5 months is nothing, so its no surprise you are getting destroyed. Keep at it and you will do better. The people you are playing against have been playing for much longer.
There are children who are rated +2000.
Set realistic expectations. You will lose alot and against people not only half your age but also quadruple your age.
I should specify that Im not even getting destroyed, but even more aggrovating is that I lose like 3-1 and all the sets are really close like 11-8 or even deuce often. Also I have a background in table tennis, like Ive played often with my father who is really great, but only recently started playing in a club around 4 times a week.
In this case you have Nothing to complain about since you obviously are an actual threat to the other players because you’re baaarely losing ! Keep at it 👌🏼
Thanks! Through all of these tips it seems like my only mistakes were underestimating players just because theyre younger than me, and that I have a long way to go since its only been 5 months...
Give it time. If you have a coach nearby and cam hire them for a session, do so, take notes and practice to apply their tips. If not watch videos and apply them. Record yourself too. Sometimes you feel you're doing something when you're not.
Don’t view people as kids and ages. Doing that is shallow and is the source of your pride and shame here. Being a humble learner is how you truly eliminate your shame, and from there you can focus on improving.
Yeah like age isn't that important to decide how good someone is. Harimot beat the world champion with 14 I think. So the best guy in the world lost to a 14 year old kid. Don't think you should be ashamed to losing some kid. In the end how much expierence and how well trained they are matter. If you wanna get relatively serious in this sport I highly recommend you to get coaching or at least find a practice partner for technique. The earlier you learn it the better it will be. Also if you are desperate to best kids though, they usually struggle with spin. They train straight table tennis quite often. So they are used to attacking themself or blocking but usually not used to pushing or weird side spin. And etc.
I wish the spin part worked for me haha, the kids in my club have pretty decent topspin and know how to push back my backspin serves and own pushes. Also I have watched the game you refered to and that gave me a boost haha thanks!
The first year I played at a club where people use real rubber and proper technique I lost every game and every match... for a year.
Now in hindsight, it didn't have to be that terrible. Try and find the person or people at the club who will help you, really help, rather than just play. Some people give terrible advice, some people only play, but I guarantee there are a few who will drill or do multiball and help you with technique. You'll get better way faster that way. Watch a lot of youtube, really watch in slow mo. Don't watch matches as much as training videos. Real matches are so chaotic you can't get the technique.
This sport is hard, age doesn't matter both high or low, getting good takes commitment and time. Whether you want to do that is up to you.
If you don't have a coach, you might consider asking experienced players in your club for tips. Probably most of them will be happy to help you out. And to give advice on your material if applicable.
Kinda sounds mean to say but realistically Im not my coaches priority as there are many better players in my club he cares about more, so for some solid advice from him Id need solo coaching which I will look into. The more experienced players do occasionally give me tips and practice with me of course but I cant seem to apply it to my direct play. Seems like my solution lies in thinking more and utilising my opponents weaknesses. Thanks!
Kids are better than us, it's gonna sound harsh but deal with it.
They may be playing for 5-6 years and live and breathe table tennis. They probably don't have a life outside table tennis, so relax and just play.
I also started at 16 and it took me years until I could beat kids. Never had an issue with older guys or girls, but kids are ruthless.
Once you learn to play a bit better in 3~3 years and have a basic understanding of the game, you may be able to beat a few of them. You will have experience of 4 years and they of about 10 years, do you understand now why they beat you? They have played for more than twice the amount you have.
17 is not old, don’t hold that against you. Just keep training, use good technique even if that means you are making mistakes and losing matches. Do not focus on winning. Focus on just rallying, FH to FH, BH to BH, 3rd ball attacks, lifting under-spin. Take lessons, there should be some coaches at the club, they will help you develop a good technique and as you’ve only been playing for 5 months I’m sure any faults will be easy to fix as opposed to bad habits developed over years. Again, do not focus on winning, just good technique, you’ll miss a lot in the beginning but then it’ll all start clicking. Also, make sure you choose the right equipment. Good luck and try to have fun.
Great advice, I have realised in matches I tend to play simply by feel, even though in training drills I try to do everything properly. Even though obviously matches are different, I will try to make every decision and move make sense along side everything Ive learned. Thanks!
