Changes in Table Tennis

Part were good, part were bad. The bad ones are always those where the ittf tries to change stuff to make table tennis more attractive to watch (like the recent ball changes). I have not heard about net rise anywhere, so I hope that is not true.
The pimples and speed glue ban was definately good as well as the service change. I would like the ittf to have an extra referee to check on serves though because a lot of pros are technically doing a forbidden serve.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?13046-Proposed-Increase-in-Net-Height

The above is a link to a thread regarding the proposed increased net height

jmillsy2 said:

So, the rule changes I could think of:

-Scoring system: Bo3/5 up to 21 -> Bo5/7 up to 11 (September 2001)
- Service: Hiding of the ball with the arm banned (2002)
- Ball: 38mm -> 40mm (Introduced after 2000 Olympics)
- Speed Glue: Banned in 2008 (Following Beijing Olympic Games)
- Frictionless Long Pimples: Banned in 2008 (As of 1st July)
- Ball: 40mm Celluloid -> 40+mm Plastic (Introduced in 2014)
- Coaching now allowed inbetween points provided the flow of play is not disrupted (2016)
- Currently discussed: Raising the height of the net (currently tests are being done over a 1cm increase, and a motion may be proposed at the 2017 AGM to raise the height of the net with effect from July 2018)

Discuss Away!

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What were "Frictionless Long Pimples", why were they banned and who used them?

Also I love how the whole arm hiding serve thing was banned 14 years ago and even pro's still try and do it to this day!

I don't like the sound of them at all!

jmillsy2 said:

From the ITTF AGM minutes this year:

'Proposed by Swiss Table TennisTest on Height of the NetTable tennis is a very attractive and spectacular sport as soon as there arerallies. Unfortunately, too many rallies are finished within the first 3 strokes.To reach the fixed target to become top 5 sport, table tennis has to be morespectacular. The importance of service (and receive) has to be declined.Especially the services and receives are crossing the net very low,afterwards, the balls cross the net much higher. Therefore one mightestimate that with a higher net, there would be more rallies.Swiss Table Tennis, after having discussed with a lot of top players,technical directors, presidents of NA and others, assigns the ITTF to registerat the 2016 Olympic Games (or a World Tour competition) with a high speedcamera at the height of the net a minimum of 20 matches of men andanother 20 matches of women with different playing styles and to publish thestatistics until the 30th of November 2016.Depending on the results, Swiss Table Tennis will maybe ask to the AGM2017 in Germany to change the rules and introduce a higher net from July2018 on.'

So they are definitely looking into it...also interesting is that a proposition from HKTT got defeated by 2% to remove the rule that the blade must be 85% wood...so that may change some time in the future too if they can get it to pass...

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This is utterly ridiculous... How can the ittf make a change 95% of players in all areas would agree on is bad only for their own marketing purposes? Have they completely lost their mind? I thought those people love the sport! I hope clubs protest against it.

Services having too much impact? WELL, IT IS THE ****IN SPORT!

The increase in net height will be one of the most stupid thing they could do right now. Why not change the size of the table and shrink it by 3 cm as well.

Changing the game in such a fundamental way destroys the overall competitive play. They could say it's for the sake of longer rally but table tennis is tough as it is for the knee and back. Not to mention the net height change will force players to scrap the muscle memory they've learned for years

laistrogian said:

The increase in net height will be one of the most stupid thing they could do right now. Why not change the size of the table and shrink it by 3 cm as well.

Changing the game in such a fundamental way destroys the overall competitive play. They could say it's for the sake of longer rally but table tennis is tough as it is for the knee and back. Not to mention the net height change will force players to scrap the muscle memory they've learned for years

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I feel like the plastic ball has also had a significant impact in terms of muscle memory. We were all used to playing a much quicker game with more spin and all of a sudden the game slowed down. Although the muscle memory adjustments are small, they impacted every aspect of the game and this all adds up. I have personally not enjoyed the new plastic ball for many reasons, but the fact that I have had to micro-adjust every aspect of my game has certainly been one of the most annoying reasons!

I agree with you entirely, the net increase will significantly impact muscle memory, at the very least to the same extent as the plastic ball!

Garrison said:

This is utterly ridiculous... How can the ittf make a change 95% of players in all areas would agree on is bad only for their own marketing purposes? Have they completely lost their mind? I thought those people love the sport! I hope clubs protest against it.

Services having too much impact? WELL, IT IS THE ****IN SPORT!

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laistrogian said:

The increase in net height will be one of the most stupid thing they could do right now. Why not change the size of the table and shrink it by 3 cm as well.

Changing the game in such a fundamental way destroys the overall competitive play. They could say it's for the sake of longer rally but table tennis is tough as it is for the knee and back. Not to mention the net height change will force players to scrap the muscle memory they've learned for years

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Yecats Encerwal said:

I feel like the plastic ball has also had a significant impact in terms of muscle memory. We were all used to playing a much quicker game with more spin and all of a sudden the game slowed down. Although the muscle memory adjustments are small, they impacted every aspect of the game and this all adds up. I have personally not enjoyed the new plastic ball for many reasons, but the fact that I have had to micro-adjust every aspect of my game has certainly been one of the most annoying reasons!

