Table Tennis Scoring System

[SpinQuark]

Now that the Tennis season is in full swing in the UK with Queens and Wimbledon upon us. I am struck by the much lower profile of Table Tennis in the UK compared with Tennis. As I watched some of the Tennis I began to think about reasons why Tennis makes it onto the BBC and attracts large audiences but Table Tennis doesn't get a look in.

A key feature of Tennis is the scoring system which seems to maximise the tension throughout the match and keeps the audience involved. A player must only win 4 points to win a game. As with Table Tennis, in Tennis serving confers a major advantage and so there is always the question every game of whether the opponent can win a vital 'break of serve'.

Table Tennis might benefit by changing its scoring system to something similar. Let's say a game which is first to 4 points with the same player serving throughout, with again 6 games needed to win a set.

What do people think ?

(Maybe I'll give it a try sometime with my TT mates)

 

[Persistence TT]

I believe the scoring system is just fine. 4 points are not enough for players to adjust or to provide good spectacle. 4 consecutive serves are a step back as we will see the old fashioned table tennis where 90% of the points were a matter of serve and receive

The reason tennis is more popular is because rallies are longer and normal people ,non tennis players, can understand what is going on in the field. TT has tons of spin and speed and non playing spectators cannot understand the tactics/rallies/serve&receive. Tennis is simpler requires less brain activity, much slower but easy understandable and enjoyable.

Another reason which makes table tennis not so popular in the west world is that european/usa mentality does not quite match the mentality needed to play table tennis at world class level. Only the germans and the swedes who have by tradition a "lets organize everything and practice at every aspect of the game" mentality have trully excelled at table tennis. But again only the germans have managed to produce one good player after another for the past 30 years.

For me TT is like a martial art with a ball you need relaxed mind relaxed muscles, self confidence, being humble, fast reactions, creativity and countless repetitions in training for each different ball.

You can see many world class euro/usa players in soccer basketball boxing rugby tennis with flawed technique because creativity teamwork matter the most in such spors. That wont happen in table tennis, first of all you need perfect technique and then you might have some chances to reach the top.

Europe has slow and boring players like bastian steger adrian crisan and much much more with terrible footwork bad tactics and bad technique (off course their backhand is fantastic but one skill is never enough) yet they are in the national team of their country. For me this fact happens because europe does not produce enough players and euro coaches are not focusing enough in technique (which again is difficult because western children have other things to do also).

Another important factor is the really bad work the ITTF is doing in commercializing the sport. Lots of table tennis fans were waiting for the ITTF legends tour and the commentary was in french? (LOL!!!) Bad quality videos and lack of ideas. The interviews after the matches are always the same questions again and again for the past two years. Ian Marshall always asks the same questions like "How hard was it to overcome the difficulties in such a game?" "How hard was it to counter his/her topspins?" Im not saying he is not doing his best but the guy is better at writing articles, taking interviews isnt his forte.

 

[TTHopeful]

Nice idea, but I like all the points @TTFrenzy has covered here. Is table tennis slightly quicker than tennis? Games would be over much quicker if up to 4, and it would be difficult from a players perspective perhaps.

However @spinquark the points you cover about table tennis where it needs to be more engaged and thrilling for the spectator is vital and that is exactly what tennis does. In the Swedish Table Tennis League they use to play only best of 3 sets so it was quicker and more intense on TV, does anyone know how this went? Do they still do this? If they did this in World Tours and Majors it would mean players like Patrick Franziska would have a greater chance against lets say Fang Bo as more pressure to win and closer margin to win.

 

[toripoff]

u just cant compare tennis with table tennis.... both have their own unique kind of termologies !!

 

[Dan]

Great points from everyone here. I can see @spinquarks ideas. Somehow with Tennis spectactors are more engaged. There is tie break and more opportunities for the fans to be excited on whats going on as there are more crunch end of sets.

Tennis is slower and the general public can also have a better understanding of whats going on. The players involved in tennis are world icons to so the audience can feel more attached.

This is such a tricky, difficult subject to pinpoint. Perhaps because tennis is ran as a buisness and has more private organisations running it they can invest in world class marketers etc to promote the sport. For example when I went to watch the ATP Finals they had the hawk eye and I was loving it. The idea of that is just brilliant, the whole crowd was loving it! They felt more involved and engaged.

I'm enjoying this topic and looking forward to other opinions.

 

[Tinykin]

Tennis is suffering the same problems as TT in attracting new players.
There are thousands of tennis courts all over England, yet it is rare to see anyone actually using them.
Also tennis has been around in more or less the same form for about 400 years. Compare that to the 100 or so years for TT.
Give tennis a top, media-wise American player and the game would skyrocket in TV popularity.
Give table tennis a top, media-wise American player and the game would skyrocket in TV popularity.
There's nothing wrong with the rules of the sport. If you want media popularity, then you need to have an entrepreneur with the understanding to put together the right package.

 

[agold]

Yes, but it is indeed true that people have trouble seeing the ball because it is small and moves quickly. The ITTF changes the rules but that makes it worse for the serious players who can see the ball fine (every player). So maybe we forget popularity. Maybe we at least forget popularity as a sport to watch. What if we just started training more? Other countries become better, win more money, make more clubs, and then buy ads. come see the world table tennis team championships 2014! 4 years ago China took both medals. Can they do it again? Take a look at ESPN3 from X to X.

Then people will be talking about it and playing it.

Forget the scoring.

 

[Tinykin]

Seeing the ball well on TV depends on the camera equipment and the background light colours etc. I have loads of probs seeing tennis balls during play all the time.
There are many videos out there where the production was so good that seeing the ball was no problem. And I'm talking about the old 38mm ball.
Look at Dan's videos. Do you have a problem seeing the ball? Yet he uses basic consumer grade gear.

 

[agold]

Seeing the ball well on TV depends on the camera equipment and the background light colours etc. I have loads of probs seeing tennis balls during play all the time.
There are many videos out there where the production was so good that seeing the ball was no problem. And I'm talking about the old 38mm ball.
Look at Dan's videos. Do you have a problem seeing the ball? Yet he uses basic consumer grade gear.

I don't have any problem seeing either ball in any quality. People that don't know the sport do.

 

[mahomedy13]

if a game of tt was to 4 points and six sets, a game might end in under 15 minutes,cos table tennis is a fast game.

 

[SpinQuark]

Some interesting points of view by all.

If TT games were first to 4 points with one person serving throughout the game, then the typical average game might have say six points played. If there were 6 games required to win a set, then a set might typically see 10 games played. So one set would involve say 60 points played. Over 3 sets that would be 180 points, and over 5 sets that would be 300 points played.

Compare this with today's 7 games to 11, typically perhaps 18 points played in each game. This gives 7*18 or 126 points played. In fact many matches only see 6, 5 or 4 games played.

So Tennis scoring in TT would result in longer matches and more 'crunch' points.

Regarding serve and receive, today the game is already dominated by serve and receive. By serving more serves in a row there may perhaps be more opportunity for an opponent to learn/get used to serves, reducing the number of serve and receive points.

There must be many more things TT could do in the UK to change/increase its profile. I remember going to a TT Grand Prix event last year and there was not even a single sign or board advertising the event or its whereabouts - nothing - not even on the door of the sports complex itself ! Not just low profile - invisible ! The general public in the UK think of TT as either ping pong or at best something for kids to do.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/table-tennis/20797770

How about some of the following...

Instant slow mo replays.
More Cameras overhead, built into nets etc
A ball tracking system like Wimbledon uses.
Round robin tournaments played in the evening, best of 3 games.
Get onto mainstream UK TV
....