Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Pre-pandemic, I was one of the best ping pong players in the office. And arguably the best player left after some of my competitors moved on. But today was the first time I picked up a paddle, the first time I hit a ball, the first time I played a game in over 2 and a half years. And my rustiness showed. I was awful - timing was off, positioning was off, just utterly dreadful. It was another ping pong tournament at work - a tournament that I would probably have been seeded #1 pre-pandemic. And I got knocked out in the group stages - losing 2 of my 3 games. Against opponents who never would have caused me any trouble before. But I play a type of power game that has little margin for error and in which I need to have confidence in my shots. I didn't, and it showed. Of course I'm disappointed, but I'm not devastated - this didn't come as a surprise, which is why I wasn't even sure whether I would enter the tournament. But clearly I need to play a bit more regularly if I'm going to stand a chance in any future tournaments. That might be possible - I think I'm going to be spending more time in the office with the amount of work I've got now, combined with the potential construction noise near my home. But that elusive winner's trophy seems even further away.
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