The Game

Zhiheng Su

The Game

Most kids find their interests the first time they try something. It seemed to be the case for me in my freshman year of high school. However, it all started in the hot summer of 2009. I was sent to this Chinese summer school for the first time. Like a normal kid, I was really excited to be introduced to a new environment. I thought to myself, “wow, this is going to be a fun summer” because I got to take all my favorite classes. Fun was ensured as I went from class to class doing interesting activities. However, this feeling of happiness and excitement didn’t last forever; the clock hit 4:00 pm. Suddenly, I heard loudspeakers calling every single student up to the 3rd floor. I ran as fast as I could while thinking to myself: “what could this mean?” Surely, I eventually found out that everyone was designated to a room to play this weird ball game. As a curious boy, I happily went to play with the other kids. I was taught how to hold the ball hitting tool and the rules of the game. I started playing against a random kid and realized that I had no idea what I was doing. I missed every serve and every return which built up a strong frustration in me. This is how I grew to hate the game, table tennis.

        The next day, my frustration carried over. The thought of having to play this boring game every day basically set the mood for me. I decided to bring my frustration to a teacher and annoyingly asked, “do I HAVE to play table tennis with the other kids after classes?” She answered, “yes, of course this is a school tradition and you must abide to the rules.” I replied with a sad “okay” and was on my way. I was just angrily sitting down and watching the other kids play until I spotted a particular player. His movements were so swift and elegant as his paddle firmly brushed over the ball, giving it maximum speed and dangerous spin. He made the sport seem so smooth and exciting as he stripped points away from other students with ease. I decided to try again; nonetheless, I had no idea what I was doing. I came up to him after his game and asked for advice:

“Wow, those are some nice skills; how did you get to be this good?”

He gave me the generic answer of: “practice and commitment”

        I was okay with this even though the vagueness of his answer haunted me for the rest of the day. Luckily, when it came time to play table tennis the next day, they started holding training sessions which I happily joined. All we did was rally against the wall to practice our accuracy and precision of where to place the ball. I became more immersed into the game until the very end. When my summer classes ended, I felt like I took away a good experience with me.  

It wasn’t until high school six years later, until I’ve seen table tennis again. During club fair, I saw a large group of people gathered around a table tennis table. I got reminded of this interestingly weird sport and decided to join the club. In the club, I was surprised that everyone but me played exceedingly well. I made a lot of new friends in the club. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school when I wanted to try out for the varsity team. Every day, I practiced at home: either against the wall or just basic hand-eye coordination of the ball. On the day of tryouts, I was unreasonably nervous due to the pressure I had knowing I’m trying out against the best players in the school. My first game in the tryout tournament was against a previous team member. I got utterly destroyed just due to pure skill difference. I was discouraged, but remembered there was another tryout date where I had my last chance to prove that I should be on the team. I went to table tennis cafes in flushing where I played against my best friend, who was very adept at the sport due to his experience on a Chinese team before he moved to America. He taught me the secrets of the 3 s’s: speed, spin, and spot. He helped me greatly improve my precision and power in games. When it came time for tryouts, I felt ready until I was matched against another former player. I was honestly extremely scared at this point due to fear of being eliminated. When the game started, we exchanged points steadily. He won the first game while I barely pulled through the second game. The last game began stressfully as he was already halfway to the victory while I had no points. This fear of losing actually helped me as I began to start giving the ball topspin which gave him little time to react. I was able to remember and use the skills I learned from my friend, giving me confidence again. I started gaining steam as I quickly moved from side to side catching every ball. In the end, I beat him 2-1 and left tryouts with only hope left. Hope was in my favor when I saw my name on the team roster 2 weeks later.