In light of my Sunday losses in Ping Pong to Kevin Kay, I realized I needed to get more practice. Otherwise, next time he returns from Ball State, it’ll go even worse for me. I had heard about a Tuesday night ping pong club at the Aldersgate United Methodist church on my end of town, so last night I decided to check it out.

Soon after I arrived, around 7 pm, two guys older than me arrived–one in his 50s, the other in his 60s. I wondered if they would be much competition for me. Then they started playing against each other. Wow. Another guy arrived a little later, a black fellow with, I believe, a Jamaican accent. Named Rick. Great guy.

We didn’t actually play any singles matches–just hit around. I could hold my own against the two older guys, especially when it came to just banging and returning. In an actual singles game, they would pull out some spins which I wouldn’t know what to do with, but in a slugging match, I could do okay. I didn’t get to play Rick, who is probably the best of the three. He’s amazing at returning the hardest of slams.

We ended up playing nine games of doubles–2 out of 3 games, and rotating so that each of us was teamed once with each of the other three guys. I think my team won two of the three sets.

I had a great time, and got a pretty decent workout. I’ll definitely be going back. It was a rainy night, which probably affected the number of people there, but I don’t think they have many coming anyway. They seemed delighted that someone of my calibre showed up. I think they’re used to newbies coming who can’t hold a candle to them in ability. I could. That pleased them, and pleased me.