Table Tennis Dayton

[David]

Why Hardbat?
Like other sports and industries, table tennis equipment has evolved over the decades. From humble beginnings, the racket composition and surface rubbers have become complex and dynamic. Multi-ply exotic woods, intermixed with carbon and/or Arylate; tacky high-tensioned rubber on sponge; even the glue used to attach the sponge rubber to racket is chemically modified to enhance the producible spin and speed.
And so the old pimpled "rec room" paddles have been long-since thrown into dust bin? Not quite. A healthy contingent of club playing individuals have brushed off the dust and debris from between the crevices of these near-forgotten relics of table tennis history and are currently enjoying the game as it was played over half a century ago.
What would cause reasonably rational table tennis players to eschew the modern equipment technology and embrace rubber commonly found on rackets 50 years ago? In their own words ...
Ed Ball, Chief Instructor, Hardbat International:
Hardbat table tennis is where it is at. And this is where I am.
Modern inverted sponge players tease me about my Hardbat a lot because to them it is retro, but to me it is like my trademark. It is how people know me.
I first started playing hardbat in 1997 to make others aware of Mr. Bob Gusikoff's plight in West Los Angeles. Here's a table tennis legend who not only excelled in the game --1959 US Open Champ, represented the U.S.A. in the Worlds two times--but also invested his last $20,000 into perhaps one of the best table tennis clubs of all times (Mr. Gusikoff's Columbia Studios club, Hollywood, CA). With the sponge skewed clique' making the big decisions in this area, five dollars and Bob Gusikoff's legacy will get him a cup cappuccino at Starbucks.
After playing the Classic Hardbat a few times, I fell in love with the game: I love the longer rallies, the chop, and, most important, the P-E-O-P-L-E. Playing The Classic Game gave me a new sense of empowerment, to escape who and where I was. I had no real future with the sponge game whereas with the Classic Game, I had possibilites. This game relies on technique, not equipment to generate power. After spending over ten grueling years of training in a top Shotokan karate school, I had a leg up on the competition for I know how to generate power with the hips instead of using the upper body as most people who haven't had this kind of comprehensive training do.
The Hardbat renaissance allowed me to reinvent myself: In early 1998, my naive idea was to become--without the violence, of course-- a modern-day Mushashi of table tennis; however, unexpected hegemonic forces were working behind the scenes to put a bump in my road. The plebs and the petty bourgeoisie would orchestrate my being ostracized from the Game on the Westside through trumped-up charges. The ostensible reason for my ostracism was that I'm a troublemaker; however, the real reason was that I went against a certain local club director's grain by writing to higher authorities about his uncontrolled-indoor-regluing fetish at a USATT club. My Hardbat activism, too, would be bad for his Tip Top glue sales if I was successful.
That the overly educated, blind, opinion monopolizers who control our Sport don't think Hardbat is cool, aren't empressed at all, but rather condemn it, only enhances its overall appeal.
Being a hardbat revolutionary at Santa Monica College has been very challenging. And, it is hoped very profitable: I'm presently writing a fictionalized screenplay based on my personal experiences dealing with the hegemonic forces that have hijacked our game.
Thank The Supreme Power of Godhead that cooler heads prevail at Santa Monica College (and within the USATT) than those within the the venal, sinister forces who have put profit before the aesthetic appeal of the Game, before our members' mental and physical health (regluing is an attack with a deadly weapon; the "glue game" is too stressful -- too much deception).
Anyone wanting to help Bob Gusikoff with his doctor bills can send your donations ($5, okay) to Ed Ball, P.O. Box 207 Santa Monica, CA 90406. Please make checks out to "Bob Gusikoff" and good things will happen to you. (Checks over a $100 can be made out to "Hardbat" if that makes more sense to you.) We will be having a Gusikoff Cup at the 2005 U.S. Open, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, July 7-10. We need sponsors to put up prize money/prizes to attract the flagship players. Please call Hardbat International at (310) 967 5844 or email gusikoff1959@gmail.com if you are interested in donating, competing in the event or taking a Hardbat lesson (Our instructors are cutting edge, USATT instructors.) Paddle Palace has donated $100 in gift certificates ($10 increments) to help Bob. These standard Paddle Palace certificates would make excellent Christmas/birthday presents for your Level Two people. Please call Hardbat International, if you are interested. Hardbat International cares.
Al Papp:
Photo by John Oros
I switched to hardbat a few years ago and it is all Lorin Benedict's fault. I had been playing the sponge game for about two years before switching, and sort of figured out two shots -- a forehand loop and a backhand push. I had become frustrated with the game mainly because of the deceptive elements that players regularly used. Deceptively spinny serves were the most frustrating. I kept missing very slow-moving balls that I could easily reach! Since I mostly enjoyed running around retrieving hits, the game got to be a real bore for me.
One day Lorin Benedict showed up with two hardbats that he had purchased from Don Varian at Hock Table Tennis. On that fateful day he let me try out his spare hardbat and I never went back after that! I kept his spare until I could get my own hardbat. I called Don Varian at Hock and he set me up with a Hock 3-Ply racket. Oh bliss!
Since switching to full-time hardbat a few years ago, my table tennis skills have improved a bit but my enjoyment of the game has increased tremendously. I have learned how to chop thanks to Hermann Luechinger and I play a balanced all-around game of defense and offense. All of the shot retrieving keeps me happily scrambling about. I enjoy the tension build-up of long rallies and positional play so I guess I am a natural for an all-around hardbatter.
I saved the best benefit of playing hardbat for last -- meeting lots of really interesting new friends who share the obsession. I always look forward to meeting up with the Northern California regulars for our periodic Hardbat Fests, and particularly enjoy the gluttonous Chinese-food dinners that we inevitably partake in afterwards. I will never forget my first conversation with Marty Reisman (he was very interested to find out that I was a computer scientist who hadn't yet been lobotomized) or the fun I had traveling around Europe with Scott and Hermann, where we met up and made friends with Hardbatters in a few different countries. It was really cool meeting Chuck Hoey in person and seeing his legendary ping pong collection, now housed at the ITTF headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. I always look forward to the US Nationals in December, not so much for the ping pong, but moreso because I love hanging out for a bunch of days with the hardbat crowd. The range of hardbatter-attended activities borders on the bizarre: renditions of Danny Boy during meals; a pre-match spontaneous recital of a Shakespeare soliloquy; an engaging story-telling session from a piano virtuoso; a visit to the impressionist art exhibits; getting educated on machine tool theory; and far too many all-you-can-eat buffets. Of course, when these activities aren't keeping us occupied, there is always the hardbat play going on all day long.

[brunch20]

heu moi pas comprendre, merci de le rédiger en français thank you hi ha

bonne soirée..