Table Tennis Camps

[Sean]

I am wanting to go and play table tennis in the summer. Were is a good place to train and affordable in europe or china etc... where i can practice and improve. I am looking to go for a couple months.

Thanks

Sean

 

[vvk1]

Apparently, these are quite popular: http://www.ttcampshungary.com/

 

[Ben Larcombe]

I've heard those Hungary ones are good too. I spoke to a player that just recently returned from one and he said the coaching and practice partners were high quality. The other option is Hennebont in France which have camps year round. I hear their camps are very good too. I have limited details here http://www.experttabletennis.com/table-tennis-training-camps/ but I have heard they are harder to get in touch with. The Hungary ones are ideal as they are run by Will Maybanks who is English.

 

[Der_Echte]

Fly to Korea and rent a Koshitel closet sized room for 100 Euros a month. Near Seoul Natl Uni, there is Shin Jae kook TTC. Several of our KFTTC members have rented a Koshitel room in the same building as that club. Imagine, you take an elevator from you min room down to the stairs by the club! You will get all the action you want at his club, but if you really want to amp it up, get with a school's junior training team. You will hate the repetition of the basic stuff, but that is how they grow champions over here.

 

[Der_Echte]

Flying to Korea (or anywhere for that matter) is very expensive, not bus or train fare for sure. Plus, you are leaving your comfort zone and have zero idea of the culture and language. Knowing English German and French allowed me to travel comfortably across Europe when I lived there. Somebody anywhere usually speaks one of those languages and if not, oh well, you don't win every time.

What would be appealing about going to Korea (or anywhere else in Asia for that matter) would be the adventure aspect. Who among your friends can say you woke up (hopefull WITHOUT a hangover!) did a jog through bust Seoul, rode a bike along the river, flirted with a whole passel of attractive looking young women ono the riverside, ate lunch at a fresh fish place, trained the daylights outa TT, ate some ramen/rice, cleaned up, went to the club for some moar TT action, then tore up the town at night with a friend or two or twenty? Tearing up the town could consist of simply going to a restaurant or two with friends or it could be after-after-after events.

Which of your friends has done that? Could be you, but it isn't for everyone. Wherever you go, get friends immediately, they will become your best way for just about anything. This applies to matters outside TT as well.

 

[Der_Echte]

As for tearing up the town, one really does not have to party hard with the beers or whatever to have a good time. Look at the thread where a TTD member visited Korea on vacation, firdaus...

http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?4960-Visit-to-Seoul-Korea&highlight=firdaus+korea

http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?5021-Visit-Korea-for-the-TT-_-(With-a-lot-of-Pics)

firdaus had MAXIMUM good time and went out on the town with us more than once. We had more than one blast with TT and after TT stuff.

Look, having a blast.... drinking beers or alcohol, while Koreans and foreigners alike get down with that... drinking that stuff is NOT A REQUIREMENT in order to enjoy oneself over here. firdaus is not into the alcohol drinking or certain foods, so we as his friends respect that and adjust. There are thousands of ways to have fun here and we still had a blast... many blasts actually.

Especially the food part... that made me think a little. We met up with Bryce and he showed me and firdaus Seoul's most happening party zone packed with clubs and restaurants. We walked and saw the lights but came up with another way. We ended up going to another part of Seoul and walked through a traditional market, nearly got kidnapped by restaurant owners eager for business, who after hearing what we wanted, marched us through the entire market to what we wanted... FRESH FISH cooked with rice and VEGGIES. We were seated next to a few older gents who were interested in foreigners as they never make their way to this part of town. We got EXTRA, I mean EXTRA good service and food just saying a few words in Korean before they discovered I know Korean. wave after wave of fish and veggies, just what the doctor ordered and the TT action was great as we visited a former national team player's club afterwards.

What is better yet is the picture taking. Look, we can make vids all day long and that is great, but NOTHING is as captivating and everlasting interesting as pics... NOTHING else gets the job done. You can look at them days later, months later, years later, and even decades later. They are still there capturing it all. Nothing gets the interest and attention of a group of people as some nice pics.

 

[rhonis]

Der_echte you are totally right. I am planning a trip to Korea next summer for as long as I can get
away from work (3Weeks? hope more). I speak Dutch English great and a little German. in Europe it easy to get around, but the real adventure of Asia is luring me in.

I rather work abroad for a couple of years to have such an experience as you, but I haven't found a decent job yet. I will keep looking.

Questions: how expensive is the day to day life in Korea (food etc) in comparison with Europe. and you
talk about veggies, how about meat. is that less popular in Korea?
furthermore you said to grow further join a junior team. is that possible? how hard is it to play at a decent club or train at a decent level for longer periods of time.

finally, I need to say I just won my first title at senior level (after 5 years ) yesterday. won a camera and the event was live streamed on the internet. I might post some vidz later.

