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A few isolated thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 71F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..
Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low near 55F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Rob Forbes, left, serves the ping pong Monday morning (July 25) during the group's weekly match at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Terry Thompson tosses the ball in the air before serving to his opponents Monday (July 25) at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
A group of seniors gather every Monday morning to practice pong pong and share laughs at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Doug Swayne, right, and Rick Schulze prepare to receive an incoming ball during a game Monday (July 25) at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Jean Kenin receives the ball Monday (July 25) during a game with friends.
Terry Thompson serves the ball during a weekly practice Monday (July 25) at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Rick Schulze receives the ball Monday (July 25) during a game at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Rob Forbes serves the ball during a game Monday (July 25) at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Rob Forbes, left, serves the ping pong Monday morning (July 25) during the group's weekly match at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Terry Thompson tosses the ball in the air before serving to his opponents Monday (July 25) at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
A group of seniors gather every Monday morning to practice pong pong and share laughs at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Doug Swayne, right, and Rick Schulze prepare to receive an incoming ball during a game Monday (July 25) at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Jean Kenin receives the ball Monday (July 25) during a game with friends.
Terry Thompson serves the ball during a weekly practice Monday (July 25) at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Rick Schulze receives the ball Monday (July 25) during a game at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Rob Forbes serves the ball during a game Monday (July 25) at the Taos Youth and Family Center.
Four senior men wearing sneakers and poised in athletic stances were applying the same robust principles of tennis, and even that of pickleball, around an official Stiga ping pong table at the Youth and Family Center on Monday (July 25). Massive forearms and backhands were being swung by the table tennis practitioners, sending the orange plastic balls far past the key master arcade machine and sometimes to the cubbies by the entrance to the skating rink. Around the tight space of a Stiga table, the players playing a doubles ping pong match, covered ground, rotating from one side of the table to the other and stepping in front and back of one other, in a frenzied and dizzying display.
Every Monday morning, for the past five years or so, this group of seniors have been meeting up to play in this unofficial ping pong league. Nothing is really at stake, results aren’t recorded and there are no standings, but the pace of play is quick and the forehands are for real.
It all started on Rob Forbes’ porch, where they used to gather and play. From there, it moved to the Youth and Family Center, where the table used to be in the family room, and then toward the back of the arcade by the basketball free throw arcade game. Now, it sits front and center of the Youth and Family Center, next to the lounge sofa and chairs. According to Forbes, the Youth and Family Center is a great asset.
Forbes says he learned the art of table tennis from master Daniel Garin, a former tennis player and coach who lost his right arm in a car accident in ‘91. He studied books and instructional videos on ping pong to become better at the game. In 2015, he won the C-division tournament at the Denver Table Tennis Alliance. As Forbes recalls, in over 500 hundreds games of table tennis at the Youth and Family Center, he couldn’t win a single game. His brightest moment against Garin was putting Garin on the defensive for a few games, but Garin still came out on top. Other local ping pong players faced the same fate.
On Monday, the four seniors started with a few light warm-up rounds to really get the blood flowing. In doubles table tennis, unlike regular tennis or pickleball, each player must take their turn hitting the ball in succession [the server to the receiver, and then the other partners to each other, and then back again]. If someone hits the ball consecutively without their partner landing a return, it’s an automatic loss of a point. This format creates all the shuffling around the table.
After warming up, the paddles were striking at full force, or used with finesse to impart tactical spin on the ball. Anything that was gently dinked high over the net, was met with a player rearing back to slam it as hard as possible. Terry Thompson did not miss an opportunity to let it fly.
Rick Schulze received compliments on his ambidextrous paddle handling. On the sidelines, Doug Swayne joked, “He can smash em with his left, he can smash em with his right!” Swayne was prone to use his drop-ball technique, where the back spin causes the ball to dip quickly after bouncing.
The only thing that would halt games was remembering who was up next to serve. Trying to figure whose serve it really was turned into a classic Abbott and Costello comedy bit.
After half an hour of intense ping pong action, a couple of new competitors emerged. One of them, Jean Kenin, came from the pool side of the building, having just finished an aquatic aerobics class. Transitioning from pool to ping pong, the guys let her warm up and get in on some table tennis.
Andy Greif showed up a few minutes later, claiming to be recovering from shoulder therapy. Whatever ailments were plaguing him, he didn’t show it in the games. He pulled off a combination of soft touches and high-speed spikes in his game.
When the pickleball session happening next door in the skating rink was over, the players also made their way to the ping pong table to heckle the crowd with light humorous jabs.
As though the matches were taking place in Wimbledon, one of the players yelled, jokingly, “Quiet on the set!” At just over an hour of nonstop table tennis, the group called it quits.
They intend to meet again next Monday morning and do it all over.
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