says
Spin and more spin.
says
Spin and more spin.
Well-Known Member
Super Moderator
I am 48, I started at 44, do you think there is any hope for me? I was hoping to win an Olympic gold, or at least a silver or bronze. Is that possible?
Nah, I am amazed at how much I have improved in 4 years of training. If I could have steady coaching 2-3 days a week for a few hours at a time, I think I could get to be pretty solid. But, the amount I have developed as a player from really not being very good to knowing how to play the game fairly decently, without any real coaching tells me that, with coaching, it is possible.
I think the biggest thing that holds me back is my slow feet. They like to stay stuck to the ground.
When I was a kid I played baseball. In baseball you plant your feet and the pitcher throws the ball into the strike zone. In table tennis, if someone hits the ball into my strike zone I can CRUSH the ball. Okay, at this point, I can footwork to the ball and loop it too. But, starting at 44 and mostly playing with friends, rather than working with a coach, I have come pretty far. I have a lot of friends who are pros. A lot of them help me a little and show me things I need to work on. But it is still different than having good coaching. Most of the playing that I do is training drills. I like to do training drills. Okay, I love to do training drills.
In learning this sport, I do have some advantages. I was a professional athlete: I was a professional in-line skater 18 years ago. How does that cross over to this. Not very well. Like, if I had been a professional tennis player, I would have many advantages, provided that I was actually trying to learn real table tennis technique. I have friends who are pro tennis players who also play table tennis for real. They track and move to the ball way better than I do. Their ability to intercept the ball with a good stroke, even when it is a loop with heavy side/topspin, is always impressive to me. I know a lot of times if the ball is a really high level shot, my stroke gets sacrificed and I reach my racket to where the ball is instead of tracking it well, moving to the right spot, setting my feet, and taking a real stroke while getting my racket to contact the ball. Their contact is also really good as a result of the tennis background. But, the crossover from in-line skating is that I am physically coordinated. That helps.
I played baseball as a kid. Getting the racket on the ball is more possible as a result. But here is my biggest edge, in the work that I do these days, a good part of it is movement analysis, examining movements that other people do and seeing how they do them. So, learning technique, replacing bad habits in my strokes and footwork with better habits, and seeing the actual movements of the stroke are much easier for me than for many people. Being able to see subtle details in the way that Wang Hao's forehand stroke is different from Xu Xin's, or Ma Longs helps. Ma Long uses more movement from his elbow on contact with the ball which gives his stroke more acceleration. Being able to see how much of Dan's stroke, when he posts one of those product review videos, is from a nice elbow snap and the weight transfer, helps to work on developing things like that. But the bottom line is that I started at 44 and am 48 and have, therefore, been playing for 4 years and, without real coaching, have gotten to what I would say is a decent and acceptable level says something.
What is the point of all of what I am saying: If I can do what I have without coaching starting at 44, a kid with a background in sports--baseball, football, soccer (real football), basketball, gymnastics, TENNIS, what ever the physical activity--with the proper coaching, could get to as high a level as his desire and abilities will take him. To a gold medal at the Olympic games? Perhaps not. But top 100 in the world? Possible. Hard, but possible. I don't know if someone starting at 18 could get all the way there, but someone starting at 14-15 probably could. Why would 18 be harder. It seems to me like players in table tennis peak between age 24-28 and then start a long slow decline that is only slowed down by their intelligence and game skills.
So Ma Lin has held on to so much of his talent in spite of being 33 (he is over the hill at 33!!!!) because his game tactics and intelligence give him an experience edge over other players. Ma Lin could, potentially, stay in the top 50 for another 10-20 years. But, he will never be the top dog again. So, to learn the sport and get to the top, starting at 18, you would only have a few years before your abilities start to diminish. This is also part of why someone who starts at 8 has an advantage on someone who starts at 12. Those 4 years are big. To develop the reactions and get the good habits and have the game in your head and your body that much earlier really can help.
But, if your abilities and desires are there and you have the right coaching, it is possible to start at 12, 13, 14, and maybe even 15 and get to the upper echelons.
