Computer simulation of table tennis ball trajectories for studies of the influence of ball size and net height
https://www.researchgate.net/public..._of_the_influence_of_ball_size_and_net_height
"[...] The question is if a possible gain in attractivity of table tennis for TV by such changes is worth the loss of key elements of existing table tennis."
(simulated increases of the net height were 1 cm and 3 cm)
Thank you for the link ttarc, I had a chance to read it one more time and more carefully this time probably. One thing, the paper is 2013, so 40+ balls are not considered. It basically analyzes number of successful trajectories, based on the space of initial conditions. Two quotes from me:
1. "[...] Modifications in technique, tactics, strength and fitness are not considered in this analysis." [1].
So who knows how the game would look like exactly after those changes. I.e. tactics might change.
2. "The number of successful trajectories from half distance is nearly constant for all balls and net heights. Only for distances below one meter the number of successful strokes decreases continuously," [1].
So this could be good for rallying as strokes from far away would not be affected and those "below one meter" from the edge of the table wouldn't be as lethal ...
They consider only 1 and 3 cm increase, no 2 cm for that matter.
I think for amateurs raising net would be fun change but pros are so good that if pace slows down with current ball there could be a danger to turn a game into long boring rallies where no one can finish a point?
That's why we need experiments and variety and introduce only small changes at a time.
We do get more and longer rallies now. They are a bit more bland — win some, lose some.
I don’t think I’d care to stray much further in that direction. Being old, I’m one of the beneficiaries of the 40+ change, and grudgingly acknowledge it. No more, though. Please.
Well, yeah I don't know about the rallies. They seem quite enjoyable today ...
I understand the resilience against the constant change, But I'm not suggesting it (in some sense). What I'm saying is to introduce more variety into the game. Current version would still be a main stream, but having i.e. few tournaments with different setups would allow to observe new things. If they do not work out fine, but if they do, then we have a working proof they can be safely incorporated into the game, if we want to.
[1] https://www.researchgate.net/public..._of_the_influence_of_ball_size_and_net_height ["Computer simulations of table tennis ball trajectories for studies of the influence of ball size and net height." Ralf Schneider1, Oleksandr Kalentev1, Tatyana Ivanovska2 & Stefan Kemnitz3 1Institute of Physics, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald 2Institute of Community Medicine, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald 3Faculty of Informatics and Electrical Engineering, University Rostock}