Action follows upon action according to an internal logic that seems to need no conscious intervention by the actor. Both Marty and I concede that you don't have to play Ping Pong to experience the dynamics of flow. Other sports also harbor subtle distinctions like those between the hard-back and sponge racket for aficionados. Mastering the neurophysiological skills of a sport is not just learning the game. It's attuning yourself to the inner life of the sport, to the poetry in motion.
Players become part of a community that knows what it feels like when the shot is hit right.
When I'm playing Ping Pong, I often feel that a particular spot on the other end of the table is in my hands. It's as if I could stretch my arm seven feet across the table to touch the place where I know the ball will hit. Because they know that inner dialogue between player and ball, the best players make the best announcers. Listen to John MacEnroe call a tennis match. Frazier had to turn to the sacred.