she has 3 university degrees and she is friends with warren buffet...."
well bro I don't know.... I'm telling you about real people we meet in life not this weird cases from the news.

In my experience, table tennis is not that kind of sport. But in the absence of hard data, you are free to use your experience, I will stick with mine.

 

[the-don]

In my experience, table tennis is not that kind of sport. But in the absence of hard data, you are free to use your experience, I will stick with mine.

yes I agree that table tennis players in general are educated compared to other sports.
at least in the amateur level.
in the high level if they dedicate their entire life to the sport it's more or less the same as other sports probably.

 

[suds79]

A cool video. I hope everybody watched it to the end. I've seen some replies that make me think they didn't.

You see the growth & perspective this person goes through. His outlook at the end certainly seems more mature & healthier than from the start. And that's good. He's only 20. He should still be growing. He'll have different outlooks on things when he's 30, 40, etc.

As someone who didn't really start playing seriously until 30 and now 47, I can tell you one thing he didn't cover that I truly love about the game.

Sports are great as an individual or within a team setting. The highs & lows you feel. You get every bit of those emotions. They make you feel alive. I love sport in general. I have teams I root for. But in the end that's all you can do. Root for them. You have no say or control in the moves that team makes at all. You're simply a fan. That's where playing a sport is different... "Okay great so now we get to play. We get that." One might say. But TT is great because you can do it at a pretty high level well into your retirement years. I used to love basketball in my 20s. The "old timers" that'd come to the gym every now & then & play? Those guys were my age now. I don't want to look at things and say "well it's over" at only 47. No way. Locally here in tournaments it's all there in front of me if I wanted it bad enough with training time. That's good enough for me and having something to play in for the next 30 years is what I love most about the game.

 

[Tyce]

not really.
actually people who are very good at sports are often assumed to not be very intelligent.

the people I met in real life generally go by this rule.
either they are intelligent or good at sports.
not both.

That depends on where you draw the line. Yes, there's a large amount of "stupid jocks" but once you get above their level and into the absolute top athletes, you will find more incredibly smart people.

That being said, they can still be very smart with a narrow focus and "only" understand the complete ins and outs of their sport. But they are understanding it on levels far beyond the rest.

 

[the-don]

That depends on where you draw the line. Yes, there's a large amount of "stupid jocks" but once you get above their level and into the absolute top athletes, you will find more incredibly smart people.

That being said, they can still be very smart with a narrow focus and "only" understand the complete ins and outs of their sport. But they are understanding it on levels far beyond the rest.

well if being a world class player is incredibly rare being a world class player and incredibly smart must be like meeting an alien!!! or a lizzard people!!!!

 

[Tyce]

No not really, most world class players are actually smart

 

[piligrim]

well if being a world class player is incredibly rare being a world class player and incredibly smart must be like meeting an alien!!! or a lizzard people!!!!

There is enough people who meet aliens. Not sure about lizzard people )))

 

[yoass]

I watch and celebrate Ma Long because of his creativity, his smarts. And I pretty much don't care if he wins or loses; it's the gameplay that I find attractive.

That very limited notion of success, strictly confined to winning matches, is examplary for this harmful frame. As a mediocre player, I win some and lose some. Sometimes I play thrilling matches, with wonderful, elaborate rallies. Some of these I win; some I don't. Either way, the joy from these matches (won or lost) is my win, and success is stepping away from the table with the satisfaction of a great experience.

Sometimes I win easy matches. A single service not read properly might already do that. There's no joy in that, and in such a case I prefer not to use that serve (and enjoy the game), risking losing the match but enjoying it batter. I usually play to my opponent's strengths rather their weaknesses; it's just more fun that way, and regardless of winning or losing it'll help me improve my game more. Unless the opponent is an utter gob of shite.

 

[Archosaurus]

I can't comment on the professional play aspect, the only context I personally have into that is just kind of accidentally becoming a near-elite performer in another discipline, for only tangential reasons. Mostly due to luck and opportunity. There's definitely some genetics going on there too.

I can say however that personally I consider it winning if I can manage to get a hit in with an appropriate partner, or play a game where my opponent is closely matched. It's unsure how long these things will be a given and easily available, and I've never concerned myself that much with if I win or not, even if I've done a lot of winning against weaker opponents. It's just not as important as actually getting to play the sport.

 

[BetterTT]

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.

Imagine a scenario where someone is a "successful" pro player and is in the world top 100 for a decade. Their best ranking was number 75. Chances are that they have trained as much as a top 20 player, yet they have nothing to show for it financially and they do not really have an occupation or other skills than TT. On the other hand, if someone is a trained and skilled electrician or lawyer or doctor, they have a realistic occupation that they can benefit from for the rest of their lives.

In short, this Swiss player is young enough to learn a new occupation outside of TT and has learned to be disciplined while he was training. He is in a good spot in his life and should be grateful that he realized early enough that playing TT did not work out for him professionally.

 

[the-don]

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.

Imagine a scenario where someone is a "successful" pro player and is in the world top 100 for a decade. Their best ranking was number 75. Chances are that they have trained as much as a top 20 player, yet they have nothing to show for it financially and they do not really have an occupation or other skills than TT. On the other hand, if someone is a trained and skilled electrician or lawyer or doctor, they have a realistic occupation that they can benefit from for the rest of their lives.

In short, this Swiss player is young enough to learn a new occupation outside of TT and has learned to be disciplined while he was training. He is in a good spot in his life and should be grateful that he realized early enough that playing TT did not work out for him professionally.

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.

in some very rare cases they have both so they can choose between sports and traditional careers..... these are what we know as lizzard people.