I think I hate playing tournaments

Well, I might say it differently but I really have to agree with Suga D. Every detail of every circumstance you are complaining about, you created the problem by how you approached the event.

Guys I know who play tournaments and are serious about it, they research, find out what ball is going to be used at an event and then they train with it. If you actually cared and were focused on the even, and approached it in a more conscientious manner, you may have done the same.

The reason you only got two minutes practice has to do with being late, cookies and shampoo which obviously were more important than getting to the even early or doing a few off table things to get your timing and touch and a few other things to get your body warm. If you can't figure out a few things to get warm off table and you take that long to get warm, it still is nobody's fault but your own.

You can play. I can see that from the video. You did have a lot of mishits that are probably from the ball. But, again, the answer to that is to train with the ball. Your opponent had the same opportunities to warm up as you. No more, no less. If he is more used to the ball that is because he did something right that you neglected to even consider.

As far as being warmed up, sorry, but in a real match, with adrenalin flowing, if you are not warm after the first game, then, you really would need to learn how to do things to get you warm faster because, most people, faced with a match with real consequences, are fully warm, timing good, adrenalin pumping by the end of the first game of a match.

So, if I was on your team, I would tell the other players that I didn't feel you were a team player and we would be better off with someone else who is a team player even if that person is not as good a table tennis player as you are.

I have seen it many times in football and basketball where a great player who was not a team player was kicked off a team because the bad outweighed the good. And most of the time, when a team does that, the team is better without the guy who wasn't a team player.

Now, if this thread started with you just saying you didn't like tournaments and that you participated in a team tournament and were late and left to shop etc and were not trying to blame the tournament for you not being there, or not having played with the ball, it might be different. And it wouldn't be much of a thread.

Here you go:

"Hey guys, I guess I'm not cut out for team tournaments. Check out what I did to my teammates."

"I was late and they were all stressed out and called me several times as I was driving there. But that wasn't bad enough. While one of my teammates was playing the first match I decided to go out and eat. Then I came back and for some reason the door was hard to open and that caused a scene that distracted people. And as if that wasn't enough, I decided I wanted to go out again and get cookies. When I went out, I decided I also wanted to get shampoo but the line at the store was long. And my teammates got nervous and called me again and told me I was about to play my match."

"Coming back I found that the first match was still not finished but I had trouble just sitting and watching my teammate and I didn't feel like rooting for him!"

"Then, because I was late I hadn't got any warm up time so I felt out of sync and I had never played with the kind of Poly ball used in the tournament so I played way worse than I think I should have."

"Overall, I did not like the experience at all and I think I probably shouldn't play in these kinds of team tournaments any more."

Now, that might not lead to much conversation about the issue, but at least what you said would have been okay.

But instead you are blaming the tournament for you being late, your teammates being nervous that you weren't there, the event planners being annoyed at your prima-donna attitude, and the fact that you didn't consider that you should have been there early enough to get warmed up and ready for match play before the event and that you should have been practicing with the ball used in the tournament at least a week before the tournament. And I am willing to bet that, if you had asked what kind of ball would be used in the tournament, that information would have been available to you.

So, all I would really say is, stop complaining and decide if you want to quit the team so they can be a better team without you or man up and do it right by getting their early to warm up, and be there for your teammates by watching the matches, getting involved, rooting, and being supportive throughout the entire event.

You want cookies, get them the day before and bring them to the event. You want shampoo, get it some other time! But not while your team is in a match. I mean.....really.....you actually sound like a spoiled rich kid whose daddy bought you a team so you could slack off and blame everyone else for when you mess up.


Sent from the Oracle of Delphi by the Pythia

From watching the vids i think, your opponent wasn't that much better than you and hence not unbeatable for you. As carl already pointed out, your opponent probably was just a little more familiar with the ball and surroundings. You've been looping his long serves and been spinning the ball actually quite nicely.
I think i understand why your mates asked you in the first place. I guess you could actually be a real help for your team.... if you just would try to feel the team spirit and allow yourself to be a part of it. It's actually a bit sad you don't, you don't seem to be a bad player after all....

EDIT: it can be like that in tournaments. Now just imagine how good you could have played, if you were there earlier and got familiar with the ball and the club and so on...

Well, i think i kinda understand. I got used playing tournaments as a kid, so TT Tournaments were always a nice event to me, meeting friends and stuff.
But after i've took a looooooong break, and returning and played my first tournament i also felt that kind of pressure, but i realized the only thing that helps is PLAY MORE TOURNAMENTS...
And guess what... beating higher ranked players helps your rating increase a lot... I even stopped caring if my opponent play with LP, SP or Anti-loop which used to be a major issue before.
Just keep on keeping on...