Dan mentioned some of the things you would need to do. I am going to add a country to travel to if you are trying to get to the "top": CHINA. Training in China would be a huge help. Perhaps the Werner Schlager Institute as well.
Nah, I am amazed at how much I have improved in 4 years of training. If I could have steady coaching 2-3 days a week for a few hours at a time, I think I could get to be pretty solid. But, the amount I have developed as a player from really not being very good to knowing how to play the game fairly decently, without any real coaching tells me that, with coaching, it is possible.
I think the biggest thing that holds me back is my slow feet. They like to stay stuck to the ground.
When I was a kid I played baseball. In baseball you plant your feet and the pitcher throws the ball into the strike zone. In table tennis, if someone hits the ball into my strike zone I can CRUSH the ball. Okay, at this point, I can footwork to the ball and loop it too. But, starting at 44 and mostly playing with friends, rather than working with a coach, I have come pretty far. I have a lot of friends who are pros. A lot of them help me a little and show me things I need to work on. But it is still different than having good coaching. Most of the playing that I do is training drills. I like to do training drills. Okay, I love to do training drills. In learning this sport, I do have some advantages. I was a professional athlete: I was a professional in-line skater 18 years ago. How does that cross over to this. Not very well. Like, if I had been a professional tennis player, I would have many advantages, provided that I was actually trying to learn real table tennis technique. I have friends who are pro tennis players who also play table tennis for real. They track and move to the ball way better than I do. Their ability to intercept the ball with a good stroke, even when it is a loop with heavy side/topspin, is always impressive to me. I know a lot of times if the ball is a really high level shot, my stroke gets sacrificed and I reach my racket to where the ball is instead of tracking it well, moving to the right spot, setting my feet, and taking a real stroke while getting my racket to contact the ball. Their contact is also really good as a result of the tennis background. But, the crossover from in-line skating is that I am physically coordinated. That helps.
I played baseball as a kid. Getting the racket on the ball is more possible as a result. But here is my biggest edge, in the work that I do these days, a good part of it is movement analysis, examining movements that other people do and seeing how they do them. So, learning technique, replacing bad habits in my strokes and footwork with better habits, and seeing the actual movements of the stroke are much easier for me than for many people. Being able to see subtle details in the way that Wang Hao's forehand stroke is different from Xu Xin's, or Ma Longs helps. Ma Long uses more movement from his elbow on contact with the ball which gives his stroke more acceleration. Being able to see how much of Dan's stroke, when he posts one of those product review videos, is from a nice elbow snap and the weight transfer, helps to work on developing things like that. But the bottom line is that I started at 44 and am 48 and have, therefore, been playing for 4 years and, without real coaching, have gotten to what I would say is a decent and acceptable level says something.
What is the point of all of what I am saying: If I can do what I have without coaching starting at 44, a kid with a background in sports--baseball, football, soccer (real football), basketball, gymnastics, TENNIS, what ever the physical activity--with the proper coaching, could get to as high a level as his desire and abilities will take him. To a gold medal at the Olympic games? Perhaps not. But top 100 in the world? Possible. Hard, but possible. I don't know if someone starting at 18 could get all the way there, but someone starting at 14-15 probably could. Why would 18 be harder. It seems to me like players in table tennis peak between age 24-28 and then start a long slow decline that is only slowed down by their intelligence and game skills.
So Ma Lin has held on to so much of his talent in spite of being 33 (he is over the hill at 33!!!!) because his game tactics and intelligence give him an experience edge over other players. Ma Lin could, potentially, stay in the top 50 for another 10-20 years. But, he will never be the top dog again. So, to learn the sport and get to the top, starting at 18, you would only have a few years before your abilities start to diminish. This is also part of why someone who starts at 8 has an advantage on someone who starts at 12. Those 4 years are big. To develop the reactions and get the good habits and have the game in your head and your body that much earlier really can help.
But, if your abilities and desires are there and you have the right coaching, it is possible to start at 12, 13, 14, and maybe even 15 and get to the upper echelons.
Dan mentioned some of the things you would need to do. I am going to add a country to travel to if you are trying to get to the "top": CHINA. Training in China would be a huge help. Perhaps the Werner Schlager Institute as well.
