Tennis vs. Table Tennis ~ Brother vs. Brother

I am the oldest of five children, two boys and three girls. I guess that I was the stereotypical big brother while growing up; at least that's what my siblings tell me. You know what I mean; nobody picks on them but me, protector and tormentor at the same time. I tell you this not because I'm proud that I was mean, but to set up an epic event in family table tennis history that can motivate younger brothers and sisters everywhere.

In high school I was on the wrestling team and enjoyed it thoroughly. I loved practice and matches but had nobody my size at home to practice with. My dad had me by 100 lbs. and was a nationally ranked college wrestler in his day. Needless to say, my motivation to spar with him was less than stellar. Can you guess who unwillingly participated in the brunt of my arm bar practice sessions? That's right my brother who is six years my minor, and at the time, was half my size.

During my teenage years I developed a great appreciation for the game of table tennis. I worked up some pretty good skills too, if I may say so myself. My friends and I loved to play when we hung out, unless there were girls around, in which case we were much too cool for games. We would have tournaments and always know who the current champ was.

Well as people are prone to do, my little brother grew up. He developed into quite the athlete. He wasn't scrawny like I was in high school; in fact he was built like a running back, just a solid kid. I was sure that he would play football, as were the coaches, but he chose a different path. Tennis. That's right, this rock solid, five-foot ten inch, 180 pound speedster chose to play tennis.

It wasn't without its perils though. His junior year he slipped on a wet court and broke his arm. His senior year he tweaked his knee while running along the back of the court for a long ball. He fell right into the back fence pole, leaving him with a tweaked knee, a split lip, a black eye, a scraped elbow, and six stitches in his head. No lie. He still managed to take region and finish high in state.

This brings us to that fateful night at my buddy's cabin where my little bro would become my equal. My friends and I were at a cabin where we often stayed to hunt and enjoy "guy time". I had decided to invite my 18 year-old little brother along for the experience. At night we would often play pool and table tennis to pass the time.

I was in the kitchen when I saw one of my friends exit the game room with his head hanging low. "What's wrong, you get beat?" I asked. "Yeah dude, your little bro just shut me out in ping-pong" he replied. "Ha ha ha, my brother beat you?" I laughed. "Let's see you beat him" was his defiant response. Well, at these words everyone emitted the obligatory "ooooohhhhhh" and the game was on.

For some weird reason, until I saw the smirk on my little brothers face the moment before he aced me with his first serve, I had never made the connection between table tennis and real tennis. Let me break this down for those of you who, like me, don't connect the dots too well. People who excel at tennis will probably be good at table tennis. It's the same game, only smaller! Yeah, it was a shock for me as well. I had never seen anyone take a full on swing at a ping pong ball before, and it was scary. He literally cracked a ball in half just by hitting hit so hard.

As all of my friends looked on with joy, my bro proceeded to dish out the worst beating that I have ever received in all of my years playing table tennis. I eventually curled up in the fetal position under my end of the table until the game was over. I crawled out from under the table.

Listening to the jeers of my much entertained friends brought me to the realization that maybe I wouldn't always be better at everything than my little brother. As I extended my hand in a gesture of respect to my now equal sibling I said the words that I had been waiting all night to say;" Want to wrestle?"

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Andy Meredith is a passionate writer for Yard Game Central. More information about table tennis tables and ping pong techniques can be found at www.TablePong.com.

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