Players vs Improvers

So I did a small statistical study of these devoted, advanced-intermediate club players, at and above my level, in my region of Washington State in the USA. I eyeballed the charts generated by the USATT website's ratings pages for each of them, discounted an initial rapid improvement phase in their numbers if that occurred (I wanted to see how regular practice improves you over time, not how you can get a lot better quickly at the beginning), and counted up rough numbers for the number of years of active, devoted table tennis play and the USATT ratings level improvement during those years. I excluded both wimps, who do not compete regularly so their numbers are not reliable and their results are also not of interest here, and stars, super-high-level players like Fan Yi Yong, who are bouncing off the ceiling. And I split the players into Players, who play around once or twice per week and play an occasional tournament, versus Improvers, who are devoted to the sport and to their improvement in it.

Here are the data and results, with a short discussion below.

• Improvers are quite devoted to the sport and continuously improve:

  Rating on 040721	Years of continuous, active play:	USATT Rating Improvement:
  2313	3	200
  2313	2	100
  2151	9	450
  2136	2	150
  2132	8	300
  2126	3	200
  2101	9	150
  2064	1	100
  2001	1	150
  1999	10	150
  1995	9	400
  1977	2.5	400
  1956	6	200
  1923	10	200
  1818	5	400
  1802	4	200

  Results:

  • Sample size: 16
  • Average years in a "career": 5.0
  • Average improvement per player: 240 points
  • Average improvement per year : 48 points per year.

• Players are quite active but are not intensely devoted to improvement.

  Rating on 040721	Years of continuous, active play:	USATT Rating Improvement:
  2024	2	0
  2001	9	-50
  1997	8	50
  1926	10	-80
  1864	10	-30
  1831	2	500 (initial spurt, excluded)
  1831	2	0

  Results

  • Sample size: 6
  • Average years in a "career": 6.7
  • Average improvement per player: -18 points
  • Average improvement per year: -3 points

Once stabilized after an initial spurt of improvement, table tennis skill level, improves on average at the remarkably slow rate of only about 50 points per year -- and only does so if you are quite active in the sport. Occasional spurts of faster improvement do seem to occur, primarily when a player is receiving coaching and also plays a lot.

But many players, even high-level players who play recreationally and less frequently, rather than with a focus on improving their level, stay at their level, or gradually fall, despite their level and despite their weekly participation. It takes a very significant effort to improve your level.

So, to imagine you will get to 2000 right away is to set yourself up for disappointment. It would be realistic to set a goal of 50 points better by the time next year's tournament comes around. Then you can be happy if your commitment to improvement raises your level more than that. You will see your commitment in your rating changes.

And when you watch a relatively high-level, mature player playing this game and still learning and improving, you can try to appreciate what has really gone into their skill development: many years of devotion to this miraculous sport.

Me? I'm impressed.