manual labor

No air hockey for me on Saturday this weekend as I was moving.  Moving is not fun, but the wife and I got a whole lot done – including cleaning up the old place… and kind of got started in on unpacking.  One feature of the new place was the unlikely coincidence of moving about a mile away from Billy… and he was planning on finally putting his table together after a recent move.  On Sunday, I picked up Eric from the train station and we went and picked up some beer.  I whipped up some guacamole and Eric, Amy, and I headed over for some chili and an old-fashioned barn-raising air hockey table assembly. It was just going to be Eric, Goran, Billy and I playing air hockey… Sean and Mike couldn’t make it, and Nick’s girlfriend gave birth to his second child just the night before… I mean… spending time with some person who can’t even talk vs. putting together an air hockey table… someone’s priorities are screwed up, huh? 

 

I was glad that Amy was interested in going… and I was hoping that she’d get to see some world-class air hockey and also see that I’m not hanging out with a bunch of degenerates or assholes.  We were greeted by Billy and to the smell of some delicious chili. We cracked open a couple beers, and Billy introduced us to his girlfriend – who he described in an email as “normal, but not into air hockey at all” (emphasis mine)… as if not being into air hockey is a strike against being normal.  I figured she’d get along well with my wife.  Goran showed up and we ate some delicious chili.  Billy has a very nice, dining room table that would have fit all of us very nicely – but I’ve found for informal gatherings like this that everyone just hovers around the kitchen regardless… especially when the kitchen is nice and open – and has seats for everyone.

 

Then we got to work setting up the air hockey table… which was completely taken apart and set up in Billy’s corner.  Billy didn’t seem to have much faith that he was able to keep all of his parts together, but Goran didn’t seem to mind and figured he’d put it together with half the hardware if need be. 

 

I remember thinking before I went over to Billy’s that he’d have some kind of “place” to put his table…. Y’know.. like a basement or a garage or some place that wouldn’t allow the very loud noise to travel… but nope.. it was going to live right there with neighbors all around. 

 

Anyway… we got started on the table, and Goran knew exactly what he was doing as he said he’d put together many tables in the past.  Quite the opposite was Billy, whom I got the impression wasn’t much of a handyman.  He got excited at the prospect of being useful and using electric tools.  I shouldn’t talk, before I needed to refurbish my old condo, I was much the same… completely pessimistic about my abilities, but eager to jump in and do stuff.  The table wasn’t hard to put together at all… it was just heavy and the only wrinkle to the whole thing was when Goran plugged it in and nothing worked… moving some jumpers around fixed that and in no time later – we were playing.

 

I got a new wrist brace that would replace the taping of my wrist and keep my wrist completely immobile.  I figured I’d need something like this to heal my wrist – or I’d have to stop playing until it did.  It felt quite weird and I was pretty unsure of my playing.  That, and I didn’t want to be the first to send the puck off the table and through a painting, a window, or cause a nice gouge in Billy’s drywall.  We got started playing our version of a pro-am double.. with the teams being Billy and Eric against me and Goran.  Doubles in this sense is very strange, because if players aren’t equally good – it puts a lot of pressure on the ‘pros’ against each other.  If Billy scores on Goran – it’s very likely he’s going to score on me as well… so if he gets 1 point – it’s likely he will get 2… the only hope I have is to not let Eric score on me… and that didn’t really happen.  We were about even, and I know he scored on Goran more than once, and I scored on Billy more than once.. but overall – Billy did a better job against Goran – which is what I think ultimately decided our ‘best of 3’.  I imagine what this ProAm doubles tourney will be like at the nationals.  The best single player will have the best chance to take his team in for the win.  Since I’m completely unranked, I should get paired with someone who’s really, really good.  If I could score a couple against another pro – I imagine it would go a long way to helping whatever team I end up on. 

 

Then we played another game where we could all play called “Press your luck” (hope we don’t get sued for copyright infringement).  We figured our ranking would be worst to best to be Eric, me, Goran, and Billy… and we played a game where one person goes first… with the puck up against the lowest ranked player… on up the chain.  So, the interesting thing is how it’s scored.  You can opt out of your turn and get a score of zero… or you can ‘push your luck’.  If you score against the first person, you get 1 point – and can stop and take that score or “press your luck” and go up against the next highest rated person… then you would get a higher score (essentially you get 1 point for the first person you win against, 2 points vs. the 2^nd person you win against, 3 points for the 3^rd person you win against… but it’s all cumulative.. so if you beat 3 people – that’s 1+2+3 = 6 points, 4 people and it’s 1+2+3+4=10 points).  If, however, you were to ever to have one score against you – your score is -1, and you’re done…. And you play 7 rounds. Early on in the game, Eric and I had very little confidence we could score against Goran or Billy and were happy to win against each other.  We never earned more than 1 point throughout the entire game.  Billy got a big early lead, and Eric and I shut down Goran always somewhere after he extended himself a little too far. Oh – I forgot to mention the other very significant wrinkle in the game.. at the beginning of each round – the ‘seed’ is determined by how many points you have. So, when Goran went into negative territory and Eric and I were either 0 or 1… Goran became the first person you’d play each time…  In this regard, it’s best to be in the lead to determine how risky you want to be, but at the same time – you have the least chance to affect the outcome of others playing.  Because of Goran going down early… Eric and I fared very poorly… and I remember one lucky time when I did score against him – Eric snuck one past me to screw me over.  And then Goran went on a big tear like we all expected trying to catch up to Billy – and he did it… I think he went 7 rounds or something like that to go ahead.  In the next round I did the unthinkable.. and scored against Billy.  It came down to the final round where Billy went ahead – but just enough to force Goran to beat all of us in a row… and then he did just that to win.  That was a very fun way to get a bunch of people playing on one table.  I have a feeling Billy knows a million such games.

 

It was also around this time that we heard the neighbors stomping on their floor from all the noise.  We decided to cut the day of air hockey short.  Perhaps Billy will talk to his neighbors and let them know that he’s going to be loud on Sunday afternoons.  I mean.. if there’s a time of day to be noisy – 3pm on a Sunday seems to be the most appropriate. 

The student

This week, I went to air hockey early.  On Thursday, Billy suggested we should all gather an hour beforehand and he’d give a lesson.  Nick and I showed up, and Eric filtered in later.  Billy showed us the ’still puck’ offense.  Basically, it’s just the idea of being able to hit one of two shots – that look the same and where the defense would have to choose to block one or the other.  It was a great lesson… and included writing on the table with a marker.    It feels awkward being forced to do something different – and a little outside my comfort zone… but it also forced me to think about my offense a bit more and to be more tactical.

I immediately ditched my offense completely to do pretty much only what Billy had suggested until I perfect it.

