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Table Tennis Anyone?

Ready to graduate to table tennis? The game has changed…and so have you

By John Addyman

Anthony Corbett (right) concentrates on the flight of the ball and what his opponent is going to do with it in a practice game at the Genesee Valley Tennis Table Club facility in the Rochester Sports Garden in Henrietta.

The question is not, “Why are so many people playing table tennis in Rochester?” No, the question is, “Why aren’t you playing table tennis in Rochester?”

You’d have company.

Table tennis — ping pong — is a game we’re all familiar with.

It was invented by some bored British colonialists in India in the late 1800s. They stacked books on their edges across a dining room table and used other books to bat golf balls across the table.

A lot of gin and Madeira wine fueled the fun, for sure.

From there the humble game went in two directions — across India into the Far East and back to England, where it reached to America and the Commonwealth nations and Europe.

Estimates say there are 360 million ping-pongers, table-tennisers active today.

Here in the Rochester area, table tennis got its start in the 1930s. In the 1950s through 1970s, there were major organizations sponsoring play — the Industrial Management Council League entertained dynamite teams from Kodak Park, Bausch & Lomb, RG&E, General Railway Signal, Pfaudler’s, Rochester Products, Stromberg Carlson and Rochester Telephone.

The Genesee Valley Table Tennis Club is now the dominant force in the area and seems poised for a resurgence in the sport.

It was reorganized in 1956, grew slowly and kept the flame lit through 2022 — when COVID-19 didn’t kill the activity and many new members joined because it was one of the few active things to do during the pandemic because of the automatic distances between players.

Home to the club’s activities is the accommodating Rochester Sports Garden in Henrietta.

Walk in the door on most days of the week and the first thing you spot is the brightly lit flotilla of table tennis tables, with players dancing an athletic ballet on a new special surface, firing 40-gram balls across a net atop a very study table.

It’s not ping-pong.

“We used to say, ‘Bring your game up from the basement,’” said club representative Jack Mould.

The trip is not so far.

New rules mean the game is faster — 11 points to win, no more than two serves in sequence, can’t hide the ball when you serve. No long volleys.

Peter Yu is poised to return a ball just struck to him. Table tennis coach AJ Carney says the sport is more mental than physical, with concentration like Yu’s making things easier, especially when you’re ready to unwind a response like he is.

And you don’t need special equipment. A spanking-new table tennis racket will set you back $11.77 on eBay or you can get two rackets and a ball bag for $19.23. Check out Walmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Amazon. A lot of economic choices.

Regular indoor racket sports shoes are required — you can’t walk in the door to the Sports Garden from the outside and set foot on the special tennis-table playing surface: you must have a pristine pair of indoor sports shoes in your backpack (with your racket) to use.

The chance of meeting AJ Carney when you walk in is pretty high. He’s a professional table-tennis player and the club’s coach. Table tennis is his life.

“My job as head coach or director of coaches is to build the programs here,” he said. “We have group lessons for youths, for juniors, for adults, for different skills levels and private lessons. I work with other coaches interested in coaching here, giving them more experience. We have summer camps and specialty camps for out-of-state players who commute or travel.

“People ask me, ‘They pay you money to hit ping-pong balls?’ That’s what I do.”

He’s also the tournament director.

A local event will draw 50 to 60 players, a medium or larger event brings in close to 100, with players from many states.

Table tennis players start as young as 6 and Carney has clients who are 85 working with him.

“I have a junior class. The youngest kid is 8. We do typically start kids as young as 6 based on longevity [how tall they are] and focus [parents know all about focus],” he said. “Some 5-year-olds will start if they’re tall enough.”

“Normally people who start out buy their own paddle,” Carney added. “Any general sneaker is fine. You don’t need a uniform, things like that.”

Because of the way table tennis grew from its origins, the folks that come to play in Rochester are an eclectic bunch.

“There are a lot of unique people in the sport of table tennis,” Carney said. He’s competed in enough places to have a more global view and there’s a lesson to it. “We all have our oddities, our quirks. Here are many interesting people in this sport. We have all different backgrounds.”

And the coach spells out a table tennis life lesson: “The unique thing about this sport is that it’s more mental than physical. I’ve played against a lot of people in my career by where if you judge a book by its cover and say to yourself, ‘There’s no way I’m losing to this person; they don’t look athletic’…a lot of times I’d get demolished because I assumed, based on appearance. But their brains, and how they understand the game and how they understand spin, how they understand angles — as long as you understand those three things, you’re really good at the game.”

