I’m playing as well as I’ve ever played - which isn’t saying a lot, but sure makes the game more fun. Still far from the point where I can play most of the men straight up (without starting with 7 or 8 points). But it continues to be a fun group. We’ve had some newbies this week who have heard about us (the Waco Table Tennis Assoc) through the grapevine. Jimmy Dorrell finds players in the class he teaches at Truitt Seminary and we had a Chinese seminarian, Dennis, join us. Also 2 TSTC students, Nicky and Deion. Deion is from Granada (in the Caribbean, mon) and is in flight school. He’s about 6′6″ and a funny guy. Inconsistent now, but give him a few months and he’ll be awesome.
One of the problems is that we are running out of room. I’ve taken the task of finding storage for the 6 extra tables we keep on hand for tournaments. With those out of the way, we’ll have room for 3 tables going at a time. Right now, there’s only room for 2 with the third just being for warm-ups.
I ordered an instructional video from Amazon about a month and a half ago. Just got notification of its shipment today. And I’ve ordered my own paddle finally. You would believe how complex a process that is. Figure out your ‘game’ (spin, offensive, defensive, power, etc.) Order the bat part - multiple Speed options, width option, handle type, material, etc. Order rubber - with pips or without. Dead or alive. Spin or Flat. Same on both sides or perhaps a spinny forehand and a dead backhand. That’s why you don’t get a new one the day you start playing. At over $100 a pop, you don’t want to do a bunch of trial and error. Luckily, there are a bunch of extras at the club and you can use someone’s if they are sitting out.
I plan to take pictures soon and will post them here.