Where do I play table tennis when I travel? I play everywhere

Where do I play table tennis when I travel? I play everywhere I go!

One aspect of table tennis that I like is that when I travel, I can usually find a place to play.  

I'll list here both of my home clubs (BCC - Beach Community Center and BTTC - Broward Table Tennis Club) and all the different places that I've played in the last few years.  Often when I travel, I call up the local club and take a table tennis lesson or try to fit in a game. 

I mostly play in the Ft Lauderdale Beach Community Center. It's about 5 minutes from home. I play three times a week there. There are a few exceptional players who play there.  Most of the crowd are good players. I've made it in the last two years from the bottom of barrel up to just a bit better than the average player there.  It's social so sometimes, I'm playing in doubles games with mixed levels.  But I'm more into the intense training these days. 

Ft Lauderdale Beach Community Center

I also go to the Broward Table Tennis Center where I both take lessons and play with different people. It an amazing table tennis center run by Carlos Rodriguez. It's near the corner of University Blvd and Sterling Drive (more info) so it's a full 45 minute drive. My sometimes coach is Terese Terranova, the lady in pink below.

In the building where I live (Auberge, Ft Lauderdale), there is a table but it's not really set up for competitive play. There's space but depending on the sunlight, the lighting can be be a problem. 

Travel and Table Tennis

My wife likes to travel and do touristy things. She likes to shop much more that I do.  So when we travel, I often visit a club. 

Side note: I also try to indulge in my other sports when I travel. In Paris, where we go frequently, I have both a boxing trainer, a yoga studio, and a gym right next to where we stay in the 7th.  

Here's a quick list of my ping pon travel visits so far.

Ft Lauderdale,  Florida - My home club, where I've entered a few tournaments, Broward TTC. Terese Terranova. 

Washington DC , WDCTT - The DC Table Tennis center is in NW DC and is owned by Khaleel Asgarali. I visited in 2022, 23, and 25. I'm looking forward to getting back there.

Gaithersburg Maryland -  The Maryland Table Tennis Center.  2022 

NYC -  A ping pod center around W 48th street in Manhattan.   2022 

London - Eli Baraty and Guy Ben-Aroya in London. March 2024, Sept 2025. eBaTT in Oxgate (West London)

Paris, TT16 - Nicolas Brocard in the 16th arrondisement on the Blvd Lannes. Played March 2024 and March-April 2025. Nicolas has a 15 table facility for table de tennis at  the Muette centre sportif. 

Girona Spain - Maestro Elizabeth Granados Artacho (who also helped me with my Spanish) and Tennis Table Girona have their own articles on this blog.  July 2024

San Sebastian, Spain.   La Escuela de tenis de mesa, Club Atlético San Sebastián. July 2024  

Kendell (Miami) - Ping Pod, a session with Neslihan Özdemir (girlonthebikeNY),  Oct 2024

 

Khaleel Asgaral of WDCTT - Wash DC

WDCTT has 5 tables and a robot
Washington Table Tennis Club

Guy Ben-Aroya - eBaTT London

- - - - -Notes from a Lesson at eBaTT with Guy in W London  ---- - - - 

Backhand: Much more wrist. Cock it fully and hit with the wrist. Less arm.  
Forhand: Open up at the waist and legs with paddle down, arm straight down and behind the leg. Move from the waist with a salute motion (much less arm). Mind the distance between my body and the ball. Spin the ball (don't hit it). Shift weight to right leg as set up, back as part of the hit.

- - - - -Notes from Playing in Brickell PingPod  ---- - - - 

I was down in Brickell, a part of Miami, this week for a few things and rather than sit around, I booked into the Pingpod center in Brickell, it was a nine minute walk from my hotel. In reality, it was longer since the center is not exactly where the address suggests it should be and the signage is not so clear.  But once I found it, very nice.  Small, there are only four tables but a great space. 

I had booked a coach for beginners, Neslihan Özdemir (girlonthebikeNY). I told her I just wanted to practice. We  mostly played games.  She  ran me through some drills and reminded me, as everyone does, to stay low, to get ready for the next shot, to hit forehands with my body (not just my arm), and that the more reliable shot is usually cross court (not down the line). 

She taught me a new serve which was great. I had been hitting my slice serves pretty hard with tons of spin. She showed me that a much more understated serve with just a little backspin, hit short, and with a shorter softer stroke was also possible and often effective. Cool!

At one point, I did ask her about serve returns since it was on my mind. She made two points, one of which was new to me.

1.  Watch their paddle at the point of contact with the ball,
2.  Stare at the ball and you can actually see the spin on the ball. I've tried this and so far, I have not made any progress. But I'll keep staring at the ball and see if it comes into focus soon...

At the ping pong, we only hit the record button only once, that's the video point above. 

I would have hung out for the social hour  that was a little later except I had a previous commitment.  

 

Brickell PingPod Center, Miami

 

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Elisabeth Granados Artacho, Girona Spain

Paris - Nicolas Brocard (old Center - pre 2025)

West London (Oxgate) - Eli Baraty eBaTT

Want to read more?
Getting Started playing Table Tennis (includes videos of me playing in 2023)
Playing Table Tennis when I travel and at home - This article
Returning Serves and Dealing with Spin
Table Tennis in Girona with Professor Artacho
My TT Tournament Performance as of 2023