What makes Table Tennis a sport?

[waldner101]

I'm pretty sure everyone has come across this point. When you talking to someone and they say Table Tennis is not a sport. So my question is what makes table tennis a sport?

 

[laistrogian]

A physical activity where people can compete against each other. Only people in countries where table tennis isn't popular have brain cell that's broken enough to say table tennis isn't a sport

 

[edgy]

It's in the Olympics

 

[Ilia Minkin]

Because there is a winner and there is a loser. Chess is also a sport. If the question is "what makes table tennis physically demanding so it can be called a real sport", then the answer is the necessity to move, i.e. footwork.

 

[BeGo]

Because there is a winner and there is a loser. Chess is also a sport. If the question is "what makes table tennis physically demanding so it can be called a real sport", then the answer is the necessity to move, i.e. footwork.

Problem with table tennis, without worthy opponent, You can't even perspirate, err, broke a sweat.

 

[wtachetna]

One thing what I love about table tennis is that the game requires you to be fast and accurate. It is a complete body workout sport. Your eyes also gets the exercise. I just love Table Tennis. Yes for sure, it is a sport!

 

[Yecats Encerwal]

People who don't think Pro Table tennis players are athletic need to have a look at Zhang Jike's Legs!

I think someone started a thread about "Muscular TT players" which is literally a thread of shirtless male players haha

It is 100% a sport and there should be no debate about this.

There is also a video on Youtube entitled "If you think table tennis isn't a sport watch this" It is one of the most viewed TT videos out there I think.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Well, this subject hasn't come up in a couple of years. So, here goes. There is a problem with this whole question. Table tennis is both a sport and a game. I think that can be said for many sports. But I can't think of any where it is more apparent than in table tennis.

Here is one of the things I show when I want people to see how physically demanding the sport can be:

Here is one of the things I show table tennis enthusiasts who have trouble understanding why some people don't think table tennis is a sport:

That is Rich Dewitt vs Adam Hugh. At the time Adam was 2500. At some point Adam did get over 2600. So he is a darn good player and one of the best players in the USA. But he is having problems with this fat old man who is having trouble moving. And nobody can tell me Rich is in good shape or that you have to be in good shape to do what Rich is doing. And yet, darn he's good. He really almost beat Adam a few times.

So, yes, it is a sport and you can show things that take great physical skill and speed. But it is also a game and since the art of deception is so much a part of this GAME it is possible for players who look like they can't move to be pretty darn good.

 

[waldner101]

But at the professional level don't you have to be insanely athletic in order to compete at the top level?

 

[Yecats Encerwal]

But at the professional level don't you have to be insanely athletic in order to compete at the top level?

I wouldn't say you HAVE to be super athletic, most are, but there is certainly no advantage to being un-fit.

 

[Ilia Minkin]

Problem with table tennis, without worthy opponent, You can't even perspirate, err, broke a sweat.

You can always play all-table forehand attack style. It will make you sweat at least a little bit even against a total beginner

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

But at the professional level don't you have to be insanely athletic in order to compete at the top level?

He Zhi Wen, he is way over 50 and still qualified for the 2016 Olympic games. At 50 he was still in the top 30. Currently he is #78.

Tell me if it is possible for someone over 50 to be in the top 100 in tennis? In soccer (football)? In basketball? Even in baseball where you can have guys who hit and don't play the field or pitchers who don't have to hit, nobody can play at his age. And baseball is the least athletic sport/game I can think of in many ways. Wikipedia says he was born in 1962 which makes him 54. But I remember 7 years ago it had him listed as 51. So, I think Spain or somebody, may be playing with his date of birth because he is still their best player.

Think about how small and light a table tennis ball is and how little force you actually need to propel it fast. A lot of us are using way more force than we need.

Touch, feel, skill, these things are much more important ultimately, than sheer power.

Yes, the best players have touch, feel, skill and sheer power. But even guys like FZD and Ovtcharov are not really in such great shape physically. Sorry, but....it is much more about skill than brute force. Or the women in the sport could not be so much closer to the men in level than in any other sport. In basketball or soccer, if you watch the women and compare the level to the men, it is way way lower. In tennis too. They are not strong and athletic enough to really compete with the men. But in table tennis, the women are no where near as far behind. They are not quite as good. But a top woman could probably play competitively against men WR#60 or lower. Perhaps it is even higher than that.

 

[TareqPhoto]

There is a ball and there are rackets, so that is enough for it to be a sport, if not then even the actual tennis isn't a sport, squash isn't a sport, badminton isn't a sport too, i think even football isn't a sport because it has only ball and no rackets.

Well, it has been decades now or maybe a century i don't know and still people debating about if TT or PP is a sport or not, WTF!!!

 

[Suga D]

But at the professional level don't you have to be insanely athletic in order to compete at the top level?

