Readers and Forum Members - Pet Peeves About Table Tennis/ Ping-Pong
From Sean P. O'Neill- Lack of structure at the club level (in US) as compared to rest of world.
- Lack of organized training sessions at most clubs (winner stay up is too popular).
- Lack of school programs. We have a great one in Portland; which should be a model for other cities.
- Lack of state associations. Asking headquarters to answer 95% of the questions a state director or association could easily do wastes precious national resources
- Lack of communication. I think state associations could improve that dramatically as that is where the real power for change should reside.
- Lack of prize money for Nationals. More money should be spent on Nationals than at US Open. That is a no brainer.
- Lack of synergy - far too many things could be tied together for synergy to help blow up the sport but no one seems to seeing the connections.
One example. USATT coaching is having a seminar this month, same weekend Colorado Springs is running a sanctioned tournament tournament, same weekend US Paralympics is running a military clinic for pong. All 3 could have been intertwined to create an amazing trifecta for the aspiring USATT coach. Instead, three will be completely separate events. I hope next time there will be better communication.
- Lack of uniforms. In Europe and Asia you play for a team be it in league, open or regional competitions. As a team you must look the part. In the US we look like scoundrels for the most part. No serious company wants to be associated with the patchwork quilt look. Change your image, change your results.
- Lack of post event follow-up. Results need to be sent to local papers or TV stations to complete the 2nd half of the job. All real sports have pre-game publicity and post-game publicity.
- Lack of umpires for sanctioned events. I sit on the officials committee so I need to do a better job on this one.
- Lack of videos of our tournaments online - Zero cost to upload and plenty of opportunity to add sponsors logo. No longer can we blame lack of TV for coverage. MiniDV cameras and a tripod cost less than $250. US Nationals should be online within one day of event.
- Equipment prices are too high. I work for ping-pong.com so I will try to get them to run some more specials. I used to pay $6 for Sriver. ;-(
- Lack of club vs club team matches. This is what Europe and Asia are all about and they are kicking our butts at all levels. My club versus your club to see which club is best. Those are fighting words that lift all boats.
- Lack of junior programs. Maybe 5-6 country wide. I have more soccer programs in my town with more kids and more coaches.
- One of the things I hate about table tennis (at least in USA tournaments) is the lack of sportsmanship being taught to some young players. Some of these players act like they are the best that has happened to table tennis even though their rating is in triple digits. I beat a 600 rated player in a tournament recently. The match wasn't even close and the kid had no chance of winning. The kid stormed off the court after losing without shaking my hand and the kid's father who had been coaching and video taping the match did not even tell the kid shake hands with his opponent or in any way try to talk to him about his behavior. The same kid did celebrate with a loud "CHO" and fist pump the net and edge he got during the match. These were 2 of the total 5 points he won in the entire match.