I met Desmond Douglas a few times in my teens and early 20s. Such a genuine and nice guy. He gave simple and decent advice. Had time for people and seemed to really enjoy coaching. He would hang out and chat after sessions. Brilliant guy to have on a coaching course.
He was the first TT player I ever heard of when I was about 7 and on holiday in a big old mansion in Devon around 1981. One of the kids told me he was the English champion and used 'reversed rubbers'. That same day I saw and used my first reverse rubber bat. I thought it was ingenious. I never played again until I was 11 on a caravan holiday in Scotland and saw people doing a backhand chiquita type shot. Thought it was awesome and decided I wanted to be good at this too. They were talking about 'Tackiness D' and I thought 'woah' TT is cool.
Later that summer my mum was worried that I was too inactive and hated regular sports. She said 'Please choose a sport, you can do anything, I'll get you into a club and take you there as much as you like'.
Table tennis was the answer. I believed I could play because my dad was a decent player and I have patience in general. It took me so much courage to ask my parents for a 15 quid bat for my birthday but knew I needed half decent equipment. Dunlop combination bat. It had some medium pips on BH and I struggled to learn how to use it. Had to wear it out though and prove I loved the game before getting my Stiga Johansson semi anatomical with Sriver and Black power. I was so nervous to get that and messed up cutting the rubbers. Was an ace bat though. Seems you can still get black power on ALI. It’s not the same rubber at all. I am shocked!
Thank you for reminding me of that journey.
I wonder how others here started playing?
