Do these things happen in the club where you play table tennis?

[DaN3]

From the moment I entered the table tennis club in my city, I faced a weird rule or something that I didn't know why it was even like that. Let's say there are only 8 tables in the club, and only 3 of them are in the sweet spot of the club, and also the quality of those three tables is better than the other ones. So let's say I, as a beginner, see that one of those three tables is empty, and I and my friend go and play there, and after some time, some other players enter the club, and they are known as good players, and we are told by the coach to go play at a different table and let them play there! I've tried saying, "What are you going to do if I don't leave this table?" and it is a very provocative thing to start a fight.

Do these things happen in the club where you play table tennis?

 

[Crillo]

No!

 

[kindof99]

From the moment I entered the table tennis club in my city, I faced a weird rule or something that I didn't know why it was even like that. Let's say there are only 8 tables in the club, and only 3 of them are in the sweet spot of the club, and also the quality of those three tables is better than the other ones. So let's say I, as a beginner, see that one of those three tables is empty, and I and my friend go and play there, and after some time, some other players enter the club, and they are known as good players, and we are told by the coach to go play at a different table and let them play there! I've tried saying, "What are you going to do if I don't leave this table?" and it is a very provocative thing to start a fight.

Do these things happen in the club where you play table tennis?

I think this happens everywhere. And the problem is the coach (or club owner). I don't think higher ranking (better) players have any higher priority than any other player. For most amateurs, higher or lower ranking does not matter as much as having fun and getting exercise. But I do see the point that some coaches/club owners think better players are more important.

 

[kindof99]

One thing is that these "better" players are closer to the coach/club owner. But it is really not proper for the coach to ask for the average player to leave the table because the better players will play there, unless there is something special coming up.

 

[Jslick89]

Our tables are first come first serve. If people are waiting, you have to play a match, or if you're just going to practice you get 20 minutes before you have to rotate off. If you play a match, if you win, you can stay on one more time. if you win twice, both rotate off.

Now, there are some sections that certain level players prefer. but its more like unwritten and if other players are there already, everyone has to wait their fair turn.

 

[lodro]

do the "really hot players" pay a higher club fee ??? If not, why should they get preferential treatment ?

Our club has got 5 tables and even when doubles are played on all tables some people have to sit-out. More people have to sit-out when some of the hot players want to have one of their boring FH slap ups.
I don't get it 😕

 

[Reaper]

in my training hall it's an unwritten rule, nobody moves/tell the newbies to go to other tables, but they get the hint after a few days and eventually use the secondary ones.

the passive aggressive method is to challenge them, the winner stays and wait for the next opponent, its rare.

 

[backspacer]

I have never heard of something like that in Germany and I would ditch that club. Sure, four of our six tables are basically new compared to the other two, but no one ever asks someone to swap tables because of that.

 

[RefereeNumber2]

At the clubs I've frequented (this is in the US), the typical etiquette when there are more players than tables is the challenge system: put your racket down, or sign your name on the board, etc., and the two players on the tables have to play a match. Winner stays on (unless they want to take a break), and the next person in line gets to play. This organically leads to better players using the best tables, simply because they get to stay on and then people tend to sign up to play people around their own level.

If some club manager or coach simply kicks you off a table for anything other than a coaching session with a paying customer, I think you would be justifiably annoyed. However, most TT clubs in the US are relatively small/close communities and if you intend to play there often, it's probably worth being polite and flexible while you're new and getting to know people. Being on good terms with the folks you'll be seeing regularly at the club/local tournaments, etc. just makes everything a lot more pleasant and fun.

 

[jk1980]

it is always a fine line between being newbie friendly to attract upcoming club players and not making it unbearable for the more senior players to find time and space to train for their matches.

I am in several clubs and one of them has real issues with having enough tables. The location can sport 6 or 7 tables, but at least 2 if not 3 are basically blocked by "players" (i would not even call them like that) that dont have any interest in learning the sport and play with equipment like a plastic bat that has one side white rubber and the other yellow. Then there is the other type of players that are not even part of the club but block one table 90% of the time just lobbing the ball back and forth (without playing a match). Since nobody of the more senior players nor the club chief has the balls to say anything the situation is that the 80% proper players that actually want to improve really dont have the time and place to do progress in their training and have to wait 30%-50% of the time on the bench. Additionally there might be situations where there might be 8 sitting on the bench, because everybody on the tables plays singles matches, instead of trying to get everybody to play.

