Wanna turn pro? Listen to a pro himself….

[laowa]

Interesting how he doesnt have any local clients. 🙃

 

[jonol]

Interesting how he doesnt have any local clients. 🙃

He has occasionally played at my club, and from what I know he charges significantly more than local coaches do and only takes on a limited number of students at a time.

Without knowing exact details, I believe he'd be charging for travel costs for overseas players, or his rates are high enough to make it worth his time.

 

[Yurifi]

He has occasionally played at my club, and from what I know he charges significantly more than local coaches do and only takes on a limited number of students at a time.

Without knowing exact details, I believe he'd be charging for travel costs for overseas players, or his rates are high enough to make it worth his time.

I mean, I know he promotes himself as an Olympian, which is a great feat, no doubt, but I got a feeling that if you weren't at the Olympics, you aren't a good coach.

but on the other hand, I know a handful of great coaches, who brought up some of the greatest players from scratch without attending Olympics as a player themselves ...

for me, a good coach is someone who can create a good player from scratch. like I love to say - from zero to hero. again, I do not want to diminish Hemming, he obviously was a great player, but being a great player doesn't mean you are a good coach. and vice versa. a player who wasn't particularly successful can be a great, successful coach.

 

[jonol]

As far as I can tell, his coaching is targeted at club level players.

I find a lot of his videos helpful because he does break down the concepts and often shows an amateur player going through the learning process.

I agree you don't need to be an Olympian to be a great coach, but you need to be at least pretty good. I think there's diminishing returns on your skill level and how it applies to coaching, but skill level is very relevant up to a certain point.

 

[Matteones]

I will go a little bit against the grain here.
Becoming a pro in ping pong is definitely incredibly hard wherever you live, and I am pretty sure the only way to become good in America and Australia is pretty much only to pour money into it, because there are no structures in place and only a few good players.
I think it is different if you are in Europe (not all of Europe but a good part of it) and live close to a big city or a big table tennis club. When you are in a big club with some good (and I mean semi-pro and pro level) players (which means there are good coaches too), you have much better chances to make it, and while it involves luck of being born in the right place it does not necessarily involve money (the table tennis scene is just so much bigger and at a better level here than in the States and Australia).
Whilst I don't know for sure, I suspect the big tabletennis asian countries where there is a good structure in place (China, Japan, Korea) work in the same way, where talent is found structurally.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

I will go a little bit against the grain here.
Becoming a pro in ping pong is definitely incredibly hard wherever you live, and I am pretty sure the only way to become good in America and Australia is pretty much only to pour money into it, because there are no structures in place and only a few good players.
I think it is different if you are in Europe (not all of Europe but a good part of it) and live close to a big city or a big table tennis club. When you are in a big club with some good (and I mean semi-pro and pro level) players (which means there are good coaches too), you have much better chances to make it, and while it involves luck of being born in the right place it does not necessarily involve money (the table tennis scene is just so much bigger and at a better level here than in the States and Australia).
Whilst I don't know for sure, I suspect the big tabletennis asian countries where there is a good structure in place (China, Japan, Korea) work in the same way, where talent is found structurally.

This is obvious to most and a bit of a shame it has be "going against the grain", but the tone for this thread was set by someone who's issues with Heming are probably far more personal, and it really has nothing to do with Heming's level of play qualifying him to speak on a pro's journey.

 

[Tyce]

Heming has conviction, and that's a quality you need when you want to make it in a niche sport with little opportunity. He's trying stuff and failing regularly, but that's a real good way to learn what works.
I thought he was arrogant at first, too, but I guess that said more about me than about him.