Can you help me understand how it is possible to join the main league of the country in which a person lives?

[DaN3]

I've played table tennis for about 5 months in a club, and most of the guys I've played had a bad style; one of them was like he always lobs the balls until I hit the ball out of the table; the other guy's style is just defense; their serves are fault sometimes; and when I tell them this, they tell me that we are not playing internationally, so it's okay; don't be strict.
I mean, I've got talents; I can't play forever in a club; that is not my goal. I want to play in a table tennis league with professionals and get better.
If there is one reason I would quit table tennis, it is not because I can't play and don't like it; it is because I don't know how to play seriously in a pro league, where every time I compete there would be a referee who would watch too. Every country has a pro league with different names, like "Major League, Super League, etc." I've asked a club member how I could join the main league of the country, and they didn't guide me clearly so I could understand. Their explanation included me moving to a different city, but they didn't say even if I move to a different city how it all is going to work.
Can you help me understand how it is possible to join the main league of the country in which a person lives?

 

[Tyce]

Your best bet, find a club that competes on the level you want to play, and ask

 

[Dominikk85]

If you want to play at a better level you might need to drive to the next largest city to find a better club. Larger cities will usually have several clubs who have higher level teams.

However even if you play in such a club they will have different level teams from pure recreational to competitive. Many advanced beginners who are highly competitive (maybe because they were good at another sport) and have learned some technique think it is beneath their dignity to play overweight 60 year Olds who just push the ball and they want to play real players but the reality is that in every club you will need to prove that you can beat those recreational pushers who just are there to have some friendly matches and then drink a beer together before you can move up to a higher level team.

This can be frustrating for advanced beginners who have already learned some technique because in theory they have learned how to beat that pusher but in practice they are not yet consistent enough to beat those guys who are not very skilled but experienced and have developed consistency in their limited technical arsenal.

As an advanced beginner you just need the patience to fight through that phase until you are consistent enough to beat those players even though it can be frustrating to lose to a guy twice your age and double your weight. But there is no shortcut they won't say to you "I know you can't beat that 60 year old pusher but you already learned some fundamentals, we will try you at a higher level".


Also don't worry about faulty serves, they will be there at every level and never or rarely get called on, so just deal with them.

 

[Dominikk85]

In short: you can't just play in a pro league, you need to show you can beat several lower leagues first. If you want to improve faster you could take private coaching lessons with a good coach but even then you will need to demonstrate it in league matches, nobody cares how good you are in practice.

 

[Aizen]

I guess you want to play table tennis properly, not make it your profession (at least yet).

Firstly try to find a proper club by stretching your possibilities. (1 hour road etc)

 

[DaN3]

If you want to play at a better level you might need to drive to the next largest city to find a better club. Larger cities will usually have several clubs who have higher level teams.

However even if you play in such a club they will have different level teams from pure recreational to competitive. Many advanced beginners who are highly competitive (maybe because they were good at another sport) and have learned some technique think it is beneath their dignity to play overweight 60 year Olds who just push the ball and they want to play real players but the reality is that in every club you will need to prove that you can beat those recreational pushers who just are there to have some friendly matches and then drink a beer together before you can move up to a higher level team.

This can be frustrating for advanced beginners who have already learned some technique because in theory they have learned how to beat that pusher but in practice they are not yet consistent enough to beat those guys who are not very skilled but experienced and have developed consistency in their limited technical arsenal.

As an advanced beginner you just need the patience to fight through that phase until you are consistent enough to beat those players even though it can be frustrating to lose to a guy twice your age and double your weight. But there is no shortcut they won't say to you "I know you can't beat that 60 year old pusher but you already learned some fundamentals, we will try you at a higher level".


Also don't worry about faulty serves, they will be there at every level and never or rarely get called on, so just deal with them.

