Samantha goes over to the box by the wall near the table and opens it. There she pulls out two ping-pong rackets. She goes back to Ruth and gives her a racket.
“Oh, I forgot about the ball.”
She again goes over the box, reaches in, and pulls out the ball. She goes back again to Ruth and tells her that it's gonna be a game of eleven. They position themselves at the opposite ends of the table.
“Are you ready, Ruth?”
“I am ready.”
Samantha serves the ball and suddenly a ball from the sky falls down upon the table.
Whack.
The basketball ball landed on the pingpong ball that it no longer has its round shape.
Mark on the other side winces and flinches when the ball goes towards the pingpong table.
As it turns out, Mark threw a three-point airball bounced high, and landed on the table. Justin went over to the table to Ruth and Samantha asking if they were alright.
“We’re alright,” says Ruth. Then facing towards Mark, she says, “Could you be more careful?”
“I’m sorry!” Mark shouts.
Samantha chuckles, then looking where the ping-pong ball is, she finds it flattened by the basketball ball. Samantha sighs, putting her hand on her forehead.
Ruth, seeing her this way, says, “What’s wrong?”
Samantha points in the direction of the flattened ping-pong ball as she shakes her head. When Ruth sees the ball, she laughs.
“What are the chances that it would be crushed by the basketball ball in midair? This must be an act of God.”
She laughs hysterically as Samantha is amused with her who is giggling a little bit.
Robert goes over to them if they are okay.
“We’re ok but the ping-pong ball isn’t,” Samantha says.
“Oh, gee, Sam. I’ll go buy some ping-pong ball for you. You can come with me if you want.”
Samantha nods and says, “I’ll come with you.”
Ruth raises her hand and says, “I’ll come too.”
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Roger turns to the boys and says, “You boys practice while I’ll go buy the girls some pingpong balls.”
Justin replies, “Why? What happened?”
“The ball Mark airballed flattened the ping-pong ball.”
Justin laughs his butt off while Mark and Cesar are smiling seeming amused. Roger tells them to be well-behaved in the house as he and the girls walk out of the court.
When they’re out Cesar gestures them to huddle to him. Mark and Justin look at each other and then finally comply with his request. There they huddle together in the middle of the court.
Cesar says to them, “I want you, now, to learn how to shoot the ball to the rim. We’ll start at the form and we’ll start shooting as near as possible to the rim. Are you two up for the task?”
Mark and Justin nodded at him and Cesar obliged by commanding them to get the balls they inflated.
Cesar gets a ball and gestures to them to watch him close. They draw near him and observe him.
“I want you to bend your knees slightly and carry the ball over your head.”
As Cesar says this to them he demonstrates it while they imitate him.
“I want your dominant hand to be under the ball while the other hand supports the ball on its side.”
Mark and Justin watch how Cesar places the ball in his hands and they imitate him.
“Now, I want your arm in your dominant hand form a right angle.”
They watched his form again and imitated it.
“Now, I want you to jump. As you jump, use the force from the jump to propel the ball towards the hoop. And, make sure that your shot is in a high arch, not low so that you have a better chance of getting a bucket. Do you understand me?”
Mark and Justin said, “Yes, master.”
“But one should shoot first, don’t shoot at the same time. One should give way for another so that there won’t be chaos.”
They nod at him and look at the rim. Justin tells Mark to shoot first and he concedes.
Mark slightly bends his knees and carries the ball over his head with his dominant hand under it and the other hand supporting the ball.
Mark says to Cesar, “Am I on a right angle, Cesar?”
“Bend forward your forearm because you have an acute angle.”
Mark follows his instructions and Cesar finds it good to go. Then Mark jumps and shoots the ball in a high arch. And it seems to be a good shot but it eventually hit only the backboard.
Justin shakes his head and says to him, “You’ll get it next time.”
Cesar also says to him, “Remember, this is your first time shooting the ball. So it’s only natural not to get it right the first time around. Good job with the shooting form, keep that consistent because it is the foundation of shooting the ball.”
Mark straightens up and says to Cesar, “Thank you for the insight, master.”
“You’re welcome, my student,” Cesar replies. Turning to Justin, Cesar says, “Your turn, Justin.”
“Yes, master.”
Justin bends his knees and carries the ball in his hands over his head.
“You need to place your dominant hand under the ball, Justin, and your other hand to the side of the ball.”
Justin places his left hand under the ball and the right to the side of it.
“Bend your left forearm slightly forward, Justin. You’re not having a right angle on your arm but an acute one.”
Justin bends forward his left forearm slightly forward as Cesar instructs him to do.
“Okay, Justin. You’re good to go.”
Justin then jumps and shoots the ball. The ball went in a low arch but the ball went in with a swoosh, not touching the rim. Justin celebrates, jumping up and down with his hands raised to the ceiling. Mark goes over to him after he gets the bucket and celebrates with him, jumping with him up and down. Cesar chuckles at them and gets the ball Justin shot with.
Cesar dribbles the ball in freestyle until they would calm down a bit. After a while, they calm themselves down. But still, there remains a smile on their faces. This is when Cesar feels he’s now obliged to speak.
“Not bad, Justin. But you got a low arch in the pathway of your shot, you have to lob it.”
Justin replies, “Oh, okay. Got it, master.”