1) For many, when you are ranked lower, often the pressure is off because you are not expected to win so you can play lose and pull the upset. When you are ranked higher and playing someone you should beat, for lots of players, that is more stressful if the lower ranked player is playing well and looks like he can pull an upset.

2) If you know you play better somewhere around the 2 hour mark and show up to a tournament last minute and get no warm up, that is totally fine if you are a lone assassin. All that happens is you end up with results that are not as good as you would have if you took the time to warm up and get yourself ready for battle. If that is your approach then your rating and level in tournaments would likely be lower than your level when you are playing your best. The only person affected if you are a lone warrior is yourself and your rating.

If you do the same in a team event, you are handicapping your team. So, then you have to consider, whether you want your friends thinking you are a good player and you will help the team and then you keep screwing up because of your attitude (NOT YOUR ABILITIES!!!!). And then, after you let them down, acting like someone else or something else is at fault because you were doing things half-assed--well then the people you are messing up are likely people you consider friends and you probably don't actually want to do that to them.

Again, there is nothing wrong with taking that cavalier attitude in an event where nobody else is relying or hoping to rely on your performance. In a team event, the most mature things you could do would be: a) man up and do everything you can do to make it so you play your best and you can inspire your teammates to also play their best.
Or, if you can't commit to doing that, b) tell your teammates that you are not cut out for team competitions and help them find a suitable replacement.

I think this is an okay forum for voicing stuff like this to sort it out. So, if this thread causes that, then it was worth it.

But if you continue complaining about the flaws of tournaments and how everything went bad and conspired against you and don't acknowledge how you created that and not the event itself, then the thread was a big waste of everybody's time just like you showing up late and not wanting to be there was a big waste of your teammates time.


Sent from the Oracle of Delphi by the Pythia

UpSideDownCarl said:

1) For many, when you are ranked lower, often the pressure is off because you are not expected to win so you can play lose and pull the upset. When you are ranked higher and playing someone you should beat, for lots of players, that is more stressful if the lower ranked player is playing well and looks like he can pull an upset.

Click to expand...

Hahaha. Exactly.
Sometimes i think i can smell their fear... *hannibal-lecter-mode-off*

UpSideDownCarl said:

If you do the same in a team event, you are handicapping your team. So, then you have to consider, whether you want your friends thinking you are a good player and you will help the team and then you keep screwing up because of your attitude (NOT YOUR ABILITIES!!!!). And then, after you let them down, acting like someone else or something else is at fault because you were doing things half assed.

Again, there is nothing wrong with taking that cavalier attitude in an event where nobody else is relying or hoping to rely on your performance. In a team event, the most mature things you could do would be: a) man up and do everything you can do to make it so you play your best and you can inspire your teammates to also play their best.
Or, if you can't commit to doing that, b) tell your teammates that you are not cut out for team competitions and help them find a suitable replacement.

I think this is an okay forum for voicing stuff like this to sort it out. So, if this thread causes that, then it was worth it.

But if you continue complaining about the flaws of tournaments and how everything went bad and conspired against you and don't acknowledge how you created that and not the event itself, then the thread was a big waste of everybody's time just like you showing up late and not wanting to be there was a big waste of your teammates time.


Sent from the Oracle of Delphi by the Pythia

Click to expand...

Bingo.
I wanna pound the 'like' button twice for this.

"There is no I in team but there is a U in ****." -Kenny Powers

You're right. Tabletennis is fun.
But that what you call a ton load is actually a featherweight cause it's all fun to me.

You see i really love playing tabletennis cause it's so much fun.
But guess what:
It becomes even more fun, the better i play!
But that might just be me...

If its really all fun and games for you, then why did you feel "pressuer" and why complain about things that went "wrong". You should have figured out a way to enjoy it

sebas-aguirre said:

none of this was a waste of time because my hair looks so fluffy and spongy....

no honestly we just have a different mindset.
for me table tennis is just fun and something I do because I want to.
the moment it becomes a load I stop.
I gain nothing out of it so team results, individual results, they mean nothing.
all that matters is that I have a good time.

you need to understand this is my mindset and it should be yours too.
of course as suga d said you have the mentality of a professional player.
I'm not sure how this helps.
You are not a professional and you are taking fun as work so really you are putting a load in your life that doesn't need to be there.
maybe you've been so brain washed by the corporate world that wherever you go you try to insert that "team", "work", "effort", "stupidity" mentality.

as for this particular "team" match, the other team had 3 players in the 1st division.
our had me in the first (but I never actually played a tournament in the 1st), and all the others I think in the 2nd division.
so really it was almost impossible to beat them.
even if I had won my match I'm 100% sure we would have lost the "team" match anyway.
we all knew this, so we just went there looking for the miracle, or not even that.

as for me being spoiled, in a way it's true, but the players in my club contribute to this by the way they treat me.
the results also contribute to this, in one league I'm first in the whole club and in the other second.
so it just happens, no need to worry about all this, just let it be.

