OPRC
Oak Point Recreation Center
Nice to see that they at least finally rearranged the table tennis tables at Oak Point Rec, Center. The previous back to back set up was extremely dangerous & even recreational players can collide into each other but I have noticed that more and more competitive level tabletennis players are beginning to use Oak point.
I wanted to see if the following
suggestion makes any sense unless it conflicts with any of your other Rec
Center priorities.
Despite my limited understanding of pool, air
hockey & foosball , I respect them just as much. The issue
however is that tabletennis needs a decent amount of court area even at the
lowest level these days.
Based on above understanding I am
suggesting the following
However would it be too much to ask to swap
the pool table & air hockey table locations & rotate the foosball table
90 degrees ? Because pool players use all four sides of the table but it I
understand it correctly, air hockey players only use two sides (the long sides
and not the width side). This would create more spacing between the
table tennis tables and air hockey & foosball tables. Maybe only or two
feet but from standpoint point of safety for both to tabletennis players &
air hockey & foosball players this will improve safety. I know
air hockey needs power & that is why they moved it near an outlet, I do not
know. And I do not know if there is a power outlet near where the pool table is
now but even if not I think an extension cord can be run along the walls safely
I think.
To further reduce risk of injury & collisions
, there definitely should be some barriers to at least separate the two
tabletennis tables from foosball , pool & air hockey tables. Ideally each
of the two tables should also be individually barriered for
1. Doubles play safety
2. Multi-ball & Multi Serve
training
3. Coaching
If Plano rec. does not want to spend money for
these barriers, there should be no difficulty getting the players to take up a
collection to pay for the barriers.
My wish would be for players be allowed to be
able to perform multi-ball drills & multi serve practices on their own or
with a partner & with a coach for 30 minutes (or 45 minutes or whatever) time slots.
If other (Olympic) sports are allowed
coaching & training at Plano rec. , I see no reason why an Olympic sport
like tabletennis should also not be allowed coaching. Of course I understand
some kind of arrangement between Plano rec. & the coach on how the coach
will reimburse Plano Rec. for space rental. The single coach model
at liberty is not very useful both to generate rentals for Plano Rec. or to
capture new table tennis talent.
Ideally my wish list would be to move
foosball, air hockey & pool into a separate game room or area & add one
or two more tablet tennis tables in that space. I do not think this is a crazy
request but most rec centers do not like giving space to table tennis because
is not considered a sport in North America. There definitely is space in
Oak Point center or other Plano Rec Centers if Plano Rec is willing to treat
table tennis as an Olympic sport and keep it separate from other activities.
Give that 80% players who use Plano rec are competitive players & not
recreational players, I would say this makes lots of sense.
And of course I understand if Plano Rec. wants to treat tabletennis as a "game' & that is their decision & not much anyone can do anything about it.
Click on pictures below for expanded view. Below is a picture of previous very dangerous setup with tables back to back (has been somewhat fixed now)
Below is a somewhat better new current setup, But the tabletennis tables must be barriered from pool , foosball & air hockey & preferably individually barriered to make it safer for doubles & if you will allow, for multi-ball training & coaching.
The picture below shows pool, foosball & air hockey. Since pool players use all four side but air hockey uses only two sides, the air-hockey & pool table locations should be swapped & foosball table rotated 90 degrees. This creates more safer area. The air hockey electric outlet can be extended along the walls
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