By HEIDI GAISER/Daily Inter Lake

Joe Robinson was happy to leave behind crime, smog and a three-hour commute when he left Southern California for the Flathead Valley five years ago.

But he still misses one thing terribly - genuine competition in table tennis.

Robinson, 48, was a national junior champion at age 15. He has continued playing in tournaments, leagues and with friends throughout most of his adult life, and his love for table tennis is as strong as ever.

The Columbia Falls man said he has never picked up another sport, because for him, table tennis calls for everything you'd want in a competitive activity - speed, hand-eye coordination, footwork and mental toughness.

Robinson has found only a few able partners locally.

Ken Goetsch, a retired teacher from Seattle now living in Whitefish, is one of them. Goetsch, 64, and Robinson demonstrated their skills and Goetsch showed off his high-end table tennis robot for a crowd of about 50 people at The Wave in Whitefish recently.

Goetsch and Robinson are out to generate interest in the sport of table tennis in the Flathead Valley.

They are hoping to discover some high-level competitors living in the area, but more than that, they want to create a table-tennis culture, complete with lessons, a club and tournaments.

"It's a great sport and it's for the very young to the very old," Goetsch said. "It gets your adrenaline flying and your juices going. It's excellent for eye-hand coordination and quickness.

"Not enough people play, and I don't know why. I guess it's not a real sport in some people's eyes but that just isn't true."

Robinson emphasized that "pingpong" and "table tennis" are not interchangeable terms.

"Seventy-five percent of table tennis is footwork," Robinson said. "In pingpong, the ball is hit flat, but table tennis is full of spins."

Goetsch and Robinson demonstrated the full complexity of their game at The Wave, working up a sweat while showing off their ability to hit with speed and handle fast returns (Robinson said the ball often travels 90 miles per hour), their topspin and underspin, and their deceptive serves.

"This ball is spinning like you can't believe," Goetsch said as they played. "You have to watch closely to see the spins."

Then they demonstrated the practice robot (a Y&T V989D T model) before giving those watching a chance to try it out for themselves. Goetsch's model can be programmed to feed balls to the player with as much speed or spin as is desired, anywhere on the table, in any interval the player desires. The balls are captured by a net unless the player hits it well away from the other side of the table.

Curt Pedersen, 71, was going to help with the demonstration, but a shoulder injury kept him from participating. Pedersen, of Whitefish, said he started to play the game seriously in 1991, when knee surgery kept him from working. He has his own robot and will hit 8,000 balls at a time when he practices.

"I very seldom lose a game anymore. I love the game and would love to help anyone who wants to play," he told the crowd.

Pedersen will join Robinson and Goetsch in giving instruction and possibly organizing leagues or tournaments at The Wave.

Goetsch said they want to see young players learn to love the game and develop good habits early on, but everyone of every age or level will be welcome in the program.

"We're looking at everything from the very young child up through the very old adult. It's good for that entire range," Goetsch said.

For more information, call Goetsch at 862-1352 or The Wave at 862-2444.

Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com