What Age Do Table Tennis Players Peak?

Last Updated on May 23, 2024 by Alex Horscroft

Everyone seems to have an opinion on when table tennis players peak, however, few back it up with real figures. So that’s what I’m here to do today! By looking at the top players in the world currently, and in the past, I’ll shed light on what age players typically perform their best. 

Peak Table Tennis Player Performance by Age: What the Numbers Say

To begin with, I want to take a look at the current top 50 male players in the world (May 2024). This provides a good representation of the world’s best.

As you can see, we have quite an age spread. Most players are between 16 and 36, and overall the median age is 27.32 years. However, you may notice that we have three outliers who are significantly older than the rest of the pack. These players are 41, 43, and 43 — no surprise that they are well outside the top 10.     

Yet while breaking into the top 50 is a monumental achievement, it’s still well below the peak of many players. So let’s instead take a look at a much more difficult feat — the most difficult in fact — winning the World Table Tennis Championships.

To win such a tournament, you truly have to be the best at that given time, so it provides a good estimate of when table tennis players peak. Based on the data, it’s clear most players fall into one of two groups: 21-25 or 26-30. These account for 86.7% of all World Table Tennis Championship wins from 1995 to 2023. While there’s a slight edge for the 26-30 group, the disparity is small.

We also see very few players younger than 21 or older than 30 claim a title. Therefore, broadly speaking, it’s very unlikely for players to peak outside of this range. The mean age of World Champions is a little younger than the top 50, at 25.8 years old.   

Factors That Affect the Age Players Peak At

While the data suggests most players probably peak somewhere around the age of 26, there’s a plethora of reasons why a player may peak much younger or older than this estimate.

Playstyle

Although you might not think it, playstyle can have a significant impact on the length of a pro’s career. Penholders have it the most difficult because their game is very taxing on the body. They have to train hard to have the excellent footwork and explosivity they need to win. Therefore, such players usually have shorter careers and may peak earlier than others. 

Injuries

While table tennis is less demanding on the body than most other sports, you have to remember that the pros are training day in and day out at the top level. All pros experience injuries, just some get luckier than others.

Fortunately, most don’t have to cut their careers short, but some do. Zhang Jike is one player who comes to mind. He was riddled with injuries right around his peak. He tried to make a comeback, but this was short-lived. 

Loss of Interest

It takes a lot of drive to stay regimented in training. After years of playing the same sport five or six days a week, some players can just fall out of love with it or simply are more interested in pursuing other opportunities. 

Deng Yaping is a great example of this. She is one of the best female table tennis players of all time and chose to retire right at the top of the game while ranked number 1 in the world. It’s important to note, she held this rank for an incredible eight years! 

Entry Age to the Sport 

All the top table tennis players get introduced to the sport from an early age — I’d say usually around 3-6 years old. This ensures these players can compete at a very high level in their teen years, thereby setting them up for a solid career. 

Quality of Competition in Home Country

If players retire early, they may not live up to their potential, meaning their peak is much lower than it should be. This is sometimes the case when a country has a lot of table tennis talent. Think China. There’s a bunch of Chinese players we have never heard of who could beat some of the top European players. Yet they don’t get a chance to shine because China’s best are just too damn good.

After these players squander just a few of the opportunities they are given, the focus turns to the next young hopefuls. Table tennis isn’t a particularly well-backed sport financially. So it doesn’t make sense to invest in these players when there’s a long line of others who could be the next Ma Lin or Ma Long.  

What Age Do Amateur Table Tennis Players Peak?

Finding the peak performance age for amateur players is tough, but I can say with absolute certainty that it is much older than for the pros, and there is also far more variation.

This is because we amateurs do not have strict lifestyles like the pros. Many of us picked up table tennis in our teens, so that’s around 10 years of training we missed out on compared to pro players. What’s more, most casual players train far more infrequently, usually a few times per week for a couple of hours. This pales in comparison to those playing at a professional level. 

And this is just a typical keen player. Some table tennis players begin in their 60s, therefore their peak is significantly later than most. Extremes aside, it’s safe to assume most casual players peak far later than professionals. While pros only have to worry about declining due to age, we are also significantly impacted by when we start playing, and when we start to train more intensely. 

Closing Thoughts

On average, professional table tennis players peak at around 26 years old, however, many players peak much later. Take Werner Schlager, for instance, he peaked at 30 years old when he became world number 1 and won the World Table Tennis Championships. 

By comparison, the peak age for casual players is much older than the pros. This is because we often start playing the sport much later and train more infrequently. 

*Cover image created using photos by XIAOYU TANG under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license

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