You see that there are many different challenges and especially if people in charge have no balls, but who am i to tell people 40 years in the club how to run it right.

 

[UpHill_Battle]

I think this happens everywhere. And the problem is the coach (or club owner). I don't think higher ranking (better) players have any higher priority than any other player. For most amateurs, higher or lower ranking does not matter as much as having fun and getting exercise. But I do see the point that some coaches/club owners think better players are more important.

At the clubs I've frequented (this is in the US), the typical etiquette when there are more players than tables is the challenge system: put your racket down, or sign your name on the board, etc., and the two players on the tables have to play a match. Winner stays on (unless they want to take a break), and the next person in line gets to play. This organically leads to better players using the best tables, simply because they get to stay on and then people tend to sign up to play people around their own level.

If some club manager or coach simply kicks you off a table for anything other than a coaching session with a paying customer, I think you would be justifiably annoyed. However, most TT clubs in the US are relatively small/close communities and if you intend to play there often, it's probably worth being polite and flexible while you're new and getting to know people. Being on good terms with the folks you'll be seeing regularly at the club/local tournaments, etc. just makes everything a lot more pleasant and fun.

To the OP.

I do agree this things happen. And yes likely the coach/owner is the "issue". But they do a passive approach here, if better players or regular arrived - they suggest the table with lower skill player, instant become a "change-the-loser" then lower skill player gets out of rotation and higher level takes all the the table, even with the board on who is next. Owner/coach pref specific match plays. lol

 

[lightspin]

I think better players should get tables with more room because they tend to move a lot more than beginners. At my club, I would politely ask the beginners to move to a different table and explain the reason why. Most of the time they comply but if they don't, I am not going to force them to move. Similarly when professional players show up to the club, I will voluntarily give them my table and move because playing table tennis is their full time job.

 

[Yuomay]

it can happen that someone playing in the higher teams of our club requests playing on a specific table for the simple reason that he will play a match later the weekend on that same table

 

[turbozed]

I think better players should get tables with more room because they tend to move a lot more than beginners. At my club, I would politely ask the beginners to move to a different table and explain the reason why. Most of the time they comply but if they don't, I am not going to force them to move. Similarly when professional players show up to the club, I will voluntarily give them my table and move because playing table tennis is their full time job.

This is the most reasonable approach. Most beginners won't care or notice the difference between two tables, but higher level players may.

If you communicate clearly and without any passive aggressive BS, everyone understands what's going on and there are no hard feelings.

The problem is that table tennis seems to attract some of the most antisocial and passive aggressive types of people I've ever seen in sport. And the difference between levels can be so wide that experienced players develop a superiority complex or sense of entitlement. This makes for an extremely awkward and uncomfortable experience for players new to the environment.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

From the moment I entered the table tennis club in my city, I faced a weird rule or something that I didn't know why it was even like that. Let's say there are only 8 tables in the club, and only 3 of them are in the sweet spot of the club, and also the quality of those three tables is better than the other ones. So let's say I, as a beginner, see that one of those three tables is empty, and I and my friend go and play there, and after some time, some other players enter the club, and they are known as good players, and we are told by the coach to go play at a different table and let them play there! I've tried saying, "What are you going to do if I don't leave this table?" and it is a very provocative thing to start a fight.

Do these things happen in the club where you play table tennis?

No and such a issue can be resolved very easily and straight-forward.

One party challenge another for a best of five; winner stay, loser leaves. Law of the jungle, survival of the fittest.

 

[d3nium]

Unwritten rule in open sessions at our club that the home 'A' team players get the 'best' table to knock up on.

 

[yamagata]

This is the most reasonable approach. Most beginners won't care or notice the difference between two tables, but higher level players may.

If you communicate clearly and without any passive aggressive BS, everyone understands what's going on and there are no hard feelings.

