Current unsafe setup & proposed safe setup for table tennis in Rec. Room at Carpenter Rec. Center
Please read the disclaimer page first if you can.
At the bottom of this page are diagrams of the Rec Room at Carpenter Park as it is currently & what I am proposing. Even though it probably will take less than 30 minutes to reconfigure, I doubt they will do it. Oh well.
But under current setup, if you want
a model setup for a Rec. Room on how NOT to set up a Rec. Room dangerously, Carpenter Park would probably win the
award. I know it sound pretty bad & I hate to put it this way. If you are a player who spends even 10% of
the playing time in Click link> > sacred holy
land , stay the hell away from playing table tennis at Carpenter Park
Rec. Room
The issues shown here are primarily due to the major perception problems about table tennis. Recreation centers in North America consider table tennis to be a basement “game” of ping pong. But most players who use Carpenter Park Rec Room act as if this is some sort of training facility for the formal sport of table tennis. (In fact, many of these players participate in USATT tournaments).
There is nothing that can be done if a Rec. Center treats tennis & pickleball as a formal sport but table tennis as a basement game and assigns resources accordingly. This despite the fact that table tennis is the largest of all member associations of the IOC with 227 member nations and even if the members using the facilities are equal or almost the same as to those using pickleball or tennis etc. It is a policy decision & rec centers can treat any sport anyway they feel like & can be as arbitrary as they like.
However, even if Plano Rec. wants to treat the rec room setup as basement ping pong, it is still a dangerous setup because even casual ping pong players could backup into the sacred holy ground and run into:
- People sitting on the three orange sofas or just trip on the sofas
- People playing at the air hockey table
- People playing on nearby table especially in doubles
But fact is that at least 75% of players who use the table tennis tables are competitive players & probably use it at least may be 75% of the time. Therefore, the injury risk of for these players backing into the sacred holy ground increases by that much. What is Sacred holy ground? It is explained on the other webpage in this website.
The air hockey table can be moved easily 3 or 4 feet away from the table tennis table because the electric cord is on the table tennis table side. But even if it is too far to move it can be moved easily using a heavy-duty extender cord and still also keep it very close right next to the far wall. I would be happy to buy & donate such an extender cord, if this helps reducing the injury risk.
I also see no reason what the pool table cannot be moved farther away from the table tennis table but still keeping required room surrounding the pool table on all 4 sides.
The 3 orange sofas definitely do NOT belong in the sacred holy ground. Moving them as shown, actually works better because everyone from all activities can use these sofas.
I understand why it is hard to barrier individual tables when tables are set up and taken down every week like at inside the gyms at TMRC or Liberty Rec. Center. It absolutely makes no sense not to have the tables permanently barriered individually if the setup is in rec rooms such as at Carpenter Park & Oak Point Rec.. Of course, the crazy setup at TMRC Rec area should be barriered on all 4 sides.
If Plano Rec. Cannot afford to buy barriers, then they should get rid of table tennis tables in any & all rec rooms & rec area. This is not just for Plano Rec. but for any Rec. Center in North America or worldwide. In fact, my strong opinion is that even if table tennis tables are only for recreation ping pong they do not belong in rec area along with other recreational activities. It is not because I make any ridiculous claims that table tennis is better than other recreational activities but due to the fundamental nature of table tennis or even basement ping pong. It is because these players even at the lowest levels just move too fast and too far from the table tennis tables & the risk of injury is quite high. In fact, the injury risk is even highest at lowers because these lower-level players are likely to be less coordinated.
If Plano Rec. Cannot afford to buy barriers, I am reasonably sure players who use Carpenter Park (or Oak Point) Rec Rooms would be willing to contribute towards buying barriers. I would be happy to contribute as well. But I think the crazy fact is that, they most likely have some available from Oak Point or Liberty Rec.