With people showing up late for the normal tourney, we got to talking about the upcoming nationals.  Nick and I already signed up and have secured our travel plans.  I started ribbing Billy to see if he would ditch out on nationals like he ditched on Vegas.  I saw on the forums that he had challenged some people before the tourney in Texas, but from what I could tell, he still wasn’t planning on going.  He didn’t give the impression that he could be swayed… so I dropped the topic.  He seemed to be pretty content to coach, anyway.

The other conversation I remember is about nicknames.  Billy was asking if Nick or Mike had any nicknames.  Each rattled off about half a dozen, each.   Nick had Czechmate and wmd – and probably some others.  The only one I remember from Mike was 50/50.  Apparently early in his air hockey playing – he was so erratic there was a 50/50 chance of scoring on himself.  I’ve only had 2 nicknames that I think have stood the test of time.  Catfish – which some of my friends still bust out… and Jolly Hank.  That nickname inspired my brother-in-law to create a logo for it… so my nickname has been branded.

It was really weird to type that.

Anyway.  Nick and I jumped into our first match.  It was time to put what Billy was talking about into practice – and what better person than someone who got the very same lesson and has a really good idea of how I’m going to approach my game.  I went into the game knowing full well that when this game was over, I was going to be tired… Nick and I never go less than 6 games.. and 7, I think is more common.  Nick shot out of the gate right away with two 7-5 wins.  I got that twinge of fear that I’d get ousted early, and for some reason my acceptance of it caused me to relax a bit.  And then… everything just came together.  I was hitting off goal shots to re-set up my offense.  I was training Nick to expect a certain shot, then mixed it up.  I just got an accurate shot… and my right wall unders were looking good.  In the third game, it got tied 6-6, and I can’t remember how I finished it up, but it was a big turning point in the set.  It could have easily been 3-0 against me instead of just 2-1 against me.  I went on to take the next two games to put me up 3-2.  The next game went to a huge 6-6 battle – where the puck exchanged hands several times.  Nick finally scored, and I had thought that after that win – he’d be up 3-2, but I found out that I had a chance to put him away and win the set.  Of course, I can’t beat anyone in less than 7 games.  In the last game, I recall getting up a quick lead, and just holding on.  Throughout the set, I managed to score a couple transition points where Nick was playing an aggressive defense.  It really seemed like the only advantage I had over him in that set.  I was happy to win, though.  Plus – this was right after Nick had put a whooping on Mike – who was very unhappy that he could be unseated from his new lofty place.  Nick was playing very well, and I somehow found a way to beat him… had I lost – I would have felt very good about it, either way.  I mean, look at the points scored… going into the last game – we both had scored the same number of points on each other.  It doesn’t get more even than this.

April 18, 2009 – BZ Glendale Hts., Glendale Hts., IL

Name		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Games	Points
Dan Meyer		5	5	7	7	7	6	7	4	44
Nick Harbacek		7	7	6	5	5	7	5	3	42
Overall Stats
Name		7-6	7-5	7-4	7-3	7-2	7-1	7-0	Games	Points	PPG
Dan Meyer		1	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	44	6.29
Nick Harbacek		1	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	42	6.00

I then went to watch what Eric was up to… and he was playing so incredibly good.  He’s starting to take games from Nick and Mike.  Two weeks ago, he had no chance to take a game from anyone – and now, it looks like he’s playing like a top-100 player.  If he was playing people of his same rank, I have no doubt he’d destroy them.  They just haven’t been showing up – but I predict that someday soon, he’ll upset someone much higher ranked than himself – and nobody will be surprised.  Mike suggested a nickname for Eric that I thought was pretty appropriate.  “The Sponge” – because he’s soaking up information on how to play like a sponge.  Billy said that he’s picking up on his teaching faster than myself or Nick… likely because he’s been playing the shortest amount of time.  Eric’s already begun to handle the puck better than I did when I started playing… and he has his moments when his shots are perfect – but he just doesn’t have the consistency just yet.  He has the capabilities, it’s just waiting for him to bring it all together.

I played Mike next.  Mike had just fallen to Nick a moment earlier and he had put on his game face.  I was going to face serious, no-fun Mike.  This particular Mike is absolutely deadly.  Not even a quick funny wisecrack could get him to change his mood.  He was just focused and was looking forward to beating the snot out of me.  He went up early, taking the first game 7-5, and then I countered… winning 7-4.  This went back and forth.. Mike would take one, and I would take the following game.  Once in there, Mike tooled around and was acting a little goofy – playing with one finger on the mallet and spinning it about.  I took that game in what seemed like either a failed experiment or Mike being unable to focus for more than 10 minutes at a time… I’m not sure.  Again.. against Mike – it was decided in the last game, and heading into the final game – the number of goals scored against each other was identical.  Billy came over to ref the last game… and I fell apart.  My defense couldn’t stop anything, and even when I got open shots – I couldn’t hit them.  I had some serious bad mojo going on, and Mike swept up the floor with me… being so brazen as to allow me to shoot at an empty goal.  Outside of this 7-3 loss, Mike couldn’t beat me by more than 2 points… but my poor last game left me feeling a little helpless.  Mike had buckled down, and I had buckled.  I played him so well the rest of the time, it was a shame the final game wasn’t a little closer.  I congratulated Mike on a well played set.

April 18, 2009 – BZ Glendale Hts., Glendale Hts., IL

Name		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Games	Points
Dan Meyer		5	7	6	7	5	7	3	3	40
Michael Yarbrough		7	4	7	6	7	6	7	4	44
Overall Stats
Name		7-6	7-5	7-4	7-3	7-2	7-1	7-0	Games	Points	PPG
Dan Meyer		2	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	40	5.71
Michael Yarbrough		1	2	0	1	0	0	0	4	44	6.29

I was getting very tired and I had only played 2 sets.

I ran into Goran after a long break and he asked if I was up for a set.  Goran just beats the crap out of me.  It seems as though I do better against Billy than I do Goran.  His offense just catches me out of position far too much, and he blocks my right wall under every time and forces a turnover.  I consistently guess wrong when he shoots – and he somehow guesses correctly every time I shoot.  And the times I was able to set up my shot properly – I’d lose accuracy on my shot.  It was very annoying losing due to losing your ability to shoot an accurate goal.

I have no idea why or how, but Billy said it was the best I had ever played… and Goran noted that I’d been “improving”.  It felt like I had completely shit the bed when I was playing Goran, but I must’ve done some things correctly.  Here’s how it went down:

April 18, 2009 – BZ Glendale hts., Glendale Hts., IL

Name		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Games	Points
Goran Mitic		7	7	7	7				4	28
Dan Meyer		2	4	3	5				0	14
Overall Stats
Name		7-6	7-5	7-4	7-3	7-2	7-1	7-0	Games	Points	PPG
Goran Mitic		0	1	1	1	1	0	0	4	28	7.00
Dan Meyer		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	3.50

By this time, I was wiped out… I was sweating on the table on the previous set… and my wrist had had enough.  I packed my stuff and did my best to unwind on the trip home.

