Halfway through into the first semester, I’ve participated in quite a few events and clubs, but I haven’t followed through on many of them as I found they weren’t really in-tune with what I wanted. One club I have continued with is ping pong club. Though it may not seem very “academic,” my experience at ping pong club has helped me realize the benefits of using proper analysis to improve activities.
Whenever I played ping pong, I would play with friends. The game I played would be undisciplined. I still wanted to beat my friends and play well, so I practiced. I thought about the game logically and made adjustments to my playing style accordingly, and I thought I became pretty good. But after joining ping pong club the level of in-depth explanation they were able to give about proper form and the physics involved in the game put my own thinking to shame. They could tell you the best theoretical angles in certain positions and how much forward vs. side. vs upward motion you wanted in some positions. Using the knowledge I learned and loved in physics not only made the game more fun to look at, but it improved my game immensely. I had organization to it as well as concrete positions and forms to strive for when trying to improve. The lesson helped me learn how analysis activities could improve not only the quality with which you perform it, but also your enjoyment of it as well. Actually thinking in-depth about activities (and even everyday things) in the future is something I’ll look to do always.