Wednesday, 13 March 2024

Talkin' Smash powered by JOOLA Ep10: Bridging the Gap Between Social and Pro Table Tennis with PingPod CEO Max Kogler

Episode 10 of Talkin' Smash is here! It's a little bit of a longer episode, because well...we can't help ourselves when it comes to talking about table tennis! 

Max Kogler, CEO of PingPod, joined me to talk about bridging the gap between social and pro table tennis. We talked about the conception to construction phases of PingPod, and how their digital, coaching and technology strategies are helping make table tennis more accessible.

In Episode 10 I was joined by PingPod CEO Max Kogler to
talk about bridging the gap between social and pro table tennis!

Learning more about PingPod was very interesting for me. Obviously it has become a prominent fixture on the east coast of the USA, now having grown to 17-18 locations (including one in the Philippines and one in Bristol at TTDaily).

Max went through all of the incredible technology behind PingPod and how it is designed to make table tennis more accessible. PingPod are putting locations in more city locations and taking table tennis to the people. They are working to remove some of the exclusivity from elite training academies that can sometimes intimidate or deter social players from joining the sport. This is what has contributed to creating a big gap between an enormous social/recreational ping pong audience, and the professional table tennis scene. 

I had a great time talking to Max, including putting him under the gun with my classic break segment, which produced some phenomenal results ;)