Fan behaviour

Table Tennis Discussion

Last updated 4 years ago

D K

D K Asked 4 years ago

Greetings Coach,

following the championship which occurred a month ago in my city, I would like to ask about your,or rather PingSkills community's too, opinion about behavior of fans at such big tournaments.
The one I was watching was European Junior Table Tennis Championship.
I felt so much differences between fans of different countries,soon I was able to distinguish which country do they belong to despite not seeing them clearly and not understanding their languages.

Some of them,for example namely Italian,French,German and Cypriot,were enormously noisy,crying loudly with a high-pitched tones (IT/FR), whistling and using giant rattles etc (GER) or yelling the currently playing player's names out of all lungs (CYP). Sitting next to them was,I would say,dangerous for ears,despite that except German they were not very numerous. Majorly because they kept shouting,emitting their noise etc the entire time between the rallies.

Another group was,I would say "most correct",there I would put majorly Russian,Sweden and Slovak.
They were also quite loud,but considerably more controlled compared to hysterically looking IT or FR for example.
Russian people,after their player won a point,stood up and sang a mystic-sounding melody,which caused my hairs to stand.
Slovak people reacted to every point of their players by calling out about 2-3times,they were loud but controlled and did not try to fulfill the entire time between points.
Sweden people looked even more disciplined,since they reacted by absolutely synchronous call "SVERIGESVERIGE!" ("Sverige" means "Sweden" in Swedish).
Loud,but calm.

Then there were nations like Czech,Romania,UK or Belarus,who only clapped or reacted by standing up with some occassional "yeees","go" shout etc.

Last group were people like Azerbaijan,Norway,Finland etc.,which were dubbed as "silent deaths",being completely calm,silent,only occassionally clapping.

What do you think about fans with table tennis generally?
I thought like some of these fan behavior patterns are not really correct for the players but also for the "neutral" fans (for example,I as a CZ fan was watching Belarus vs Italy,where I was not siding with anyone,but the loud ear-tearing sounds coming from the Italian fan section forced me to leave soon ,as I was concerned about my ears' health.)
I even heard some Polish people complaining with Latvians that the French fans are being disrespectful with the amount of noise they create,especially after they started to whistle whenever the server threw up the ball.

Dan


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 4 years ago

Hi Dan,

I like the involvement of the crowd.  It adds to the spectacle of the game.  I think it is something that is important for Table Tennis if it is to be looked at as an entertainment as well as a sport, like all the big sports are.

For too long people have been too scared to make any noise at Table Tennis matches.  

I think players enjoy playing in an arena where there is some noise and atmosphere.  It lifts them to perform.  Much better than a silent cold hall.

Would love to hear other readers' opinions.


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Thoughts on this question

D K

D K Posted 4 years ago

If I assume the objective point of view (what I consider good for others),some noise is OK,but not uncontrolled yelling,stomping etc.
Most people in my opinion like to be cheered on.
I know clubs where the club even borrows fan things such as small rattles etc. to fans.
However,they are CONTROLLED. I understand players like these feelings,but being in the state "one for all,all against me" for most of my life,I will never understand WHY they like it. I have been the hidden,the silent one,and I have always tried to be a sort of mystery among people around me (but I do not think it was succesful). I used it as a sort of psychological selfdefense.

If I assume the subjective point of view(what I consider good for myself) I may sound weird,but I prefer the silent hall.
Because my own ideal psychological state is "Me and the opponent. Two bats,one table,one ball. Only one winner: me,or you. All around is just a distraction".
I like the imagination of me and my opponent at the table on a lit court surrounded my complete darkness.
However I understand that most people will have a different sensations from this.
Being a long-time-loner,I am helped my such an imagination because of...I would say "There was no one at my side for a long time....now,share my loneliness...".
Thus psychologically,I am getting "upper hand" inside my mind,because if such a situation will really happen,I will feel safe in the darkness,the other one could feel intimidated. This is the true psychological part of my competitive play.


D K

D K Posted 4 years ago

(which is funny because I play a defensive style which usually attracts fans most)


jon  bon

jon bon Posted 4 years ago

I like the noise it brings hypeand

my country Sweden is too quet

would anywane want to have Venezuela noises?


D K

D K Posted 4 years ago

No idea what noise Venezuelans cause



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