I’m looking at the ratings… and something doesn’t seem right… I’m ranked just above Nick right now.  I mean, I just beat him, but he still takes a higher percentage of our sets.  The idea that we’re practically equal is very strange and nonsensical to me.  I guess he played Pat a couple times, and Pat came out ahead.  *sigh* Nick.. you gotta play people early on when you’re not tired and beat.  I would’ve only accepted another challenge if my opponent provided an oxygen tank.

The Call

So last Thursday, I was running errands after work and picking up boxes for my move next week when I got a call from Billy.  He invited me to play some air hockey and was assembling a small group of guys to play at the ‘ol Brunswick Zone.  I told him  I couldn’t go as I had plans to hang out with my friend and watch the Blackhawks playoff game… and then we were supposed to go to a free concert.  I’d already changed plans on Vicki earlier that week, so it would be pretty lame for me to blow off Vicki again in the same week.  However, I missed playing last week and I’m not really into hockey or whatever free concert is going on.  I gave Vicki a call and asked her who else is going and she rattled off a long list of people.

I said, “So, it’s not just going to be me and you, huh?”

“Nope.”

“Ok, well.. I got an offer to go play air hockey and if it was just us two, I wouldn’t ditch you b…”

“Go play air hockey Dan… you goofball.”

“Thanks.”

…and then I ran home… walked the dog – who decided to sniff at everything and take her sweet ass time.  My little Zoe can get very stubborn sometimes… late in our walk – she put on the brakes and I wasn’t having it.. so I just scooped her up and carried her inside… fed her, and I was out the door.  It was like Billy called up a crackhead and said, “Hey Dan, I’ve got so much crack over here and I can’t smoke it all – you need to come over and help me.”

…but I had a new mallet I had modified and wanted to try it out.  And my wife was at improv class and I told her I’d be out late… so I felt a tiny bit of justification.

I get out there to find Billy and Goran playing a set.  They said they had been there for about 40 minutes or so and were just finishing up… and Goran had won.  We played a little “King of the Hill” and the winner of the match got to stick around.  I think Billy spotted me 4 points, and I still couldn’t win – though it was generally close.  I worked on my drift, which I wanted to speed up.  I can’t do a circle drift to save my life, but I can push the puck up and over to the middle and hit it somewhere in there.  My thoughts being if someone follows my drift – they may not be able to follow it perfectly, and I’d be able to hit a straight over on them… and if they were being stoic – I could push the puck a little further and essentially “go around” their defense with a straight shot.  This offense doesn’t work for shit…. but it could be that I’m not quite doing it right… and I realized a charge defense would destroy it.  Only when I changed up my shot from a certain part of the table did it seem effective.

Billy mentioned that he had to leave around 9:30, but every time someone offered him a game – he didn’t turn it down.  He kept saying, “This is my last game, and then I *have* to go” but he kept playing for close to an hour afterward.  By then, Mike, Nick, and Eric were there and we played a bunch of practice sets.  It was pretty light-hearted.  Mike trotted out his oh-so-effective “look-at-me-I’ve-got-my-foot-on-the-table” distraction game… which turned into “hey-look-at-me-I’m-standing-on-the-table” charge offense/defense… though I think he played mostly over the line.  That’s Mike for you.

I got home well after midnight, and I was wiped out.

Ok… more Mitic rating stuff

Giving this a little bit of thought.. there’s a very simple way to *slightly* modify the current Mitic ratings to take in account of “magnitude of win”.

 

I understand that the “value of match” is assigned pretty arbitrarily, but higher than most other games… like chess, for instnace… which is a good thing and I fully support.  My only tiny beef is that I believe due to the inherent differences between a game such as chess (for which the Elo system was designed), and a game like air hockey – it is incredibly easy to determine how thoroughly you’ve thrashed someone.  It seems to me that someone barely beating another shouldn’t get the same bump in ratings that someone who utterly dominated should get.  Conversely – evenly matched players who don’t beat each other by a large margin – who play each other frequently would bounce around the ratings system and could very well have large swings in their ratings based on just a couple points going one way or the other.  Anyway, it is very easy to determine the magnitude of a win.  All one needs to do is take the average score of a set for each player and subtract the two. (for sets that end early and don’t go to a full 7 games, this magnitude will generally shift toward a larger number – and will, in fact, reflect dominance)

 

So.. what’s an easy way to incorporate this?  I don’t want to futz with “win expectancy”… there’s evidence to believe Elo, himself was a little wonky with how he came up with his tables and that a simple – linear system would do just fine (it seems as though both his method and a linear method do quite well for evenly matched players, however – things get a little hairy on the endpoints – where one player has a significant advantage over the other).  Anyway.. I’m not messing with “win expectancy”.  I propose to mess with the “value of the match”.  Since this value was determined rather arbitrarily, I feel as though I have a little more freedom to mess with it and to make a feeble attempt at making it more meaningful.  So, the first thing I did was go onairhockeyworld.com and check out how well people did in the tourney in Vegas.  What I wanted to do was see what kinds of ranges of “magnitude of win” I’d see… and I wasn’t really surprised.  Masters beat up on amateurs by a larger margin than Masters vs. Masters.  However, there were a couple blips that I’d like to focus on that kind of proves my point.

 

Check out this amazing match between Davis and Ehab:

 

March 16, 2009 -  Name   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Games Points Ehab Shoukry   7 4 7 7 2 7   4 34 Davis lee Huynh   4 7 6 3 7 6   2 33                       Overall Stats Name   7-6 7-5 7-4 7-3 7-2 7-1 7-0 Games Points PPG Ehab Shoukry   2 0 1 1 0 0 0 4 34    5.67 Davis lee Huynh   0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 33    5.50

 

Here.. Ehab won the set 4-2, but did so by only scoring one more goal than Davis (an average differential of 0.17).  Now.. I’m not going to say that this is essentially a ‘draw’, but I would say that this is so close that, in terms of changing someone’s ratings, I think it would be more accurate to mute the effect of this match somewhat. 

 

Here’s another example:

 

 

March 15, 2009 -  Name   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Games Points Davis lee Huynh   7 7 7 7       4 28 Danny Hynes   4 4 3 4       0 15                       Overall Stats Name   7-6 7-5 7-4 7-3 7-2 7-1 7-0 Games Points PPG Davis lee Huynh   0 0 3 1 0 0 0 4 28    7.00 Danny Hynes   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15    3.75

 

 

Here’s a case where Davis, in my opinion, utterly destroyed Danny Hynes.  For two evenly matched players, this was huge (average differential of 3.25).  Should Davis get a bigger boost to his ratings?  I think it would create a more accurate rating.

 

Ultimately, this is about creating a system that can predict how often one player at a certain rating would fare against another player with a different rating.  So.. I’ve thought of a very simple way to take into account of the average differential (or “magnitude”) of a win.

