My dad was always a very practical man. One of the things that he told me that stuck with me for the longest was that you should always do the right job with the right equipment. In my own projects, I always strive to live by this maxim. I’ve applied it to everything in my work, as well as most of my hobbies. What I had never applied it to, however, was table tennis equipment.
You see, I have been a table tennis enthusiast for a good many years. It all started when I moved to college. The dorm that I lived in had some ratty old table tennis equipment in the basement. The table tennis paddles were almost literally falling apart. The nets sagged, the boards were uneven, and the table wobbled every time the ball hit it. Nonetheless, we had many fantastic games. Around the time that I moved out, the dorm decided to purchase new table tennis equipment. I got to take the old stuff with me, and soon I had it installed in my basement.
I loved playing on that rickety old table, but it seemed like I could only get to a certain level. I never thought it was the ping pong equipment. I thought it was my playing. You see, I have never been the greatest athlete. Don’t get me wrong, I had a decent run at basketball, baseball, and football, but I was never one of the stars. How could I guess that the table tennis equipment was what was holding me back?
In fact, I wouldn’t have guessed except that I got to play at an area table tennis tournament. I have a friend who is very serious about the game, you see, and he invited me along. The table tennis equipment there was top notch. People had table tennis paddles made with technology that I had never even heard of. The interesting thing was, when I played on their table tennis equipment, I realized why I had never learn some of the advanced techniques. Learning advanced ball control is impossible on a table that is slanted and warped. Although I had a good game for my particular set of table tennis equipment, when I was playing a regulation table, my game was off. Needless to say, I was eliminated early on. The first thing I did was buy new table tennis equipment. You can bet I will do better next time!
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