I wouldn't say you HAVE to be super athletic, most are, but there is certainly no advantage to being un-fit.

This here is Matthias Bomsdorf
http://httv.click-tt.de/cgi-bin/Web...on=DTTB&season=2015/16&person=277503&club=604
Teammate and Doubles Partner of Richard Prause playing for TTC Seligenstadt in 3. Bundesliga. He doesn´t look very athletic but sure knows how to play a ball.

His practice partner is Tanja Krämer, formerly Tanja Hoffmann and formerly member of the german´s women´s National Team.
I shot this vid a year ago, when they came to practice in our TT Hall.

 

[Ilia Minkin]

He Zhi Wen, he is way over 50 and still qualified for the 2016 Olympic games. At 50 he was still in the top 30. Currently he is #78.

Tell me if it is possible for someone over 50 to be in the top 100 in tennis? In soccer (football)? In basketball? Even in baseball where you can have guys who hit and don't play the field or pitchers who don't have to hit, nobody can play at his age. And baseball is the least athletic sport/game I can think of in many ways. Wikipedia says he was born in 1962 which makes him 54. But I remember 7 years ago it had him listed as 51. So, I think Spain or somebody, may be playing with his date of birth because he is still their best player.

Think about how small and light a table tennis ball is and how little force you actually need to propel it fast. A lot of us are using way more force than we need.

Touch, feel, skill, these things are much more important ultimately, than sheer power.

Yes, the best players have touch, feel, skill and sheer power. But even guys like FZD and Ovtcharov are not really in such great shape physically. Sorry, but....it is much more about skill than brute force. Or the women in the sport could not be so much closer to the men in level than in any other sport. In basketball or soccer, if you watch the women and compare the level to the men, it is way way lower. In tennis too. They are not strong and athletic enough to really compete with the men. But in table tennis, the women are no where near as far behind. They are not quite as good. But a top woman could probably play competitively against men WR#60 or lower. Perhaps it is even higher than that.

Well, not sure about over 50, but at 42 Ole-Einar Bjorndalen, one of the best biathlon athletes in the history is still aiming for the next Olympics. Halvard Hanevold retired at age 41, still being in the elite. At 40 years old Dara Torres set a new US record in 50 meters (!) freestyle swimming in Beijing Olympics, taking the silver medal. Both swimming and biathlon are extremely technical and require enormous endurance. You basically need a heart of a moose to be a world-class cross-country skier.

 

[edgy]

In all seriousness, it is extremely difficult to differentiate between what is a sport and what isn't because the term itself is so amorphous.

Consider that board games (chess), driving a car around in a circle (racing), fishing, table tennis, and basketball are all considered sports by certain groups of people. What unites them all under the "sport" banner? Is it that on some level they are done competitively? Perhaps. But then how do you reconcile academic competitions like spelling competitions or even music competitions like battle of the bands not being considered sports?

 

[Ilia Minkin]

I also think that the age of retiring is also heavy influenced by the ability to get money as a pro. For example, if you are still in top 100 in table tennis, you can make enough money playing in a pro league, even if you are old. However, many sports are supported based on the Olympics and WC medal perspectives. So it does not make sense to support a 50-year old athlete that is in top 100 in swimming, because there is no chance he will make into top 10. But for a twenty year old with the same ranking it makes sense because they may have a potential. So people retire as soon as they fall out of the very top and/or have no prospects, but nothing prevents them from being an elite athlete.

I don't know much about baseball or soccer, but there could their own quirks.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I also think that the age of retiring is also heavy influenced by the ability to get money as a pro.

Age of retirement in most sports has to do with ability to perform. Kareem Abdul Jabar didn't retire at 40 because he couldn't make money. He retired because he could not keep pace for much more than 8-15 min of a 60 min game. He could not run the floor with the kids anymore.

He Zhiwen was top 30 at 50. Not top 80. Not top 50. Top 30.

Personally I think this is part of why this sport is so great. Brute force and physical athleticism are not all you need. And the fact that a guy in his 60s can still be a top player in a club, or a guy as out of shape as Rich Dewitt for that matter, in a certain way, IS AWESOME.

Because brains, subtlety and nuanced skill, are also important in this sport.

It is easy to show videos of physical athleticism in table tennis to people who are trying to belittle the sport. But part of the beauty of the sport is that it doesn't have to be.

Look at what a high level so many of the para tables tennis players can play at. My boy Tahl Leibovitz is an artist with a racket:

Sent from the Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

 

[Der_Echte]

What makes it a Sport?

Simple.

Any sport where you can do the Chicken and beer Hustle is a Sport.

 

[waldner101]

Look at this from someone else's perspective. They could say Table Tennis is really easy to play and anyone despite their can also play the sport. Your weight also doesn't matter when playing so how is this a sport? This is what I see from someone else's perspective.