Send from my Samsung galaxy S using tapatalk 2

 

[Der_Echte]

Living in Seoul can be inexpensive if you go about it right, but if you are wild about living exactly the same way as home, you will need a boatload of money. The Koshitels usually have a common kitchen and free rice/ramen, so you will never starve, but rice/ramen get old after a while. Veggies look expensive in a market and are, but cooking with even the most expensive ingredients yourself can still be WAY less expensive than eating at a cheep restaurant like Burger King or whatever. I recommend getting a pile of eggs, a big bag of potatoes, and go easy on the fresh meat (it is real expensive here) add beans to your rice and go good on onions, garlic, celery, lettuce, and whatever else veggies turn you on. if you manage it right, you can ge by like a KING for 400 Euros a month if you do not eat out but once a week. it takes some discipline, but can be done. All these things are real easy to cook with basic kitchen stuff and are full of good nutrition, especially eggs and potatoes and beans/rice!

as for getting with some junior teams to train... a few of our KFTTC folk did that. you have to talk to a good coach like the one at Shin Jae Kook TTC or somewhere and ask for a connection. So Hwo Won's younger sister coaches there, by Seoul Uni. tell them BH-Man or William sent you. I will be gone out of Korea in a month, so you are on your own, but not totally. I will run KFTTC from USA with a lot of people on ground I know there like students and other amature foreign players. I can still answer emails and talk to your coaches by email or phone if needed. Once I talk to them, they will hook you up.

There is a lot of uncertainty doing a mission like this. You need some emergency money and a credit card and get a pre-paid phone to move around. Get a subway card good for subway and busses in Seoul. Talk to some of my KFTTC members before you buy tickets and lock in a Koshitel room. PM forum member Bricephan, he is on ground here and knows a lot already. He is a big player in the student association here. I made him a content creator on our FB page as well.

If you want to eat out all the time, drink like a fish, eat like a king here and there, take taxis everywhere instead of metro... you will lose your money in a hurry.

EDIT: I didn't even discuss the pursuit of GFs. Just hold that part of it off for a while, it takes a lot of your money, unless you luck out and both go to the TT center.

 

[jedimasterplk]

The camp in Hungary is by far the best one, been to almost all the others mentioned. Will Maybanks and the Hungarian coach there provide by far the best personal time (one on one) training, exercises and training partners (at least as good as you and better, never lower). Plus the town itself is awesome, prices are cheap, food is amazing, and there is a fantastic spa (and lots of other things to do for the better halves) at very cheap prices. Eger wins, hands down no question.

 

[TTCampsHungary]

www.ttcampshungary.com

thanks JediMaster hope to see you back in Eger!

 

[Tinykin]

@ Der_Echte, a quick scan of UK/Korea airfares start at about 450GBP. So not as expensive as first thought.

 

[jedimasterplk]

Definitely will be back in Eger, without a doubt.

 

[firdausnazeri]

As for tearing up the town, one really does not have to party hard with the beers or whatever to have a good time. Look at the thread where a TTD member visited Korea on vacation, firdaus...

http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?4960-Visit-to-Seoul-Korea&highlight=firdaus+korea

http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?5021-Visit-Korea-for-the-TT-_-(With-a-lot-of-Pics)

firdaus had MAXIMUM good time and went out on the town with us more than once. We had more than one blast with TT and after TT stuff.

Look, having a blast.... drinking beers or alcohol, while Koreans and foreigners alike get down with that... drinking that stuff is NOT A REQUIREMENT in order to enjoy oneself over here. firdaus is not into the alcohol drinking or certain foods, so we as his friends respect that and adjust. There are thousands of ways to have fun here and we still had a blast... many blasts actually.

Especially the food part... that made me think a little. We met up with Bryce and he showed me and firdaus Seoul's most happening party zone packed with clubs and restaurants. We walked and saw the lights but came up with another way. We ended up going to another part of Seoul and walked through a traditional market, nearly got kidnapped by restaurant owners eager for business, who after hearing what we wanted, marched us through the entire market to what we wanted... FRESH FISH cooked with rice and VEGGIES. We were seated next to a few older gents who were interested in foreigners as they never make their way to this part of town. We got EXTRA, I mean EXTRA good service and food just saying a few words in Korean before they discovered I know Korean. wave after wave of fish and veggies, just what the doctor ordered and the TT action was great as we visited a former national team player's club afterwards.

What is better yet is the picture taking. Look, we can make vids all day long and that is great, but NOTHING is as captivating and everlasting interesting as pics... NOTHING else gets the job done. You can look at them days later, months later, years later, and even decades later. They are still there capturing it all. Nothing gets the interest and attention of a group of people as some nice pics.

Der_Ecthe, i'm going back to Malaysia this summer and continue my training there. My local club in Malaysia did improved their training system, everyday they having multiball practice, serve training n better coaching. Very excited for this training. I have recently stop for while training tabletennis during winter due to "freezing weather" for me in UK.

Met Der_Ecthe in South Korea is the best moment i ever had. Brought me to local tt clubs around seoul city in south korea, those feel like go to some karate gym and dreaming to beat the gym master. Haha. Der_Echte guided me well in Seoul, even treat me Dinner, and bought me a TT tshirt. This is damn very good experience ever when someone treat you well in the city u don't really know to communicate with local people. Hope i can meet u in America one day.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Der_Echte]

Thanks for the kind words Firdaus, but heck, you do NOT want to come to this part of America, it has been -20 to -30 CELCIUS (MINUS !!!) every week.

