Kudos to those of you looking to elevate your game to the highest levels of the sport. Guys like Tom Lodziak and Matt Hetherington have tremendous sites to help you in your quest. It’s a lot of dedicated work and play, especially if you are an older individual. It takes many tournaments to climb that ratings bell curve and grind over to the rarified right side, where the magic 2000 level resides. That’s where less players and tougher competition dwell. Finding local players good enough to test your game becomes more difficult, especially if you aren’t in a large metro area. Players are serious, and egos can be large for some attempting to climb the mountain. Watching those at the far right of the curve…amazing.
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But take an old guy like me with nothing ever better than an intermediate game. I’ve been stuck on the purgatorial plateau of pong for many years, and it really is heavenly… like listening to Jimmy Cliff’s Sitting in Limbo. (Okay, maybe I’ve picked up a couple hundred points in a decade, a pure guess). There’s an abundance of decent players available all over the ‘burbs. Laughs and banter bookend the awesome points. Egos are checked at the door. Doubles are the norm, no finger pointing, it’s the no-fault insurance zone. Then, it’s out for a group lunch.
In one predominately Asian venue where I’ll play, it’s very communal. Community balls, snacks, all singles but no score keeping. No fancy serves. Just get the ball in play, rally and then maybe play it like a point. Switch players. Awesome.
This heavenly phase of Table Tennis may await those who strove, and were lucky enough to never ascend beyond the crest of the bell curve.
Why 2K I ask…less can be more.
