Getting Better

You may or may not be interested to hear that my table tennis game has been coming on leaps and bounds over the past couple of months. In particular, my defense is becoming increasingly impenetrable and my retrieval shots from well behind the table are starting to resemble those of the legendary Matthew Syed.

Tonight at Chi-Slam I was playing my best table tennis ever and after losing my first game in five sets I dominated table 2, vanquishing three consecutive challengers without losing a game. Two of my victims then came back for revenge, but were comfortably dismissed once more. As well as my improved skills, I noticed that some skills gathered from my tennis days were giving me an edge over my opponents:

        1.       Athleticism – I may be an Athlete Without a Cause, but I am still an athlete nonetheless and my quick footwork and maneuverability were enabling me to make some difficult retrieval shots.

        2.       Variety – in tennis giving the opponent the same thing over and over can be fatal and I’m applying a similar logic to table tennis. While my opponents play was getting predictable, I was constantly mixing up speeds, spins, and direction, especially on my serve.

        3.       Match toughness – a tennis player must acknowledge how precious each point is and how you simply cannot afford to give them away cheaply. Tonight I was battling for every point and making far fewer errors than my opponents, who went for difficult shots early in the rally far too often.

With this combination of improving table tennis skills and tennis experience I am excited to see how my ping pong game will develop over the winter. Watch this space. 

The astonishing defensive skills of Matthew Syed