I agree with you entirely, the net increase will significantly impact muscle memory, at the very least to the same extent as the plastic ball!

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Totally agree, but it's not just about the muscle memory. I must admit that i used to think a higher net would increase the length of rallies, but i've changed my opinion about this.

Here's why:

Either they are trying to kill another style or they just can't think.

They seem to forget a higher net hurts choppers and modern defenders much more than it would hurt spinners.

It's mostly because of the different trajectories of each style.
Spinners produce arcs, whereas choppers try to play their chops as low over the net as possible, 'cause if they don't their chops just get slapped around.

I hope this will 'cause massive protests.
If they want the sport to be more spectacular, they just should change the quality of their livestreams and its availabilities and their f*cked up angle they shoot them.
And there are many more things they could do to raise the popularity instead of just killing another style right away.

If they want to make the game less dependent on serves, there are better ways than simply increasing the net height. And if they want to get more viewers, then they should make the game easier understandable for people that don't have any idea what spin is and what spin can do like for instance use two-toned balls to make spin easier visible as it was used in CTTSL two years ago.

Quite sure if Saive will become ITTF President, he wouldn't let this bullshit happen!

Mr. Weikert should do something about this quick or he'll lose the rest of credibility. One just has to look how people talk about the ITTF!

Bunch of old grey men full of sh*t!

The number of club members in germany has constantly been decreasing since 1989 from 820.000 players to about 600.000 in 2012 and i believe it's even worse today!

http://www.tischtennis-blog.de/archives/208-Der-Mitgliederrueckgang-im-Tischtennis-geht-weiter.html

Seems as if they want get rid of another big number of players.

Sorry for ranting, but i felt the importance of this! This really grinds my gears!

I think the only thing the ITTF needs to do to get more viewers is to provide better quality and much better camera angles closer to the table and lower to the ground, nearly like you would be watching from a seat close to the table or standing next to it.


Something like this.

laistrogian said:

The increase in net height will be one of the most stupid thing they could do right now. Why not change the size of the table and shrink it by 3 cm as well.

Changing the game in such a fundamental way destroys the overall competitive play. They could say it's for the sake of longer rally but table tennis is tough as it is for the knee and back. Not to mention the net height change will force players to scrap the muscle memory they've learned for years

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LT, think about what you just said... change table size... What you suggest that now everyone must buy 1000 Euro tables all over again to train and comply with your proposal??? Just to TRY an idea ??? SILLY Wabbit.

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Der_Echte said:

LT, think about what you just said... change table size... What you suggest that now everyone must buy 1000 Euro tables all over again to train and comply with your proposal??? Just to TRY an idea ??? SILLY Wabbit.

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Der_Echte, i might be wrong but i've read a whole lot of sarcasm in lastrogian's post.

Der_Echte said:

LT, think about what you just said... change table size... What you suggest that now everyone must buy 1000 Euro tables all over again to train and comply with your proposal??? Just to TRY an idea ??? SILLY Wabbit.

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Why not make the table bigger?

Just stick a bit of extra table on the end, problem solved! haha

OK sarcasm is good, why not have a mini robot vacume roam randomly on each side. 2 point penalty if you strike the robot vacume?

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Der_Echte said:

OK sarcasm is good, why not have a mini robot vacume roam randomly on each side. 2 point penalty if you strike the robot vacume?

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Wouldn't put it past the ITTF if it makes it more "entertaining to watch"

Suga D said:

The number of club members in germany has constantly been decreasing since 1989 from 820.000 players to about 600.000 in 2012 and i believe it's even worse today!

http://www.tischtennis-blog.de/archives/208-Der-Mitgliederrueckgang-im-Tischtennis-geht-weiter.html

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Actually a lot of bigger sports in Germany seem to decrease in numbers (apart from football) so it might be more of a general problem.

https://www.dosb.de/fileadmin/share...-9C16-4232BAC7DC73}/Bestandserhebung_2015.pdf

Your point is true though it will only scare off more players

I think the ITTF is completely out of touch at this point.

They keep focus on making rule changes. But it's the age of internet and social media and video quality.

If you want the sport to be attractive, invest into some sort of system that allows quality video broadcasting. People would actually enjoy watching your videos for a change. Also, the typical camera angle completely takes away the degree of dynamics the sport has. When you can't properly determine shot depth, arc of the ball, and distance from the table because of terrible camera angle, of course table tennis isn't attractive. Hell, implement the Chinese league system of multiple balls while you're at it to cut down on time spent picking up the ball. But at this point, if you can't even put out decent quality video and are clueless as to how to even shoot the game, figure that part out before making more and more and more and more and more huge changes to the game.

The ITTF are definitely focusing too much on the rules/equipment. You don't see such massive changes in other sports!

I think a lot of people are making a great point regarding camera angles and video quality. It makes the game much more interesting to watch! I'm not sure if anyone else does this, but when I want to watch a certain match I will always search for a private angle video if possible. If the ITTF started filming at better angles (how hard can that be!) then It will most certainly attract more viewers.

One thing that we cannot take away from the ITTF is their commitment to replays/slow motion shots. These play an integral part in enhancing the viewing experience in my opinion.

Making the live streaming much more available on mobile devices would also help massively, surely they can develop an app for this quite easily, although its probably quite expensive!