I'm doing a little survey to find out more about ALE listeners. There are just four tiny questions. It will only take a minute or two, and will help me a LOT! Please check it out. Thanks, Cooper

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Season 3 Episode 6

Thank you for downloading this episode.

👉The story begins at 01:58 and the tiny lessons begin at 15:32

👉You can find the transcript after the Credits!

👉Visit our website to download the Podcast User's Manual and find out more! https://alittleenglish.com/

A Little English is written, produced, recorded, edited, mixed, mastered and scored by Edward Cooper Howland.

All stories are either in the public domain, or written by me.

Copyright 2023 Edward Cooper Howland

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TRANSCRIPT:

Hi. My name is Cooper, and this is…A Little English. Every episode, I read a short story. After the story, there are three tiny lessons.

Today’s story is about ping pong. I’m not very good at ping pong, but Tabatha is. We played together a couple weeks ago, and of course, I thought, “This would be a good story.” So, here we are.

The name of the story comes from psychology. Have you ever been doing something you really like and suddenly you realize that, like, an hour or two has passed? And you didn’t even realize it? That’s called a flow state. It’s also called, being “in the zone.” Usually when I’m working on a story or even editing this podcast, I’ll enter a flow state. And I love it. It’s an amazing feeling. What gets you into a flow state? And what does that have to do with ping pong? I guess we’ll find out.

Flow

The ball came in fast and low, just over the net. It bounced on the back right corner of table number four and flew off into a corner of the gym. Alexander watched it go.

“Hey, I thought you said you would go easy on me,”  he whined.

“I am going easy on you,” replied Matt. “Your serve.”

Alexander walked slowly over to where the ball had stopped rolling. He picked it up and stared at it. He sighed and walked back to the table where Matt stood ready, holding the paddle in both hands straight out.

Alexander bounced the ball once and hit it straight into the net.

“Zero-two,” shouted Matt.

“I don’t get a double fault thing? Like in tennis?”

“No, bro. This is TABLE tennis. Different game. Your serve.”

Alexander served again. This time, the ball floated weakly over the net. Matt returned it to Alexander's left side. Alexander reached for a backhand, but missed. The ball skipped away through the open doors and into the hall.

“Zero-three, your serve.” Matt was smiling.

Alexander retrieved the ball from the hallway. He tried to focus on Matt’s left side. He thought about the best angle for the paddle. He planned the whole point in his mind. Curve the paddle down a little bit at the end. Keep the ball low, just above the net. Go to Matt’s backhand. He had a plan.

He breathed deeply, bounced, and served.

The ball went into the net. “Zero-four!”

He made another plan. A soft hit, just hard enough to go over the net. He could make Matt reach for it. Make him mess up. Make him serve for once. He bounced and served, slowly, carefully.

Matt leaned in and returned it easily, with a smash. The ball went back into the hallway.

“Zero-five. You want me to serve?” Matt was laughing at him....