I think I hate playing tournaments

[sebas-aguirre]

so yesterday was the promotion to ascend to first division in this league we've played this year as teams.
I haven't been going to many matches but this was the last one so I went.

so I finished work and went there.

first of all I got there like 10 minutes late and they were like calling to my cell phone "where are you, the referee says we need to be here or they'll give walk over to the other team"
stuff like that having to answer that in the cell phone while I was driving.
it's stressful and ping pong is not supposed to be stressful.
then I get there, I can't even park, I go in and say "hello I'm here".
then everybody is happy the whole team is there and they start the damn series of matches and I go park the car.

then I come back, there's another guy playing so I go outside to eat a mandarin I had brought from home hoping to eat it at some point.

the door was like jammed and I couldn't get in and out so each time I got in it was a mess and people made gestures like they were angry.

so I finish the mandarin, fight with the door, go in, and the first game still going on.

so I go down cross the street to a supermarket that was there.
I was planning to buy some cookies but then I was like baaaa.... maybe not now.
but I remembered I had to buy shampoo for my hair.

so as I was paying the shampoo another cell call.
"you need to be here because the referee says everybody from the team needs to be here and you play next".
damn.
so I go back and sit in the bench while the other guy is playing (the first match of the series).

kind of pointless, I even tell the guy what to do and he says yes but he doesn't do it.
so in the end he loses the match and I play next.

two minute warmup.
that's great, I'm supposed to have my best performance after warming up for 2 minutes.
the ball is also very strange, a donic plastic ball that just feels very odd.
match starts, lose first two sets, then warmup a bit and we get 2-2
then fifth make many mistakes and stuff and I lose.

then we play doubles.
at some point during this match the referee comes and tells to one of the guys from our team that he's not part of the team so he can't coach.
we lose pretty badly as well and that's it, we lost 3-0, I played maybe 20 minutes of super high pressured table tennis without being able to have any fun doing it.
then we leave and go eat pizza with my team.

I really don't like this, that's why I play so many little tournaments.

I mean if I'm going to drive for 40 minutes the least I expect is two hour of play, a nice workout and coming back home tired and relaxed.
this is like the opposite.
you play for 20 minutes under super pressure, you come back home not really tired and very stressed from referees telling you do this do that, be here at this time, be there at that time, colleagues telling you play like this, play like that.
super stressful situation with no real playtime.

unless you are a pro and need to do this I don't see many reasons to do it.
and if you are a pro and you have to do stuff like take a plane, go to a hotel, spend the whole day in the arena just to play a couple of matches I can't really imagine how much it would hurt to lose a match.
It was already pretty bad yesterday and I drove 30 mins and waited for 15 to play....

 

[SpinWins]

Last tournament I play was 2 hour of TT. It was just me, not a team. Maybe you should play those type of tournament instead.

 

[Kokain]

Quit team events and just participate in those ladder matches, 1 night only elimination tournament, or have a regular something between guys in the club every friday. Like you said you were build to play matches, not build to drive from match to match. Leave this to professionals who spend most of their career on a plane and in a hotel room.

 

[sebas-aguirre]

I have played many tournaments of the regular type.
in those ones I found

1- when I leave the tournament, maybe that afternoon, maybe the next day, I feel stress in my shoulder, my arm, maybe even my legs.
this means I really pushed me and my body and got it quite stressed out.
I don't think this is good, when I play in a club even if I play to exhaustion against good players I never get shoulder or arm pain.

that's a mental thing when you are in a stressful situation.
and I don't want to relate tt to stress in any way.

2- even in those tournaments you still have to be there at an exact time and it's still that start/stop energy all the time.
you play a match where you need to give your best, then stop half an hour without doing any movement, then play another match where you are pushed to your limits, then stop to zero, then same thing again and again.
in order to give my best I need table time, I need to play for 1, 2 hours straight, at some point my best comes out and it's so fun and liberating.
but I have no pressure to give my best at a certain point, when it comes out it comes out.

but tournaments are so restraining and it's just so stressful....

3- also you have to deal with opponents who are also stressed and want to win at any cost...

 

[Ilia Minkin]

I once encountered a guy who didn't play matches in principle because he didn't want to be stressed I think that you can just change your attitude. Just go to a tournament to play with some unfamiliar guys, meet your friends, have fun and don't think about the result and rankings at all.

 

[sebas-aguirre]

I play matches all the time when I go to clubs.
but it's different, you are more relaxed, the other guy is more relaxed, it doesn't matter if you win or lose.
and also you end that match and start another one.
so it's like you never stop the flow or the movement.
you are always in contact with the ball and moving and getting used to the environment.

this gives you better rhythm and helps improve your game.

a tournament is different.
it's stop.
now play with your highest intensity and only thinking about winning.
now stop.
now highest intensity.

it's horrible.

yesterday it was like.
stop.
stop.
sit down there.
don't move.
now warm two minutes, I'll be standing here checking your time.
now play your best game ever with a horrible ball you never used before and without having made a single loop since two days ago.
now go to that corner and have another player tell you what you need to do better because you are so dumb you can't think for yourself.
now come back and play your best ever.
now go back to corner and listen to that guy who speaks again.
now come back and play again.
now finished.
shake hand of opponent, shake my hand, shake opponent's team hands, shake your team hands.
not sit again in bench and don't move.

so horrible.

it just gets the worst out of me.

I'm not a robooooooooooooooooooooootttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ilia Minkin]

yesterday it was like.
stop.
stop.
sit down there.
don't move.

Wait, why is it like that? On the very few tournaments that I've been, there are usually free tables that you continuously warm-up with someone to keep yourself prepared.

 

[sebas-aguirre]

it was a team thing.
we were 4 players in one bench.
the other team 4 players in another bench.
referee with watch in hand.

nobody else allowed.

we all 4 had to be there who knows why.

a guy came at some point and started giving my team advice and referee said "no you can't give advice you are not part of team".
he still sat there with my team but was not allowed to talk.

and since I got there late I had total two minute warmup and then played match right away with a plastic donic ball that was very different from regular balls.

really it just left me stressed out, bad because of defeat and just wanting to play because I got to play so little time.

in the end I played maybe 20 minutes and got 1 phone call on tuesday, one sms on tuesday, maybe 5 calls on wednesday, all related to "where are you, how much longer to be here, we need you here".
two bottles of pepsi, almost 4 slices of pizza.

all this social stuff...... where is the table tennis?

 

[Der_Echte]

S-A, can you spell BLOOTOOTH...

I certainly cannot...

 

[josephluck]

I've never played a tournament before but this sounds dreadful!

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Sounds like you are starting out not wanting to deal with the rigidness and structure of these events. Your late. As soon as you get there you want to leave the area.

No doubt it starts out as being a bit stressful. But it sounds like you made it even more stressful for yourself.

If you had really been into the whole process, you would have arrived 20-40 min early to make sure you got some warm up time. You may have done some off table things you can do to warm up. And you would have eaten enough before getting there that you wouldn't be thinking of leaving to eat right after arriving; and right after that, leaving again to get cookies and shampoo.

It kind of sounds like you started out not wanting to be there and making things much more stressful for yourself.

So I say, get your team to get a new teammate. Why drive yourself crazy and make your teammates suffer along with you as a result of you not wanting to do it.


Sent from the Oracle of Delphi by the Pythia

 

[Baal]

I
a tournament is different.
it's stop.
now play with your highest intensity and only thinking about winning.
now stop.
now highest intensity.
stop.
sit down there.
don't move.
now warm two minutes, I'll be standing here checking your time.
now play your best game e....

I know exactly what you mean. Actually at a certain point, every time I did it, I sustained some sort of injury that shut me down for awhile. So I don't do it anymore. I go play at my club and do some coaching, but I play continuously until I am too tired to keep going and then I go home.

It's supposed to be fun.

It was fun when I was younger.

 

[sebas-aguirre]

Sounds like you are starting out not wanting to deal with the rigidness and structure of these events. Your late. As soon as you get there you want to leave the area.

No doubt it starts out as being a bit stressful. But it sounds like you made it even more stressful for yourself.

If you had really been into the whole process, you would have arrived 20-40 min early to make sure you got some warm up time. You may have done some off table things you can do to warm up. And you would have eaten enough before getting there that you wouldn't be thinking of leaving to eat right after arriving; and right after that, leaving again to get cookies and shampoo.

It kind of sounds like you started out not wanting to be there and making things much more stressful for yourself.

So I say, get your team to get a new teammate. Why drive yourself crazy and make your teammates suffer along with you as a result of you not wanting to do it.


Sent from the Oracle of Delphi by the Pythia

yeah just sitting there without doing nothing stresses me and bores me, specially while having people next to me shouting and clapping, so I try to find something else to do until I have to play.
yesterday it was eating mandarin, looking for tasty cookies to buy and choosing a nice shampoo (when I recalled I ran out of shampoo).

 

[sebas-aguirre]

I know exactly what you mean. Actually at a certain point, every time I did it, I sustained some sort of injury that shut me down for awhile. So I don't do it anymore. I go play at my club and do some coaching, but I play continuously until I am too tired to keep going and then I go home.

It's supposed to be fun.

It was fun when I was younger.

actually today night I started noticing a bit of soreness in my right pectoral area.
like when you go to the gym after a long time.
I can play hours in recreational setting and I'll never get that soreness.

so definitely the soreness was caused by the stressful situation of playing this match.

also there's something particularly annoying which is that the guys from my team sort of consider me as the saviour, the guy who will save the day and lead their weak asses to victory
so it's like they put all the pressure in me.
actually I remember later when eating the pizza one of the guys shows me a video he filmed of me looping backhand he had on his cell phone (WTF!!!!!!!!!!!).

this leader position definitely doesn't suit my style or my personality.
I'm more the guy you never saw coming, the guy who seemed so bad, the guy nobody was counting on, but oh... he just happened to have a good day today

 

[Der_Echte]

The spirit of the ringer who wants to appear to roll Ghetto until the Royal Smackdown is notable and desired by many ringers.

