Who plays?  My dad taught me when I was young.  He played "competitively" in the Nebraska State Games for a few years in the late 80s and still plays on a regular basis with the one other guy in town who can compete/beat him.  Dad is 60+ and to this day I can't beat him regularly.  Since he is laid up from foot surgery I played his regular opponent last night.  He's better than my Dad but I was happy to hang with him most games and made it to 19 several times.  I realized after a few points that my racquet needs replaced.  It still has decent spin but is getting to hard.  I play with a $20 racquet.  Dad's and his buddy have $150+ racquets.  They are incredible.