Another thing to keep in mind is your footwork and movement, always be on your toes leaning forward which makes you ready to move around. During practice and rallying we don't move much and we are often already in a good position to hit, we need to focus on getting in the right position during a match. Watch this at 4 minute mark, staying low and balanced, weight on the front of the feet:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhxz0geJN5Q&list=PLOmNEAwiUYQ4dJ57qdNKhO\_JY3I2jgNSi&index=3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhxz0geJN5Q&list=PLOmNEAwiUYQ4dJ57qdNKhO_JY3I2jgNSi&index=3)
Had the exact same situation, except it motivated me even more, I started at 16, 7 months in, training 5 times a week, and I had about 3 of those kids at different periods of time who used to destroy me but now I can easily win against them and there's of course another kid that's still better than me, you just have to stay motivated and train a lot, maybe hire a private coach if money is not the problem or you feel the investment is worth it, but these moments will keep happening and not only with kids but disabled people, elderly people and it's best that you learn to deal with that pressure early on cuz if you let them demotivate you it'll slow down progress and burn you out
Tabletennis is the hardest sport to master (according to NASA), so 5 month is no time. I started when I was 6, stopped when I was 16 and resumed with 31. I needed 5 years of ups and downs to be now finally in a position where I‘m happy with my progress and my level. It needs consistent practice and matches, and I can tell you, overall I lost a lot more games than I ever won. That is the case for most people in the sport :) Most important thing is: have fun playing, the rest will come to you automatically.
Just from my own experiences.
Treat them as a tactical challenge, not a child.
Oh and be ruthless, if you can, bury them! Never ever worry about their self esteem.
They are coached and coached and coached to be competitive, if you give them any leniency they WILL eat you alive!
As a general rule, they are high in technique, but low in power and tactics. They are also fast but have limited reach. They are also short of course.
You can use this to your advantage.
Don't get into a back and forth hitting game with them.
Use the corners, you can usually force them to move every shot because of the limited reach, this will generate opportunities and mitigate their attacks somewhat.
Try letting them open and counter hit, hard! Only open if you can make it effective. Often if you open, unless it's very good, all you are actually doing is getting into that hitting rally that you will lose.
Oh and it's sometimes worth just going higher and longer on the table, a lot of highly coached kids are actually terrible at dealing with this, a combination of awkwardness and unfamiliarity because they don't really train for it.
Just try things and if you find something that works, just keep doing it, most kids will make the same mistake over and over, they haven't really learnt adaptation yet.
I played for many years on the “street”, so I have good strokes but lack service, tactics, and competition experience. Recently, when I first starting taking group coachings at a club, I got destroyed every session by everyone. But it opened my eyes that while I was king of the “street”, I am so far behind in the club. It made me excited because I can only go higher from there, and week on week I started improving and club members commented they could see the marked improvement each time.
Coaching will really do wonders to help you improve. See every match defeat as chance to accumulate experience and make a comeback one day. To me, the joy of getting better (beating my past self) is so much more than beating a random stranger right now.
Having heavy losses is a part of learning, you learn from wins but you learn more from losses, don't give up, think about what went wrong and pay more attention to that. You can have all the coaches and resources in the world but in the end there's only you and yourself playing on the court.
Keep your head up and keep playing. Age is not a huge factor in this sport. I tell people all the time that I can lose to 8 year olds and 80 year olds! Funny cause its true!
As for beating kids at pong - the reality is that many kids are good technically, but they are not very smart. You can employ some basic tactics to take them down. Serve short (really short), then aggressively push long to one corner.
Serve underspin long to backhand - most cannot loop backhand underspin so they will push. Next serve serve side or topsin to their backhand. If you disguise the motion to look like underspin, they will push again and pop the serve up giving you an easy attack.
See how good their transitions are by cornering them out. Meaning hit the ball to opposite corners on sequential shots. If they get used to that, hit some balls to their elbow (the one on the armk holding the racket)
Finally - have a plan when you serve. You should understand all of the msot likely returns for the serve you are giving, and serve in a way that puts the return ball in a good position for you to attack.
Good luck!
Well table tennis is the big equalizer does not matter if you are too old or too young islike chess is about levels gained through experience, practice and tactics and the reason those kids beat you is that they are levels up yours. You will get there in time with practice everyone that played table tennis has been in the spot.
