Someone is a slow learner.
I won't say 10 years equates slow learners.
10 years is the norm for a lot of "expert" fields.
In TT, Pros are still learning today. FZD is not a slow learning, he had to learn a new FH technique.
Not necessarily. I would judge by results.
Sure, take part in a WTT Feeder series, and see if one can win a game, or is it going to be 11-1 all 3 games.
But then, one with no Q&Q won't even bother trying to take part in Feeder, or won't even qualify.
But if your standard is only comparing with the neighorhood tournament, then we talking apples and oranges.
If you want to learn quickly. I went to a post graduate school where there was 30 hours of class, and then there was studying and home work. The goal was to learn quickly.
Yes, there are few exceptions where 1 hour equates to other peoples 10 hours. This can be where quality comes in.
Since TT is an art, it is a skill. Can 1 year of medical school equates to 5 or 10 years, or 1 year of piano vs 10? Can you really be quick? yes, maybe a natural born genius and they do appear. But for the other 99.99%, it requires Q&Q
very possible. I am seen examples.
Kids are more permeable. They can learn quickly if not distracted
Apples vs apples, both sides are kids?
kids vs adults, is then apples vs oranges.
I doubt there are many. Too many people are just trying to get by. China may be different. My 3rd coach won a tournament when he was about 13 and was sent to a Chinese TT "high school" were other like him trained intensely for the CNT. He didn't make it and was basically thrown out on the street with no real "high school" education but he was a very good TT player.
talking apples vs apples. If someone is training to be an elite/expert - then read my OP. If just training to be an amateur, then OP won't apply for them.
And yes, TT in China is harsh.
Only 24 make it to the CNT 1st team and 24 in 2nd. There are 30 provinces, each with 20 players in senior and 20 in junior. Over 1000 players are trying to make the cut into the 48.
Outside these 1000, there is another 10000 or 20000 that are trying to get into this 1000.
thousands drop out every year, because they can't make it up. (up or out policy)
TT expert level is not for the faint heart in China.
With the same hours of investment in say cooking, you can have a nice job with no real high school education (sadly, I know a lot of people personally that don't have much education)
So, for China....there is a sad story indeed. But that is another subject.
If we only look at the negative, then you could argue, university is pointless too. Since which of the world riches actually finish university.
I think I really majored in TT my first year of college but then studies got in the way. There was no trainiing though.
Most social/amateur are like that. For elite in almost every art/sport, you need to start young.
Very few that can start late in life and still becoming a professional.
Wasn't there that Greek basketball player that started to play basketball at 16 yrs old and become an all-star in the NBA? that is rare.
I doubt there are many for the reasons I gave. One needs to eat.
Pros make enough money to live on. Amateurs don't. It is simple. It is hard to live on TT earnings in the US.
There are other sports that will pay more and have a greater chance of becoming a "pro"
Pros can find ways to eat.
Income, or result of Q&Q is another subject.
All the above. In the US, if you are athletic, there are other sports that pay more.
The above numbers apply to anything in life, any sport.
Replace TT with something else.
I say show me the results. "Show me the money!"
Unfortunately, there isn't much to be made in the US.
I really wonder how much the top pros do make?
I'm talking about progress, and you talking about results again.
Its easy to talk about the end, and forget about the journey.
Do you think you can have no Q&Q and have a chance of great result?
You invest early in Q&Q, would have a higher chance of great result than someone who just shows up and start at 20 years old.
We can have another thread about income (and other results that comes with it)
Agreed. As time goes on, it is harder to close the gap due to age.
Yes, and most athletes understand this too late. Some may realize the wastes hours they did by just "fooling around" in training. Or some can say the same in school (normal academics)
I have a few different views on this topic.
Compare training for gold vs training for TT. Both require good strokes but...
Once one gets the mechanics down, how much is spent on strategy. How to play a hole vs how to play an opponent. I know that days when I am more tired, I don't play as "smart" and that makes a big difference.
If you compete with your own level, you can out smart your opponent by have a lesser technique.
But if you played someone with that gap advantage, sadly, your smartness is only worth so much and 11-1 or 11-5 is only a matter of mercy or not.
What about the coaching? Is endless multi-ball that efficient? I was at a sport center in Pudong, Shanghai, China years back and we had to wait for while 3 coaches were "training" students. Two coaches were making their students do a lot of multi-ball but weren't paying attention to what the students were doing wrong. Yes, you can return the ball with bad strokes but they are still bad strokes. In my view the coaches were just going through the motions. In my case the coach didn't correct my stroke or recognize my stroke was not optimal. I needed to made a video of myself to learn. I hate multi-ball. I can do that with a robot.
What about something as basic as returning chopped balls? Yes, you can practice until you get it right but could you get it right faster if you knew what right was to begin with?
For instance. People learn by trial and error. There are no consequences for all the errors along the way so it is acceptable. This is not true for designing air craft or space craft where learning by trial and error is not acceptable. So how can the learning by trial and error be reduced in TT? Maybe with better training techniques it will be easier learn at a faster rate.
In China, you need connections. Else you are just a number, and China is not short of numbers.
It is difficult for westerns to understand. Most things in Asia, is not about money.
Money won't make the cut, since there are others with more money.
You do talk a bit of what I will cover in Quality.
This thread is based on quantity.
You need both.
Let me leave you with one thing I was taught in my "training" days.
Deng Ya Ping. On her own, she will serve thousands of serves every day. Few years later, she made it into the Chinese national team (the hard way). I can talk more about this some other time.
I tried to copy her method. My container fits 150 balls. I average about 1000 serves per hour.
Its not easy to do 1 hour of serves every day. Yet alone for PHD Deng, she did many hours (mostly after hours-evening), for years.
I did 1 hour per day, maybe for 2 or 3 years only.
So.... I am no one today.