June 22, 2016

The Ping-Pong Apartments
Below is an essay I wrote in USATT Magazine in 1991. (It was then called Table Tennis Today.) Tim is including it in his latest history volume (see segment below). The state of our sport has dramatically improved since then – we have a much better product to sell. We've gone from 100 USATT certified coaches to 692; six full-time coaches to several hundred; one or two full-time clubs to almost 90; and from nearly all clubs using the "winner-stay-on" format to many or most clubs now offering regular leagues. (Note that the "Ec" in "Mr. Ec" referred to the USATT Executive Committee, which is now called the Board of Directors.)

The Ping-Pong Apartments
By Larry Hodges
(First published in USATT Magazine in 1991)

Mr. Ec bought the Ping Pong apartments in 1933.

The first thing he did was to take a tour of the facilities. He found the rooms were unheated, the plumbing broken, and there was no air conditioning. The building was drab and unkept, and rats and cockroaches infested the building. Paint was chipping.

Mr. Ec did not have the money for renovations, and so he couldn't fix up the building. He spent 52 years lamenting what he would do if he only had more money.

In 1985, Mr. Ec. received a grant from the Olympic Committee to fix up the Ping Pong Apartments. Suddenly he had more money than he knew what to do with!

It was a great time for ping pong. According to a Gallup Poll, over 21 million Americans had expressed an interest in the Ping Pong Apartments. Ping Pong was now an Olympic Sport. Yet, for some reason, few wanted to stay at the Ping Pong Apartments, once they saw the condition of the building.

For some reason, the other Apartments always did better. The Football Apartments, the Basketball Apartments, the Baseball Apartments, the Tennis Apartments, even the Bowling Apartments - all of these buildings were full of happy tenants. And the Ping Pong Apartment complexes of Asia and Europe were full. Mr. Ec was determined to do something about this.

He bought ads in newspapers and TV, advertising the Ping Pong Apartments. He sent agents to the other Apartments to do exhibitions, trying to get them to come to the Ping Pong Apartments. He went to the schools, urging kids to come to the Ping Pong Apartments. He sent literature out to everyone, telling them all the advantages of the Ping Pong Apartments. And all of these ideas were good.

But nobody would come to the Ping Pong Apartments.

The rooms are still unheated. The plumbing is still broken. There is no air conditioning. The building is drab and unkept, and cockroaches and rats still infest the building. The paint is still chipping.

Why won't people come to the Ping Pong Apartments?

The purpose of this essay is to point out the difficulties and problems faced in fixing up our sport. Some think we need to only work on our image. Others, myself included, think it is equally important to work on the structure of our sport - what we have to offer potential members.

According to Gallup Polls, 21 million Americans played table tennis last year. Of these, one in 3000 is a USATT member. We have a club for every 80,000 of them. We have a coach for every 210,000 of them. We have a full-time, professional coach for every 3.5 million of them. 78% of our major cities (over 50,000 population) do not have a table tennis club. Most of the clubs that we have are unprofessional and poorly kept. Our tournaments are often shabby and poorly run. Our top players eke out a living for ten years and then are stuck. Our juniors see no future in table tennis and go on to other sports.

What can we do about this situation? "Mr. Ec," the Executive Committee of USATT, is split on this, as they have been since the founding of USATT (then called USTTA) in 1933. Some well-meaning members think all we need to do is work on our image. But for the first time in our history, I think we have a majority for fixing the building. I'm optimistic, but we have a long way to go.

Image is important, and we have to continue to work on it. Television is important if we want our sport to grow. But we need to have a product to sell first.

Why won't people come to the Ping Pong Apartments?

History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 18
The big change is that I'm coaching at the MDTTC camps in the mornings. So for Tue-Thur, my schedule is roughly: get up at 5AM; work with Tim from 5:30AM-9:30AM; coach at camp from 10AM-1PM; work with Tim from 1:30PM until he starts to fall asleep, usually around 4:30PM. Then I spend that night fixing the photos for the next day, writing the next day's blog, plus all my other work….

Yesterday was a big day – we did three chapters, 54 pages, 180 graphics. Here's the current status:

  • 25 chapters completed, plus covers and four intro pages; one more to go! (Plus a day of inputting corrections.)
  • 415 pages (plus covers)
  • 1475 graphics

Ask the Coach Show
Episode #261 (17:10) - Liu Shiwen and Ai Fukuhara (and other segments).

US Rio Contingent Repel LYTTC Challenge in New Jersey
Here's the article and video (7:25). (I was there – you might see me in the background a few times.)

Thank You from the 2016 US Olympic Team
Here's the USATT note and picture.

One World Sports to Present the 2016 Super Micro USA National Championships
Here's the USATT article.

Wanted: Jewish Paralympic Table Tennis Players to Represent USA
Here's the info page.

Practice Makes Perfect: US Olympians Need Work to Prepare for Media Interaction
Here's the article.

12-year-old Japanese table tennis star eyes gold in 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Here's the article.

ITTF's YouTube Channel Reaches 100 Million Views
Here's the press release.

Interview with Willy and Shelly Leparulo
Here's the USATT interview with the President and First Lady of the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association, by Rahul Acharya.

11 Questions with Sam Smith
Here's the USATT interview.

Mini-Pong: Liu Guoliang vs. Ma Long
Here's the video (42 sec)!

Lobbing from Stands, Switching Sides
Here's the video (32 sec)!

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