Wanna turn pro? Listen to a pro himself….

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Over the time I am here, I had seen a few post from kids asking or starting a thread asking fellow forumers here, what are the chances of them turning pro aka full-time career tour player.

In this thread, I will link a YT vid by @Heming Hu where he talked about his journey into pro tour player and all the obstacles he had to overcome. After watching his video, hopefully you can make a more informed decision.

Good luck to those young ones with this aspirations.

 

[victormanriquey]

As with anything in life, becoming the best in something can have a lot of joy but also a lot of pain and sacrifice, it's very good to consider this before going all in

I used to do competitive skiing, then hated it after some years and brought the fun back with snowboarding, good lesson in life that not all that makes you happy now (and you are good at/have passion for) will keep on doing so if you do it way more often and competitively against the better people.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

My experience was, Gozo’s mum to young Gozo, “ you go practice your maths and study to become a doctor / engineer / accountant.

 

[Singshasha]

Over the time I am here, I had seen a few post from kids asking or starting a thread asking fellow forumers here, what are the chances of them turning pro aka full-time career tour player.

In this thread, I will link a YT vid by @Heming Hu where he talked about his journey into pro tour player and all the obstacles he had to overcome. After watching his video, hopefully you can make a more informed decision.

Good luck to those young ones with this aspirations.

Good video to hear of someones life journey, but with all due respect to Heming, I don’t think he is considered a pro.
At best he was a 5th division player (oberliga) in Germany, this is far from levels like the Beast or even ktt’s coach.

Heming may have gone to the Olympics but his level isn’t at the level that would allow him to earn income from playing - an important information to be considered a pro in my opinion.

Australian William Henzell played in the 1st division and Finn Luu has joined Henzell as the second Australian to do so. These two have levels beyond Heming.

I would rather listen to players that has reached at least the top 3 divisions than some 5th division player for career advices and there are plenty of them that have become youtubers and would reply to comments.

 

[boretennis]

what happened to his recent idea of selling us access to the stars?
"World’s first ultra-luxury, invitation only table tennis experience, linking enthusiasts with legends"

 

[sebi]

what happened to his recent idea of selling us access to the stars?
"World’s first ultra-luxury, invitation only table tennis experience, linking enthusiasts with legends"

I hope he gave up on that.

 

[lightspin]

Great video by HH. Start young, practice as much as possible, have parents willing to spend a ton of time and money and maybe you will make it. If you are missing any of these ingredients it is game over. If you live in China or some other country that has a similar table tennis training structure, you might get accepted into a team which trains 8 hours a day as a kid for free, but even then if your parents can throw money a coach's way it helps or might be necessary.

HH is right in that even if you do all of that you still may not make it.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Good video to hear of someones life journey, but with all due respect to Heming, I don’t think he is considered a pro.
At best he was a 5th division player (oberliga) in Germany, this is far from levels like the Beast or even ktt’s coach.

Heming may have gone to the Olympics but his level isn’t at the level that would allow him to earn income from playing - an important information to be considered a pro in my opinion.

Australian William Henzell played in the 1st division and Finn Luu has joined Henzell as the second Australian to do so. These two have levels beyond Heming.

I would rather listen to players that has reached at least the top 3 divisions than some 5th division player for career advices and there are plenty of them that have become youtubers and would reply to comments.

Not sure I agree here.

How can someone such as Tony, who did not reach a playing level near Heming's, serve as a valued agent and consultant to pro players and aspiring pro players in Asia, but it is a problem for you that Heming is sharing his story and insights to hobby players on the internet?

 

[Archosaurus]

Good video to hear of someones life journey, but with all due respect to Heming, I don’t think he is considered a pro.
At best he was a 5th division player (oberliga) in Germany, this is far from levels like the Beast or even ktt’s coach.

Heming may have gone to the Olympics but his level isn’t at the level that would allow him to earn income from playing - an important information to be considered a pro in my opinion.

Australian William Henzell played in the 1st division and Finn Luu has joined Henzell as the second Australian to do so. These two have levels beyond Heming.

I would rather listen to players that has reached at least the top 3 divisions than some 5th division player for career advices and there are plenty of them that have become youtubers and would reply to comments.

