It was Five to Two and No One was Feeling It

   I was playing the other day and the teams were uneven, though not deliberately.  I hadn't played with any of the players.  In a couple of minutes the score was five to two and the outcome of the game really wasn't in doubt.  

And everyone knew it.  So there was this let down and it would be easy to grind out the rest of the game while thinking about the next game.  I was pondering this and it looked like the other team decided that the rest of the game wasn't going to be a lot of fun either.

As I thought about this, I thought that there was not guarantee that the next game was going to be better and then I thought, well how can I make the most of this game?  The players were nice and the game was friendly and there was no reason that we couldn't try to make the most of the game we had.  

There is an adage in golf that is, "every shot is a separate contest."  Well, that is pretty much what PB is too.  A nicely struck forehand is a joy forever and sometimes every backhand is a challenge.  And I would suggest that to make any game more interesting that we seek to hit every shot well.  It is incredibly common to not hit balls in the sweet spot of the paddle and just playing attention to that and seek to improve it will provide challenge in any game situation where you are winning or getting killed.

With some of that in mind, I played out the rest of the game and enjoyed the opportunity to just play well and control the ball.  

I've often written about at what level to play when skill levels are uneven and in my opinion you want to play close to the skill levels of the other players.  All of the above is what to do with your excessive skills as you play in any situation.  You can choose to hit the perfect shot to a place where your opponents can easily return the shot and thus extending the rally or just bang it away, which will bring satisfaction to no one.   Longer rallies are fun, I think and make the game more interesting for everyone.