r/tabletennis

Now I know what you’re thinking. Here’s another kid that’s not willing to put in the work- and you’re right!… ish. Let me explain the situation.

I’m 17M and about a year ago my dad got us a table for our garden, with some pretty bad bats and balls. I only this summer actually got into the sport, initially because it’s right there in my garden. I’ve been watching the pros for a while now, and begun to copy what they did, switching my grip from what I can only describe as hammer grip to shake hand.

At first it was a rough change, but luckily I’m light on my feet, fit and used to being in a low stance from 10 years of karate. I bought a slightly better racket £20 JOOLA one (I know, so much better!) and recently some butterfly 3 star 40+ balls.

Time I get to the point:

How long did it take you guys to get to your level, what is that level, what was your starting age, and how much does that starting age affect your progress?
I play somewhere between 3 and 10 matches to 21 a day (I know it’s to 11 professionally but that’s just what be and my family do) against my dad and my two brothers, all of whom are in the grand scheme of things beginners.

I also just wanna make it clear that I play procreationally, and it is not my main hobby nor a career choice (I’m an actor- trying to be at least). With this in mind, I’m just as confused by my desire to get good as you probably are, but maybe this thing is common among beginners?

TL;DR: Read the paragraph after “Time I get to the point:”

Hope I didn’t come across too impatient and that someone can help me out!

I have played table tennis for about 9 months. Got a coach with whom I practice once a week and go to tournaments every Sunday.But my problem with relying heavily on backhand to win persists. Even though my forehand got better grip feels wrong and often hits fingers.So I'm thinking about changing to Jpen,beacuse it will force me to improve my footwork and use my forehand to do powerful topspins.My backhand is usually punchy,so maybe TPB shoto won't be that bad. What do you think about this change? Should I get 5ply wood blade or carbon(hinoki is too expensive)? Which videos you can recommend to learn more about jpen techniques?

I just got a new setup which is the butterfly petr korbel with the ti har hybrid k3 on fh and yasaka rakza z on the bh. How is this setup, my previous setup was a joola j carbon blade with the stiga boost tx on dh and boost ts on bh

hey guys, just wanted to ask if anyone has any shoe recommendations for flat and wide feet, thanks in advance!

I currently use the asics gel hunter 3 and love these shoes to bits. I now need new shoes. Thing is, this model has been discontinued. So my question goes to those who know this shoe: do you know any similar shoe? Do the newer models maybe feel the same?

Hey guys, I just got a new paddle with rakza 7 and soft, and I play every day for around and hour and clean it after every use but it’s super smooth and slippery. Is this normal

Any table tennis coaches in Vancouver

I play with a MX-P on my backhand, Is relatively cheap and easy to source, I like the speed and the catapult effect, but after playing the first hour, the rubber feels slippery (I'm not sure if is the sweat or the humidity), I was testing using the Donic Bluegrip C2 from my FH as BH, but I feel like I have to modify my stroke a bit, like I have to make my stroke longer and press it to redirect the ball, so I'm not sure if hybrid are for me on my BH.

So my question is: What’s another alternative that is more grippy on the same price range or price value, with the same speed and ESN like?

Hi, I’m using a translation tool to write this post, so I hope my English is understandable.

I’m 16 years old, and I first became interested in table tennis around 2024. At first, I was simply a fan of a particular player, Sun Yingsha. But over time, I became fascinated by the sport itself. I loved watching the footwork, the sound of the ball, and especially the mechanics behind each stroke. I had played and watched badminton before, but I never felt the same kind of fascination with it.

Eventually, I decided that I really wanted to try table tennis myself. Unfortunately, I soon realized that learning the sport properly could be quite difficult, and coaching fees aren’t exactly cheap, at least where I live.

It took quite a bit of convincing before my dad agreed to let me buy a decent racket. After that, I made several posts looking for a club or someone who could teach me. Eventually, a university student contacted me privately and offered me a discounted two hour training session. I was so excited that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Unfortunately, when the day came, I couldn’t get in touch with him. He later messaged me and explained that he had a scheduling conflict and needed to reschedule. I completely understood because he was a university student and probably had a lot going on.

The problem was that over the next few weeks, he kept telling me that he was busy and that we would have to reschedule again. Eventually, I realized I couldn’t keep waiting indefinitely, so I stopped contacting him and gave up on the idea.

For a while, life just went on as if I had never gotten involved with table tennis at all.

Then I remembered that I could use part of my monthly allowance to pay for training, so I went back to the table tennis group and posted again, asking if anyone could help me learn.

Luckily, someone responded and offered to train me for free, as long as I was willing to put in the effort.

When I met them for the first time, I was honestly surprised by how enthusiastic and encouraging they were. They made me feel completely comfortable and constantly praised me whenever I did something well. Even though we can only train once a week, I’ve really enjoyed every session so far.

Getting into table tennis has also made me much more ambitious about improving. I know that at 16, becoming a professional player is not a realistic goal for me, especially since I’m only just starting. I’m not trying to become a professional, though. I simply want to become genuinely good at the sport, build solid fundamentals, improve my technique, participate in small local tournaments, and gain as much experience as I can through actual matches.

So I’d really appreciate any advice from more experienced players or coaches. If you were a beginner starting at my age, what would you focus on first? What are some things you wish you had known when you started?

Thanks so much for reading my story!