Timo Boll Interview: About 80% of pro's are using illegal rackets

but i see in megaspin.net there is a legal booster ! the falco long tempo booster.

williamlimpo said:

but i see in megaspin.net there is a legal booster ! the falco long tempo booster.

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It's not really legal. The company is claiming they boost the bottom sheet not the top sheet so it is legal. That is splitting hairs and clearly not the intent of the ITTF rule. Anything you apply to the bottom sheet will have an effect on the top sheet.

Here:

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The following law and regulation are described in the Handbook of ITTF [1].

2.04.07: The racket covering shall be used without any physical, chemical or other treatment.

3.04.02.02: The racket covering shall be used as it has been authorized by the ITTF without any physical, chemical or other treatment, changing or modifying playing properties, friction, outlook, color, structure, surface, etc.; in particular, no additives shall be used.

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Those are the rules. You can't add chemicals to the sponge or topsheet that change the playing property of the rubber. By definition Booster of any kind is against the rules.

There is no such thing as legal booster.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

Factory boosted my rubber >=\

Opened a brand new sheet of Tenergy and I could tell butterfly boosted it. This is so frustrating. I spent 75$ on a sheet of rubber and they gave me an illegal sheet. I guess I'll just have to play with it for a month before I enter any competition, I need the booster to wear off so I'm not a cheater...

Shuki said:

Factory boosted my rubber >=\

Opened a brand new sheet of Tenergy and I could tell butterfly boosted it. This is so frustrating. I spent 75$ on a sheet of rubber and they gave me an illegal sheet. I guess I'll just have to play with it for a month before I enter any competition, I need the booster to wear off so I'm not a cheater...

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Oh, silly boy. The TT companies are allowed to add boost before they package the rubber. But once you open it, you are not allowed to add boost yourself. So there is no such thing as a boost product that you can buy that is "legal"; a boost product that that is meant for you to apply to the rubber to boost is, by definition, against these rules.

This is the video that explains your dilemma most completely:

That video is actually infuriating. They're EXACTLY like the IPF in powerlifting. No equipment from companies that don't pay thousands to be on an approved list. PED's are bad and you shouldn't take them, but we'll only test for 3 possible types of the 75 available. As far as TT goes, if I get popped for using rubber cement instead of WBG I might actually lose it.

Do Timo Boll & Mizutani know that Tenergy has been perfectly boosted before coming out from factory

SquareBall said:

Timo Boll is sponsored by butterfly so it makes sense to not want boosted rubbers in the market. No proof that this is the case though, but possible.

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TTHopeful said:

Surely Timo Boll is boosting? His bat sounds very boosted

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BrownRabbit said:

Wonder what happens if Mizutani boosts..

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UpSideDownCarl said:

Oh, silly boy. The TT companies are allowed to add boost before they package the rubber. But once you open it, you are not allowed to add boost yourself. So there is no such thing as a boost product that you can buy that is "legal"; a boost product that that is meant for you to apply to the rubber to boost is, by definition, against these rules.

This is the video that explains your dilemma most completely:

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Now I understand! If I find out what boosting product butterfly uses then I can boost myself right? And then I won't have to spend 75$ every time I want to play good again!

Shuki said:

Now I understand! If I find out what boosting product butterfly uses then I can boost myself right? And then I won't have to spend 75$ every time I want to play good again!

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Anything you add will make it illegal even if it is the same as the manufacturer. Only the original manufacturer can apply products which alter the rubber. Besides, whatever you add will not be the same as the manufacturer as they would guard the additives composition as a trade secret.

Spraying your rubber with a cleaner and rubbing it off is a treatment. Illegal by the rules definition and to any reasonable person who can read, but obviously ITTF intent is to allow such a cleaning. I asked such a question to the then ITTF president when he was on the forums, he agreed it is allowable to clean your rubbers, even though it is technically and actually a treatment to the topsheet that changes the characteristics. (makes it clean and grippy/better performing)

Manufacturer boosting rubber (really the sponge) ... could be legal, ITTF isn't busting anyone for it, they just approve the topsheet anyway.

Attaching the rubber with rubber cement and playing the next day with zero VOC emmissions... you make your own call.

VOCs emitting from the topsheet or sponge of your BRAND NEW Tenergy or other modern rubber you just opened up and water glued right in front of and under supervision of the control desk... VERY LIKELY. VOCs are heavily used as part of the manufacturing process and are explicitly permitted by explanation of then president of ITTF during Q&A on forums.

However, you stick that clean zero-VOC water based glued rubber fresh and new right outta the package the NIGHT prior, then you get Enez tested and BANG! Now, you opened up a big ole' can of U R BUSTED City and your name is passed around the internet forever as a cheat and a fraud.

Is THAT the intent of the ITTF? (to identify a player as a cheater, even if he is using original ITTF approved rubber and glue put together under the supervision and control of officials in the manner the ITTF explicitly describes and recommends, even if the officials hang onto the bat until testing? Nope, prolly not the intent, but it sure could work out that way. Who the F is gunna "Air Out" their new rubbers 3 days+ prior to a big tourney? Not a lot of 'em I think.

Is the ITTF or USATT gunna come to the venue and disqualify/nullify the venue and competition as a whole, because the courts are not regulation size or the light is poor or there are no barriers? or disqualify it as there are NO UMPIRES? They gunna send out the Goon Squads to shut down a tourney where if you step around for a FH, you knowck over Gramnda and her egg nog, then painfully jam your crack into corner of the table that is 4 feet from yours in a failed attempt to hit the ball? NOPE. I don't think that is gunna happen.