You read my mind about that 60-year-old guy. I hate his style and I always lose to him; I've just won against him 3-1 only once, and even at that time he said, "I let you win and didn't want you to be sad." Whatever I loop, he goes back and chops them back at me, and I tell myself, "How am I going to loop this heavy backspin?" I can loop those, but I use lots of energy, and I lose my energy a lot just because of that point, and I sweat a lot, so I can't keep up the good work till the end.

 

[Jslick89]

what area in the US to you live? How old are you? if you are not a young child, chances are you have missed your opportunity to take it to the professional level in this game. however, you could still become a very high level club player and have lots of fun at almost any age. the best player at our club is a 65 year old man. He's actually one of the best seniors in the whole united states, if not the best. however, he has been playing a long time and honestly he moves and has the reactions of someone much younger than him lol.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

I've played table tennis for about 5 months in a club, and most of the guys I've played had a bad style; one of them was like he always lobs the balls until I hit the ball out of the table; the other guy's style is just defense; their serves are fault sometimes; and when I tell them this, they tell me that we are not playing internationally, so it's okay; don't be strict.
I mean, I've got talents; I can't play forever in a club; that is not my goal. I want to play in a table tennis league with professionals and get better.
If there is one reason I would quit table tennis, it is not because I can't play and don't like it; it is because I don't know how to play seriously in a pro league, where every time I compete there would be a referee who would watch too. Every country has a pro league with different names, like "Major League, Super League, etc." I've asked a club member how I could join the main league of the country, and they didn't guide me clearly so I could understand. Their explanation included me moving to a different city, but they didn't say even if I move to a different city how it all is going to work.
Can you help me understand how it is possible to join the main league of the country in which a person lives?

1. Play in local league / tourney. Pay the entrance fee from your own pocket if no sponsor.
2. Start winning, a lot!
3. You'll get noticed.
4. You'll get invited for try-outs at higher leagues.
5. Continue to win, a lot!
6. The sky is your limit!

NB: Point Nos. 2 & 5 is the key success factor.

Good luck. May you reach the sky.

 

[piligrim]

I've played table tennis for about 5 months in a club, and most of the guys I've played had a bad style; one of them was like he always lobs the balls until I hit the ball out of the table; the other guy's style is just defense; their serves are fault sometimes; and when I tell them this, they tell me that we are not playing internationally, so it's okay; don't be strict.
I mean, I've got talents; I can't play forever in a club; that is not my goal. I want to play in a table tennis league with professionals and get better.
If there is one reason I would quit table tennis, it is not because I can't play and don't like it; it is because I don't know how to play seriously in a pro league, where every time I compete there would be a referee who would watch too. Every country has a pro league with different names, like "Major League, Super League, etc." I've asked a club member how I could join the main league of the country, and they didn't guide me clearly so I could understand. Their explanation included me moving to a different city, but they didn't say even if I move to a different city how it all is going to work.
Can you help me understand how it is possible to join the main league of the country in which a person lives?

If you cant beat people doesnt mean they have bad style. You losing to everybody in recreational club but think you can play in Major League?

 

[DaN3]

1. Play in local league / tourney. Pay the entrance fee from your own pocket if no sponsor.
2. Start winning, a lot!
3. You'll get noticed.
4. You'll get invited for try-outs at higher leagues.
5. Continue to win, a lot!
6. The sky is your limit!

NB: Point Nos. 2 & 5 is the key success factor.

Good luck. May you reach the sky.