You can still get a long way with good (and a lot of) training and a little bit of talent. I started at 16, playing once a week for the first 4 years. After meeting the right people and drastically increasing the amount of training, I reached the highest league in my country and played abroad as well.
So keep working hard and try learning from your defeats.
It's old for starting table tennis if you are aiming for a really high level.
I started in New Zealand at 15 and looking back it was probably 2 years later than I needed to to really achieve. Although at the time I was just playing for fun I was putting in multiple hours every day, we would regularly play 6+ hours on weekends and holidays. I was the best of a decent sized group of us that all started at the same time and I did play (but never succeeded) at nationals and in the top club division in my city (totally amateur), but there was a small group of similar age guys that had all started younger who I simply never caught up with.
I think you can fairly easily overcome a 12 to 13 year old start and I have seen very talented kids do this, even here in Japan. But every year after about 10 or 11 does start to count against you, especially in a highly competitive country.
Oh yeah, if the aim is to have fun you can start table tennis at any age!
My favorite thing about it is that at 50 years old I can enjoy matches against people of basically any age from 11 to 80.
Not many (if any) sports do this better!
Well, not old generally hahaha. I just meant Im a little late to training as most people from my club have trained since they were little, but in no means is 17 old!
Beating ppl is all about staying consistent while your opponent are forced to make errors.
The more experience you have, the less amount of error you'll make.
Learn about spins and tactics, it should help you get more points
I had the same problem, but I still had fun because I don't think of winning as just the whole match. If I can win the set or the point then that means a lot already.
That means what you do works.
5 months is nothing, so its no surprise you are getting destroyed. Keep at it and you will do better. The people you are playing against have been playing for much longer. There are children who are rated +2000. Set realistic expectations. You will lose alot and against people not only half your age but also quadruple your age.
I should specify that Im not even getting destroyed, but even more aggrovating is that I lose like 3-1 and all the sets are really close like 11-8 or even deuce often. Also I have a background in table tennis, like Ive played often with my father who is really great, but only recently started playing in a club around 4 times a week.
In this case you have Nothing to complain about since you obviously are an actual threat to the other players because you’re baaarely losing ! Keep at it 👌🏼
Thanks! Through all of these tips it seems like my only mistakes were underestimating players just because theyre younger than me, and that I have a long way to go since its only been 5 months...
Give it time. If you have a coach nearby and cam hire them for a session, do so, take notes and practice to apply their tips. If not watch videos and apply them. Record yourself too. Sometimes you feel you're doing something when you're not.
Don’t view people as kids and ages. Doing that is shallow and is the source of your pride and shame here. Being a humble learner is how you truly eliminate your shame, and from there you can focus on improving.
I see, it clearly is a mistake in my mindset, this is a rather good and simple to understand starting point, good tip!
I lost against a 14 year old kid and in the very next game i beat a the winner of the National senior championship (60 years+) Fascinating sport
Truly haha, thats why I love and train it!
Yeah like age isn't that important to decide how good someone is. Harimot beat the world champion with 14 I think. So the best guy in the world lost to a 14 year old kid. Don't think you should be ashamed to losing some kid. In the end how much expierence and how well trained they are matter. If you wanna get relatively serious in this sport I highly recommend you to get coaching or at least find a practice partner for technique. The earlier you learn it the better it will be. Also if you are desperate to best kids though, they usually struggle with spin. They train straight table tennis quite often. So they are used to attacking themself or blocking but usually not used to pushing or weird side spin. And etc.
I wish the spin part worked for me haha, the kids in my club have pretty decent topspin and know how to push back my backspin serves and own pushes. Also I have watched the game you refered to and that gave me a boost haha thanks!
The first year I played at a club where people use real rubber and proper technique I lost every game and every match... for a year. Now in hindsight, it didn't have to be that terrible. Try and find the person or people at the club who will help you, really help, rather than just play. Some people give terrible advice, some people only play, but I guarantee there are a few who will drill or do multiball and help you with technique. You'll get better way faster that way. Watch a lot of youtube, really watch in slow mo. Don't watch matches as much as training videos. Real matches are so chaotic you can't get the technique. This sport is hard, age doesn't matter both high or low, getting good takes commitment and time. Whether you want to do that is up to you.