The problem is that table tennis seems to attract some of the most antisocial and passive aggressive types of people I've ever seen in sport. And the difference between levels can be so wide that experienced players develop a superiority complex or sense of entitlement. This makes for an extremely awkward and uncomfortable experience for players new to the environment.

Well, try play football, floorball or hockey. There are all sorts of people playing, and better watch out for an attempt to hurt you.

But I agree that tt attracts people on the ”passive aggressive ” spectra, and that is a good thing really! Not the aggressive part of course, but that the spectra part people have a fitting sport. Also over represented are software devs and nerds.

 

[turbozed]

Well, try play football, floorball or hockey. There are all sorts of people playing, and better watch out for an attempt to hurt you.

But I agree that tt attracts people on the ”passive aggressive ” spectra, and that is a good thing really! Not the aggressive part of course, but that the spectra part people have a fitting sport. Also over represented are software devs and nerds.

Different issues in different sports I agree. But I'd actually prefer outright aggression. It's obvious and therefore easier to call out and respond in kind.

Before TT, I was in a combat sports environment where personality defects are exposed quickly and then handled just as quickly. Obviously the risk of injury is higher in contact sports, but despite this the overall sport environment is more welcoming and friendly. TT is the sport where I've encountered the most drastic lack of friendliness and comraderie. And I've been to a multitude of different clubs all over the world.

When you do run into good people across the table, it feels like a refreshing change when it really should be the norm. I just never can understand the mindset of some people that spend a few hours of their day engaged in an activity with a grumpy and passively hostile attitude.

 

[DaN3]

From the moment I entered the table tennis club in my city, I faced a weird rule or something that I didn't know why it was even like that. Let's say there are only 8 tables in the club, and only 3 of them are in the sweet spot of the club, and also the quality of those three tables is better than the other ones. So let's say I, as a beginner, see that one of those three tables is empty, and I and my friend go and play there, and after some time, some other players enter the club, and they are known as good players, and we are told by the coach to go play at a different table and let them play there! I've tried saying, "What are you going to do if I don't leave this table?" and it is a very provocative thing to start a fight.

Do these things happen in the club where you play table tennis?

The club had a tournament, and I told them I'll pay the entrance fee tomorrow, and they agreed and my name was called to go play with some other player; I was 2-0 ahead of my opponent, and all of a sudden, the coach tells me, "Doctor is playing with that guy," meaning I have to get out of there, and then I came to the coach and told him, "Are you kidding me? Why is this happening? The match is almost finished!" Then he told me that I'm being bold and disrespectful, and I got closer to him and said, "What are you going to do if I disrespect you?" Then he didn't say anything, and I left the tournament. Once my opponent finished playing with the doctor, he told the owner (the owner was participating in the tournament too; so was the coach) that it was not fair that I was replaced with the doctor, and the owner's reaction was, "It's not a big deal." As if I'm garbage to be thrown from one table or opponent to the other one. Another guy was telling me that it was okay and I could still participate in the match and play with another guy, but I didn't want to. The doctor is one of those who fill coaches' and stronger players pockets with money to get more practice and special treatment.

 

[Sims]

From the moment I entered the table tennis club in my city, I faced a weird rule or something that I didn't know why it was even like that. Let's say there are only 8 tables in the club, and only 3 of them are in the sweet spot of the club, and also the quality of those three tables is better than the other ones. So let's say I, as a beginner, see that one of those three tables is empty, and I and my friend go and play there, and after some time, some other players enter the club, and they are known as good players, and we are told by the coach to go play at a different table and let them play there! I've tried saying, "What are you going to do if I don't leave this table?" and it is a very provocative thing to start a fight.

Do these things happen in the club where you play table tennis?

It's not unusual for a club organiser to ask for the match tables (best tables) for the league players or best players.

But it's all about good attitude from both sides and also knowing your place if you're new or a few levels down in playing ability.

I wouldn't like having to relinquish the best table but if that's how it is then that's how it is.

My question is why are you making a big deal out of it? Are they rude when asking? Or does it just hurt your ego that you don't get to play on the best table?