 

First thing is that after writing down a bunch of win differentials, I’ve made a completely arbitrary scale of magnitude of wins.. which are: big wins, normal wins, and small wins.  I’ve decided that I should monkey with the original Mitic ratings as little as possible, and to be incredibly conservative… especially since I’m going to be very arbitrary (but sensibly) assign values here.  So, any match with a win differential of less than 0.5 is a “small win”… a “normal win” is anywhere from .5-2… and  “big win” is over 2.  Simple enough?  So… with that classification, we can alter the “value of match” appropriately based on magnitude of win.  As a side note.. it is possible to win a set and have a negative magnitude.  In the above example of Davis vs. Ehab, if Davis’ 2 wins were both 7-2 wins, Ehab would have had a total of 32 points, and Davis 33 – giving Ehab – the winner.. a negative magnitude of win.  I would suggest another place on this scale and call it a “negative win”… and shave off the “value of match” significantly.

 

Here’s what I propose:

 

Value of match
Win Magnitude*	(negative)	0-0.5	0.5-2.0	2.0+
Challenge Set	20	40	50	60
State Tournament	30	60	75	90
National Tournament	40	80	100	120
* Win magnitude is the difference in average score of a set

 

 

So… how does this change Mitic ratings?  Well… if the magnitude of a win is between 0.5 and 2 – it’s exactly the same.  Doesn’t change at all.  This would only affect games that are either very close, or complete blowouts (or the bizarre case where the winner actually scores fewer points than his opponents).  This has a couple advantages… first and foremost – if scores of each set are input into whatever existing algorithm there is to determine new ratings… it is trivially simple to incorporate.  Secondly, it takes into account the magnitude of a win.  Finally, it’s not a *big* change from what already exists.  Also, the math is simple enough that even Mike and Nick could probably follow along. 

 

The downside:  Well… the “value of match” values are kinda plucked out of thin air… as well as the ranges for “win magnitude”.  With enough data (in the form of thousands of rated matches), we could go back to this algorithm and poke around some more and adjust the numbers to make a more accurate rating… but it’s simply not possible right now.  The other potential drawback is that – at least with respect to “win magnitude”… every score is treated equally.  So.. if someone sees an individual game getting out of hand and gives up – it may bump the win (or loss) to a “blowout” instead of just a “normal win”. So.. it gives people incentive to play to the best of their ability all the time, even when they think there is no hope.

 

So.. I write this for a couple reasons.  One is that I’m completely bored at work and I’m sitting around waiting for people to give me stuff to do… this whole business is a mere suggestion.  I’m sure the ratings system as it exists now is absolutely and wonderfully serviceable… I just think I have a reasonable hunch that my little alteration could make them more accurate.  If Goran or whoever takes the time to input the results of everyone’s matches were to just tell me, “it’s more work and I wouldn’t want to do it”… I won’t raise a fuss… I essentially did this for my own amusement.

Dr. Statslove – or How I’ve learned to stop worrying and love Mitic Ratings

As a guy who owns a B.S. in Mathematics and works fooling with data for a living, the ratings system is *too much* for me not to dive into.  Also, since I missed the weekly last week, it gives me something to write about.

So.. for those in the know, Air hockey players are ranked using the Elo method (check it on Wikipedia).  All this info is on the airhockeyworld.com website, by the way.  The Elo method is a very simple way to quantify “how good” someone is in a game of skill.  Based on someone’s rating, you can determine the likely probability that someone would win a particular match – and assign points up or down to redetermine “how good’ you are.  It’s used in chess and a number of other games.  I imagine the best use of such a ratings system is bragging rights.  I mean, what good is it to be “good” at something if you can’t lord it over someone who doesn’t even live on the same continent as you?  I *suppose* another use for it is seeding in tournaments.

Anyway… one thing that’s nice about the Elo method is that you get to apply a constant to apply a “weight” to how much you’ll allow the ratings to be changed.  In Air Hockey, the factors of 50 for challenge sets, 75 for state tourneys, and 100 for world tourneys is *huge*.  These determine the max points one can get in a match… so in a normal challenge set against someone with the same rating as you – the max points you can get (or lose) is 25.  This is actually a pretty big swing, but I think it’s completely appropriate considering that air hockey matches are generally far and few between.  You can’t just go online and play someone in air hockey.  It’s hard enough to play another competitive air hockey player let alone someone with comparable skill.  So, when everyone gets together to play people they likely haven’t played (like in a tournament) – it also only makes sense that the ratings would become “more important”.

It does have its drawbacks, however.  In chess – it’s hard to determine “how good” the match was… an otherwise excellent game can turn around on you in a heartbeat… not quite the case in air hockey.  I’ve witnessed several sets where one player actually scores more points overall, only to lose the set by not winning as many games.  Or if someone gets completely obliterated by another player – it counts exactly the same as someone who gets beat in a 6-6 match in the 7^th game.  Shouldn’t there exist a system that takes this into account?

Ok.. so I looked… If you want to see how serious people take this ratings business… just look here for the chess people: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=562

I think there could be a system in place that could take this into consideration… and I don’t think it would be necessarily much more difficult to compute.  I think if you throw in another variable like a Points Per Game Differential, and use that as a factor by a variable “value of match” (which could very well need its own equation), it would do the trick.  The problem is how to determine what these coefficients should be.  To do that – we’d need a huge database (likely much larger than what is available)… and even then – because so few ranked games take place on a day-to-day basis… it would be impossible to test whether or not the model can accurately predict the percentage someone would win.  Not to mention that air hockey seems to have such a low learning curve to it.  Someone who just starts the game will be wildly better two months down the road.  It may only apply to people who have plateaued their skill and where it’s relatively stable.

So, if you can follow along with my rambling thinking… I can only assume that the system we have now is… well… probably just fine.  I don’t think *I* will ever take my rating too seriously… and as much as I hear people grumble about how “their ratings have taken a hit” I’ve yet to see anyone turn down a challenge match because they think it would hurt their ratings… so it’s not like people are trying to inflate their ratings in a cheesy way… or protect them by turning down a match (at least from what I’ve seen).  So, even though I think it would be cool to have a system that takes into factor the “magnitude” of any particular win, a very large dataset would be needed to determine the necessary coefficients.  I could probably use what’s out there on the site, but there are two problems with this: 1. any work on this wouldn’t result in anything terribly accurate, and 2. I’m incredibly lazy. So, instead… let’s raise a glass to Mitic ratings for being awesome just as they are and focus on some of the wild rides someone can go on.  Of course, there’s only one player I know of who’s been on such a tear since the Vegas Tourney that I’d want to focus on.. and that’s Mike Yarbrough…. And really, only because I have a lot of time to waste at work.  Check it:

1233		Ryan Gehring	3/19/2009	w
1233		Dylan Fett	3/19/2009	w
1233		Bobby Zahorak	3/19/2009	w
1223		Nick Harbacek	3/19/2009	l
1249		Ryan Gehring	3/19/2009	w
1245		Geoffrey Oidtman	3/19/2009	l
1292		Geoffrey Oidtman	3/19/2009	w
1329		Nick Harbacek	3/28/2009	w
1313		Nick Harbacek	3/28/2009	l
1340		Dan Meyer	3/28/2009	w
1346		Dylan Fett	3/28/2009	w
1362		Ryan Gehring	3/28/2009	w
1369		Eric Rood	3/28/2009	w
1416		Goran Mitic	3/30/2009	w
1411		Goran Mitic	3/30/2009	l
1453		Geoffrey Oidtman	3/31/2009	w
1427		Nick Harbacek	3/31/2009	l
1454		Nick Harbacek	3/31/2009	w
1447		Goran Mitic	3/31/2009	l
1434		Geoffrey Oidtman	4/4/2009	l
1466		Sean Fried	4/4/2009	w
1459		Goran Mitic	4/4/2009	l
1477		Dan Meyer	4/4/2009	w
1456		Sean Fried	4/4/2009	l
1431		Nick Harbacek	4/4/2009	l
1451		Kevin Gill	4/4/2009	w
1450		Billy Stubbs	4/11/2009	l
1526		Nick Harbacek	4/11/2009	w
1525		Billy Stubbs	4/11/2009	l
1527		Eric Rood	4/11/2009	w
1545		Nick Harbacek	4/11/2009	W, w, w, w, l
1528		Geoffrey Oidtman	4/11/2009	l
1527		Billy Stubbs	4/11/2009	l
1519		Goran Mitic	4/12/2009	l
1518		Billy Stubbs	4/12/2009	l
1523		Ryan Gehring	4/12/2009	w
1558		Geoffrey Oidtman	4/14/2009	w
				24-17

In less than a month… Mike has played 41 ranked matches and rose 325 whopping points.  Honestly.. it shows in his play… he’s playing so much better.  Let’s see exactly what kind of difference this makes.  If you had a rating of 1233 right now… you’d be ranked #94.  Right now… Mike is ranked 31^st.  Which is freakin’ amazing.  He got his biggest bumps beating the crap out of Nick on the 11^th of this month… as well as beating Goran once and Geoffrey twice.

So.. that’s my fun with the Mitic ratings.  Maybe next time I’ll analyze my own ratings – which have been climbing ever so steadily.. or Nick’s – who’s doing his best anti-Mike impression right now.

The Rood Perspective

Dan asked me to fill in some words on my air hockey experience during his off-week, so here goes.

 

I arrived a few minutes after noon and was surprised to see not a single person at the tables. So I hung around for a minute or two before I saw Nick and then Billy and then a new addition – Steffany. We all made introductions to her and were glad to see a new face.

I taped up my mallet and my fingers and warmed up a bit against Billy. My shots weren’t crisp in the first practice game, but my defense felt as good as it can feel against a former world champion. He beat me soundly in practice game 1, maybe 7-1 or 7-2. We agreed to play another practice game, and my shot started coming ’round. I plunked in three quick goals before Billy got really warm and then scored seven in a row on me. It still felt good scoring on Billy, and I got the feeling that it would be a productive day. Eventually, more players showed up: Geoff, Mike, Goran, Dylan, and Ryan.

 

After a short rest, Steffany asked if she could warm up against me. She gripped the mallet the way most beginners did, but within a minute or two, she asked what the advantages of a two-finger or three-finger grip was. Goran explained that it adds power and control. Thereafter, she gripped the mallet like a pro and started shooting extra-crispy right-wall unders that tested my reaction. After about ten minutes of warm-up, we started an official set. In the first game, her bank shots were incredibly accurate and hard to stop (Remember, I’m a beginner). I edged her in the first two games, each 7-6, scoring most of my points on straight shots. In the last two games, I beat her soundly by defending her bank shots and sticking to hard, straight shots. Between games, Goran and Nick gave Steffany some tips, and she incorporated them into her game well. Her puck control is pretty good, and her shots are crisp and clean. With some work, her defense will improve, and she will get pretty tough. I think she took a game from Dylan when they played a little later.

 

Eric 7 7 7 7

Steffany 6 6 2 2

 

 

A little later, Mike asked me to play a set. In the first two games, my defense felt solid, but I couldn’t slip anything past his D, which was much better. He put me away 7-3 and 7-4 and looked like he was having fun doing it, which I knew could only help me. In the third game, my defense somehow got even better, and I found three shots that worked pretty well for me: a little cut-shot that I found a way to make deceptive, a straight shot from just left-of-center, and a hard forehand/left-wall-bank. I took Game 3 from Mike, 7-6. He smiled a bit and told me my defense was coming along, and then I played good defense again in Game 4. Mike got a little frustrated, it seemed, and made some mistakes, which I was able to capitalize on for a second win, 7-6. The smile escaped his face after that, and I was forced to play Serious Mike thereafter, which didn’t favor me at all. He elevated his offense, and I was left in the dust, 7-1 and 7-4. Regardless, I felt like I’d accomplished something, taking two close games from a very tough opponent, who had defeated a top-20 player in last week.

 

Eric 3 4 7 7 1 4

Mike 7 7 6 6 7 7

 

 

Ryan and Dylan showed up at some point during that match, and Goran set Ryan and I up to play a match. I knew it would be tough; Ryan’s offense was solid and he takes smart shots most of the time. Even stranger, he plays defense against the goal instead of in the triangle, but his reaction time is terrific, allowing him to stop a lot of shots. In Game 1, I probably had possession of the puck 70% of the time, but he stopped me solid and mixed his shots up nicely, putting me away 7-3. In games 2, 3, and 4, my shots finally started finding the corners. In consecutive games, I put him away 7-6, 7-6, 7-5, finding my shots when they counted and making big stops on tough shots. Up in the set count 3-1, I felt confident I could put him away without much trouble. But my overconfidence backfired, and Ryan won Game 5 with a 7-4 tally, as his shots his paydirt and mine only struck his mallet. Game 6 appeared to be one of those momentum shifters. I quickly ran the tally up to 6-4 but then suffered a total meltdown, losing 7-6. The problem truly wasn’t that I lost, but that Ryan only earned one of the final three points; I scored on myself twice, including game point, which slowly trickled past my dumb ass. This brought the set to the decisive game. I found my focus early and hammered away with straight shots, breezing through Game 7 by a final count of 7-4. It was only the second game I’d taken to 7 games, and I’ve won both of them. It was also the first time I’d beaten someone who was more or less on my level of play. I sense Ryan and I will have a lot of long, tough sets in the future.

