Table Tennis – The Story So Far: Margie Hadden

Well I came to table tennis very late. At 42, I walked into my first club, Leeside. I was very naive and quite confident in my abilities until I was trashed by all these little kids as I rapidly moved down to bottom table!!! At bottom table I finally made mince-meat of a little girl who looked about aged 6, with a giant bow in her hair!

Having little kids beat me would have stopped most people from continuing but not me. I absolutely love table tennis! I struggle with some bad habits picked up as a kid playing on a small kitchen table. Knowing no better I played a back hand shot all the time even on the forehand side where it looked something like a chicken wing shot. I still sometimes revert to that old ingrained habit. At Leeside I learned to crouch low and adopt a wide stance crucial to getting the ball low over the net.

Now I can tell who is a beginner just from the way they stand at the table. I also learned some impressive serves at Leeside which caused my opponents to hit the ball into the net. I admit I come last in almost all of the tournaments but I am very aware of how much I have improved. The beautiful feeling of a well -executed forehand or a fabulously spinny serve is what sustains me in the game.

I train twice a week in Kinsale with coach Alan Hurley from Southcoast. His sessions are very focused and a word here and there from Alan can make all the difference to my shots. With my forehand he spotted that I was going too high and that I wasn’t going forward enough. Now at least I can occasionally whip the ball with a lightning forehand!

The coaches in Munster are like gold dust. They are what keeps the sport dynamic and alive. They do a trojan amount of work organising training sessions and tournaments.

And then there’s the craic! I discovered Beech Hill Table Tennis club after a torn ligament had me out for 9 months. The coach Philip Shaw gave me some one on one sessions and I was back!

Now I train the players with intellectual difficulties there on Wednesdays. I am learning myself, so I find that I’m in a good position to pass on the basics to the Wednesday night players. I am very impressed at how much they improve in their game.

I always encourage anyone bringing a Wednesday night player to get involved during training, to umpire and help with some basic coaching. The carers helping out are absolutely fantastic! We are never stuck for volunteers!