Why so much hate against boosters?

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Also as a penholder the writing of the rule is stupid for one more reason - sanding the rubber in the fingertip area. I deffinetely saw that on Dang Qui and some other top penhold players setups, and they passed racket controll, but sanding the rubber is practically against the rule, even if it did not change playing characteristics.

Lets talk about this

if for what ever reason the ball touch that sanded section, Dang Qiu will loose point.

How in the world would WTT check and know, is beyond me.

 

[vvk1]

I don’t like or hate it…. But I’m SO HAPPY it’s not legal or the “expected” thing to do like Speed Glue was.

It was SUCH a pain to glue the rubbers each time, with the possibility of the rubber not being quite the same as the last time.

I think it also creates an unnecessary equipment barrier for juniors - With some being able to access it (both product and knowledge) and others not.

Let’s be clear. It is illegal. Plain and simple.

Imagine telling a junior “don’t worry about cheating….. everyone else does it”.

How is that different to any other cheating scandal like Lance Armstrong in Le Tour De France?

Either way, in the UK at least, it’s very much a minority issue - Hardly anyone is doing it as far as I know!

Of course it is a minority issue since only a minority of all players play tournaments. But if you do play tournaments regularly and have a habit of always checking your opponent's bat before playing them, you'd see signs of boosting more often than one would expect. Funnily enough, the mx-p users seem to be particularly fond of boosting in UK ...

 

[doppelmoral]

Strictly speaking from my experience, the people around me just heard alot of stories and rumours about boosted rubbers. They also heard that Chinese players use boosters, and these players generally win tournaments.

So I had some instances in which people who never used hurricane or boosters before in their life told me that boosting is illegal and unfair for the integrity of this sport. I usually just hand them my blade then and let them play a few forehands with my h3 blue sponge (boost already evaporated). They quickly realize that it is a hard and dead rubber, very difficult for amateurs to create high speed and spin, and their opinion becomes more neutral after trying it out.

IMO, h3 (boosted or unboosted) doesnt give any real advantages for most of the hobby players (which is like 95%+ of TT population). I can still create spin and speed easier with bty or esn rubbers. I just like the feeling of h3

 

[Windkanal]

tbh, i could answer this with another question.

i m more surprised why only so little hate it and why there are so many defending it instead. listen... i dont freaking give a shit on the discussion. RULES are RULES. it is ILLEGAL. PERIOD.

and NO. boosting yourself and factory boosted are completely different things in terms of consistency and legal issues. the ITTF certificate becomes entirely pointless. A rubber gets a legal pass based on the state it leaves the factory in. and everyone who would buy this rubber plays on an equal playingfield.

''yeah but if manufacturer is allowed to boost, why am i not?''

yeah and why is my car manufacturer allowed to build a car and i m not allowed to build my own car and drive the highway? exact same logic. and then a crash happens... how the heck should insurance or anything work if i crashed into someone in a DIY car? like... how is this argument even remotely ''valid'' ? why is a police officer allowed to arrest someone but if i do it, its called kidnapping? i mean.. heck we should all just start printing money too, if nationalbanks are allowed to do that right?

you want to know why the manufacturer is allowed to do that and you are not? because you are not the freaking manufacturer.

manually altering the properties on equipment in a way you cant control or assure fairness for everyone else who follows the rules is just so wrong on so many levels i dont even need to discuss on. Its like if doping in sports would be ''allowed'' because its impossible to detect. imagine everyone would dope and the player who actualy value sportsmanship and play the rules get punished for not doing illegal shit... like what the actual fuck man...

and i dont think generalizations work here either. ''personally boosting makes little difference...'' argumentations...
just because it makes no difference for... YOU... doesnt mean it makes no difference for other people. and lets assume you are correct. if it makes NO difference... then why the heck boost to begin with by that logic. then just stick to the rules like everyone else should. rules are there for a reason. i dont even have to LIKE every rule, noone asks if i like this or that rule.

i follow it regardless however because rule is rule. if i start ignoring one rule... i ll start ignoring another rule too... or another one... and then chaos.

if you want to do illegal stuff while playing alone against your robot ball machine...do whatever you want, you re not affecting anyone elses game. but as soon as you step into a competitive environment, stick to the rules or you should be disqualified. a competitive 1v1 sports becomes a complete joke if everyone can do whatever they want instead of being on a same playingfield.

 

[doppelmoral]

tbh, i could answer this with another question.

i m more surprised why only so little hate it and why there are so many defending it instead. listen... i dont freaking give a shit on the discussion. RULES are RULES. it is ILLEGAL. PERIOD.

and NO. boosting yourself and factory boosted are completely different things in terms of consistency and legal issues. the ITTF certificate becomes entirely pointless. A rubber gets a legal pass based on the state it leaves the factory in. and everyone who would buy this rubber plays on an equal playingfield.

