John Edelson's competitive table tennis career has not gone great.
I had been under the impression that if I took a few lessons and played hard / trained three times a week, I would become a competitive player. Here's what that approach has yielded so far:
Quick summary - My ranking started low and rather than improving, has dropped. I'm at the very bottom of the competitive rankings.
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| John Edelson's Table Tennis Rankings |
A Solid Start. I played in my first tournament in March of 2023 and I was encouraged by having a few wins. I was awarded a player rating of 1110 which I thought was a respectable rating. I played again in May and did about the same and my rating increased to 1118. I was thrilled.
But then a lot of losing. Unfortunately. since then, I have been matched against a more competitive crew and I fear my current rating is a better illustration of where I fit in the competitive table tennis world. Basically, at the bottom.
In my next tournaments, I have not done so well (in one tournament I didn't win a single match) and so my ranking is now down to 977. In retrospect, my initial scores might have been a bit of a fluke since I was matched against several players with no ranking at all and I beat them. Their names might have been Mo, Curly, Larry, and Shemp.
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| Opponents from First Tournaments? |
You can see my rating as it evolves here.
You can look up any competitive table tennis player's ranking on the USATT website, here's a shortcut.
Improvement Feels Inevitable. BUT, I am still working at it and my technique is improving. There's also the question of my fitness. When I watch myself playing, I am surprised to see that I appear very low energy on the court. I look tired. I feel like I'm being intense but compared to the others, not so much. So I'm trying to also get more in shape by generally improving my workout schedule, diet, weight, and mentality.
Stay tuned. For more background and to see what I look like as a player, here's another article about me getting started in table tennis . (It includes some much requested videos of me playing table tennis)
BTW, I do still do a bit of martial arts in the form of doing boxing-based circuit training at 9 Rounds in Ft Lauderdale. I usually get to hit pads but I no longer spar. Here I am with the speed bag.
Getting Started playing Table Tennis (includes videos of me playing in 2023)
Playing Table Tennis when I travel and at home
Returning Serves and Dealing with Spin
Table Tennis in Girona with Professor Artacho
My TT Tournament Performance as of 2023 - This article