Click to expand...

Pressure...... Let me say it again....
Pressure.....
Isn't that what turns a piece of charcoal into a diamond?

Alright, I am going to talk about Michael Jordan. So, in his early career there was no doubt, he was the most talented player in the NBA, but he wasn't the best player yet.

There were a few years in a row where he brought his team to the playoffs, got them to pull out a few spectacular series upsets only to lose to a team with a game plan to shut Michael Jordan down.

Against the Boston Celtics in the closing game of a tight series he scored 63 points and the Chicago Bulls still lost. That was his first big signpost for change.

Then, two years in a row, the Bulls went up against the Detroit Pistons and one of the best defenses in NBA history. The Piston defense was called the Bad Boys for their physical play. After a first game upset by MJ and the Bulls, the Bad Boy defense triple teamed Jordan and SHUT HIM DOWN. Nobody before or after was able to do that. But the first time was the big message and the second time Jordan's shift was already complete and in place but the rest of the team simply needed a bit more growth.

What was his shift? He became the best team player in the league. He got everyone on the team to play big and to play like champions. He moved the ball around and when he was double or triple teamed he passed to the open man and if they did not take advantage of the opportunity he made them work harder in practice on the techniques they still needed to strengthen.

It wasn't a different team that won the championships. It was the same guys. He just realized he could be a leader and get them to step up their game rather than trying to do it all himself. He became one of the best defensive players and one of the leaders in rebounds and assists. He did the unnoticed stuff and started excelling at it too. Not just the flashy stuff that made people realize what a talent he was. The stuff that shows up on the stat sheets but not on the highlight reels.

And by doing that, by getting the same guys who seemed like mediocre players to step up and play like Allstars, he turned a mediocre team that had one great player into one of the best teams in NBA history and solidified his legacy as the best basketball player ever or, at least to date.

That team won 3 straight championships. He took one and three quarters seasons off and then they won another 3 straight championships. 6 championships in 8 seasons and the two years that The Bulls didn't win, MJ didn't play a full season. But they were still champions and contenders when Jordan took those two years off. Both years they came very close to going to the finals because of that team spirit that he inspired in them.

Yes, basketball is different than table tennis and it is a team sport. But their are ways to be a team player in table tennis and get your team to step up as a whole. Suga D, tell him!


Sent from the Oracle of Delphi by the Pythia

I love team tournaments. Especially if you're playing with people you like and know very well. This summer I played in a team, round robin tournament and it was the most fun I've had in a long time. Try those instead of leagues. My teammates were kids so I didn't want to put too much pressure on them, but we did practice several days a week. We got there early and spent as much time warming up as possible. After a few hours of playing all the teams we got third place, which far exceede my expectations. Our group had a B team that was better than us but did far, far worse. So the moral of the story is: Playing table tennis - fun. Playing table tennis and winning - even more fun. Playing table tennis and winning after setting goals, making plans, and diligent practice - a total blast.

I find the pressure kind of fun, When my school team made it to state championships we had four people and we played pretty much none stop from 9am-3:30pm, this competition made me enjoy table tennis even more (it gave me goal to beat this Chinese girl who beat our no. 1 player 3-0, 11-3 every time).

Suga D said:

Pressure...... Let me say it again....
Pressure.....
Isn't that what turns a piece of charcoal into a diamond?

Click to expand...

Now that there is a real gem.

However, I play for fun too. I actually don't compete much. I only play matches sometimes. Mostly I like training drills. Lots and lots of them. Too many to count. Yesterday I did 5 hours straight of training drill after training drill after training drill. Most of the drills are random placement drills. Many of them are serve and receive drills.

I have noticed that when I train with someone, if they have a weakness, I will show them drills that can help them address improving it. I like that too. I am not coaching. I wouldn't want to coach table tennis. I teach yoga so I understand the idea of how to teach someone. But I just get people to train things and invariably, by training a weakness you improve. I improve too. And to me, learning and improving is one of the things that makes table tennis so fun.

And if I was going to play in a singles tournament, I would go into it with a laid back attitude but that does not mean I would do things to sabotage my success. That, to me would probably not be fun. Just like you didn't seem to have a good time as a result of being late and the rest of the things you did to sabotage your team's success. Which, was sort of the whole point of your original post. You did not like the stress of this team event situation. But given the details you revealed about the event, it has become evident that it was how you approached the event that made it stressful for you. You tried to go into it with a casual attitude and it turns out that, what you were thinking was a casual attitude actually made you and your teammates more stressed.

So I say, you should probably go big or go home. Either you go all out if you are going to continue the team events or you should not do them at all. I know, said that already. Hahaha.


Sent from the Oracle of Delphi by the Pythia