Fitness Level of Top Players
Discussion
Abhinav Upadhyay Asked 9 years ago
Hi Alois,
I wanted to ask about the fitness level required for top level table tennis. I read somewhere that the top level international table tennis players are as fit as the top level soccer players. Is that true? I was also hearing an interview of Timo Boll (from 2-3 years back), he said that now he trains for 2-3 hours each day playing table tennis and spends more time in the gym.
Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago
Hi Abhinav,
Each sport has their own types of fitness that is required. Table Tennis players are very fit in the specific areas that they require. They are very fast and strong especially with their fast movements in the sideway motion.
Table Tennis requires all the areas of fitness to be successful. Strength, Speed, Power, Flexibility and Endurance.
Thoughts on this question
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Ilia Minkin Posted 9 years ago
I think that fitness and endurance matters, even for amateur players, considering that they practice intensively. If you're fit, you can sustain larger amounts of high intensity on table practice, like multiball or footwork. Larger amount of high quality practice will then turn into better skills.
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 9 years ago
Great point Ilia.
Ji-Soo Woo Posted 9 years ago
I remember watching some video on Sweden's golden years with Waldner, Persson and Appelgren et al, and it said they did tests comparing the fitness levels of the Swedish national table tennis with the Swedish national cycling team and they had comparable levels of ability to cope with lactic acid buildup.
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 9 years ago
Interesting, thanks Ji-Soo.
Ilia Minkin Posted 9 years ago
They should have compared them with the Swedish national cross-country skiing team!