How much do I need to practice to be a professional

Yousef Shomali Asked 14 years ago

hey pingskills,

 i am a 15 year old player, and i like table tennis a lot, and i am really eager to be a table tennis pro player. i mastered the forehand smash, forehand topspin, forehand and backhand push, and i am currently working on the forehand and backhand flick. my weak point are the back hands and i am currently working on them. but my question is: how many hours i should practice in a day, and give me some exercises i can practice for my backhand and for my flicks, and my last question is: can i really be a pro player when i grow up?

thanks a lot,

please reply. 

Jeff Plumb Answered 14 years ago

Hi Yousef,

You should practice as much as you can whilst still maintaining quality training. You also need to consider other areas of your life. It is important to balance your Table Tennis with your schooling or your work. Even if you do become a professional player your career in sport is relatively short so you need a backup plan. Make sure you study hard and have some other area to fall back on.

To become a professional is a difficult task. Can you make it? Who knows but if you believe you can and you work hard and you get the right opportunities then maybe.

To master a skill takes around 10,000 hours. So if you can practice for 3 hours a day for 10 years then you will give yourself every chance of becoming a professional. If you practice much less than this then your chance of being one of the world's top players are limited. However not everyone's goal is to become the best in the world. Some people are happy to represent their local state or county. Some people are happy just to reach A grade. You need to find what it is that you really want and then put yourself in the best environment to achieve that. To become a professional not only requires a lot of practice but also a lot of quality competition to hone your skills. Remember though, have a backup plan! 

With regards to improving your flicking, if you have our DVD Training Secrets Revealed, then you can pick some routines from there that will help you immensely. Basically you can serve the ball short with backspin and have your opponent return the ball with a short push, then you can practice your flick and play out the rally. Alternatively you can get your opponent to serve short and you try and flick the ball. Try these out and let us know how you get on. 

Good luck with your Table Tennis. I love to hear people passionate about improving and wanting to be as good as they can.