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Hey everyone,

Now the new season is fast approaching, table tennis professionals are training with the new plastic ball. TableTennisDaily managed to interview some of the players currently practising with the new ball. Here are the reviews below:

Simon Gauzy (World Ranked: 89)

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My first feelings about the new plastic ball is that it definitely seemed a little bigger than the celluloid ball. I found the ball to be harder which made it easier to play strong. I noticed the less spin when I hit the ball, less than before.

I felt the ball had an effect on my game. My game play is open, but I still think the points will be longer, I could feel it in practice. The good thing about the ball is I can still hit strong. I think their will be other changes but I am not to sure yet.

Finally I think table tennis will now be more physically demanding than ever as the spin is less important than before. Players will have to play with full body in their shots, this will be a big change. I think maybe we will have less problems in the service and receives, and more rallies will be away from the table with topspin to topspin. This is just my opinion about the future of table tennis and the plastic balls, maybe I will be wrong :)


Patrick Franziska (World Ranked: 29)

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The new plastic ball is definitely different to the celluloid ball. With the plastic ball I felt a lot less rotation, and the ball goes more down. The plastic balls I tried was the Butterfly and Tibhar balls. I have played with the balls against defenders and less backspin comes back so I found it easier to play hard. I think with the plastic ball we will get use to it quite fast.


Enzo Angles (World Ranked: 188)

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I tried a prototype plastic ball and the first difference I noticed was the noise. Also I have to play with more physical movements and less spin. For table tennis as a general I think it will be better viewing on TV because the ball is a little bigger, and if they put 2 colours on the ball its even better. We will soon see how players adapt themselves. I don't like the noise so much.


Britt Eerland (World Ranked: 71)

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In the beginning the new ball was weird but now I start to like it, especially during the rally. The new ball is okay, some parts I like and some I don't. I like it during the rally and on the service receive. I had to get used to the new ball it took some time but its getting easier now. The jump is a little higher and a little different to the celluloid.

The plastic ball has little less spin but you can adjust by putting more wrist or more body into the ball. I tried with my racquet higher, and some other variations and its still possible to produce spin. On the receive of serve I was able to strike the ball well as the bounce is a little higher.


Eliza Samara (World Ranked: 20)

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We all know that the new plastic ball is not so good but we have to adapt. The ball I tried was the Xu Shaofa, but now I'm practising with he DHS plastic ball. I think a negative effect of the new ball is that it will effect all styles in their own way. Step by step you get use to it, I have been training with the new ball for 2 weeks now.

Spectators will want to see more rallies, I think the rallies will be longer. You have to work much more to stay in the point, more physical is needed.

I feel the ball is 70% less spinnier than the celluloid ball. The ball stays on the table longer on service and can be easier to receive.

I have trained against defence with the ball and i think defenders may have some problems as they cannot deceive the spin enough. The defender i played with could not get much backspin.

We will add more professional player reviews over time. You can watch TableTennisDaily's review of the new STIGA plastic ball here.
 
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Pretty much the top players are saying the same thing that people on the forums are saying.
 
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Pretty much the top players are saying the same thing that people on the forums are saying.

That makes us all professionals too I would say :)

I still remember the first time I used it, around March or April 2013, I really struggled to get some good spin in a FH to FH topspin rally.
Seems like since then, only quality of the ball has increase, but there is still a different. I would say different is not because of material, but more because of the new size of the ball.
Maybe 2/3 size and 1/3 material cause it to be "different" to the celluballs.

Now ready to watch the show and see how ITTF/Professional use 2 balls in club tournaments/world tours. Its going to be a complete mess imo, and China will certainly capitalise on this (unlike Paris 2003)
 
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I noticed that the first time (tiredness), but not since then. The main thing I notice after many hours with these balls is the low and sometimes erratic bounce, that bothers me the most. The speed and spin I can deal with pretty quickly. But the low bounce has a weird effect on many ball trajectories. Also balls breaking.
 
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70% less spin is too much. career over for players who rely on the spin of the ball perhaps?

IMO 70% is too much, its more around 30% or so. I wonder if there is translation/language error

But talking about careers over - must people will be, comeon, these are pros. But we can look back at how many world champions careers was over (or heavily affected by it) upon rule changes... LGL, Ma Lin etc

IMO CNT has prepared a lot better this time round. Entire B team has been using these new balls for nearly a year now. Those guys are the future too.
Some A team players has retired, and some will be disappearing soon. So more youth will be pump into the A team, while the current senior players have been top 3 in the world for some time, and holders of world titles.

What makes CNT special is that there is a team of people preparing for this ball change, and its not just the player and coach themselves.
This alone will make it difficult for the other countries to adapt better than CNT.
So I'm also thinking - which non Chinese careers will be over too? Timo Boll is the first that comes to mind
 
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This is why any attempt to use rules changes to change Chinese dominance only increases their dominance. If this was part of the inner reason for changing the rule, it was doomed to fail. Also, I agree no way 70% less spin. Probably meant 70% of the spin.
 
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Three words to describe this ball: slow, low, straight. I really don't have much fun playing with them.
 
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Make the C-ball illegal

Three words to describe this ball: slow, low, straight. I really don't have much fun playing with them.

I was thinking that that would not be a problem as the C-ball would still be around if I need a refresh. But then again, all the ITTF will do is increase the tolerance on the C-ball to min 40mm. As the C-ball is 39.5mm on average, then in a stroke the C-ball becomes illegal without an AGM vote.
Brilliant!
 
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I am only a recreational player but having tried the balls I would say they are no more than 30% less spiny. I am a total F/H topspin player and I think I will still be able to play my game. It may even help my game as defenders will not be able to put as much backspin on the ball and the ball seems to bounce higher making it easier to lift.

I think we will be in for longer and more attacking rallies but this can only add to the enjoyment and excitement.
 
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I am old enough to have spanned both ball size changes (indeed I played more of my life with 38 mm than anything else). For some reason I don't understand I never really minded the switch to 40 mm, I adapted to it very quickly and never really looked back. In fact in a lot ways it helped me. But the new polyballs I have played with for the last couple of weeks I am finding much more difficult to accommodate. Actually, the more I play with them the less I like them. I think it relates to the strange bounce, not so much the size. I don't know if anyone else who has had both experiences of switching can comment on this.
 
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IMO 70% is too much, its more around 30% or so. I wonder if there is translation/language error

But talking about careers over - must people will be, comeon, these are pros. But we can look back at how many world champions careers was over (or heavily affected by it) upon rule changes... LGL, Ma Lin etc

IMO CNT has prepared a lot better this time round. Entire B team has been using these new balls for nearly a year now. Those guys are the future too.
Some A team players has retired, and some will be disappearing soon. So more youth will be pump into the A team, while the current senior players have been top 3 in the world for some time, and holders of world titles.

What makes CNT special is that there is a team of people preparing for this ball change, and its not just the player and coach themselves.
This alone will make it difficult for the other countries to adapt better than CNT.
So I'm also thinking - which non Chinese careers will be over too? Timo Boll is the first that comes to mind
Timo is also the first one that comes to my mind, He is still a great player but I think he is slowly dropping out of the elite group or the chinese players already knows him too well? either way, I think that the 30% less spin would affect him more than it will affect other players.
 
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i dont think timo will have the time to adapt 100% to the new ball.
Reason being his age is against him.
He reached his peak in the early 2000s,and though he is a great player,his time is nearing an end.
I believe that the biggest rival to china will be dima and mizutani-they are still in their prime and are still getting better every year.
 
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