Octogenarian wins US Nationals
Paul Nielsen, 82, of Lima, Livinsgton County, has won medals in recent national table tennis competitions with an exquisite ability to put a particular spin on a ball. “I like to be disruptive,” he says.

Paul Nielsen, 82, of Lima is really good at the game.

He won two silver medals at the 2021 U.S. Nationals in Ontario, California. He did it again in the US Nationals in Las Vegas in 2022.

Then he picked up a gold medal and a silver at the Joola Global Tournament. (Joola makes table tennis equipment.)

“I started playing when I was about 6 or 7,” Nielsen said. “I was seriously into it in high school and college.”

He was a member of that huge Kodak League and played in a lot of tournaments through the late 1990s, then walked away from it.

“I didn’t start playing again until 2013. Last year I started training with AJ Carney,” he said.

Nielsen left to answer a question about the racket he uses. Another player, who just came off the floor, stopped to drop a piece of advice about Nielsen.

“He’s very tough,” the man said. “Nobody likes to play him. He can be very frustrating.”

He obviously knew what he was talking about.

The man left as Nielsen approached. Was he really difficult to play?

“I try to make things difficult,” Nielsen said, his eyes twinkling. “I love being disruptive.”

Oh boy.

“My paddle has long pips on it,” he explained, pointing to the many rubber dimples on the flat surface. “They tend to disrupt the flight of the ball. If I return a topspin, it goes back to my opponent as backspin.”

Nielsen was a senior research chemist at Kodak. His doctorate is from North Dakota State. He’s illustrating what’s going on with the ball with his index finger. Spinning one way coming to him and return with different spin to the opponent. And he’s smiling.

One of the things that folks slowly and sadly realize as they age is that friends from not too long ago have fallen aside. You just turn around and they’re gone.

Nielsen has found that table tennis and the camaraderie of the club have greater meaning to him than some of the younger members.

“This is a big social circle of friends,” he said. “Especially when you’ve retired. This is where you can get out and be with friends…so many great, good friends. If you’re concerned about brain health, to protect yourself, take up table tennis. There is evidence from some research I’ve seen that table tennis is very, very beneficial to brain health. It has been used as therapy for people with Parkinson’s disease.”

Nielsen recommends training with Carney “for anyone who wants to get started the right away.”

“Just show up,” Carney suggested.

“When your average Joe or ping pong player walks in our door and they see table tennis players, they can get intimidated,” he said. “The difference between ping pong and table tennis is that everyone plays ping pong or has played it, in their garage, their basement — what I called casual play. Table tennis is more competitive play. It’s a game with two different environments.

“If you’re curious, just show up, walk in the door. A lot of people will be nice and spend time with you, hit around with you for 10 or 15 minutes. After you play with four or five people, you’ve been playing for an hour or more. Training is also a really good way to explore table tennis. We have foundation classes for adults and youth to learn your basic foundational skills.”

That first sight of all the table tennis players in action as you walk in the door of the Sports Garden is impressive. The flow and fluid grace of the game isn’t lost on you. And when the speed picks up in a match…wow!

How to Get Involved

More information about the Genesee Valley Table Tennis Club

The club’s website, www.GVTTC.com, is a great place to find answers to your questions about playing table tennis.

Anyone can show up to get acquainted with the club seven days a week during what are known as “open play” hours, from 3:30 to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Become a member and play in a league or during those open play times.

Generally speaking, an individual membership is about $600 per year, but there is also a monthly plan at $75 a month if, for instance, you’re a snowbird and can’t use a year’s membership.

Family plans are available, as are lessons with coach AJ Carney on a group or individual basis.

The “History” section of the website is like taking a walk back in time to what the old industrial Rochester was like, and is populated with a lot of names of people you might have been familiar with. It’s almost a Kodachrome memory in black and white.

Also on the website are news, league information, tournament and player data and video to watch live matches. You can also send your questions to the club from the website.

But nothing will compare to a visit to the Rochester Sports Garden during one of those open play times. Take coach Carney’s advice, bring a racket and some clean sneaks and  see what table tennis is all about, first-hand.

The Rochester Sports Garden is at 1460 E. Henrietta Road.