This past Saturday afternoon, February 28, 2009, between 1:30 and 5:30
PM, eight hardbatters, one "liha" enthusiast (plain wood paddle – no
rubber, no sponge, no sandpaper), plus a favorite acquaintance of mine
came together at the Potrero Hills Neighborhood House gymnasium in San
Francisco to participate in the first SF Hardbat Fest of 2009.

Organized by John Lam and hosted and supported by the Twin Dragons,
Mike and Dan Marinas, a giant round robin was conducted with each
player slated to play the other eight. With three tables dedicated to
the event, all 36 matches – each a 21 point, best 2 out of 3 game
contest – could have been accomplished in the time allotted, however
only 33 matches were in fact played, as a couple of participants got
too pooped to play their final match.

This was quite understandable considering that the format for the
event was a 21 Point-Handicap system. This modified point-handicap
system, developed in consultation with Butterfly's Mitch Seidenfeld,
is designed to make the playing field more level, giving players of
lower-skill levels a real shot at victory against higher-skill level
players, while providing quite a challenge for all.

Under this format, each participant was assigned a minus number, zero,
or plus number handicap according to their hardbat rating to establish
the starting score or "spot". You can just imagine how much more
taxing a match is under this format compared to regular competition,
when you reflect, for example, that John Lam had to spot Bill Brin, 20
points a game. That is, each game he played Bill, John started from
the score -8 (his handicap number based on his hardbat rating) to +12
(Bill's handicap number).

As a measure of how accurate the assigned point-handicaps were, a
number of higher-rated, middle-rated, and lower-rated players emerged
from their matches winning about as much as they lost. Each match
appeared highly competitive, making their outcome highly
unpredictable, always challenging, and a heck of a lot of fun.

Part of that fun, too, was welcoming back Howard Blum to these hardbat
fests after a long absence. His lovely strokes were hampered by
inconsistency borne of only playing twice in the past six months.
Fond of him though we are, none of us showed him any mercy on that
account and I'm afraid he emerged with a record of 0-8.

In addition to welcoming old friends, we all were happy to make the
acquaintance of a new hardbatter from the world of the squishys by the
name of Rok Yu – a wonderful player, aged 36 but looking more like 26,
with wonderful form and balance, who at first hit his forehand with a
looping stroke, but after only three short instructional tips, took to
forehand hardbat hitting as if he were Bobby Gusikoff.

And everyone viewed with amazement Andy Abad's beautiful defensive
strokes and explosive, highly stylized forehand and backhand hitting
…with a plain wood paddle, for goodness sake! He emerged with a
winning record of 6 matches to 2.

By the way, Andy and his wood paddle was invited to participate in our
hardbat fest although he is not considered eligible under current
USATT rules because a number of us are planning to seek a rules change
to include liha (that is, wood and sandpaper) racquets under the USATT
hardbat umbrella.

Refreshments provided by the Twin Dragons, John, and Becky included
bananas and oranges, Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies, bottled water and
Gatorade. This contributed mightily to keeping the Hardbat Fest
festivities festive.

The day ended with a bunch of us repairing to the neighborhood Goat
Hill Pizzeria for wonderful pizza, great salads, fabulous garlic
bread, and thoroughly refreshing Lagunitas Pilsner on draft. Thanks
to all who made this day so enjoyable.

To get a more visual flavor for the event, go to the link below:

http://public.fotki.com/HardbatTT/sf/?cmd=fs_slideshow

No one need point out that Becky's form is superior to mine; I know.