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This point is really the crux of this thread, and it applies much more broadly than just these scenarios. None of us have an infinite budget to spend on table tennis. Knowing you can reallocate some of your scarce resources from blades to rubbers can allow you to either 1) save money by using...

Removing and re-gluing D09c usually makes it a bit softer and slower than before, but nothing very dramatic. You might even find it makes your rubber easier to play. There’s a lot of superstitious and very specific boosting practices out there. It seems like everyone does it slightly...

The only relevant video I can find is this 4-minute one, where ZJK says you need to evaluate both blades and rubbers by playing matches, not just hitting loops in practice. It’s clear from context that he’s criticizing how amateur video channels make blade reviews. At the end, one of his...

We have clearly broad agreement that rubbers are more important than blades at the amateur level. ZJK has also directly stated this. At the pro level, everything is very important. Do you have a quote from ZJK saying blade is more important than rubber? Bc time to evaluate is not the same...

Another interesting anecdote from the professional level: before Paris 2024, Zeng Jian did an interview where she mentioned her main and backup rackets had two completely different blades. You can see in the image that the blades were W968 and LGY ALC -- not just different models, but completely...

Thanks. Thinking about it overnight, I now mostly agree with you. The topsheet and sponge are coupled, so when we deform the topsheet, we’re also compressing the sponge. This is what I had in mind, and you’ve convinced me we would generally want to maximize sponge deformation and minimize...

I wouldn't be so sure. The direct (normal) compression of the sponge may be more efficient at storing and returning translational force to the ball, but tangential shear/stretch of the rubber is key for storing and returning the incoming ball's rotational energy, which is often significant...

The statement I originally quoted made a conservation of energy argument, implicitly assuming that the amount of energy transferred to the ball was determined only by the impact ("arm") speed. If we held the amount of energy transferred to the ball fixed, then imparting no spin would produce...

The actual reason this statement is incorrect is because it ignores the role of the potential energy stored by the rubber during the collision with the ball. For a given racket speed, it's possible that impacting the ball at an oblique angle allows the rubber to store more potential energy than...

Lol, when you’re so close to getting it…

I would like to see a competition between two players, A and B, of a similar level, with the condition: Player A gets to pick any commercially available rubbers (they don't have to be the same) for himself and his opponent, while Player B gets to pick any commercially available blades (again...

To the extent blades matter, it is mainly due to personal preference, which perhaps explains why a forum full of EJs thinks blades matter so much. Rubbers objectively matter more for how much quality they can handle and produce. There are technical adaptations you can make to produce quality...

I'll be interested to hear how you think it holds up over time. I've been skeptical about Butterfly's durability claims, not because I don't believe them but because they're only talking about the topsheet. Even if the topsheet lasted forever, the sponge still has a limited lifespan. Some say...

I’ve learned a bit more about pickleball and wanted to provide some more context on this. Pickleball did have a major league, Major League Pickleball, that was in direct competition with the PPA Tour. The two entities agreed to a merger in early 2024...

Pickleball has existed since 1965. The recent explosion of pickleball is almost entirely about big money investments and marketing in the last few years. The USTA has ~680k individual members. A one-year USTA adult membership is $44 (there are also discounts for seniors and juniors are free)...

Ok, that's a reasonable distinction to make. I'd remind you again my point is the one that actually addresses the topic of the thread, which is about viewership on social media clips. Furthermore, my argument proposes policies that the governing bodies of table tennis could follow to potentially...

Formula 1 and Drive to Survive is a great example of how marketing can dramatically increase the cultural appeal and fandom of a sport. No increase in drivers (i.e., amateur F1 players according to NL) required.

Sorry that I misunderstood your previous point about "speed" as referring to the speed of the ball making it hard to see rather than the speed/pace of play. At this point you can just keep narrowing it down to the all of the characteristics distinct to table tennis as reasons why it is hard to...

You seem to be confused about the main thread of the conversation. Table tennis does have technical nuances and depth that make it hard to follow, such as spin and speed. But it has other things that make it simpler and easier to follow, such as simple scoring, and short matches. If perceiving a...

And why isn't "Get the ball back onto the opponent's side of the table one more time than they do" an intuitive understanding that people can follow? I can virtually guarantee it would be easier for you to explain the action of a table tennis match than to explain how American football works to...