October 1, 2015

Playing Bag Content – What's in Your Bag?

I recently wrote about how I thought I might have gotten slightly injured from carrying around my way-too-heavy playing bag. I probably carry more stuff around than most. So, let's take an inventory of what's in my bag. Everything in it, of course, is an absolute must, right? Well, let's see.

I use a Butterfly Linestream Bag, black & blue version, which (alas) seems to be discontinued. (But it's similar to the Casio II Sport Bag.) Besides the large bag area, there are large compartments on each side, another along the long side, and two small pouches on each end.

Here's a picture of the complete contents of my bag, on my sofa. (This is the historical sofa that USATT Historian Tim Boggan sleeps on during his annual two-week stays at my house to do the sixteen volumes – so far - of his History of U.S. Table Tennis series.) Total weight: 21.4 pounds. And now I have to put all that stuff back. But first, let's look at what's in each bag compartment.

  • Main Compartment. 
    • Playing racket (in black racket case) – Butterfly Timo Boll ALC, flared, with Tenergy 05 black 2.1 on forehand, Tenergy 25 red 2.1 on backhand.
    • Backup playing racket (in blue racket case) – identical to playing racket.
    • Hardbat (in green racket case) – I have one student who likes to play hardbat.
    • Butterfly Towel
    • Personalized shoe case
    • Clipboard (both for exhibition & fun play, and to hold papers in classes)
    • Black ball bag (for colored soccer balls I use in classes to demo spin)
  • Side Pouches. This is where I keep my arm brace, which I blogged about on May 20. It's hard to believe I've been wearing that thing for four months now – the arm still hurts, but the brace allows me to play. The other pouch is currently empty, but I often stick things there for quick access later.
  • Large Compartment #1. This is where I keep my drinks. I usually keep about one water bottle per hour coaching scheduled, plus a Gatorade. Today I'll be coaching from 3:30-7:00PM, so I have four waters.
  • Large Compartment #2. This is my "junk" area. It includes:
    • Box of peanut butter granola bars
    • Package of Hormet Chicken & Dumplings (microwavable meal)
    • Mini-racket – don't leave home without it!
    • Two 3-ball containers (where I keep plastic 40+ balls)
    • Copy of Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers
    • Copy of The Spirit of Pong
    • Mini-junk bag, which contains two packets of Butterfly Free Chack, rubber cement (for quick gluing in non-tournament situations), net measurer, scissors, racket key chain, comb, Kleenex, business cards, colored pen, eyeglass holders, three-prong converter, pack of playing cards, and a rubber grip (which I used to use).
  • Long Side Compartment. This contains mostly paperwork, but a few other things.
    • Playing glasses in glasses holder
    • Notebook with pen
    • Four folders: Thursday Junior Class, Sunday Junior Class, Sunday Adult Training, and Misc. The last one contains USATT rules, entry forms, MDTTC flyers, various USATT proposals, and player notes.

So . . . what's in your bag?

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Here's the video (3:30).

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Here's the cartoon!

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