how long before division 1 player

Hi how long does it take to become divison 1 player? I m 52 and have been playing for 2 years now seriously about 7 months. I m fully committed and play 5 times per week about 2 to 3 hours each time. Any advice more than well.

Hi many thanks for reply. I have grasped the basics very quickly it s just footwork at the moment which is hindering progress. Due a new knee next year so hopefully I will be able to move much quicker. Plus also when playing opponents I need to read more on what the opponent is trying to do to mess up my game as opposed to what I am trying to do. But this obviously comes more with experience. I ll stick with it and hopefully in 5 to 6 years be in division 1.   You never know.

Yeah just realised new to forum obviously pushed wrong section ha.

hammondpro wrote: Hi many thanks for reply. I have grasped the basics very quickly it s just footwork at the moment which is hindering progress. Due a new knee next year so hopefully I will be able to move much quicker. Plus also when playing opponents I need to read more on what the opponent is trying to do to mess up my game as opposed to what I am trying to do. But this obviously comes more with experience. I ll stick with it and hopefully in 5 to 6 years be in division 1.   You never know.

No idea what the USA rating equivalence of Division 1 is.

But, I can tell you what is and isn t important. I would say age is not really a factor, I was older than you when I finally got to 2000. Also, I m a big guy, not particularly nimble.

Practice. Practice, practice, practice. Deliberate practice, working on weaknesses, turning strengths into weapons. You can go to the club 7 days a week, play matches against people worse and better than you, it won t change your level very much. It took me about 3 years, with 2 hours a week of drills with coaching, one more session a week where I would implement my improving skills on my own, and one where I just played matches for fun to go from a run of the mill club player to 2000. It s more about finding the time and dedicating yourself to the goal.

jfolsen

What s total nbr of plyrs and what nr in that total is div1?

i would have to say this is a bad question, if its UK you need to state the league, i ve played and done quite badly in brighton and eastbourne leauges, i played two years brighton and this year eastbourne. 

Pretty much the same response as the others, Senior British League Div 1 will take a long time and a lot of hard work to reach, and may not even be achievable if you reach a physical plateau. 

Edited by SmackDAT - 12/06/2016 at 2:47pm

Hi everyone wow this was a huge response. The league I play in is Division 3 in Kent. Yes there are some very good payers well probably 90% of them are.
I think from an age point of view Division 1 is possible its just time and practice and I have set myself a 7 year period to achieve this.

At present my knee is a big issue as it has hindered my fitness progress but I am due a new one in March next year. So fingers crossed this will allow me to undertake intensive fitness regimes to improve speed and agility which is a weak point for me at present.

My game is based of pure attack which is my comfort zone although I do have another 2 games which I will fall back on if the need be. Does not always work but I feel you need quite a variation in your tool box and as some have said you need to keep on practicing your backup games even if you get a bit bored with them.

I play 5 times a week. Ill breakdown how I utilise this time.
1 day coaching 2-3 hours
2nd day 2-3 hours just serving
3rd day 2-3 hours serve receive then incorporate looping drives flips chopping etc.
4th day singles matches 2 -3 hours practicing shots which need improving not bothered about winning the games.
5th 2-3 hours playing doubles.
This is mixed in with all different level players from premier to 3rd division so I get quite a variety of play plus I play in division 3 once a week.

My set us is a victas firefall fc blade and I love Chinese fh rubbers I find these suit my game perfectly and use jap rubber on the backhand. Tried Tenergy but just don t like them bit overrated if you ask me and price well rip off. I have played against players using these and I don t think it adds any miracle formula to their game. Now long pimples for me that s hard one to get my head around. Still working on that one but I do happen to have the opportunity to play a few people who use these. Medium short pimples don t bother me.

With regards ratings not sure how that works to be honest as I am still learning the ins and outs of the game.

With regards previous sports I have only ever competed in time trials in my younger days apart from that never played racket sports. Used to do a lot of circuit training weights running and swimming. So I suppose I now how to train and eat properly to get super fit which is an advantage.

Again thanks very much for your response and time.

Good question probably depends on your motivation and age. Rather high ambition. If young enough and get sponsered to train in china then sure you could do it.

what you or me

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Realy depends on how strong your club/local league is

Asking people who have been playing for a long time: Is table tennis one of those sports where some people just have a knack and progress extremely quickly whilst others seem to be stuck at a certain level for ever? 

Simon_plays wrote: Asking people who have been playing for a long time: Is table tennis one of those sports where some people just have a knack and progress extremely quickly whilst others seem to be stuck at a certain level for ever?  I had this issue with skateboarding, saw lots of people pick up a board and you could clearly see that if they devoted themselves to it they could be really good within about a year whilst others (like myself) had to work really hard to even get to an average level and seemed to be stuck at that level for years.