I am 15 years old, what is the chance of becoming a professional?

pingpongpaddy · Apr 5, 2020

davizoosk said:
I'm feeling very late compared to Tomokazu Harimoto, who is already 16 years old and is at the top of the world ranking, I started practicing tt for now and I dream of becoming a professional, is it still possible? I'm very unmotivated.

I'm feeling very late compared to tomokazu harimoto, who is already 16 years old and is at the top of the world ranking, I started practicing tt for now and I dream of becoming a professional, is it still possible?

hi davizoosk
i think when coronavirus is over you should try and go to a table tennis camp with a good coach. surely there are some camps in Brazil with retired pro in charge. This is how you find out your level and what serious training is like. A 2 day camp would be enough for this purpose.
good luck

MaLin2.0 · Apr 5, 2020

Watch this YouTube video

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OM3YNEnbMPs

Harimoto & Ma Long, both at 14. But concentrate on the training involved for both players to increase levels. I feel at 14/15 it's still about developments in attitude. Get a gasp on how each train from 14-17 and how they reached the elite level. Will be interesting to see if Harimoto career will be more successful than that of Ma Long's.

I am a firm believer that you need to learn how to play right before you start developing bad habits, TT is a game where you see plenty of bad habits, if you continue with bad habits your game doesn't evolve. I say at 15, go to as much training as possible, even secondary trainers to get more insight on ways to improve, one step at a time, you might not make it to that pro level but you can always give it a shot.

davizoosk · Apr 5, 2020

Well, I can get 1-2 hours on three days a week with a coach, I will see other gyms if I can get more for a good price, I live in the capital of Brazil (Brasilia), and here there are not many clubs, I can also play matches every day without additional cost in the gyms, the cost would be 28 dollars in a month (150 Brazilian reals). I love table tennis, I am interested in being professional because I want to take this more seriously. I will try hard, my goal now is to get to the national school games and get recognition. Thank you all for showing me the reality, I know it is almost impossible but I will try until the end, I understood that it is not easy but I will try, anyway tt will only bring me good experiences.

yogi_bear · Apr 5, 2020

1 to 2 hrs is not enough per day. 6 hrs is the target for most high level trainings.

davizoosk · Apr 5, 2020

MaLin2.0 said:
Watch this YouTube video

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OM3YNEnbMPs

Harimoto & Ma Long, both at 14. But concentrate on the training involved for both players to increase levels. I feel at 14/15 it's still about developments in attitude. Get a gasp on how each train from 14-17 and how they reached the elite level. Will be interesting to see if Harimoto career will be more successful than that of Ma Long's.

I am a firm believer that you need to learn how to play right before you start developing bad habits, TT is a game where you see plenty of bad habits, if you continue with bad habits your game doesn't evolve. I say at 15, go to as much training as possible, even secondary trainers to get more insight on ways to improve, one step at a time, you might not make it to that pro level but you can always give it a shot.

Thank you, I will train as much as possible, I will change my school schedule to 7:30 am to 12:30 am to have more time without interruptions. let's see how far I will go.

davizoosk · Apr 5, 2020

yogi_bear said:
1 to 2 hrs is not enough per day. 6 hrs is the target for most high level trainings.

6 hours a day with a coach is impossible here, both for the cost and the disposition, the maximum is 2 hours for 3 days a week with the pocket we have. The rest of the day I will call a friend for multi-ball and physical training.

davizoosk · Apr 5, 2020

pingpongpaddy said:
hi davizoosk
i think when coronavirus is over you should try and go to a table tennis camp with a good coach. surely there are some camps in Brazil with retired pro in charge. This is how you find out your level and what serious training is like. A 2 day camp would be enough for this purpose.
good luck

it would be difficult for me, the cost of travel to other states that focus more on tt are high, (500 brazilian real or more), the closest thing to that is to have an experimental class with a coach at the academy, he will inform me about my level and inform me more. About the coronavirus, here it is getting worse and the peak will be from 6 to 20 April, everyone is very irresponsible, I have no class until the end of May and all training and tournaments are canceled until then too. sports suffered a lot from that.

pingpongpaddy · Apr 5, 2020

davizoosk said:
it would be difficult for me, the cost of travel to other states that focus more on tt are high, (500 brazilian real or more), the closest thing to that is to have an experimental class with a coach at the academy, he will inform me about my level and inform me more. About the coronavirus, here it is getting worse and the peak will be from 6 to 20 April, everyone is very irresponsible, I have no class until the end of May and all training and tournaments are canceled until then too. sports suffered a lot from that.

well davizoosk
i think this discussion has shown you all the practical things you have to think about to be successful at anything whether its sport or a business career.
i just want to say as a lifelong tt player for 50 + years though i fell well short of my original ambition there has been a lot of interest and satisfaction in learning to play at quite a good level. The lessons i learned climbing the table tennis mountain helped me a lot in my real career.
good luck

davizoosk · Apr 5, 2020

pingpongpaddy said:
well davizoosk
i think this discussion has shown you all the practical things you have to think about to be successful at anything whether its sport or a business career.
i just want to say as a lifelong tt player for 50 + years though i fell well short of my original ambition there has been a lot of interest and satisfaction in learning to play at quite a good level. The lessons i learned climbing the table tennis mountain helped me a lot in my real career.
good luck

i know this, in the end tt will only bring me good experiences, i know that there will be other paths besides professional sport if i can't, thanks for the reflection and motivation, i will try to make the most of this sport i love.

Der_Echte · Apr 5, 2020

Can OP get good and better at TT and have a BLAST for YEARS and DECADES?