 

[Pnachtwey]

If you think TT is stressful you haven't lived.
No one here is making any money playing TT therefore TT should be fun.
I play TT for the challenge and it is good exercise. I have also found it is a good social activity when I go to China.
I don't play tournaments because I am only good for 2 matches at a time. I also can't get myself revved up to play again after a 30 minute break. After exercise your heart rate drops. I can play 2 hour straight but that is it.

 

[Suga D]

Sorry sebas, i don't want to spoil your mood, but i think this should be told, and it won't be very nice... I hope it's not too hard and you can take it like a man and work with it...

You really don't seem to have a lot of experience in competitive TEAM events.

i must say this whole thing sounds very egocentrical and very selfish to me and nowhere TEAM oriented, but that might just be my personal opinion.

Well, here we go.

Firstly you wrote it was a TEAM event. But you absolutely don't behave like a TEAM, don't move like a TEAM and don't think like a TEAM.

I see a major lack of discipline right here.

As carl already pointed out in a very polite way (just let me rephrase this a little)

Why were you friggin' late? Do you think it's nice waitin' on people? (I think you don't, since you wrote you had to wait for fifteen minutes)
Now what makes you think it's okay if your teammates have to wait on you?
That is very disrespectful IMHO.

Let me tell you how we roll...

When we have league matches we meet a half an hour before the match starts. Other TEAMS from other clubs meet even earlier and if someone is late for no good reason he's supposed to pay a small amount into the TEAM's piggy bank. In the end of the season we be having a party and buy beer and snacks from that money. The first two seasons our piggy bank was quite stuffed, but nowadays it's totally empty. And guess why.
Cause nobody's late anymore (for no good reason). But we still celebrate after the season.

Secondly: if you move as a TEAM you support each other, meaning you could be coaching your mates or at least root and clap for them.

In our leagues we don't have umpires, only the higher leagues do. So we gotta umpire ourselves.
So no time for shopping. Time to be focused on winning.
And the clapping and rooting and yelling can really help push one to one's limits. It's like an adrenaline rush...

But reading your post it doesn't sound that you were even interested how your TEAMmates play or if they win or if they lose. You even went shopping while your mates were fighting.
Sorry to say but that behaviour isn't very motivating...

As carl already wrote, it somehow seems you didn't want to be there in the first place. At least i would have felt so, if i was in your TEAM.

You should know how good it feels to play, and to fight and to win with your TEAM. It can be very intense and also makin one very euphoric and satisfied.
You should really come to germany and see how it feels. I bet you gonna like it.

I hope these words can motivate you to move not like a bunch of randomly picked individuals, but instead move like a REAL TEAM.

 

[sebas-aguirre]

I think maybe the reason I don't like cheering and coaching is because I don't like people cheering for me or coaching me.

I think they should relax the rules a bit.
there's 4 players in the team.
the player that needs to be there is the player playing.
all the other players should be allowed to be anywhere they want.

the series is going to start and you are not there because of the traffic or because you are working or whatever?
have another player play that game.
when you get there you play the match that hasn't been played yet.

I think they wanna make it look super professional and it's just a league of amateur clubs.

I definitely see myself playing in germany.
jorg rosskopf: sebastian where were you? we are playing china, you were going to go first against ma long.
dimitrij ovtcharov: yes sebastian this is totally unacceptable.
timo boll: (kicks the air with his legs like he does before serving in matches)
sebastian: guys, just relaxxxxxxx... I was eating mandarin and buying a shampoo!!!!!!

 

[sebas-aguirre]

looks like they filmed the match this whole thread is about

we played with a very strange donic plastic ball, I play 100% of the time with celluloid ball.
also before the start of this I played exactly 2 minutes, 1 minute fh, 1 minute bh, no looping at all.

 

[Suga D]

I think maybe the reason I don't like cheering and coaching is because I don't like people cheering for me or coaching me.

I think they should relax the rules a bit.
there's 4 players in the team.
the player that needs to be there is the player playing.
all the other players should be allowed to be anywhere they want.

the series is going to start and you are not there because of the traffic or because you are working or whatever?
have another player play that game.
when you get there you play the match that hasn't been played yet.

I think they wanna make it look super professional and it's just a league of amateur clubs.

I definitely see myself playing in germany.
jorg rosskopf: sebastian where were you? we are playing china, you were going to go first against ma long.
dimitrij ovtcharov: yes sebastian this is totally unacceptable.
timo boll: (kicks the air with his legs like he does before serving in matches)
sebastian: guys, just relaxxxxxxx... I was eating mandarin and buying a shampoo!!!!!!

Well, i´m not sure if you got me right. Have you ever practiced team sports? This kinda behaviour is hard to accept as a team´s captain. And i´ve been captain 2 years in a row. After such a performance i wouldn´t even think about asking you again to join the team.
The professionality begins in our mind. Ever heard of: practice like a pro?
Well, i really don´t want to step on your toes, but this behaviour isn´t very professional.
The Thing is: one minute backhand and one minute forehand isn´t really a lot, but i believe your opponents had the same amount of time. So this kinda sounds like a sorry excuse...
Sometimes ít´s quite hard to give your best under bad circumstances, but sometimes it´s like that. Not everything is roses...