Tournament Table Tennis

Ji-Soo Woo Asked 16 years ago

Hi, thanks for the help on the other question - I'll try it tonight.

I had another query.

I am planning to enter as many table tennis tournaments as possible from now on (like the upcoming Easter Classic in Victoria), and was wondering what is the main difference between tournament play and regular play that I need to prepare myself for - according to your own experience.

I guess the skill and diversity of opponents are some differences, but anything else?

Sorry for the vague and open ended question.

Alois Rosario Answered 16 years ago

Hi there,

Well done on playing tournaments.

The biggest difference when payig tournaments is the waiting and not knowing when you are playing.  When you play is dependent on all the other players in the tournament and when they can fit your match in so be prepared.

The way to deal with this is to make sure you are not sitting around for too long.  If you haven't played for a while get up and have a hit with someone even for a few minutes.  The other factor is eating.  As you could be there for the whole day you do need to eat at some stage.  Try to eat regularly in small doses especially things such as fruit buns.  Keep your fluids up as well.  It is easy to get to the end of the day and feel shocking because you have forgotten to eat and drink.

You will hopefully encounter a different range of people than you are used to playing.  This is also useful for development.  The more different styles of players and especially serves that you can play against under match conditions, the better off you will be.

Both Jeff and I have played that tournament many times in the past. 

We would love to hear a report of your experiences.  We could even add it is a Blog.  Looking forward to it and we will try to check out your results.