Hey guys!
I was wondering, how do you know what level you are in in table tennis? What are the main differences between Beginner and Intermediate players? I wanted to know what level I'm in.
Thanks!
The definition of beginner is easy
Beginner: a person who has begun a course of instruction or is learning the fundamentals (taken from dictionary.com)
Pretty much anyone that has just started out.
Now, the definition of intermediate and advanced is where it gets tricky. Advanced would be someone far in development (but at what point does one stop developing?) and intermediate would be someone in-between.
We will probably have to define "develop" as well: grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate. (taken from google definitions)
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Now there are many skills in table tennis that one can develop and mature. And players have very many separate skills, and trying to classify a player as beginner, intermediate, and advanced would oversimplify their skillset.
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On to my very simple definition:
On to the difference between intermediate and beginner: since beginners are pretty much new to the sport, they will make a lot of decisional mistakes. They might push instead of attacking, stand in a bad position, or smash something that shouldn't be smashed. And of course, they will make technical mistakes.
An intermediate player will obviously make fewer technical mistakes, but I'd expect an intermediate player to make much fewer decisional mistakes. Intermediate players will smash when they should and defend when they should. Technical mistakes and ball-misjudgement will still happen frequently, but that's what I'd say is intermediate. Getting to a respectful intermediate level should take ~400 hours of mindful improvement.
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To me:
In terms of USATT, beginner would be 1400 and below,
intermediate would be 1400-1800.