YUP.

That may be better than being apropos.

When I did my first tourney as a recreational player, I saw 1800 level players, saw they played GREAT and thought I would be happy at that level, which is 3 to 4 levels above the average USA club player.

I got to a level or 2 above that and realized how deficient I was and wanted more.

Now I am another level or two above that level and see even more holes/needs and want to improve more.

Realistically, 2400 max is gunna be it for a geezer like me... likely lower for max level growth.

Either way... the pursuit of what you define as greatness or good is blast all in itsrlf.

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Wister · Apr 5, 2020

As everybody have said, being pro seems a difficult goal. But in TT you can play well even a bit old, so if you train seriously from now to your thirties, you can reach a very high level. But in my opinion the number of hours per week is very important and having a good coach also help a lot. I find that 10 hours a week (like 3 * three hours training), is not even a lot, again in my opinion

P.S : When i say a high level, why not top 100 / 200 in your country ? Not sure what is doable

davizoosk · Apr 5, 2020

Wister said:
As everybody have said, being pro seems a difficult goal. But in TT you can play well even a bit old, so if you train seriously from now to your thirties, you can reach a very high level. But in my opinion the number of hours per week is very important and having a good coach also help a lot. I find that 10 hours a week (like 3 * three hours training), is not even a lot, again in my opinion

P.S : When i say a high level, why not top 100 / 200 in your country ? Not sure what is doable

at that level can I already compete nationally?
at that level can I already compete nationally?

Metaxa · Apr 5, 2020

Everything starts with talent. If you are not blessed with that in your early childhood, it will be very difficult. A coach can determine this fairly quickly. 15 years is already quite late, but by working very hard you can certainly achieve a high level in your country. There are plenty of examples of talented young people who have not made it in a sport. The other way round, by the way, little talent but with hard work nevertheless got far in their sport.
What is still fairly important in your development is the environment of people who are 100% behind you and then I think in the first place of your parents, your coach and clubmates.
Except weekly many hours of training (between 15h and 20h) you will also need to gain match experience during tournaments and competitions.
Sorry for the reality.
I wish you every success!

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NextLevel · Apr 6, 2020

Metaxa said:
Everything starts with talent. If you are not blessed with that in your early childhood, it will be very difficult. A coach can determine this fairly quickly. 15 years is already quite late, but by working very hard you can certainly achieve a high level in your country. There are plenty of examples of talented young people who have not made it in a sport. The other way round, by the way, little talent but with hard work nevertheless got far in their sport.
What is still fairly important in your development is the environment of people who are 100% behind you and then I think in the first place of your parents, your coach and clubmates.
Except weekly many hours of training (between 15h and 20h) you will also need to gain match experience during tournaments and competitions.
Sorry for the reality.
I wish you every success!

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One of the top coaches I know said that the best student he ever coached was someone who he would never have picked as talented. So he is always wary of people saying that talent can be picked ahead of time. Motivation varies and counts for a lot so let people sort their effort and results out over time. It doesn't matter how "talented " you are if you are winning matches.

davizoosk · Apr 6, 2020

I get 26 hours a week, 2 hours for 3 days with a coach and the rest will be multi-ball (3 hours a day), serve (1 hour a day) and physical training, because my father is a physical education professional ( 12 hours). not counting the weekends, I can train multi-balls with my nephew for at least 4 hours, very physical and serve. for a long time.

davizoosk · Apr 6, 2020

About the competitions, here where I live it is kind of difficult to have competitions in the short term, at most one every 3 months. At the gyms I can play games freely at no extra cost. I will try 1 hour a day.

about competitions, here it is kind of difficult to have competitions in the short term, at most one every 3 months. At the gyms I can play games freely at no extra cost. I will try 1 hour a dayabout competitions, here it is kind of difficult to have competitions in the short term, at most one every 3 months. At the gyms I can play games freely at no extra cost. I will try 1 hour a day

Metaxa · Apr 6, 2020

NextLevel said:
One of the top coaches I know said that the best student he ever coached was someone who he would never have picked as talented. So he is always wary of people saying that talent can be picked ahead of time. Motivation varies and counts for a lot so let people sort their effort and results out over time. It doesn't matter how "talented " you are if you are winning matches.

Sure!

Nothing is impossible, not even without talent, but then you will have to work / train very hard. With talent this will all go much easier which does not guarantee success of course.

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yogi_bear · Apr 6, 2020

davizoosk said:
6 hours a day with a coach is impossible here, both for the cost and the disposition, the maximum is 2 hours for 3 days a week with the pocket we have. The rest of the day I will call a friend for multi-ball and physical training.

And you are still hoping you will be a PRO? Being in a pro level does not only require talent but also investing massive amount of hours into practice, matchplay, physical fitness and tournament exposure. You being short on practice hours will get you nowhere. You may reach a level wherein you will be considered competitive but not a pro level.

UpSideDownCarl · Apr 6, 2020

Nothing wrong with trying and doing your best. But, for most, it does take a lot of money to afford the training necessary to get to those higher levels. So, go for your dreams. But understand it is a very hard goal to achieve.

mart1nandersson · Apr 6, 2020

yogi_bear said:
1 to 2 hrs is not enough per day. 6 hrs is the target for most high level trainings.

Spot on. The usual training volume for kids aiming for the stars around here is something like 2h in the morning and then 3h in the afternoon. 6 to 7 days a week. This increase usually happens around the age of 12.

I am 15 years old, what is the chance of becoming a professional?

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