Samsung Life Pros vs Nexy Korea Sponsored Amateurs

says 2023 Certified Organ Donor
says 2023 Certified Organ Donor
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Here is a vid I just saw with English subtitles

The amateur players are 2200 to 2350 usatt level and get a 3 or 4 pt handicap vs the pros who are trying maybe 20 percent.

Koreans like to do this kind of meetup and you see this stuff on YouTube a lot. If you want an intense experience better than an actual tourney, get together 6 players and do a chicken dinner round Robin when place 4 and 5 and 6 funds percent of the tab. You get instant full effort and passion.


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It's a pitty that korean & japanese youtubers don't put the titles of their videos also in english, their table tennis videos are so good.

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Is that Lee Sang Su the same Lee Sang Su playing in ITTF world tours :eek: Look 1/2 way the same :cool:
 
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He’s certainly not pro! He’s world class! Kinda phenomenal the way they control power. They probably are using 1/10 of their normal speed but the swing still looks “authentic”
 
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Proof why Korea is a consistent world class country :cool: All the amateurs look very solid to me. “Power from the ground”!
 
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You don't see that consistency at amateur level in France, top 3 european country in TT though ! and a way bigger country with world champions in its history. Korea has always impressed me, plus I love its culture, its people's sense of responsibilities, community... I'd really love to live here !
 
says 2023 Certified Organ Donor
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Proof why Korea is a consistent world class country :cool: All the amateurs look very solid to me. “Power from the ground”!

Hi Tango,

The amateur TT world in Korea is a completely seperate system. Pros and those pro-trained school athletes may not compete with amateurs except in certain large natl level tourneys and only in the pro division.

Accordingly, the average level and the density of the top end elite are not very good compared to even USA. Ave Korean club player is 1300-1600 (where 80% of players fall into this band) and that is pretty much like USA. Howeever in USA, there are more 2200+ level players. Top end of Korean amateur TT is surprisingly weak given they are a Pro TT powerhouse.

I went to Korea as a 1600 rated newbie with zero coaching, I had some serve ability I had practiced... after 6 months in Korea, I was approaching the top ten percent of players as a slightly fat mid 40s dude who started TT too late in life... that means the top level is weak comparatively.

The reason why someone watching youtube vids of average level Koreans is that the old school coaches pound in the idea that you stay parked at table and bang bang away. Even 1000 level newbs with only 1 yr of lessons that I would normally beat 11-4 can do this task 10x better than me and it looks impressive.

What you tend to see in Korean youtube vids at finals of comps is the best of each division... and there are staples of ringers their coaches keep deliberately lower classified, so they can have the best chance in the team even, since there is a handicap syste,. You get an extra 2 points per game just for being a ringer of one level. SInce this game has been on for some years now, the best players in Natl Div 4 (Which SHOULD BE 1800 USATT tops) has players 2300+... as long as they do not win a final, no one can force them into a higher division, unless you really piss them off.

I never won anything in Natl tourneys, yet I got moved from Div 5 to Div 4 to Div 3 national. As a recreational player my first week in hte club, I already had the best BH opening topsin in the city, better than all the Div 1 players for that stroke. That is another example of some weakness of amateur Korean TT.

A strength is that more people are interested in TT in Korea, and since population is dense, there is likely a TT club in reasonable walking or biking distance... and there are comps ALL the time... and they are inexpensive and Koreans KNOW how to have a grand time.
 
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says 2023 Certified Organ Donor
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I have watched most of these episodes and found them quite entertaining as you can see they are having fun. Maybe having chicken and beers afterwards?

Giangt,

You just need to do a Korean vacation and do some of that stuff. You mention the word CHICKEN in a Korean TT club and you are a rock star. They will show you something... some many things.
 
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That’s quite a picture! USA is a large country so it’s difficult to compare. The amateurs’ swings & footwork look like they are properly coached. I guess the grassroots there are a lot better than in the UK still. I guess you might be a little too demanding about your contrymen :cool:
 
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Just to give you a context, there isn’t even such a thing called “professional table tennis” in the UK :D My clubmate one day came to the club to prepare for England top 16/32 or something and there weren’t a lot of people in the club for him to practise. So I ended up blocking for him for an hour or so. :cool::cool::cool: (That’s why you might see chaps like Liam Pitchford is kinda genius)
 
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says toooooo much choice!!
says toooooo much choice!!
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Both the clubs I play for don’t really even have a club night for practice!!
1 has no club night, it’s matches only, there are 7 teams!!, 1 table hall !! So generally during a regular season there’s a match every weekday evening, the clubhouse is owned by a tennis club, so they use it at weekends, during the summer (when TT leagues generally stop) the tennis club use weekday evening because the weather is sort of better!!!
The second club has use of a 2 table hall (but just 1 night a week) so during the TT season, there’s usually 1 home match per week, so you rarely get the opportunity to play against the other team players, maybe 3 or 4 times a season there’s a ‘free’ night and even then it’s unlikely that the other team players choose to pop in for a ‘club night’ usually because they also play in other leagues and either have a fixture that night or just want a night in!!!
I get my practice and some coaching by attending a coaching ‘club’ Tuesdays and Fridays ( in normal times!!)
usually 2 hrs per session, juniors 1st hr adults 2nd hr, I feed for juniors then stay for 2nd hour.;)

From the looks of things in Korea, I would say the general standard and participation levels of clubs are higher than in the UK.
 
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