table tennis for wussies?

Your threads just keep getting better and better.

Physically yes.
Mentally it even turns grown up men into screaming little girls.

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If this is the case, you do something wrong. Firstly, this mean that you don't try your best at the table. Table tennis can be as hard that you can hardly breathe after 5 minutes and you can play basketball in lazy style, so you will be ok after hours.
Secondly, it depends on what you have practised in the past. My classmate play in Nottingem's U17-19 (I dunno) football team. They pay his flight ticket from Hungary to GB more than once a month, so he is REALLY good. I showed him how to play table tennis (he is talented and understand the importance of footwork) and after a half hour of playing he felt himself tired more than after one hour of active football play. He used to running, we used to table tennis. Different movements, different muscles.

What did you do for 2 hours? Service practice?

Sure it's more physically demanding, and there is contact. But it uses diffent mucles. If they played TT, REAL TT, they'd be sore as well.

I played Football (American), Hockey, and Mixed Martial Arts.

To me, Basketball is a "Little girls sport"...even though I love it.

Archosaurus said:

Your threads just keep getting better and better.

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I wouldn't be surprised if he gets banned from this forum for posting idiotic things...but then again I like a good laugh every now and then.

Creatine phosphate, ATP, and glycolysis (different recovery) vs. glycolysis and lipolysis. Different muscles. More needless CNS chattering for a sport you're not as used to. And you must be dilly dallying too much between points

Actually depends upon how much you love it. I did go for hours in Concrete courts way back before 6 years. But, to keep the energy level at peak during a game is tiring. That is why endurance training is necessary.

Other analogy from my own experience is I can't jog for more than like 15 mins. Because it is boring and I feel the fatigue throughout the run and I give up short. But, on the other hand, in a ball game there is instant reward which I pursue and dynamics shift continuously. So, it is interesting and make me keep going till I wish to stop.

Kuka finds basketball boring. TT makes you Kowabunga. Live with it.

Tackles aren't really allowed in basketball are they so basketball is a wimp sport compared to football, soccer, rugby, boxing .. the list goes on.

They're just different sports and taxing in different ways, table tennis is amazing in that at the top level it's taxing both physically and mentally while you could probably get away with paying slightly less attention in basketball than in table tennis to do well. Of course you have to pay attention in basketball as well but it's not as constant.

I got a good laugh from this.


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Hey kuka, for how long can you do three point forehand drill (backhand-middle-forehand-backhand...) before you run out of air or your muscles collapse?

Ilia Minkin said:

Hey kuka, for how long can you do three point forehand drill (backhand-middle-forehand-backhand...) before you run out of air or your muscles collapse?

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After 4 buckets straight with no break, doing a 3 point drill with all backspin and me looping, Michael Landers said to me, "damn, do you ever get tired?"


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UpSideDownCarl said:

After 4 buckets straight with no break, doing a 3 point drill with all backspin and me looping, Michael Landers said to me, "damn, do you ever get tired?"


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That is interesting, because in this video it looks like Dima's heartrate goes through the roof after less than a minute and he is looping topspin.

Ilia Minkin said:

That is interesting, because in this video it looks like Dima's heartrate goes through the roof after less than a minute and he is looping topspin.

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Well, this kind of thing can definitely get your heart rate up and your cardio in gear. But you can train to be in shape for that. The truth of the matter is, training is always exercise specific so, a basketball player who tried to do this, would, of course, get pretty tired. But you can train to be in shape for this.

And my money says that Dima is not in the best cardio shape. And compared to say, the CNT players, he is in pretty bad shape. Ever seen him take his shirt off? There is a lot more flab than you would expect from an elite athlete. And it can be argued that you don't really need to be in the best shape in the world to get to that level. It certainly helps. But, Dima could definitely be in better shape.

And if you did train to be in shape for a drill like that 3 point drill, it does not mean you would be in shape for the kind of stop start, running, lateral movement, etc of a sport like basketball.

And a basketball player would probably wilt in the conditions a soccer (football) player needs to deal with and same for a soccer player playing basketball. Long endurance with no timeouts like a soccer player needs to deal with while doing sporadic sprints and that lateral movement, finesse and control with their feet, and the full out type of sprinting on a fast break in basketball, they are different. And table tennis is in a much more confined area.

Now there is no question you can make table tennis a fun workout and/or a challenging, high level cardio workout if you want. But you can also make it a very small amount of exercise and still play at a high level. Otherwise guys who are old and/or very out of shape physically, would not be able play the way they do.

Here you go:


This is Rich Dewitt vs Damien Provost. Damien's rating used to range form high 2600s to low 2700s when he was playing in the USA. Rich's level fluctuates between 2100-2400. Look for Rich's footwork! See how often he moves his feet at all. Look at his waistline. Name another sport where someone as out of shape as Rich Dewitt could play at a semi-pro level.

Now, the truth is, I think this is something that makes this sport great. But it is hard to deny that it can also make this sport a little lame as well. In tennis, you couldn't just put your racket out and dink the ball back from the baseline and expect that the ball would go over the net and cause the opponent any problems. But, at the same time, in tennis, you don't have to read the spin on the ball to the same extent you do in table tennis.

So, kukamonga made me laugh with this thread. And he actually has a good point. You can play this game (yes it is a sport, but it is also a game) and make it a good workout. But you have to work to make it a good workout. In regular match play, if you are a good player and playing someone 2 levels lower than you, you could sit in a chair and play and still win.

Again, this is from Wally Green. In talking to me years ago, he said, that there is no other sport where you could watch someone in practice and swear they were 2200 because of what they look like while training and then see them lose to a 1500 level player who sucks. And then watch someone else who totally looks like they suck and they end up being 2200.

In tennis if you don't have the power and the finesse, you can't be that good. You have to be good at everything to be good. In table tennis things are different.

And, this is what got Wally to start playing with his cell phone and his little racket.

One time, and this is also years ago, Wally and I were sitting on the bleachers at SPiN and this guy walks up and said: "are you guys good? I want to play someone good. I am too good for all the people I came with and I want to play someone who can at least give me a challenge." Wally looked up, laughed, and said: "Yeah, alright. I'll play you with my cell phone." Now this guy thought he was good. He thought he could play. Wally started hitting with his cell phone. Wally has a cell phone that has a cell phone case that actually has acceptably decent grip so he can spin the ball. It is rubber. Wally's first shot had too much spin for the guy while they were "warming up."

At a certain point the guy said, "Now I am starting to warm up and get used to your shots. Are you sure you still want to play me with your cell phone?" Wally laughed at him and said: "Why should I play you with anything else? You can't beat me with this!" They played a game to 21. I think the guy got 6 points.

One can sweat A LOT in TT, but physically it's nowhere near other sports like badminton, tennis or basketball for that matter. But who cares?!

if you can play tt for hours and be ok then you obviously play against noobs that cannot keep the ball on the table. or vice versa

p.s. no hard feelings no offense bro no harm intended keep it real keep it gangsta

This is Rich Dewitt vs Damien Provost. Damien's rating used to range form high 2600s to low 2700s when he was playing in the USA. Rich's level fluctuates between 2100-2400.

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If this is semi pro level, The future of US table tennis looks bleak