 

Eric 3 7 7 7 4 6 7

Ryan 7 6 6 5 7 7 4

 

 

After this match, Billy asked if I wouldn’t mind some help. I agreed, and he helped me on the same defensive posture that he helped Dan with a few weeks ago. It felt very awkward at first, but I could immediately see the advantage of standing farther back and relaxing a bit. Like an infielder fielding a ground ball, it’s easier to “accept” the ball/puck with your hand by giving a little and relaxing, rather than having it hit your hand like part of a wall. I also had a much better view of the playing surface, though it will take a little time to get used to seeing the whole playing surface and reacting to shots from a different point-of-view. Later, I also found that switching posture as I took a shot added a little more power, especially on my backhand. Also, Billy pointed out that Goran’s backhand cut shot brought his mallet all the way to the right-hand rail, even though he’s shot the puck from the left side of the table. I tried this a couple times later and found a nice, solid shot to add to my repertoire. In fact, Billy probably spent at least half the day working with players to improve the performance or dissecting players’ styles to help those sitting around him.

 

In my next match, I played Dylan the Giant, a hard shooter who relies more on power than on accuracy for his points. I tried out Billy’s defensive stance and stopped more shots and saw them much better than I had previously. I mixed up my shot selection a little more than I had against previous opponents and took the first two games from Dylan, 7-4 and 7-3. In Game 3, I lost my focus entirely; my defense lagged, my shots skirted wide, and I turned the puck over stupidly over and over. As a result, I found myself down 6-1 before I knew what happened. I stopped for a second after #6 scooted past my out-of-position mallet, turned around, and took a deep breath. Like a light-switch flicked on, I suddenly regained myself and scored at will for about 30 seconds. The score crept back up: 7-2, 7-3, 7-4… Dylan got frustrated and scored a twice on himself, and the match was suddenly knotted at 6. Dylan, incredulous, said, “I was up 6-1…” After a couple volleys, he snuck a right-wall over past me to make the set count 2-1. I edged him in Game 4, 7-6, and then handled him nicely in Game 5, 7-4, for my third win of the day. I felt confident, having beaten three people I knew I could beat and having given Mike fits for a few minutes.

 

Nick, already having a tough day, asked me to play. I knew he was looking for an easy win, and I was determined to make him earn it. I really felt on top of it in the first game; I made all the shots I should have made, and I made him work hard to get the puck past me. With some hard work, he pushed the final one past me at game point for a 7-6 win. I don’t remember the set much after that, because losing 7-6 off the bat is tough to come back from. He pretty much had his way with me from then on, I think going up 3-0 before I took Game 4 from him (I didn’t have any notes/scores from this game). Anyway, he finished me off 4-1 without much difficulty.

 

I stuck around for a bit to watch some a good match between Geoff and Mike, but I had to take off around 4:30. You see, I had tickets to see see Dinosaur Jr. at Otto’s in DeKalb on Saturday. I wasn’t too familiar with all of their material, but I knew they were worth seeing. I also knew they’d be loud. How loud? Well, J. Mascis had a setup that, even in a small club like Otto’s, looked like this:

 

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1373/536253807_d8ae3708ea.jpg?v=0

 

I took my earplugs out at one point during the show, just to see how loud they were, and I think my head almost asplode. But for as loud as they were, every note and word was crystal clear. I know this isn’t really a music review place, but this show slayed. Here’s a clip of them playing “Out There:”

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/megankhines/3436380459/

Nick Harbacek: A semi-pro’s semi-perspective, part one

I was to miss air hockey this weekend. I spent the time working on my friend’s property, installing old telephone poles in his garden as a frame for a trelllis for growing hops. I don’t think hops grow 30 feet high, but if they do… they can on his property now.   So I gave up my space on this blog to Nick.  I’m imagining Nick pulling his hair out by the end of the day… maybe throwing some chairs… y’know… that sort of stuff.  As someone who really takes his air hockey seriously – far more than even myself… I was happy to get his perspective of what happened this weekend – and get an idea of what I missed.  I’m happy to add more perspectives… as I have space on this site.  Anyway… Nick:

The day was young. The dew had only just risen off the glistening table surfaces. No wait, it was noon at Brunswick and hundreds of screaming sticky fingered kids were running around like chickens with their head cut off. The mood was set… and it was on.   Or so i thought.

Lets recap. Friday night, 10 p.m. Alone i stand over the air hockey tables. I went to prepare myself for the coming storm that would be tomorrow. My ego has been bashed, bruised, and broken over the last few weeks as I have been systematically unraveled by my former partner in air hockey crime Mike. He found whatever he was looking for all this time and clicked. boom. His offense, dynamite. His defense, flawless. His ‘I’m better then you smirk,’ infuriating. Not more then three weeks past during the world tounament in Las Vegas he managed a slight victory over myself by placing 42nd over my own 49th. A small acomplishment in the grand scheme of things but upon his return he was a changed man. It was this finish of his that i saw my chance to claim a higher rank seeing as how Mike has forever been in my shadow. I challenge him to a match. Challenge matches as opposed to challenge sets is as follows. In a challenge set it is the first to win 4 games. A match is the first to win 4 sets. I went in very optimistic, and left dismal after being smoked 4-1 sets. Mike rockets ahead of me in ratings and i am still ranked 49th. Who is this Mike fellow that came home from Vegas? It isn’t the player that left, this i promise you. So, skeptical of my own abilities lately i needed an ego boost. I make the anouncement over the PA at Brunswick.

“Attention all bowlers! Who wants free bowling? If you can best our semi-pro air hockey ex-employee you will win two free hours of bowling. Prize valued at $60. Any and all may attempt!”

Litten to no response from the almost full house of bowlers. F%&king people… I repeat the process, and slowly but surely start heckling the drunk guys with girlfriends much like any respectable carnival fellow trying to make a buck. Jackpot, my first challengers.

Nothing of interest comes from this except the report that i went 16-0 or something and didn’t lose the bowling alley that treats us well any money. One girl surprised me and came out of the woodwork with a beautiful right wall under off the opening shot, i told her she has some natural talent and should join us tomorrow. All the while saying to myself in my head, not likely. Stuck around til 2 a.m. for Mike to finish work and headed out.

Saturday…

Ah the second best day of the week trumped only by payday. After being out significantly later then usual i slept in to 11:30, skipped the morning shower, and went to purchase a handful of energy drinks to get me through the day. Arrving at the alley i saw Eric getting out of his car. Inside the alley, no one. The time is now 12:02. Great, i think to myself. Every active top player was supposed to be in attendance today. Next in was a very lost girl cautiously looking over towards our direction. Holy shit, its the chick from last night with that sharp right wall under. I properly introduce myself and her name is Steffany. As the time passes everyone comes strolling in.

Players in attendance 04-11-09:
Billy Stubbs
Goran Mitic
Geoff Oidtman
Mike Yarbrough
Nick Harbacek
Ryan Gehring
Dylan Fett
Eric Rood
Steffany Nguyen

My opening set was against Geoff if i’m not mistaken. The order eludes me but as you read you will see it matters not. Anyways, quick set 4-0, Geoff wins. This was a major disapointment for me seeing as how just the other day i took my first set off him in years. Not a single game got to game point either way. Just when i thought i finally had him figured out too. Geoff plays very smooth, clean shots, mild chase offense, and a very strategic game. Believe me when i say that the hype about Geoff far surpases what he actually does. Just a solid all around player, and the only player from IL with a larger ego then myself.