Maybe when I temporarily relocate to a proper city, like say Boston, would you like it haha.

I don't know if we posted the pics from the fish place, but finding that fish market below the TT club owned by an ex-national player was a good one, it was something you liked already and you got to meet real Koreans in a situation without any fake stuff.

Oh yeah, I forgot I took you to Nexy HQ and had the manager cough up a Team jersey for you as sponsor deal haha.

Edit: Hope Ur training goes well and you post at least 10% of Ur Instagram pics of it haha!

 

[Der_Echte]

Remember, without internet and the TT forums, doing stuff like this was IMPOSSIBLE, unless you built and owned your own private worldwide spy network. TTD rocks.

 

[Der_Echte]

@ Der_Echte, a quick scan of UK/Korea airfares start at about 450GBP. So not as expensive as first thought.

That kind of money is nothing to sneeze at, but it is within reach for many. Problem is, a lot of people go oversees with plans on being frugal, then they meet the girlz, the booze, or the shopping (sometimes ALL the above) and it is game-on to a quick end of the budget!

 

[firdausnazeri]

Thanks for the kind words Firdaus, but heck, you do NOT want to come to this part of America, it has been -20 to -30 CELCIUS (MINUS !!!) every week.

Maybe when I temporarily relocate to a proper city, like say Boston, would you like it haha.

I don't know if we posted the pics from the fish place, but finding that fish market below the TT club owned by an ex-national player was a good one, it was something you liked already and you got to meet real Koreans in a situation without any fake stuff.

Oh yeah, I forgot I took you to Nexy HQ and had the manager cough up a Team jersey for you as sponsor deal haha.

Edit: Hope Ur training goes well and you post at least 10% of Ur Instagram pics of it haha!

Even 0°c i can't withstand anymore, surely i will not able to come or stay longer in your place with max -30°c temperature. Btw in Malaysia, we have Summer everyday, 32°c -38°c, i can go anywhere at any times u like but for me staying indoor much better because i hate burning my thin skin, haha.

In UK, i don't really have enough time to training. I just go to local district club once/twice a month due to my busy class schedule. Even the local district club is very far for my place, i just walk through cold and night to play TT. I'm table tennis fan who don't play for a week feel like have been not playing for a year. Table tennis drug run in my blood. I extremely will spend my time to practice table tennis this summer in my home place.


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Der_Echte]

The camp in Hungary is by far the best one, been to almost all the others mentioned. Will Maybanks and the Hungarian coach there provide by far the best personal time (one on one) training, exercises and training partners (at least as good as you and better, never lower). Plus the town itself is awesome, prices are cheap, food is amazing, and there is a fantastic spa (and lots of other things to do for the better halves) at very cheap prices. Eger wins, hands down no question.

Once you get on ground in Hungary... (Great history and gotta be FUN over there!) what kind of common costs outside of TT does one see over there for a one month mission?

 

[Der_Echte]

Even 0°c i can't withstand anymore, surely i will not able to come or stay longer in your place with max -30°c temperature. Btw in Malaysia, we have Summer everyday, 32°c -38°c, i can go anywhere at any times u like but for me staying indoor much better because i hate burning my thin skin, haha.

In UK, i don't really have enough time to training. I just go to local district club once/twice a month due to my busy class schedule. Even the local district club is very far for my place, i just walk through cold and night to play TT. I'm table tennis fan who don't play for a week feel like have been not playing for a year. Table tennis drug run in my blood. I extremely will spend my time to practice table tennis this summer in my home place.


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

haha Firdaus, you are reminding me of something I did my first summer in Korea...

I went to the huge Korea Gym TTC for a Daum TT Association team event, completed it, went to dinner with everyone, and started back north around 2300. I got on the last train north, but it stopped 20 km south of my city and no more subway trains! So I found a bus, (transferred for FREE, Zero money!) but it stopped 12 km south of my city, so I walked the rest of the way!

I wasn't willing to spend 12-14 Euros on a taxi, so I went to a convenience store, got a sports drink for 1 Euro, walked a few kn, then went to a 24hr Kimbap place (they make rolls of seaweed/rice/veggies) got a few rolls of kimbap for 2 euros, and enjoyed a nice long walk home in warm summer temps drinking Gatorade and eating rice/seaweed having a blast and losing a little fat of my gut.

Wow, the things we TT enthusiasts to to play our sport and return home from battle !!

 

[jedimasterplk]

Der Echte - to be honest, I was surprised at how cheap everything is over there - the only costs I can see really (as food and accommodation is covered by the TT camp) is booze (beer etc if you are into that, and its dirt cheap anyway, wine, which is produced locally and is amazing and cheap) and clubbing/partying - again, if that stuff interests you. Overall its a great place - it really is. Definitely try the amazing thermal spas (only 3 euros for entrance) after training - the hydro massages, open air water pools etc are unbelievably good.