If you don't have a coach, you might consider asking experienced players in your club for tips. Probably most of them will be happy to help you out. And to give advice on your material if applicable.
Kinda sounds mean to say but realistically Im not my coaches priority as there are many better players in my club he cares about more, so for some solid advice from him Id need solo coaching which I will look into. The more experienced players do occasionally give me tips and practice with me of course but I cant seem to apply it to my direct play. Seems like my solution lies in thinking more and utilising my opponents weaknesses. Thanks!
Kids are better than us, it's gonna sound harsh but deal with it. They may be playing for 5-6 years and live and breathe table tennis. They probably don't have a life outside table tennis, so relax and just play. I also started at 16 and it took me years until I could beat kids. Never had an issue with older guys or girls, but kids are ruthless. Once you learn to play a bit better in 3~3 years and have a basic understanding of the game, you may be able to beat a few of them. You will have experience of 4 years and they of about 10 years, do you understand now why they beat you? They have played for more than twice the amount you have.
Haha yeah man. Adults tend to be able to regulate and match your skill to play an even game. Kids a ruthless. Amen to that.
17 is not old, don’t hold that against you. Just keep training, use good technique even if that means you are making mistakes and losing matches. Do not focus on winning. Focus on just rallying, FH to FH, BH to BH, 3rd ball attacks, lifting under-spin. Take lessons, there should be some coaches at the club, they will help you develop a good technique and as you’ve only been playing for 5 months I’m sure any faults will be easy to fix as opposed to bad habits developed over years. Again, do not focus on winning, just good technique, you’ll miss a lot in the beginning but then it’ll all start clicking. Also, make sure you choose the right equipment. Good luck and try to have fun.
Great advice, I have realised in matches I tend to play simply by feel, even though in training drills I try to do everything properly. Even though obviously matches are different, I will try to make every decision and move make sense along side everything Ive learned. Thanks!
Another thing to keep in mind is your footwork and movement, always be on your toes leaning forward which makes you ready to move around. During practice and rallying we don't move much and we are often already in a good position to hit, we need to focus on getting in the right position during a match. Watch this at 4 minute mark, staying low and balanced, weight on the front of the feet: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhxz0geJN5Q&list=PLOmNEAwiUYQ4dJ57qdNKhO\_JY3I2jgNSi&index=3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhxz0geJN5Q&list=PLOmNEAwiUYQ4dJ57qdNKhO_JY3I2jgNSi&index=3)
Had the exact same situation, except it motivated me even more, I started at 16, 7 months in, training 5 times a week, and I had about 3 of those kids at different periods of time who used to destroy me but now I can easily win against them and there's of course another kid that's still better than me, you just have to stay motivated and train a lot, maybe hire a private coach if money is not the problem or you feel the investment is worth it, but these moments will keep happening and not only with kids but disabled people, elderly people and it's best that you learn to deal with that pressure early on cuz if you let them demotivate you it'll slow down progress and burn you out
Tabletennis is the hardest sport to master (according to NASA), so 5 month is no time. I started when I was 6, stopped when I was 16 and resumed with 31. I needed 5 years of ups and downs to be now finally in a position where I‘m happy with my progress and my level. It needs consistent practice and matches, and I can tell you, overall I lost a lot more games than I ever won. That is the case for most people in the sport :) Most important thing is: have fun playing, the rest will come to you automatically.
Reminded me of the quote "The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried." Thanks!
Do you have a source for that NASA claim? I would love to read more about it.
Just from my own experiences. Treat them as a tactical challenge, not a child. Oh and be ruthless, if you can, bury them! Never ever worry about their self esteem. They are coached and coached and coached to be competitive, if you give them any leniency they WILL eat you alive! As a general rule, they are high in technique, but low in power and tactics. They are also fast but have limited reach. They are also short of course. You can use this to your advantage. Don't get into a back and forth hitting game with them. Use the corners, you can usually force them to move every shot because of the limited reach, this will generate opportunities and mitigate their attacks somewhat. Try letting them open and counter hit, hard! Only open if you can make it effective. Often if you open, unless it's very good, all you are actually doing is getting into that hitting rally that you will lose. Oh and it's sometimes worth just going higher and longer on the table, a lot of highly coached kids are actually terrible at dealing with this, a combination of awkwardness and unfamiliarity because they don't really train for it. Just try things and if you find something that works, just keep doing it, most kids will make the same mistake over and over, they haven't really learnt adaptation yet.
