Who is your inspiration?
Discussion
bryan george Asked 12 years ago
Who was your inspiration to enter the Olympics and who taught you table tennis?
Jeff Plumb Answered 12 years ago
Hi Bryan,
There are a lot of people who were my inspiration. I started off enjoying table tennis at school and then joined a club with a friend. Once I joined the table tennis club I was amazed at how good the players were. That was really what first inspired me. I've had a lot of good coaches and Mohammed Al Hassan was my coach when I won the U/15 Junior Australian Championships. I remember watching the 1988 Olympics on TV late at night and they showed about 30 seconds of the Australians playing table tennis. I'd recorded it and would watch it over and over. I remember seeing Gary Haberl looping the ball and I was amazed and how much dip he could get on his forehand topspin. Things are certainly different nowadays thanks to YouTube. You can watch your heroes all day long!
My parents were also very supportive of my table tennis and without their help I would never have reached the level I did.
Although not directly related to the question, I think it's worth mentioning that it takes a long time to become a good player. I feel like too often people give up too early. A lot of becoming a good player is persistence. Remember it takes around 10 years of quality practice in any field to become world class. A string of good results could be just around the corner if you keep working hard.
So now I'll hand it over to everyone else. Who is your inspiration?
Thoughts on this question
Become a free member to post a comment about this question.
Oliver Posted 12 years ago
only 10 years?!?!?!?
Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago
Hi Oliver,
It's simplifying things slightly to break it down into a nice formula, but there's a line of thought that says you need 10,000 hours of practice to become world class at any high level skill. This can be broken down in to 10 years times 1,000 hours a year.
Jason Ha Posted 12 years ago
My friends and the people at my club are my inspiration; being in a place with people who enjoy table tennis makes it easier for me to strive to achieve and train harder in Table Tennis. And as cliché as it sounds, I guess the Chinese players were my inspirations at the very beginning I started dedicating my time to Table Tennis; their way of playing, their styles, strokes, serving even when the say "CHO!" at the end, makes me want to be like them someday and makes me inspired to train harder!
So yeah, those are my inspirations! :D
bryan george Posted 12 years ago
wow
Lukas Oberbanscheidt Posted 12 years ago
My inspiration is the chinese beast Ma Long. But not only at the table. Did you see an interview with him? I found it very good how he moves through his life.
mat huang Posted 12 years ago
By any chance are you the Jason ha of elite club. Maybe not lol
Jonathan Huynh Posted 12 years ago
what age were you when you went to the olympics jeff?
Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago
I was 25 years old Jonathan.
Jonathan Huynh Posted 12 years ago
And you started at 12? Cool!
bryan george Posted 12 years ago
my inspiration was actually a bully who used to bully me a lot but because of him i am a state player.he never used to give up showing me how to play tt.i started tt when i was 7.
Collin Hill Posted 12 years ago
Alois Rosario and Jeff Plumb... YOU guys are MY inspiration!!! :D
Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago
Thanks Collin.
Kenneth Samson Posted 11 years ago
My Inspiration is the Devil's Hand, Ma Lin the Dragon of Table Tennis.
bertus bertus Posted 11 years ago
Several things inspire me, not just 1 person.
I very much enjoy watching 2nd bundesliga on youtube and copy a lot of strokes/serves they do. The top club members inspire me, they also train me and I always try to surprise them ( wich rarely works ofcourse :] ). And what I find most inspiring of all is my own progression, the feel of succes!
*Forgot to mension on my list of inspiring persons = Panda!
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago
Ha... I like it Bertus... I will have to show this to Panda. He will be so proud.
Mergim Ratkoceri Posted 11 years ago
My inspirations are my coach Jason Clark and Jan-Ove Waldner and the beast Zhang Jike
dos toledo Posted 11 years ago
TIMO BOLL
Pratap Pandit Posted 10 years ago
Inspiration comes from everywhere.
Mine started from all the players who used to trash me under 5 when I started playing TT.
Developing my blocking came from a senior player who uses blocks to cover up for his arthritis (he has to conserve his energy and ensure he doesn't hurt his knees while playing aggressive strokes).
Super fast looping came from a 60 plus player who has the fastest topspins and shots with just mark V and normal wood blade.
Match demeanour from a seeded (Mumbai city, India) junior player who only smiles after winning the match and the final! Throughout the match, she shows absolutely no emotion after winning a point or after a particular bad unforced error.
Table TennisGuy Posted 10 years ago
My coach, who taught me the basic strokes. My father, who encouraged me to switch to pen-hold. My friend, who taught me the value of service. My classmate, who taught me that blocking is just as important as counterattacking. Xu Xin, who introduced me looping. Wang Hao, who further enhanced my RPB style. Long Can, who showed me that pen-hold can twiddle. And finally, PingSkills! For answering my questions clearly and shaping me into the table tennis player I am today!
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 10 years ago
Thanks Table Tennisguy. And we don’t even know your name!
bryan george Posted 9 years ago
Well, maybe that's why I am not improving in table tennis since I have not yet got inspiration or maybe I have not taken inspiration.
Anyway I like all your guys inspirations.
Tom Dean Posted 9 years ago
As Dos Toledo commented
Timo Boll is my inspiration
Olly Cole Posted 9 years ago
I found my inspiration at school level while watching it on the Tv and then went to a club called The Graham Spicer Institute where i became one of the most prolific players in my county by working extremely hard. And now I and playing at a semi-pro level for fun! :)
D K Posted 9 years ago
My inspiration is Koji Matsushita,and his predecessors/descendants of defensive style.
And also.....it is some sort of negative inspiration,but I always start to work harder while annoyed over the words "defender cannot be good",because I want to just show them that one day,I will bulid a wall against their attacks
Ilia Minkin Posted 9 years ago
Ma Lin is still my greatest inspiration. When somebody says "3rd ball attack", I instantly remember "Ma Lin". When somebody says "Ma Lin", I instantly remember "3rd ball attack" :)
Steve Billmire Posted 9 years ago
Hello Pingskills members,
My inspiration is all of the above, but my main inspirational person has to be Jimmy Butler. Who was 3 time U.S. men's singles champion and came back 22 years later to win the title again this year. His enthusiasm for the game is just great to watch at his age. Plus he is an all around good guy, if you have ever watched some of his interviews.
It will be interesting to see how he does in the world tournament's.