The Joys of Ping Pong
Posted: Monday, December 22, 2008
by Dianne Lehmann
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Just the name itself is great. You won't ever hear me call it table tennis. That's just plain silliness as far as I'm concerned. I don't think I could ever have as much fun playing "table tennis." But "ping pong" is a whole different matter.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about table tennis: "Table tennis, also known as ping pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a light-weight, hollow ball back and forth with rackets (also known as 'bats' or 'paddles'). The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Players must allow a ball played toward them only one bounce on their side of the table and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side." They have a whole lot more to say on the issue, but none of it really gets to the heart of it.
So, how did table tennis become ping pong? Early rackets were often made of parchment stretched over a frame and the sounds generated were described as "whiff-whaff" or "ping-pong." I much prefer the "ping pong." Much later the name Ping Pong was trademarked. End of lesson.
In August of 2005, I decided that we needed an anniversary present. We hadn't actually exchanged anniversary presents for a long time; or presents for any of the usual special occasions for that matter. We would much rather give a gift for no reason other than "I was just now, this moment, thinking of you." So Bernd was pretty surprised, on several levels, when I told him I wanted to buy a ping pong table.
I had seen this awesome ping pong table in a mailer from Costco that was only available online. Bernd's first comment was, "I wouldn't want some wimpy table." And I assured him that it looked very solid. I had gone to their website and looked at all the photographs they supplied and read all of the specifications. Next he wanted to know why I wanted a ping pong table. That one was a little harder to answer.
When I first saw the thing in the brochure, a sappy little smile planted itself firmly on my face and my gaze went into the distant past. When my dad died and Lew (my step-dad) came to live with us, he talked Mom into getting a pool table that came with a table top for ping pong. Lew had played a lot of ping pong in the navy and taught my sister and me to play. I have lots of memories of many wonderful hours spent playing ping pong with my family. But instead, I started dragging out all the good reasons why we should get one: it's great exercise, we could do that instead of sitting in front of the TV, it improves hand/eye coordination, did I mention it's good exercise? I was trying so hard to convince him that he finally squinched up his eyes and said, "Just what does this ping pong table cost?"
Well, it wasn't cheap and he wasn't sure, but it arrived on the very day of our 30 th anniversary, August 30, 2005. It is quite possibly one of the best investments we have ever made.
I was still working for a weekly wage at that time and my boss asked me one day how the ping pong was coming. I told him, "Well, we laugh a lot and are getting really good at chasing the ball." And we were, because if you let it get away from you it could take a couple of minutes to find it again. Lots of ping-pong-ball-eating nooks and crannies in our basement. In the process we were sharpening our reflexes; moving fast, snatching the ball out of the air.
As time has gone by, we've gotten better and better and it's become even more fun. I feel alive when we play and not old maybe even young. Stretching for that short shot (he takes advantage of my shortness) or moving fast for one of his lightning serves. I'll calculate moves ahead and take advantage of him in my own way. Poor thing gets lulled into a false sense of security as I repeatedly put the ball on his left side and then, wham! I slam it onto the right side of him. We laugh when we manage to get the better of the other. Just last night, I was thinking of pulling that trick on him and just when he expected me to put the ball on the opposite side I didn't and totally got him. But he knows all he has to do is put the ball in one of my corners and I'll never return it. He laughs at my antics and odd poses as I try to return his impossible shots.
We don't play by the rules. We say "poo poo" to the rules. But we have come up with a list of five reasons why you miss the ball. Sometimes when we miss the ball we will call out the number of one of the reasons and pretty soon we are laughing too hard to continue. Picture us determinedly banging the ball back and forth and yelling out "one" or "three" when we miss. Well, okay, maybe you have to be there.
So if you want to sharpen your hand/eye coordination, quicken your reflexes, get a cardiovascular workout and just plain have a great time, get a ping pong table. And you can hit that little ball really hard and still not damage anything. Sometimes I don't care if my shot is good or not; sometimes I just want to smash the ball and watch Bernd's eyes go wide and his mouth go wider still. No matter how well or badly you play, I guarantee you'll have a great time.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Great game for young and old that spans time and is inexpennsive and long lasting.Hi Robert.Best of all ... no special attire required. I've played in my pajamas!Thanks for reading and commenting.Merry Christmas,Dianne
hi dianne,i never quite got the hang of ping pong, but we did buy a table a few years ago. we need to clean out the garage and get it going again. thanks for reminding me. i hope you enjoy many hours of fun,best regards,sueHi Sue.Like I said, I believe that whether you are good at it or not, it's still fun.I've known people who give it up because they are no good at it. Really if you just keep at it, you get better. I have no depth perception (born with one eye nearsighted and the other almost normal, so my brain never learned to combine images from both eyes), but I just kept at it. I think that if you go into it not wanting to win or to be better than the person you are playing also helps. Then it doesn't matter what you do, just that you are doing it. Does that make sense?We've already had many, many great hours playing ping pong and I imagine we will have even more. I hope you can give it a try again.Hugs,Dianne
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