1st San Francisco Hardbat Fest of 2009
March 12, 2009

This past Saturday afternoon, February 28, 2009, between 1:30 and 5:30PM, 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.

Click here to get a more visual flavor for the event.