Why Are Table Tennis Clubs Important?
Local clubs often use the best ping pong tables and you can find them in every state or city all over the USA and Europe. Local clubs operate at the grass-roots level for the sport, designed to help players develop their skills, passion and technique within the game. Here's what to look for in a local club.
Local ping pong clubs are mostly funded by the government and local members, a good place to find out if you have a club or competitions in your local area is to search on The Team USA website https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis or Table Tennis England site: https://www.tabletennisengland.co.uk/ These sites have loads of information and are doing great things in helping the development of the game.
Table tennis is one of the most pleasurable games to play all over in the world. There are thousands of table tennis clubs across the globe, some of which are more advanced and compete in national or international games - while others are just local clubs. But one thing for sure is that you are likely to find a table tennis club not very far from you.
Most of these clubs, whether advanced or local, aims at nurturing and promoting an individual’s talent and abilities in order to develop outstanding table tennis players.
The majority of table tennis clubs require a membership fee in order to keep the club running and cover some of the overhead costs such as administration and staffing, while others are just open to the public for free especially those that have huge sponsorship.
What To Look For When Joining A Ping Pong Club
If you are a table tennis enthusiast and decides to join a club it is important that you first carry out extensive research on the local clubs before joining, their membership fee and entry requirements, their training facilities such as the table tennis table and finally whether the club participates in any league and what kind of league it is.
It's important to bond with the club
This will help you select the club that best suits your interests and that you can easily bond with. The motive of joining a club is also essential before making the ultimate decision; it is important to first identify whether you want a place for having fun or a club that participates in different tournament and is dedicated to grow skills.
It would indeed be best to first visit the club as a guest so that you can decide whether it suits you; if not, then you should consider another club.
What To Expect When Joining A Club
Typically, most local clubs are formed by local players who may or may not be required to pay a membership fee depending on the type of club, its location and services offered.
Depending on the type of club, majority of the clubs are formed by members who are just average players but have the potential of being tremendous table tennis players.
Some clubs may also consist of junior and senior members who compete under different levels under their categories.
Often, a club would hire an experienced coach for its players so it can help improve your game to get ready for games in your local or national leagues.
Some clubs offer training services to talented and interested players who wish to become certified coaches, and are often given a chance to demonstrate their skills in the club.
Most clubs normally train on a standard table tennis table that is just 30 inches high give you the opportunity to master your skills on a professional table.
Clubs are normally in church halls or community centres where they have large rooms to play in and fit about 8 tables within a room.
How Competitive Are Table Tennis Clubs?
Frequently, table tennis clubs will organise an in-house tournament for its members in order to boost their motivation and skills and also to discover the ability levels of the players.
It's important to keep you competitive and slightly nervous when playing against someone else, that makes you improve and take risks with your shots.
Most local table tennis clubs usually participate in domestic or local leagues but may occasionally engage in a friendly tournament with an international or national club.
Clubs keep you competitive
A typical club normally consists of various teams of players who play under different categories that include: double players, single players, senior and junior players.
A player is therefore allowed to select a category that best suits them immediately their membership to the club is confirmed.
Small clubs without any major sponsorship may have minimal training facilities and space. Often, these clubs meet at community centers, local schools or permanent housing structures where they carry out their training sessions. With such limited space and facilities, such clubs may only meet twice or thrice in a week and only has a schedule with limited activities such as group lessons or open play.
If you are however fortunate to land in a club with much space and professional equipment, then you are more likely to get open play sessions, group, private lessons and most probably league play every week.
A club that has greater sponsorship is also likely to have robot training sessions and also members are able to meet on daily basis.
Local Ping Pong Clubs Are Fundamental To The Sport
Table tennis is one of the games where you are allowed to grow your talent through frequent professional training and so much fun to play. Landing in a great local table tennis club is unquestionably the first step to becoming a professional table tennis player.
I started out playing in the Kingfisher table tennis club which helped me develop my game leaps and bounds.
Thanks very much to Jimmy Stokes Snr and Alison Gordon, for helping me develop my game and skills to become a competitive player back in the day!
Of course, if you need to practice at home, be sure to check out our reiew of the Best of Indoor Table Tennis Tables!
Have fun!