Question: Should I Get Coaching Lessons Before I Start to Play Table Tennis/ Ping-Pong?
Answer: Most people have hit the odd ball around on a ping-pong table from time to time. But when you decide that you would like to play regularly, whether at home or at a local club, it's worth taking some time to think about whether you should take some lessons from a coach. There are some pros and cons either way, which I have summarized below.
Pros of Playing For a Few Months Before Getting Coaching
- If you are not all that ambitious about your table tennis, you can have a lot of fun playing at home or at a club, without having to worry about whether you are playing the strokes with good technique. Expert coaching is not cheap, and at most clubs you can usually get some advice from fellow players to help you get started.
- If you find that you have been bitten by the ping-pong bug and want to get serious, you can always go looking for a coach at that point in time.
- You can see whether you have some natural aptitude for the game first. A good coach can help just about anyone, but if you lack natural co-ordination you may feel that it's not worth paying good money to try to learn a sport that you don't have any talent for.
- You can also check out the clubs in your area, and see what you think of the local scene. These are the people you will be seeing often as you continue to play. Are they the sort of crowd you would be happy being around, or would you rather stick to having a hit with a few friends at home? If you don't plan on playing at clubs or competing, you probably don't need to bother with getting any coaching.
Cons of Playing For a Few Months Before Getting Coaching
- Probably the biggest drawback is that it is very easy to learn bad habits and poor technique if you don't get some good coaching when you start playing ping-pong. Modern table tennis is a sport where technique is very important, and the modern technique using advanced equipment is very different from the basement style ping-pong that everyone has played at one time or another. Play too much basement style ping-pong and you'll find it difficult to change to the correct technique later on.
- If you are only playing at home with family and friends, you may not ever realize just what modern table tennis is all about, and what can be done by advanced players. You may not bother taking up the sport because you don't know just how challenging and rewarding it can be.
- If you are playing at clubs with other more experienced players, you may get discouraged by your lack of progress, or your playing standard in comparison to other players. It is easy to feel that the sport is just all too hard for you, and give up too early.
Recommendations
So what do I recommend? I think it would be a good idea for anybody who plans to play ping-pong regularly to get at least a half-dozen lessons or so, just so that you can understand the fundamentals of spin and stroke technique. Then you can decide whether you want to play a while with what you have learned so far, or whether you want to keep going with lessons to speed up your progress.I've heard lots of players say that they wish they got more coaching when they first started, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain that getting some early coaching was a waste of money. So if you are starting out in table tennis, get a helping hand from a good coach - just think of it as a small investment in a sport that you will be able to play right up until your eighties and beyond!
