Erik Bottroff
The giant with the great feeling

This is for sure: within all high-quality table tennis players, Erik Bottroff is the tallest. The 18-year-old German measures 2.04m. Trend: increasing.

Since end of april it is also proofed: Erik Bottroff is also Germany’s best youth player. At the German Youth Championships in Löhne, Bottroff won the boy’s single and double competition (together with David Steinle) and pointed out his continuous upward tendency of the last years. Youth national coach Istvan Korpa was impressed: ”It was not expectable that his development would be so successful, especially not that he would reach the top of the youth. In the meantime he has already won some tournaments, also the German Youth Top12 and at the Youth World Championships he has played very good as well.” Because of that Korpa certifies his fosterling: “He is now an inherent part in the youth national team.”
This is not an implicitness. Though he started to play table tennis already at the age of 8 years, he never belonged to the cadets national team. Also in the youth age he has been for a long time one amongst many. But andro has discovered his talent already very early: since years he belongs to the andro-team.
During the last months this was an important basic for his success because when changing his material to andro TENSOR BIOS after the speed glue ban he made some positive experiences and had fully trust in his new material. “I expected that the change would have been more difficult”, says the 18-years-old. “I did not know that directly at the beginning there will be such good rubbers.”
He was very satisfied with the PLASMA 470, the hardest rubber of the Plasma line, but now he will change to step of the most modern rubber technology: to the ROXON 500pro. He plays both rubbers in maximum thickness with his andro Super Core Cell OFF-.
In future he will serve with this combination for his new club DJK Germania Holthausen, probably at number 3, maybe in the first table. For his last club the ITTC Sachsen Döbeln, he played first at number 5 in the 2nd (Regional League), but at the end he came in some operations for the first team in Germany’s 2nd league.
His change to Holthausen does not only bring him a fixed place in the 2nd league, furthermore it brings him vocational education. After his German equivalent of GCSEs, Erik Bottroff now starts an apprenticeship at Schöler & Micke to become a businessman engaged in wholesale and export trades. “ I did not only want to do an apprenticeship”, he says, “my wish was to do something in the table tennis scene.”
Because of that, Erik decided against many other good offers, et al. against an offer from the 1st league. “I had an offer from Jülich, but just with limited quantity of matches”, he betrayed. Due to the introduction of the three-way teams, the hurdle seemed to be too high for him – preliminary.
There is no doubt that he can reach Germany’s 1st league level because Erik has many excellent premises to increase his game: he has an outstanding feeling for the ball, a short-short game over the table like not many German men, a big conspectus of the game, creativity, a witty way of playing and additionally to that he shows courage and cheekiness. Istvan Korpa comments also: “He can do so many different things with the ball over the table. When he hunkers over the table, he is very close to the net. He plays surprising balls, he is incalculable for his opponents and he has a view for tactical solutions.”
Although the physics of Germany’s youth champion is more a disadvantage than advantage. “Of course, his physical condition is not optimal for a table tennis player”, says Korpa.” He is now 2,04m and it seems to be that his growth is not yet finished.” “And furthermore”, Korpa added with a smile,” his weight is surely a bit too much for a professional player.” But he certifies his fosterling a huge ambition and maybe this is the biggest potential of Erik.
Bottroffs knows about his lack of strength and so he is working on that. “I have already upgraded my physical conditions a bit”, he says. This is also very important after the speed-glue ban. His analysis: in the short-short game over the table, the ball drops a bit more from the rubbers, so one has to work more with the whole body. But he also sees advantage in the change of material: “ When counter-spinning the ball one has more control than before.” And the variations, which come up due to the speed-gluing do not exist anymore. ”I know how to handle my new andro TENSOR BIOS rubbers, I can trust in them.”

Erik Bottroff The giant with the great feeling

Erik Bottroff
The giant with the great feeling