If we go by your definition, there's only a few pro athletes in the world. The majority don't fit the bill because they have another job or earn more money from coaching. For example 1%~ of professional boxers make a living from the sport.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

If we go by your definition, there's only a few pro athletes in the world. The majority don't fit the bill because they have another job or earn more money from coaching. For example 1%~ of professional boxers make a living from the sport.

Ironically, most 3rd BL players are not making a real living wage from that either...

 

[lightspin]

I think HH gives very good advice in his videos and was a solid player. I would consider him a "professional player" but what is more important is that what he says is quite useful. The sad state of table tennis is very few players can earn a living solely off of prize money. Quite a few players decide to coach because there is more money there and it is an easier lifestyle.

 

[NextLevel]

Good video to hear of someones life journey, but with all due respect to Heming, I don’t think he is considered a pro.
At best he was a 5th division player (oberliga) in Germany, this is far from levels like the Beast or even ktt’s coach.

Heming may have gone to the Olympics but his level isn’t at the level that would allow him to earn income from playing - an important information to be considered a pro in my opinion.

Australian William Henzell played in the 1st division and Finn Luu has joined Henzell as the second Australian to do so. These two have levels beyond Heming.

I would rather listen to players that has reached at least the top 3 divisions than some 5th division player for career advices and there are plenty of them that have become youtubers and would reply to comments.

What do you call someone who graduates last in his med school class?
A doctor.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

Heming actually addresses the Oceania ranking inflation in the video, reasonably humbly.

 

[Archosaurus]

What do you call someone who graduates last in his med school class?
A doctor.

There is definitely something to a vetting process, be it through surviving education, or just needing to get results to keep employed. A lot of great amateurs and semi-pros can perform once in a while, but what about all the time? I've ran into this situation where I thought I had what it takes but I failed professionally because it was different from what I thought I was prepared for. Not the industry I talk about sometimes, but another one.

You might be able to keep working in some industries as a completely useless, unskilled troublemaker (until the next layoffs, at least) but I wouldn't say that you can just accidentally win lots of tabletennis matches against other high-level players.

So I wouldn't look down on someone just because they're not a top ranker. Everyone's path is unique, too.

 

[chandyrandy]

H

What do you call someone who graduates last in his med school class?
A doctor.

Holy bar 🔥

 

[mamedium]

What do you call someone who graduates last in his med school class?
A doctor.

finish at the bottom?
colorectal surgeon

 

[Yurifi]

when I was an aspiring player, trying to get my first contract and get some money playing table tennis ... there was not WTT tour. it was very hard to get out of the country and show how good you actually are. to make an impression, so to say.

I don't want to say it is easy, you still have to work hard, practice hard, but there are more options. if you get the sponsors, you might be able to get to a few WTT tournaments close to your home and if you really are good enough that might be a good starting point. a starting point we never had in late 90's/ early 00's ...

I mean, this is "long story short", it is still much more complicated but at leate - there are options, possibilities ...

 

[ThePongCommenter]

when I was an aspiring player, trying to get my first contract and get some money playing table tennis ... there was not WTT tour. it was very hard to get out of the country and show how good you actually are. to make an impression, so to say.

I don't want to say it is easy, you still have to work hard, practice hard, but there are more options. if you get the sponsors, you might be able to get to a few WTT tournaments close to your home and if you really are good enough that might be a good starting point. a starting point we never had in late 90's/ early 00's ...

I mean, this is "long story short", it is still much more complicated but at leate - there are options, possibilities ...

To even get to the point where those "options" become a possibility, you need much of what Heming mentions in this video... and respectfully, the pro TT scene's overall level is much higher now than it was in the time you speak of.

 

[Yurifi]

To even get to the point where those "options" become a possibility, you need much of what Heming mentions in this video... and respectfully, the pro TT scene's overall level is much higher now than it was in the time you speak of.

that I agree, of course. I mean in my time Europe was quite behind Asia, especially China, except for a few bright exceptions, of course, now the top is much more balanced, you have EU players, China, Japan, Brazil ... competition is much harder but at least you have an option. that's what I wanted to say, there was no such option in my time.

 

[pong99]

finish at the bottom?
colorectal surgeon

In America, they are called rich doctors. A doc doing colonoscopies probably does about 2 per hour. The doc gets a cut of the $3000-$4000 cost and does at least 10 per day.