I spent the greater half of Saturday practice trying to unlearn what I got used to with the 38mm ball. I’m probably not going to use that size ball anymore, for fear that it’ll fuck up my game.
Yesterday I was able to play Dan for the first time, who happens to be the best player at the club with good reason. He was the leader in the city amateur divisions at one point, and has won leagues, tournaments, money prizes, even coaching victories. The best part of playing him is his attitude. As far as I can tell, he’s the only person there aside from me, playing for fun. Everyone else is either playing to keep in shape or to win. It’s funny to go against these young cocky guys who get angry when they miss a shot.
Dan is able adapt his style to his opponent during rallies; for me he’ll go defensive and let me smash the whole time (which is my favourite part), though he doesn’t loop return as much as the pros. He’s amazing at returning too…he’ll be backed up against the wall about twelve feet from the table, arc the ball ten feet in the air, and it’ll still land on my side. He even adds a crazy amount of side-spin to throw me off. It usually takes about a dozen kill shots to actually win the point against him, and since I go all out when I smash, I’m wasted after five minutes of rallying with him.