Lost a set to Mike and Goran. Mike 4-3, he destroyed me in game seven. Like not even close. To Goran 4-1, my only moment of glory was game 2 when i stomped him 7-3 legitimately.

And as if losing 3 set in a row wasn’t bad enough, then the real ass raping was dealt by none other then Billy. Game one… 7-0 Billy. Game two 7-0 Billy. At which point those watching began announcing goals as 10-0 Billy, followed by 11-0 Billy just to further add to my humiliation. I wasn’t playing poorly either. My shots were all on target but blocked and my defense was just getting picked apart by a former world champion. Possesion was mine to begin the third game, winning the face-off being my only high point off the set thus far. Geoff was the ringleader of the bogus score announcements on the side of the table so i decided to serve the puck at his face. No injuries but needless to say he quieted down. Game three… 7-0 Billy. What. the. fuck. Excuse my language. The score of the set if anyone wasn’t paying attention is now 21-0 Billy and i just doubled the amount of times i’d ever been shut out in a single set. Mentally destroyed i set up defense for game four. I gain posession and take a blind forearm left wall just praying at this point, and what do you know the shot clinks in for my first goal. My god… long story short BIlly wins 7-4.

I lower my standards and play Dylan and Eric, no offense to either of you, and grab an easy win off Dylan. Much more surprising is my set with Eric that goes to gamepoint in game one. He has really taken some long strides since i stood across the tables from him last. His shots are hitting goal four times more, and i can only predict what shot is coming half as often as i used too. That means his game is some % better of which the number i don’t even know. Anyways, he is playing good, and he shows up every week. A very worthy recipiant of the mallet i stopped using and gifted to him. Set ends 4-1 my win. Dylan was a 4-0 my win.

The last point of interest, or disgust, really, is my set with Ryan which actually came after Eric and before Dylan for those trying to view this chronologically. I test the water on the first game and play the usual 75% strength i play everyone unless more is required. Easy win 7-3. Alright sweet, now is the time to work on everything that Billy had been advising today. Lean back defense and master your three favorite shots until they are flawless. Game two and three i allow to slip as i focus on reading shots and playing solid defense. I brought very little offense to the table and basically just returned the puck anytime i got possesion, without being obvious of course. Ok, game four, lets get that lead back to be safe. Right wall over, forehand left wall under, forehand left wall over. Make them perfect, game on. 7-3 my win. Not surprising after playing two games without offense, that’d catch anyone by surprise. Game five, goes to 6-6, whoops i guess he’s reading the three shots i’m working on and even pulls out the win on a good shot. 3-2 Ryan’s lead in the set. At this point i say to myself ok, no more fooling around, there is 42 points at stake on this game. Game six, 7-3 my win, and we head to game 7. I don’t know why, and i don’t know how. He wins on a 6-6 game seven. Blocked everything i threw his way and worked his bank shots like i had always been his bitch. Not right.

It was the single worst point loss i have ever suffered in one day to date. Starting at 1499 and ending at 1355. Starting in 7th place, and bbb ending in 12th. I just felt abused. Violated. Defeated. I’m not the player that leaves a saturday with a negative win/loss ratio. I actually had the best ratio of 2009 across the world no more then two week prior. Now i’m a falling star, an aging hero of sorts. With the pressure of defending my point surplus gone, maybe now is finally the time i’ve been waiting for to work on all the things that will take me to the next level. I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, “There will be hell to pay…”

Peace, Love, and Air Hockey
-Nick (Czechmate)

Poor Nick.  I’m sure I could have cushioned his fall by failing to beat him once again… but it wasn’t in the stars.  I did, however this week get tickets for the Texas Open… which is a big tournament… and fromwhat I understand a tons of fun.  I have no idea who would be my “peers” would be considering I’ve just started playing competitively this year.

#69

Well yesterday was a lot of fun.  Big turnout… so many that we divided the tourney into two… the top 8 and then everyone else (the youngsters).  In the younger tourney – it was mostly between Eric and Jeremy… with Jeremy being the favorite.  I didn’t think Eric would would give him much of a fight – but he kept it very close and did take 2 games from him in 2 sets.  Considering that I, myself barely beat Jeremy… that’s saying a lot.

In the ‘advanced’ players tourney.. I was seeded last.  This means  I had to play Billy… and that also means I have very little chance in winning.  There were a couple times in which I was able to keep him from scoring for awhile, and he ‘reset’ his offense frequently… he would miss on purpose with a quick shot far off goal to ‘reset’ the 7 second clock (which we generally don’t keep track of).   Billy’s technique is that of patience – a tactician to the end… I’m sure he could very well take his shots and still come out ahead.  It didn’t feel like he was teaching me so much as warming up… and I saw a greater variety of shots from him this time around.  After the set… a complete wipeout (the best I was able to score against him was 4), he told me that I was playing better defense.  It’s hard for me to guage… as it seemed he was able to score at will on me.

Predictably, I was headed into the loser’s bracket.  I was the bottom seed, so to live up to my seed – I’d have to lose the next match as well.  Nick had played Pat in the first round and won against him (even though Nick won the set 4-2, Pat had actually scored more goals in the set).  The week prior – Pat had beaten Nick in two straight sets.  So, I was set to play Pat – a player I have never played.  Pat’s ranked near 50th… and has frustrated Nick lately.  It would be really easy to lose my first two matches in a row and be ousted in the tourney.  Pat plays much like his brother… just a little better.  His shots are a little crisper (though Kevin’s right wall shot is tough to improve upon).. and a little more accurate.  His defense is solid… but I noticed it doesn’t come out from the goal far enough… and made up my mind that I would attempt a good amount of straight in shots.  It’s what I’m good at, anyway.  I like to think I do well against people I haven’t played before… heck, it worked for Sean, Nick, and Kevin.

Anyway.. let’s look at the scores

Name		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Games	Points
Dan Meyer		6	7	7	6	7	6	7	4	46
Pat Gill		7	5	5	7	5	7	3	3	39

Pretty close matches.  Of course, I can’t finish anyone in 4 games.. it has to go the full 7.  In fact, the only time he beat me was when it was tied 6 points to 6 points.  In the 6th game.. I didn’t attempt a single left wall shot.  It’s not a strong shot of mine – and I’ve been working on it… but heading into the last game, Mike mentioned I should mix it up a little more and hit a left wall shot.  I hit one early – and it sunk, and I’m sure it got into Pat’s head.  He was having an easy time defending my straights and right wall rails… that adding this new shot into the mix gave me a good edge… and it was the most lopsided game. Usually, after a close set like this – there’s a release of tension… a sigh, a smile, a groan… something.  Pat, was emotionless through the whole thing, even after the conclusion of the set… if anything – he seemed annoyed.  After a quick handshake, he disappeared in the bowling alley.