''yeah but if manufacturer is allowed to boost, why am i not?''

yeah and why is my car manufacturer allowed to build a car and i m not allowed to build my own car and drive the highway? exact same logic. and then a crash happens... how the heck should insurance or anything work if i crashed into someone in a DIY car? like... how is this argument even remotely ''valid'' ? why is a police officer allowed to arrest someone but if i do it, its called kidnapping? i mean.. heck we should all just start printing money too, if nationalbanks are allowed to do that right?

you want to know why the manufacturer is allowed to do that and you are not? because you are not the freaking manufacturer.

manually altering the properties on equipment in a way you cant control or assure fairness for everyone else who follows the rules is just so wrong on so many levels i dont even need to discuss on. Its like if doping in sports would be ''allowed'' because its impossible to detect. imagine everyone would dope and the player who actualy value sportsmanship and play the rules get punished for not doing illegal shit... like what the actual fuck man...

and i dont think generalizations work here either. ''personally boosting makes little difference...'' argumentations...
just because it makes no difference for... YOU... doesnt mean it makes no difference for other people. and lets assume you are correct. if it makes NO difference... then why the heck boost to begin with by that logic. then just stick to the rules like everyone else should. rules are there for a reason. i dont even have to LIKE every rule, noone asks if i like this or that rule.

i follow it regardless however because rule is rule. if i start ignoring one rule... i ll start ignoring another rule too... or another one... and then chaos.

if you want to do illegal stuff while playing alone against your robot ball machine...do whatever you want, you re not affecting anyone elses game. but as soon as you step into a competitive environment, stick to the rules or you should be disqualified. a competitive 1v1 sports becomes a complete joke if everyone can do whatever they want instead of being on a same playingfield.

so you have nothing against boosting, you just love enforcing rules.

 

[Tyce]

@Windkanal the rubber doesn't even really get inspected tbh. The topsheet gets specced and numbered, nobody cares about the sponge as long as one is attached.

 

[Windkanal]

so you have nothing against boosting, you just love enforcing rules.

imagine a world where you have to defend yourself for following rules lol. and no i also dont cross a street when traffic light is red but there is no car coming.

and yes, i HAVE something against boosting, otherwise i wouldnt hate it? DUH??

i m not sure you understand the word ''enforcing'' tho. i cant even enforce anything because i am not working at the ITTF or as a referee. but you can be damn sure, i support it 100% if referee would actually enforce rules.

 

[Windkanal]

@Windkanal the rubber doesn't even really get inspected tbh. The topsheet gets specced and numbered, nobody cares about the sponge as long as one is attached.

yes and this is the issue to begin with. ITTF SHOULD pay attention and inspect and literally disqualify anyone who boosts and actually enforce their rules

 

[doppelmoral]

imagine a world where you have to defend yourself for following rules lol. and no i also dont cross a street when traffic light is red but there is no car coming.

and yes, i HAVE something against boosting, otherwise i wouldnt hate it? DUH??

i m not sure you understand the word ''enforcing'' tho. i cant even enforce anything because i am not working at the ITTF or as a referee. but you can be damn sure, i support it 100% if referee would actually enforce rules.

ITTF also punishes players for not attending WTT tournaments, which has severe implications on their career and income.

Since its a rule, it must be inherently good?

 

[Tyce]

yes and this is the issue to begin with. ITTF SHOULD pay attention and inspect and literally disqualify anyone who boosts and actually enforce their rules

Rules are as good as they are enforceable. They should make better rules.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

The problem with the logic that manufacture can do it, is because ITTF cannot police it.
that is the problem.

When they sent the rubbers in for LARC, I am pretty sure it is not boosted.

comparing it with cars is silly, because I'm sure there are certain standards for cars and it can get tested.
and then you have after market upgrades - which there are laws and tests done to make it comply.

Boosting rules by ITTF cannot get tested, only test is maybe a lie detector test at best.

today it is boosting on the sponge
tomorrow, can be stretching the rubber when gluing
the next day, could be some cleaner to make the topsheet more tacky
ITTF can't do anything about it.
They just make money for it to be on LARC, and does no enforcement, other than goodwill gestures by players.

There are just so many tricks to have an advantage, and its no secret but ITTF is doing nothing.

 

[Jslick89]

they hate us cuz they aint us.

