3 Thresholds in Table Tennis

ONE: Weight threshold

Not enough finesse, too much racket (mass)

An inescapable, it seems, threshold the table tennis industry imposes upon us can be represented by the equation 90 + 50 + 50 = 190 grams (or 88 + 51 + 51). I struggle to understand why Butterfly, Tibhar, Victas and Yasaka think gluttony weight-wise is the way to go. Take my 2 Butterfly rackets which are equipped with rubbers from the aforementioned brands - even though a 5ply wood Primorac and a 7ply Viscaria Super ALC couldn't be more different, they both sit at 190g even after rubber and heat optimization. The first is actually already vintage, having the metaphorical potency of rusted metal if carbon-reinforced blades are now the battlefield standard. The second I call an unruly tyrant, giving you all the finesse of a carved stone dagger. Too bad lightweight rubbers don't go well with the Super ALC. Sheer mass can be a first dealbreaker for a racket seeker because for every gram above 185g, the strength and skill threshold for playing really good table tennis increases exponentially. 

TWO: Threshold of Pain

An endurance sport, table tennis was never meant to be

Some treat table tennis as an endurance sport. But true connoisseurs play table tennis to alleviate their pains. Growing physical pains are a sign of inefficient or excessive training. In a match, the player with a higher threshold of pain tends to win after multiple deuces. Perhaps that's why "win by service" continues to be a thing for those at the lower end of this spectrum. 

THREE: Threshold of a Conclusion

The highest stage of TT

When do you know in the course of a game you've reached the threshold of a conclusion? That you are in the position to secure the point through a final offense or a series of moves sure to put you at such an advantage you might as well have won the point? The threshold of a conclusion could also be a transition point between the defensive / neutral phase and the offensive phase. Getting to the threshold often involves careful touch play, the feminine side of TT. If one is a poor judge of when the threshold of a conclusion has been reached so that one launches attacks when it would be wiser to wait or first get oneself out of a trap set by your opponent, loss is almost certain. If a player with the necessary skills and agility also has a great sense of the threshold of a conclusion, and is always readying oneself to execute a win upon reaching the threshold 44 times in a match, the highest stage of table tennis would have been reached. Hugo Calderano beating Lin Shidong in this year's World Cup is a great illustration of this threshold principle - physical prowess and a superior intelligence always favoured Calderano, what he did was simply wait patiently and calmly for the threshold of every mini conclusion, until the final one.