Question: Should I Buy a Table Tennis/ Ping-Pong Table for Use at Home?
Many junior players get started in competitive ping-pong because their family bought a table tennis table to play on at home. But for those of you who haven't bought a ping-pong table yet, and have kids who are looking to play competitively, it's worth thinking about whether having a table at home is a plus or a minus.
Answer: If you and the family are looking to have some fun playing ping-pong at home, then definitely go ahead and buy a ping-pong table. You'll have a ton of good times hitting around with family and friends, and get a bit of exercise at the same time. You can't beat ping-pong for some great indoor fun!
The trickier question is whether to buy a table if you have a child who wants to play competitively. On the whole, I think it is a good thing to have a table at home for any junior with competitive aspirations. There are a number of good points to having your own table, including:
- Serving practice can be done at any time at home, saving valuable time when at clubs and outside training sessions.
- If you have more than one child, they can train together whenever they like, which can help them get a lot more table time then their competition - a valuable edge. The same applies if one of the parents can play as well.
- Once your child's technique has matured, the use of a robot can allow practice at any time, without requiring a training partner. (Make sure their technique is solid before buying a robot, otherwise it is very easy to develop bad habits quickly due to the number of balls hit against a robot.)
- Training can be done without having to travel to clubs, playing centers and the like. This can be much more convenient and a significant saving in playing fees.
- With a table at home, it is possible for table tennis training to become a chore, rather than a pleasure. Make sure your children are enjoying using the table, rather than dragging their feet.
- If there is not enough space around the table, it is possible for bad habits to develop. If your child is forced to play close to the table because of the lack of room, or shorten his swing because he might hit the wall behind him, this can cause him to develop poor techniques. (On the other hand, it is said the legendary English blocker Des Douglas developed his own blocking style because of the cramped location where he first learnt to play!)
- If you have more than one child interested in ping-pong, it is possible that one may improve much faster than the rest, which can cause the others to lose interest in playing, leaving you with a table that is not being used.
- If your children are spending much more time playing at home than under the supervision of a coach, it is possible that bad habits will creep into their style, and be hard to remove. This problem becomes less likely as your children's technique becomes more mature and stable.