We should all enjoy Korean amature TT while it is still good, that is the life over there. They know how to keep it real.

Gene Tuttle said:

Anything you add will make it illegal even if it is the same as the manufacturer. Only the original manufacturer can apply products which alter the rubber. Besides, whatever you add will not be the same as the manufacturer as they would guard the additives composition as a trade secret.

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wait I've looked at the rules being posted so far and it doesn't say the manufacturer can add booster to the products! D:!

don't worry I've figured it out! manufacture booster that is applied must wear off immediately once you open the package. The booster they use must be to just keep the product in good shape until the rubber has been opened out of it's package. They probably just messed up the amount of booster they use and sometimes when we open the package not all of the booster wears off immediately and we are lucky enough to play with some magic for a little while.


Also great post above me by Der_ ^^^ you should read if you happened to skip it.

Sorry your response is 1.5 centimeters under regulation size and the Lux level is too low. We have to shut you down and lose the revenue from this forum.

Gene Tuttle said:

Sorry your response is 1.5 centimeters under regulation size and the Lux level is too low. We have to shut you down and lose the revenue from this forum.

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Haha, I like this.

My first comment was sarcasm but we've never interacted before so I took your helpful post and continued with the satire. Sorry if I came across as a troll or just ignorant =]

Shuki said:

Factory boosted my rubber >=\

Opened a brand new sheet of Tenergy and I could tell butterfly boosted it. This is so frustrating. I spent 75$ on a sheet of rubber and they gave me an illegal sheet. I guess I'll just have to play with it for a month before I enter any competition, I need the booster to wear off so I'm not a cheater...

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I am curious what made you think they had boosted it? The two sheets I opened last night with the brand new packaging ordered from Megaspin had no booster smell, laid flat on my table, and are nothing at all like the obviously factory-boosted Evolution rubbers.

Baal said:

I am curious what made you think they had boosted it? The two sheets I opened last night with the brand new packaging ordered from Megaspin had no booster smell, laid flat on my table, and are nothing at all like the obviously factory-boosted Evolution rubbers.

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It was a bit of sarcasm sorry, but tenergy is definitely boosted. I have cut mine, weighed the cut tenergy and then upon removal of the rubber later weighed it again and it weighed the same amount. But this same amount was WITH glue attatched to it. Also the rubber shrinks from it's original size and I can't put it back on the blade again if I remove it after about a month of play. But this could be from using a press, stretching the rubber out when I glue it, or from the glue I use or something else entirely.

Do you think that butterfly doesn't use any boosting agent of any kind? I never smelled booster on my evolution rubbers but people claimed it was boosted too.



edit: actually the only time I ever boosted a rubber was with some Kailin oil that I got off ttnpp a while back and wanted to try it with some hurricane to see what all the fuss was about. The stuff I got I couldn't smell anything, with my nose right up to it. This leads me to believer either some booster has no scent, it was fake, or I have a bad nose.

Because I never thought to check my Tenergy for boosting (because it is legal for manufacturers to include boosters as part of the manufacturing process) I have to admit that I ignored any smells associated with the opening of the package. I have tried Tenergy 05 FX, Tenergy 05, Tenergy 25,Tenergy 64, Tenergy 80, Tenergy 80 FX as well as Yasaka X, Hurricane 3, Tibhar fx-p, and mx-p in the last month in my quest for the fountain of points but I have not noticed any effects or smells which I associated with " boosted". I do acknowledge the idiocy in chasing variations in so many rubber types in such a short period of time but I have been waiting to return to play for a long time and impulse control is not one of my strong suites.

I personally don't think Tenergy is significantly boosted. Maybe I am wrong.

Evolution smells boosted whilst other ESN rubbers do not I wonder why this is?

I just resurfaced several bats. I have never boosted a sheet of rubber so I am not sure what that smells like but I have some Tibhar Evolution FX-P and EL-P. When I opened them they just smelled "new" I did not notice anything different than when I opened the Butterfly Tenergy.(05,64,25,80). The only rubber which smelled a bit different to me was the Sanwei Target National when I peeled off the protective film to reveal its very sticky coating. Is the "boosted" smell like an old style VOC based glue odor? Model cement ?

UpSideDownCarl said:

It is entertaining to hear people arguing about something no one knows for sure. Or, more accurately, that, for sure, no one knows about.

Funny how many different theories about the pros rubbers there seems to be.


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Here's a question that doesn't require access top secret table tennis information: what are the compelling arguments (if any) in favor of ITTF's ban on (non-toxic) boosters?

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As mentioned by many, it's obviously in the financial interest of rubber manufacturers like Butterfly. (Let's not speculate, but it might be fair to add that it would require poor management on ITTF's part for them not to also financially benefit from rules that fill TT rubbers giants' pockets.)

(What is that in the rear view mirror? An argument in favor of the status who - official ban + no enforcement? Isn't it sweet to have the cake and eat it: fill, fill, fill the pockets; but don't give any gigantic national org (hello China) a reason to boycott ITTF because their budding players can't afford to train with Tenergy. Hush, let's not speculate.)

The "level playing field" point that officials most often make is nonsensical. Sure, it's an excellent point against allowing equipment that cannot be bought off the shelf, by anyone. (Again let's not speculate, but that's at most a compelling reason (if at all) for ITTF to crack down on any pros/national teams using custom equipment.) But if we are only talking about boosting, and the boosters being used are available off the shelf, the resulting playing field can't be less "even" than the playing field for playing technique.

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That cartoon is hilarious.

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So, where are the promising arguments in favor of banning boosting? (I'm honestly curious.)