So.. this was a pretty good upset.  I try to beat at least one person better than me every time I go out… and I think I’ve been successful every single week.  If my ratings keep going up – and if I don’t win more often – I’ll rise only to not get past a certain point.  I’d like to think I’d level off somewhere between 50 and 60… it’d be great if I achieved higher… but I don’t focus too much on my ratings… really – I only bring it up for conversation’s sake.  “You know who’s the 69th rated air hockey player in the world?… awww yeah.. that’d be me! Yep.. I know you’re impressed… no, I’m sorry – I don’t do autographs…. oh please… not so many questions all at once…. no, no… all the endorsement rumors are false…. nope… I’m *not* dating Lindsay Lohan anymore… all those paparazzi pictures are just of us at a mutual friend’s birthday party…. we’ve been broken up for a long time… … “  I mean.. that’s pretty much how all my conversations have gone since I’ve become “world ranked”.  I’m pretty much a badass.

*sigh*

So.. after my upset win and my brief visit to  fantasyland… I was set to play Mike next.  *sigh*… Mike.  You may remember me talking about him last week.  Mike has been on a bit of a tear.  He upset Goran last week… and got up to a 3-1 game lead on him in this tourney before Goran put a stop to him.  He’s just been playing really well lately.  A focused Mike is a dangerous one.  I got up the first game on him – and generally, this is a mistake.  The best approach to Mike is to let him get an early lead so he loosens up and loses his focus.  Mike can be very erratic.  One minute, he’s unbeatable.. the next – he beats himself.  Looking at the stats of some of his matches.. you can see that sometimes he gets outscored in a set (happened last week against me, this week vs. Kevin), but still ends up winning it.  This makes me think that Mike is very effective  in a close game, but every once in awhile – loses big in one game. This data would suggest another key to beating Mike is to get up early.  Anyway – this is how our match went:

Pretty close, all around.  2-2, then 3-3… going into the final game, I recall doing a little bit of smack talking with him… my first time over air hockey!  Mike was taking himself pretty seriously here… he won the set and bounced me from the tournament… but like I’m able to do against anyone not named Billy or Goran – I’m able to make anyone really earn their win against me.  One day, I’ll get an extra shot – or my defense will take another leap in effectiveness… and I’ll be able to split sets with people like Mike and Nick.  I don’t think it’ll happen soon, but I think my skills have a ways to go before they plateau.

…so, I was bounced from the tourney… and I began talking to Billy – who is always good for some advice.  I recall being told 3 things.

1) as a beginner, I should hit 100% of my shots from the center of the table.. 2 inches from the centerline… He says I should focus on a straight cut shot and a right wall under.  If I can make these two shots look exactly the same – the mallet needs to be in 2 different positions to block each shot… the idea is to turn it into a guessing game for the defense.

2) hit harder.  Apparently, I wasn’t hitting as crisp or hard as I could be hitting.  He suggested that if I wasn’t knocking the puck off the table at least once a game – it’s likely I’m not hitting it hard enough.  Anything to take the reaction time away from the defense is good.

3) stance.  He noticed that I don’t have much of a defensive or offensive stance… that I’m hunched over all the time… and I don’t have a good defensive posture.  He suggested for defense:  for a righty – keep your right knee on the table.. squat down a little – and my back leg should be pushed back pretty far.  The height of my head should be a bit lower so I can see more of the table without moving my eyes (or head).  My mallet should be out at least a good 9 inches in front of the goal.  On offense, he suggested my legs be maybe a little bit wider then shoulder-length apart.. and both very close to the table.. this should allow myself to reach closer to the centerline.. so I can hit the puck near it.  Being conscious of this is a great thing for a beginner like me to work on… I’m certainly conscious when my right hamstring hurts after a long day.  Typically, I’d keep my right knee planted to the side of the table, but on offense or defense – my left leg would be back… so all my reaching was straining my right leg – and my right leg only.  I knew immediately that taking this advice would be good for my body as well as make me a better player.

Billy then walked around to see everyone’s stance.  Nick’s didn’t change between offense and defense.. and he seems to always be in offensive mode.  Billy thought Nick’s legs were a little too far apart, but this could be Nick’s natural stance and helpful for getting his eyes a little closer to the table for defense.  Mike’s stance is weird… he just leans right into the table.. his back is straight and it’s kind of a defensive posture… but he again, doesn’t alter his stance depending on whether he’s on offense or defense.  Billy also thought that suggesting either of them to change would probably be pointless – as they’re likely set in their ways after years of playing.  Billy said when he was working on this – he thought of himself as 2 different players.. and really, it’s a good way to think of things because you’re doing two different things.  When we looked at Goran’s stance.. it was close to what Billy had in mind – and Goran seemed to switch from a defensive stance to an offensive one in a way that would give him a little extra power in a shot.

So.. then I started to put everything into practice… I started out with Eric.  My new “style” of play, and my uber consciousness of my body positioning didn’t seem to help me.. as I really need to get used to the feeling so it becomes more natural.  The defensive stance really did feel like it made a difference.  Switching between the two – felt very forced and problematic… it really shouldn’t be as much a difference as I made it to be – it’s essentially just changing the position of my left leg.  I was ‘hopping’ back from my offense to my defense.  Eric seemed to be acting strange… maybe it was because it didn’t seem like I was focusing on the game so much as I was focusing on my playing of the game.  I think Eric was showing signs of getting frustrated… that even though he has made great strides in his game… he still can’t beat anyone other than kids.  At first, he seemed happy to come out every Saturday… but now he’s got this competitive fire in him.  He was livid with himself that he was playing poorly against me.  It was clear he felt he wasn’t living up to his potential… or maybe he was frustrated that I beat him using a very vanilla offense and not my typical style of play.

I then played Nick… but my head was really not into this.  I knew I was going to get beat while still working on taking *all* my shots from the centerline and thinking way too much about my body positioning.  Nick got up quickly, taking the first two games… but I somehow rallied and tied it up, 2-2.  Then I fell apart… Nick gave me a 7-1 drubbing… and in the next game, I remember getting up 6-3… and then just scoring against myself like 2-3 times in a row… I had completely lost all concentration.. and even though I was way up, I let Nick come back to beat me in the 6th, when I should have forced a final game.  It was a mental release to know I wasn’t going to be playing any more air hockey for another 2 weeks since I wasn’t going to be around on Easter weekend.

I went home.. checked my rankings.. and I had risen to #69.  The ratings system starts you out at 1200.. and I’ve risen to 1320.  Maybe I could use this rating system to gauge my progress.  Better than nothing, I guess.

Name		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Games	Points
Dan Meyer		7	5	3	7	6	7	3	3	38
Michael Yarbrough		6	7	7	4	7	3	7	4	41