reference:
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/sport/me...-boll-ueber-tricks-von-chinesen-14043588.html
Full Interview translation:
Table tennis star Timo Boll "80 percent are cheating"
Hard or soft, round or like an egg: Table tennis player Timo Boll speaks in FAZ.NET interview about the pitfalls of new plastic balls, chemically treated rubbers - and the tricks of the unbeatable Chinese.
Many players are complaining about the new table tennis balls made of plastic. How much did they change the game?
I am one of the players,who doesn t think the change is really extrem.Form my point of view,the problem is mainly that there are many different types of balls. Although they are all made of plastic, they have rather different properties.Like the bounce on the table,as well as how the ball is catapulted out of the bat and the grip of the ball on the table.Unlike before there are now immense differences.
Many have adjustment problems. Especially when in the week before the game,there is no opportunity to train with the competition balls.
With how many different balls from different manufacturers did you play yet?
I train when the game takes place on Fridays or Sundays, the whole week with the same balls. So you need a certain arsenal of balls. There are three balls, which are the best by far: Butterfly, Joola and Nittaku. The three also differ in each case a bit, but they are all hard, really round, and it's just fun to play with them. Then there are the bad balls from other manufacturers, which are probably from the same production factory. They are soft, round like eggs. But those are mainly played.
How so?
There supplier contracts with the organizers of tournaments and championships. And who gives the best deal is considered.
And you actually have every ball of each brand in order to train with them?
I really got any ball lying in my closet.
How do you organize this? Do you buy or order them?
From my equipment provider Butterfly it is no problem of cause, the other ones I just pick up somewhere or just ask the other companys if I could have a box.
What makes a ball into a hard ball and what to a soft?
I have many years of experience with the previous celluloid balls. And when you hit the ball in a certain angle or with a specific rotation or a certain hardness, then you expect a certain reaction of the ball, it jumps in a certain manner of the racket. With hard plastic this is also almost always the case. The soft balls fail. Balls with heavy spin don´t bounce properly.Usually you can return a ball, which was hit hard,with a hard stroke but those balls don t accelerate problerly and don t even fly over the net. The quality of the game suffers in a sustainable manner, because the players are feeling insecure. Some are suffering a serious blow. The rallies have gotten worse on average.
Worse product, poorer market opportunities.Must the table tennis associations react to this and no longer take the balls that get the most financial gain and secure the quality of the sport?
I understand that the companys need a certain amount of time in order to adjust to plastic. We players have accepted that. Nothing changed for a few months, time and time again, we are told it is impossible to do better than this.
But there are the counterexamples.
Naturally. Butterfly for example works with a company together, which manufactures the balls of deodorant-rollers and thus they ensure that the balls are really round. So it is possible to do better. I don't understand why the Table Tennis Companys don't pull the plug, when they are receiving low quality products for their money.
And the table tennis Associations that organize championships and tournaments, should not take the balls, which bring the most money,but rather the best ones?
We players would be happy about that.
In return the players forego their prize money?
There is barely any prize money anyway. There are barely any sponsors, the organizers save on the equipment and increase the prices for hotels and meals to earn some money by the players. Fortunately, many athletes have their own supplier contracts that guarantee them the expenses for two, three World Ranking Tournaments. Or the National Association pays the costs. But as before, that many traveled at their own risk around the world, to play and to collect world ranking points, it is no longer. Since you would have to take in hand a lot of money.In the Old times many players traveled around the world at their own riskto play and collect world ranking points
,but it is not like that anymore
.Now you would need a lot of money for that.
Is the game changing,because of the plastic ball?
there is less spin in the game, but not as extreme as some may expected. Some believed that I would face some difficulties, because I play with a lot of rotation and spin. But it is going quit well. I have to work more with my body during stroking, to speed up the ball, but the difference is not extrem. Many poeple suggest, there are a lot of injured players now , because they have to invest so much in every stroke, since the introduction of the plastic ball. But I always invested the maximum in each stroke. And more is impossible. Maybe the others finally understood that you simply always use the maximum power in every stroke.I don´t feel more burdened. The rallys aren´t longer.
In addition to the balls the tubbers are critical to the quality of the game. It is said that the outstanding Chinese have an advantage in this area. How can that be?
The rubbers are an extreme advantage for the Chinese.
This is difficult to understand for an outsider. It ultimately involves only a piece of rubber. If you take a look at what complicated technologies are copied in Formula 1 , then you would think the competitors are gonna catch up with any advantage.
The rubber technology is a real science. Naturally there are rules. But the measurement and control procedures can´t reliable check compliance with the rules.
The rackets, which were previously controlled in the test were all rule compliant. But 80 percent - so my estimate - still did not meet the rules.In order to prove this, the Rubber has to be removed from the racket and sent to the lab. That's what I am encouraging since long ago. But the International Association considers this unreasonable. No players pays for his equipment , and it also means no effort to glue the rubber again. Anyone who adheres to the rules,is at a clear disadvantage.
Which infringement is committed?
The Rubbers are treated with chemicals to increase the catapult effect when hitting. This apllies not only for the Chinese players, but for Europeans and other Asians to
How do you know that?
I have played with the material of players who have treated their rubbers. There was a certain difference. And then I've tested the racket of a colleague in China . (Note .: Boll played repeatedly for Chinese clubs in the local league). Let me put it this way: If the chinese play a topspin with my racket and their usualy technique, then the ball stays on their on half of the table.
Then the secret is revealed,how the unbeatable Chinese can be defeated:you steal their rackets or make working controls .
I do not suggest that the Chinese strength is based solely on the rubbers. They have the best conditions, most coaches, the most money.
But it is certain that they could not play some ball the way they play it, and some strokes would not have the same quality that they have at the moment. If the Chinese had developed a great rubber that is superior to all others, that would be fine. Then I could buy it in the store, or I could change the supplier. You can´t buy Chinese rackets anywhere and the rubbers are treated to.They have no sense of wrongdoing, for them what goes through the tests conforms to the rules. The player Wang Hao ones demonstrated in a live broadcast of the Chinese television, how they prepare the racket. Each treatment is expressly prohibited, actually that was the detection of fraud. On the other hand I am competitive with my racket,which is not only metrological rule compliant, but also 100 percent corresponds to the rules.Even more: I play with rubbersthat you can buy at the store. Since there is no difference. I have an absolutely clean conscience.
And are you a do-gooder who sticks to the rules, even if all other cheat?
I am just like this.My leitmotiv is indeed well known.Table tennis is my love and you shouldn t cheat on your love.An example: I once played against an opponent who drove me almost insane because he made only incorrect service by hiding the ball with his body. Of course, the referee did not notice anything. I was really upset but said nothing. It so happened that we played against each other again next weekend. So I studied on a serve the whole week , which was even meaner and wrong. And what happened when we encountered one another? I have the bonus is not used, I just could not.I didn´t use the serve because, I just simply couldn´t do it.
Holy shit I just noticed this beast took me 5 h
I hope you can enjoy and understand.Going to bed now have a great day!