Half of our members want to start playing again as soon as possible, while half have experienced a negative impact on their mental wellbeing during the coronavirus pandemic, according to our Ready to Return player survey.

More than 1,800 people responded to the survey, which will help to shape our advice and guidance to our members as the current restrictions are slowly lifted, allowing play to resume.

Of those who responded, 54% said they were eager to start playing as soon as Government guidelines allow.

Others were keen on a return, but felt they would rather wait until they had more confidence in the longer-term picture, until the local league season begins or, because of underlying health conditions, until the government issues specific advice to them.

Around 60% said they would welcome a return to league play, even if it meant using different formats.

Encouragingly, only 0.6% of respondents indicated they were unlikely to return to play.

At a regional/national competition level, 40% of players are keen to return as soon as possible, while the same number indicated they are unlikely to return to regional/national level competition for a reasonable length of time.

The responses also showed that:

• 54% of players have experienced negative impact on their mental well-being since the outbreak
• 86% of players have exercised to help manage their physical health
• 52% of players are exercising less than previously
• 4% of players have introduced a household member to table tennis
• 21% are interested in volunteering more, while 23% are likely to do less volunteering when the game returns

You can find out more about these statistics and others by downloading the report attached at the bottom of this page.

We will complete our analysis of the survey in the next few days and intend to release guidance based on the responses next week.

Greg Yarnall, Head of Development and Volunteering at Table Tennis England, said: “We’d like to thank the more than 1,800 people who responded to this important survey.

“It is encouraging that a majority of players are keen to return and willing to be flexible and adaptable in how they play.

“We will be doing all we can to support and reassure players to make a safe return to the sport we all love, within Government guidelines, and will be updating our advice to members as often as possible.”