Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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THE BIG GREEN TABLE — It’s that time of year when we are overwhelmed with “best of the year” compilation videos on the internet.
But before you click away with a groan saying, “Oh, not another one,” consider this video. It involves no deep meaning, no special music to elicit emotions, and no hidden sales pitch. It’s simply a video of some dudes who are total nerds about ping pong sharing their favorite tricks they filmed this year.
This video comes to us from Pongfinity, aka three Finnish dudes who, you know, love ping pong and are real, real good at its. Emil, Otto and Miikka all used to participate on the national Finnish team, but now they focus purely on entertaining people with table tennis.
As mentioned, the video is a “best of” compilation from 2018. And as you’ll see, it’s full of incredible tricks and skill. However, for at least one person (me), it turned out to be a little more.
Sure the video immediately gripped me as I held awe for their skills, but I also sat through all five minutes with rapt attention and came out on the other side feeling a little more relaxed. Not to overstate it, but between the required focus to follow each trick and the rhythmic tunk-tunk of the ping pong ball, it became a bit of a zen-like, meditative experience.
It's sort of like watching Daniel-san in “Karate Kid,” but instead Mr. Miyagi was telling these Finns to “pop the bubble” and “catch and toss the ball with tongs” instead of “paint the house” or “catch a fly with chopsticks.”
Even if you don’t find a little zen today, you’ll at least have a good time watching some ping pong nerds do what they do best. You can see more of Pongfinity on their YouTube channel. Martha Ostergar is a writer who delights in the ridiculous that internet serves up, which means she's more than grateful that she gets to cruise the web for amazing videos to highlight for your viewing pleasure.
