Which one is more challenging? / Legends

Table-tennis                           Tennis

Table Tennis(ping-pong) and Tennis are very similar sports as table tennis was originated from tennis that the rules and styles of both sports are very alike. But which one would be more challenging? According to my experience, it seems both sports are very challenging; however, table tennis is a lot easier for people who do not like moving around a lot, but tennis is more favorable to whom feels difficult on controlling their rackets to hit the ball.

Well, there are a lot of differences between these sports that not even the rules are exact; the servings are different, you need to hit your side fist while serving table-tennis when you do not for tennis.

The most obvious difference is the speed of the game that I personally think table-tennis is more interesting thing to play because of its speedy match; about 3 or more times faster than playing tennis. Even it is more interesting to play a doubles for table-tennis than tennis. It may sounds that I am being partial, but it is my final impression from playing both of the games.

 Legends of  table tennis 

Viktor Barna

He is the one of the greatest table Tennis players of all time. Born in August 24, 1911, in Budapest, Hungary and participated in the world championship since 1938, receiving 21 gold medals, 6 silver medals, and 4 bronze medals. Furthermore, He has shown particularly skilled on smashes. In 1962 he published the book Table Tennis Today and in 1971 Your Book of Table Tennis. In 1957 he published the book “How to win at Table Tennis” 

Zhang Yining

Born in 1981 Beijing, China. She joined the Chinese National Team at the age of 14. The interesting fact is that in the last several years, she had always been at the top 3 spots in women’s rankings. Zhang Yining won her first title in the 1998 Malaysian open, claiming both the singles and doubles titles.

Zhang Yining won the 2008 Women’s Singles title at the Volkswagen Open Japan by beating Guo Yan in the semi-final and Li Xiaoxia in the final. She regained her 2009 Women’s Singles title gaining a win against Guo Yue, her national team colleague.

Zhang Yining has been the most successful female player in the 14 year history of the ITTF Pro Tour in singles events, which is a magnificent achievement.

Richard Bergmann

Born on 10 April 1919  in Vienna, Austria; he was regarded as the greatest defensive player in table tennis history.

Table Tennis vs Golf

Why do Golf Professionals Play Ping-Pong?

Many of great ping-pong players know that the table tennis is one of the toughest sport to master. This attracts many of other great sportsmen to play ping-pong, such as the golf master, ‘Tiger Woods’.

Today’s talk would be based on why many golf sportsmen tend to play table-tennis as their second major sport.

– Professional golfers seem to play a lot of ping-pong, especially when competing in international team events. But Why?

• It’s easy on the body, ping-pong is not a strenuous sport!
• It is an indoor sport, so can disregard the weather.
• Ping-pong would help improve their hand/eye coordination, and balance, which is very important for golfers.
• Hitting the ball is quite addictive
• When having the tournaments, the players need to move around frequently, and the table-tennis set is light to carry around.
• The players practice their stamina; top ping-pong players are more athletic than the top golf players Some of the golfers could be good players at amateur level, because their hand + eye coordination certainly helps when playing, plus knowledge of angles, ball curving in flight, effects of spin, all of these golf skills would help in table tennis.

Strokes

Today, I will talk about ‘smash’ strokes that are needed when playing table-tennis.

The First one to talk about is ‘SMASH’, which is very attractive stroke, and especially helpful when eliminating the one’s stress by hitting the ball as fiercely as you can. But I personally do not favor using smashes, mostly because of its limited accuracy, and thus I use it when I really feel to do or just to have fun. But remember, it is not recommended to use ‘smash’ when you are playing against beginners; they instantly lose the fun of the game so they may never play table-tennis anymore!(Its like killing one’s dignity)

Smashing combines waist, forearm, and wrist movement to the fullest extent. A good smash is very hard to return, but it can be done.

For the forehand smash;

• A longer backswing
• Greater weight transfer during swing
• Faster, more intense snapping of the forearm when contacting ball
• Depending on ball height and position, the racket is closed more than usual to keep the ball in the court

For the backhand smash; it is just same as forehand smash, but you really need to focus more at the ball. Try to direct the ball to a location where it is least like

ly to be hit back, accidentally or intentionally.

Table Tennis Tips and Tricks

• Mix up serves of different length and spin. This only refers to people who are not novice players
• Develop a third-ball attack. Don’t just stand there because you managed to hit the ball over the net; instead, prepare for the opponent’s next attack or move.
• Find some cool serves to experiment with. If you insist for one type of serve and not trying for other cool serves, you are the one who’s getting disadvantages; using diversified serves gives perplexity to opponents.
• Control your temper. Always, always play seriously even though you are heading many points ahead. Unless you are a professional player, there are many chances that the experienced lots can be defeated by novices.
  

Why … it?

Table tennis is a very popular sport in the East Asia, and it is the most popular sport in the world in terms of number of those who play, as well as one of the newest one among  the  the major sports. Ping Pang ‘Qiu’ is the official name for the sport in the mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. In Japan, ‘ Takkyu’ is the official name for the sport. Besides, ‘Tak-ku’ is the name for this sport in Korea.

Did you know that…???

• Early table tennis paddles were normally made of cork, cardboard, or wood, and covered with cloth, leather or sandpaper.

• A modern table tennis match at the elite level lasts on the average about 30 minutes. Top players often smash the ball at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.

• How many balls can two players hit back and forth in 60 seconds? The current record is 173 set by Jackie Bellinger and Lisa Lomas in 1993.

• China, Sweden and South Korea are currently the world powers in table tennis.

WHY PLAY IT ???

1. You can eliminate fats that are piling up in your body
2. This is a change to socialize with others
3. Its not like golf; you can save bucks and bucks!
4. NO gender discrimination~~~
5. And lastly, this is for you to enjoy!

Table-Tennis

Table-Tennis, also called as ‘Ping-Pong’, is one of the world’s sports that was elevated to an Olympic Game since 1988. It is the global game, and most importantly that people can play it well with only basic skills. The only thing that may prevent people from playing would be that; Table-Tennis can only be played with ‘table’ and ‘rackets’, unlike soccer or basketball, which do not require any extra equipments other than balls.

I loved this sport since I was 4th Grader, that I often played either with my families or friends until nowadays, like joining in the table-tennis club at KIS. Although other people may think that I am not really good in this sport(just a bit higher than average?), I think I can explain some interesting facts about this sport as this blog continues.

Table-Tennis seems really simple and easy sport, but people may change their minds when they see the games by professionals like Olympic final match. Thus, there are several types of grips, shots, spins, and even movements when playing table-tennis, players often have their typical game styles, for example: I use ‘penhold grip'(also known as Chinese grip), like ‘pushing strokes’, and favor doing side-spins.

It will be really fascinating when some people begins to play Table-Tennis after reading this blog. Indeed, it is an attractive sport.