 

[Windkanal]

Rules are as good as they are enforceable. They should make better rules.

its kind of fcked up that you even have to enforce it to begin with. you dont even have to enforce them onto me. i ll stick to the rules by myself simply because i am a good person.

but its kind of funny and there really isnt even much substance in discussion coming from the booster defenders. all i hear is mimimi crycrycry. but i NEVER get a single answer or argument about WHAT IT IS THAT MAKES IT SO DAMN HARD AND UNBEARABLE TO YOU TO JUST NOT USE BOOSTERS AND STICK TO THE RULES.

why cant you just simply NOT use boosters?

i also never get an answer to the question: do you think doping and drugs should be legal in sports too?

if a rubber is so freaking bad by default that you have to manually alter it yourself than this product is fundamentally flawed.

 

[BlotOnPaper]

its kind of fcked up that you even have to enforce it to begin with. you dont even have to enforce them onto me. i ll stick to the rules by myself simply because i am a good person.

It's really funny that a "good person" is the most agressive and verbally assaulty one in the discussion.

Don't weaponize "goodness" and moral as superiorities as they are DEEPLY FUCKING SUBJECTIVE matters. I can't really comprehend how you live in the real world with such a views, your way of communicating is obnoxious and abrasive. Why are you continuing to say the same exact shit as we already heard.

We do not agree with you. Live with it. Why you waste your time on ragebaiting yourself and others?

 

[BlotOnPaper]

Lets talk about this

if for what ever reason the ball touch that sanded section, Dang Qiu will loose point.

How in the world would WTT check and know, is beyond me.

I agree with this, it is logical. But if we talk by the book his racket is still illegal. Because rubber was physically altered. But if passed racket controll. And even if it's logical it doesn't make any sense why the rules are written this way.

 

[Tyce]

Imagine if the government tries to say that you are not allowed to paint your house.

But what they say is, you can't alter the window frames.
Does that mean you're only allowed to buy pre-painted window frames? Or can you touch them up with the same colour paint? If the paint is damaged, do you have to replace the window frame?
How about if the government decides they have to be a different colour now?
And what if the window frames only come with really bad quality paint? Are you still not allowed to paint them over?

The rule is silly, because it's badly constructed. At any point in the past 25 years could the ITTF have made them better, but they didn't. And I'm not going to buy new window frames every 6 months.

 

[belllfador]

I have solution! Let say you are top 500 player. You want to compete in the top tournaments, Smash, Olympic etc. You play with viscaria 88g, h3 neo 41 deg, tenergy 05 2mm and 5 layers DHS glue. Tournament organizators assemble your racket on video record, put some protective stickers on the side and hide the racket in the safe. You go to the tournament and before each match you receive your unboostet racket. After the match you return the racket for cleaning and storage. Complex, expensive, but fair. And all rubbers becomes factory boosted with separated grades and expiration date.

 

[lodro]

its kind of fcked up that you even have to enforce it to begin with. you dont even have to enforce them onto me. i ll stick to the rules by myself simply because i am a good person.

but its kind of funny and there really isnt even much substance in discussion coming from the booster defenders. all i hear is mimimi crycrycry. but i NEVER get a single answer or argument about WHAT IT IS THAT MAKES IT SO DAMN HARD AND UNBEARABLE TO YOU TO JUST NOT USE BOOSTERS AND STICK TO THE RULES.

why cant you just simply NOT use boosters?

i also never get an answer to the question: do you think doping and drugs should be legal in sports too?

if a rubber is so freaking bad by default that you have to manually alter it yourself than this product is fundamentally flawed.

just because an organization or indeed governments make rules does not mean we all have to blindly obey them. There are plenty of cases in near and far history when blindly following rules led to total disaster.
Kadavergehorsam is the german word for it,
isn't it ???

 

[pong99]

yeah and why is my car manufacturer allowed to build a car and i m not allowed to build my own car and drive the highway? exact same logic. and then a crash happens... how the heck should insurance or anything work if i crashed into someone in a DIY car? like... how is this argument even remotely ''valid'' ? why is a police officer allowed to arrest someone but if i do it, its called kidnapping? i mean.. heck we should all just start printing money too, if nationalbanks are allowed to do that right?

In the US, you CAN absolutely build your own car.

Any private citizen can build a car and do what is called single car certification. You take your finished car to the state DMV for inspection and if it passes, you can drive the car on public roads. Lots of people do it. You have to pay a fee to do the inspection. Insurance companies will insure it if the state has certified it.

There are many specialty car companies that build small numbers of hot rods, restomods, etc.

According to a google search, you can also do this in Germany

In Germany, the single car certificate is an "Einzelgenehmigung" (individual approval) or "Einzelbetriebserlaubnis" (individual operating permit). This document is required for vehicles that do not have a standard European type approval (EC-type approval/CoC) and must be individually inspected and approved by German authorities before they can be registered.

 

[ThePongCommenter]

WHAT IT IS THAT MAKES IT SO DAMN HARD AND UNBEARABLE TO YOU TO JUST NOT USE BOOSTERS

You gotta try it some time, it's fuckin' sick m8