Based on your answer, the guy who wins a lot gets invited for tryouts at higher leagues; I've heard these tryouts only happen once or twice a year! Even the local league does not hold lots of tournaments; it's not like every day I have my chance to play against 5 or 6 guys. It's like once a month or at best once a week. So the limit is I'm not a fan of waiting a week or a month until somebody holds a tournament that lasts just a day. The type of thing I want is, let's say, there is every day a tournament open for people to join and compete, and there has to be a ranking, which I've never experienced this type of thing.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I've played table tennis for about 5 months in a club, and most of the guys I've played had a bad style; one of them was like he always lobs the balls until I hit the ball out of the table; the other guy's style is just defense; their serves are fault sometimes; and when I tell them this, they tell me that we are not playing internationally, so it's okay; don't be strict.
I mean, I've got talents; I can't play forever in a club; that is not my goal. I want to play in a table tennis league with professionals and get better.
If there is one reason I would quit table tennis, it is not because I can't play and don't like it; it is because I don't know how to play seriously in a pro league, where every time I compete there would be a referee who would watch too. Every country has a pro league with different names, like "Major League, Super League, etc." I've asked a club member how I could join the main league of the country, and they didn't guide me clearly so I could understand. Their explanation included me moving to a different city, but they didn't say even if I move to a different city how it all is going to work.
Can you help me understand how it is possible to join the main league of the country in which a person lives?

in USA, the pro league is called Major League table tennis.
if you are good enough, contact them and enter yourself (or get your coach/agent) to enter you as a player for the next season.
you will then likely need to try out and for the clubs to see if you worthy and then a club will pick you in the draw.

if you not USATT 2500 level, don't bother entering.

 

[ttarc]

You read my mind about that 60-year-old guy. I hate his style and I always lose to him; I've just won against him 3-1 only once, and even at that time he said, "I let you win and didn't want you to be sad." Whatever I loop, he goes back and chops them back at me, and I tell myself, "How am I going to loop this heavy backspin?" I can loop those, but I use lots of energy, and I lose my energy a lot just because of that point, and I sweat a lot, so I can't keep up the good work till the end.

Training, training, and a lot more training. Be able to loop heavy backspin consistently is a good start. Losing too much energy might be a technical issue but playing against a good defender is usually always physically demanding regardless what one is doing. The main strategy against defenders is to do the same as they often try to do: move them around (left, right, back and forth, into the body) and change rhythm (fast, hard loops, slow, short or long spinny loops, same when pushing instead if looping).

 

[Dominikk85]

You read my mind about that 60-year-old guy. I hate his style and I always lose to him; I've just won against him 3-1 only once, and even at that time he said, "I let you win and didn't want you to be sad." Whatever I loop, he goes back and chops them back at me, and I tell myself, "How am I going to loop this heavy backspin?" I can loop those, but I use lots of energy, and I lose my energy a lot just because of that point, and I sweat a lot, so I can't keep up the good work till the end.

That is the frustrating thing when you are an adult beginner who is a reasonable athlete - beating a pusher/chopper/blocker with offense takes some experience and practice because you need to hit 2-3 consecutive loops on the table to win a point.

That means if you hit 3 out of 4 loops on the table you have a good chance to win but if you only hit half of them on the table you will lose by a big margin because statistically the other guy will just need to return one loop every rally and he will win most points.

Players who started as kids with a coach have gained that experience early as a teenagers but as an adult beginner this is a though battle, there isn't really a shortcut to get there especially since most clubs won't really train adult beginners unless they pay for it.

 

[Dominikk85]

Based on your answer, the guy who wins a lot gets invited for tryouts at higher leagues; I've heard these tryouts only happen once or twice a year! Even the local league does not hold lots of tournaments; it's not like every day I have my chance to play against 5 or 6 guys. It's like once a month or at best once a week. So the limit is I'm not a fan of waiting a week or a month until somebody holds a tournament that lasts just a day. The type of thing I want is, let's say, there is every day a tournament open for people to join and compete, and there has to be a ranking, which I've never experienced this type of thing.

When you can play you don't have to wait. Just show up in practice and when you are really good they will let you play with the good guys. It only takes 10 seconds to notice a good player. But when you struggle to beat an overweight 60 year old pusher then they won't let you play with the good players.

 

[Takkyu_wa_inochi]

its too late for you. if you're not already an excellent player by the time you learn how to write, at 8, you have absolutely no chance of becoming a professional athlete as an adult.