Ever wondered what the official requirements are for a table tennis professionals racquet at the London 2012 Olympics are? Below are the requirements submitted in a recent article by the ITTF.
Several factors have to be taken into consideration in testing new table tennis rackets. This is because racket control is now an established procedure in international tournaments especially at major events including the London 2012 Olympics. The French Table Tennis Federation and the French National Institute of Sport and Physical Education (INSEP) created a video in which Claude Bergeret brings forward Simon Gauzy's racket control and it is reviewed for pre-match analysis.
Photo by: Mexico TTF
The video is available on itTV by visiting www.ittf.com/itTV. Click on Channel 4 Education, Development, then in the left hand column click on ITTF Racket Control.
Germany’s Torsten Küneth, who has been chosen as the official on racquet duty during the 2012 London Olympics, tests Simon Gauzy’s racket.
In this analysis, he explains the procedures followed, the devices used and the limits of tolerance with regards to the various tests. These will be the exact procedures at the London 2012 Olympics.
Name and Number
The first task in this evaluation is to obtain the player’s name and playing number.
Then the rubber is examined to check the supplier and brand name, this enables the testing procedures to begin.
Range of Devices Used
To begin with, the racket's measurements are taken using highly calibrated devices. The measurements taken are flatness and thickness. These measurements have to be obtained before the RAE testing device is brought into to action.
The presence of any volatile organic compounds and illegal substances are checked for using the RAE machine
Finally
In this final test, the level of gloss is checked and tested by a different device.
Torsten Küneth concludes this analysis by attaching a label to a bag in which the assessed racket is placed. The label reads the time and table number for the match. The racket will then be delivered to the correct table at the time specified when the tournament commences.
Although Simon Gauzy and Claude Bergeret awaited nervously for the results of the racket analysis, the rackets passed all the procedures and test completely.
Several factors have to be taken into consideration in testing new table tennis rackets. This is because racket control is now an established procedure in international tournaments especially at major events including the London 2012 Olympics. The French Table Tennis Federation and the French National Institute of Sport and Physical Education (INSEP) created a video in which Claude Bergeret brings forward Simon Gauzy's racket control and it is reviewed for pre-match analysis.
Photo by: Mexico TTF
The video is available on itTV by visiting www.ittf.com/itTV. Click on Channel 4 Education, Development, then in the left hand column click on ITTF Racket Control.
Germany’s Torsten Küneth, who has been chosen as the official on racquet duty during the 2012 London Olympics, tests Simon Gauzy’s racket.
In this analysis, he explains the procedures followed, the devices used and the limits of tolerance with regards to the various tests. These will be the exact procedures at the London 2012 Olympics.
Name and Number
The first task in this evaluation is to obtain the player’s name and playing number.
Then the rubber is examined to check the supplier and brand name, this enables the testing procedures to begin.
Range of Devices Used
To begin with, the racket's measurements are taken using highly calibrated devices. The measurements taken are flatness and thickness. These measurements have to be obtained before the RAE testing device is brought into to action.
The presence of any volatile organic compounds and illegal substances are checked for using the RAE machine
Finally
In this final test, the level of gloss is checked and tested by a different device.
Torsten Küneth concludes this analysis by attaching a label to a bag in which the assessed racket is placed. The label reads the time and table number for the match. The racket will then be delivered to the correct table at the time specified when the tournament commences.
Although Simon Gauzy and Claude Bergeret awaited nervously for the results of the racket analysis, the rackets passed all the procedures and test completely.
