Table Tennis

Like I said in my first post, or at least like I think I said on my first post, I like to play ping pong. I will firstly say that I'm okay with it being called either ping pong or table tennis. I'm not one of those picky people who gets frustrated when someone says it by its Asian, or European name. It actually annoys me when people get heated over these minimal issues. This also goes for when people write essays over how "10 items or less" is written somewhere in almost every supermarket existent. I never noticed this, and find that it is unimportant, even now that I know it should be "10 items or fewer".

Now going back to ping pong. I once did an LA paper over table tennis. The paper was supposed to be about something in the book we choose to read. I read Forrest Gump, though my teacher urged me not to, because I have seen the movie. It turned out to be like the movie, but much different. It would have been a great project to make a poster over the book and movie, comparing and contrasting, but that was not the assignment. I say this because in both movie and book, Forrest is a mentally slow person. He lives in the south and gets faced with many opportunities. In both, he finds himself playing football for college, fighting in Vietnam, meeting Lieutenant Dan, and falling in love with Jenny. In the book, he is fat, is a genius in mathematics, ends up in a NASA program to go to the moon, and lands on an island in the Pacific. In the movie, he runs from coast to coast many times, just to run, he teaches Elvis a very famous dance move, and he experiences the permanent loss of his beloved. But in both, he gets injured in Vietnam, and in the hospital learns to play ping pong. He is a natural.

He goes strait to the top. When China, who at the time was at very shaky terms with the US, invites some US ping pong players to play in a tournament, Forrest is chosen to go. In the book, he actually ends up saving the Emperor of China from drowning, but in both he ends up making good terms with China. Soon after the table tennis tournament in China, he gets to go back home and starts fishing for shrimp, and ends up creating a huge corporation out of it. His ping pong days are over in a splash (get it, because shrimp...). But because he played ping pong in the book, I was able to write my report about it.

I looked up techniques and styles of playing. Firstly, holding your paddle is very important. There are two main ways to hold a paddle: The traditional, American way that we all know, and what is called the pen-hold style. This is more of how Asians (not to be racists, but this is what I heard) use their paddle. It requires less of a handle, and often times their paddles are made with short handles.

A major part in being successful in table tennis is ball spin. I found this out a little from my research, and a lot from actually playing. If topspin (spin going forward on the top of the ball) is put on the ball as it is hit, the ball will curve downwards. This is one of the most important spins because it allows for harder, faster hitting of the ball. Also, side spin can be put on the ball to throw off an opponent. From my experience, bottom spin is not very useful. It makes you hit it slower, and seems to help the opponent. At times, I have used it and it has thrown off my opponent, but usually it is a risky maneuver.

Bed time, talk to ya later!