Before I say anything else , all this is meant to be just friendly suggestions & constructive criticism & not to blame anyone. Plano is still one of the best places to play table tennis . It is 7 days a week ar 4 gyms & rec rooms (all day & night) & 1 senior center. ( Most players who come here to from Frisco , Allen , MeKinney etc , all in Collin county are disgusted at their city rec centers with almost no real place to play table tennis) . Let me also point out that the issues discussed below are not unique to Plano Rec. It is the same elsewhere in North America

I doubt if will be find a collection so many rec centers for a city the size of Plano anywhere in the world with so many sports & activities with high service levels & ridiculously reasonable price levels but that does mean it is prefect or no room for improvement

Every time they setup tables at TMRC (Tom Muehlenbeck Recreation Center) gym , they are setup incorrectly and or differently . I am not at all blaming the TMRC staff who actually do the setup but it is more of a training issue. The length & width of each court keeps changing every week & when players tried to move the tables it fell down & TMRC put a $1000 damage warning yellow sticker on each table, which is kind of silly to me because noone even looks on the sides of table before moving the table ( violating rec center policy) LOL. Another possibly unavoidable issue is that it is some new person doing the setup every next day. I am not blaming anyone and employee turnover & work schedule rotations may be unavoidable

I have to admit I may be trying to be annoyingly precise but if there is some document or checklist that defines setup procedures accurately & if there is such a document it probably needs to be updated to address the issue of tables being setup in random fashion.

I know it would be awkward & silly to put some sort of dot marker on the basketball court to mark EXACTLY where the leg of each table should sit but it is still possible to use some sort of existing markings on the floor or other landmarks to setup the tables reasonably precisely rather than randomly throwing tables out there at random court widths & lengths that is actually a safety hazard if they sit too close.

Please take a look at the general Table Tennis Court design document linked below first before look at the two pictures at the bottom

Click on link & you need to click again on the link drops below https://allspinstt.com/courtd.php

I asked TMRC as to why they have to remove the signup boards everytime and I was told that kids write nonsense on the boards during daytime. This only made sense partially to me because I think the badminton / pickleball board on the West part of the gym is never removed.

Anyway even the two boards for table tennis only have to be removed everytime, it is double the work for the TMRC staff to setup 2 boards everytime. I am trying to make it easier for Plano Rec staff by just setting up one signup board for all tables (if at all they have to removed to start with) .

You may have needed 2 signup boards after COVID for an year afterwards but it is not all needed now. One signup board for all 12 tables is more than sufficient. But the primary reason I suggest is to reduce the totally unwarranted foot traffic back and forth along the back and side wall increasing the risk of collisions between players on the tables & players wandering back and forth to “analyze” both signup boards before signing up. Another advantage of just one signup board is that a player can see the full picture for all 12 tables at one place before deciding on a table. This also prevents a player from signing up on more than one table at a time (which if I am not mistaken is against signup protocol) .

I am not sure how the practice of using 2 signup board started in the first place. Maybe they copied it from Liberty rec. Center . It makes more sense at Liberty Rec. because it is the best possible way to do it there with the 8 table setup. Interestingly one signup board would have been sufficient there as well when they allowed 12 tables just like TMRC (just like TMRC near the entrance door). . My understanding is that they are trying to send players with lower skill level to a separate board but such definitions are not only vague but also could be unfair to some players. But my biggest problem with two signup board is players wandering back and forth against the side wall & back wall increasing collision risk.

The problem with table setups both inside the gym & in rec areas is the fundamentally flawed premise that Plano Rec. has with table tennis in general. Plano Rec has repeatedly emphasized that table tennis is strictly supposed to be at a recreational level only. Let me remind again> This misunderstanding is not unique to Plano Rec. The problem is the same anywhere in North America where table tennis in considered a silly basement joke. This is fine if it is indeed true but the problem is that even if it is the injury risks are the same though it is less inside teh gym compare dto say the very bad and dangerous setups at rec rooms of Carpenter Rec. or Oak Point or TMRC itself . Because almost 90% regular player members at Plano Rec. approach this as a formal competitive sport of table tennis with their $500 rackets etc whereas Plano Rec. insists that this is strictly basement hacking but even giving out plastic rackets to the 10% true basement hackers who use the facility. In fact some of these competitive players especially frown up recreational hackers coming to a table with plastic rackets but this is an entirely different can of worms I won’t open here, though an entirely different positive solution is easily possible.

Giving out plastic rackets is also another huge issue which I find extremely humiliating & insulting to table tennis as a sport, especially given that it is not like Plano Rec. cannot afford decent table tennis rackets for loaners (or lots of members would be more than happy to donate their old rackets which are probably still insanely high quality) . Giving out plastic rackets not only gives the sport of table tennis a horrible image but the same for Plano Rec. as the highest quality rec. Center there is . It only looks like deliberately downgrading a sport to a game of basement hacking even if table tennis is supposed to be only “recreational” as a policy at Plano Rec. as compared to say pickleball or tennis

So when Plano Rec. staff set up the tables at any gym (not TMRC) the fundamental assumption is that the setup is for basement ping pong hackers . So all the court widths & lengths for ALL 12 tables are set equally. The problem with this is that when someone like Austin Clemons can move effortlessly 12 to 15 feet behind the table. Ok that is a rare exception but there are at least 25% members who can use lot more room both to the back as well as sides of the tables. As an example , for those who may have played at Oak Point , there is plenty of room behind and to the sides of the tables. This also reduces the risk of injury from collisions between players on nearby tables and also people wandering behind the tables for all sorts of reasons

This is why I am suggesting the above setup. It is not ideal like Donna Chen setup at DFW TT with individually barriered courts but this setup would be better than what they have now with many factors taken into account .

Yes it would be confusing and annoying for TMRC staff for a weeks but once a proper process is set up it becomes much easier. But since PTTC (Plano Table Tennis Club) is all but inactive, there is noone from PTTC to work with Plano Rec staff to work on this. Most new Plano Rec new staff have no understanding of table tennis as a formal sport (this is not meant to say anything bad or negative about them but it is just the sad status of table tennis in North America) it only seems to me that every new staff person approaches table setup based on their life experience with table tennis. So l have seen discussions escalating into arguments between (new) staff & (experienced) players which I make sure I stay out of

I am not emailing this document to TMRC etc because they routinely would ignore what I suggest but for whatever it is worth here is the possible proper setup explained below. If someone wants to forward to TMRC that it is fine with me but I am not going to bother if noone else cares to