Whenever I go to Nationals or the Berkeley Open, I see these kids from ICC and the Bay Area. It's weird cause I see them so much that I forget to realize that these are superstars! Kids like Krish and Ariel are going to represent the USA in the Olympics one day, and they may just end up on a Wheeties box, and these are kids I see playing right in front of me at tournaments. We have a ball that Ariel signed for us at last years Berkeley tournament hanging on the wall next to our table in the basement where we have a picture of her and Jacob. Watching these kids play in person is indescribable. Their control and instincts are inhuman!
PONG from
California is a place. on
Vimeo.
I love Krish's priority list for playing:
1) Having Fun
2) Passion
3) Fight
4) Win!
Austin's list appears to be completely backwards. It really depresses me when it causes him emotional distress when he doesn't win. When he doesn't win, he stops fighting for every point and gives up. He loses his passion and he definitely doesn't have fun. His face says it all.
But how can you teach that? You can teach drills, but how can you get a player to adopt a mindset like that?
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