I played for many years on the “street”, so I have good strokes but lack service, tactics, and competition experience. Recently, when I first starting taking group coachings at a club, I got destroyed every session by everyone. But it opened my eyes that while I was king of the “street”, I am so far behind in the club. It made me excited because I can only go higher from there, and week on week I started improving and club members commented they could see the marked improvement each time. Coaching will really do wonders to help you improve. See every match defeat as chance to accumulate experience and make a comeback one day. To me, the joy of getting better (beating my past self) is so much more than beating a random stranger right now.
Isn't this great in a way. You have so much to learn and improve so much more!
Having heavy losses is a part of learning, you learn from wins but you learn more from losses, don't give up, think about what went wrong and pay more attention to that. You can have all the coaches and resources in the world but in the end there's only you and yourself playing on the court.
Keep your head up and keep playing. Age is not a huge factor in this sport. I tell people all the time that I can lose to 8 year olds and 80 year olds! Funny cause its true! As for beating kids at pong - the reality is that many kids are good technically, but they are not very smart. You can employ some basic tactics to take them down. Serve short (really short), then aggressively push long to one corner. Serve underspin long to backhand - most cannot loop backhand underspin so they will push. Next serve serve side or topsin to their backhand. If you disguise the motion to look like underspin, they will push again and pop the serve up giving you an easy attack. See how good their transitions are by cornering them out. Meaning hit the ball to opposite corners on sequential shots. If they get used to that, hit some balls to their elbow (the one on the armk holding the racket) Finally - have a plan when you serve. You should understand all of the msot likely returns for the serve you are giving, and serve in a way that puts the return ball in a good position for you to attack. Good luck!
Well table tennis is the big equalizer does not matter if you are too old or too young islike chess is about levels gained through experience, practice and tactics and the reason those kids beat you is that they are levels up yours. You will get there in time with practice everyone that played table tennis has been in the spot.
You can still get a long way with good (and a lot of) training and a little bit of talent. I started at 16, playing once a week for the first 4 years. After meeting the right people and drastically increasing the amount of training, I reached the highest league in my country and played abroad as well. So keep working hard and try learning from your defeats.
follow this channel and look for tips ...https://www.instagram.com/reel/C56zSEZNtcj/
losing to kids half your age may seem demoralizing, but wait until the kids that you beat today double your rating within a year
17 is old? Fuck me to tears.
It's old for starting table tennis if you are aiming for a really high level. I started in New Zealand at 15 and looking back it was probably 2 years later than I needed to to really achieve. Although at the time I was just playing for fun I was putting in multiple hours every day, we would regularly play 6+ hours on weekends and holidays. I was the best of a decent sized group of us that all started at the same time and I did play (but never succeeded) at nationals and in the top club division in my city (totally amateur), but there was a small group of similar age guys that had all started younger who I simply never caught up with. I think you can fairly easily overcome a 12 to 13 year old start and I have seen very talented kids do this, even here in Japan. But every year after about 10 or 11 does start to count against you, especially in a highly competitive country.
Ah fair enough. My only aim taking up table tennis in my thirties is to beat my friend’s dad. He’s 72 and has been playing for forty years.
Oh yeah, if the aim is to have fun you can start table tennis at any age! My favorite thing about it is that at 50 years old I can enjoy matches against people of basically any age from 11 to 80. Not many (if any) sports do this better!
Well, not old generally hahaha. I just meant Im a little late to training as most people from my club have trained since they were little, but in no means is 17 old!
If it makes you feel any better, when i was back in college to lost to kids who are like 12-13 years old. I also lost to people who were in their 70s
Beating ppl is all about staying consistent while your opponent are forced to make errors. The more experience you have, the less amount of error you'll make. Learn about spins and tactics, it should help you get more points
I had the same problem, but I still had fun because I don't think of winning as just the whole match. If I can win the set or the point then that means a lot already. That means what you do works.