38mm speed glue era table tennis

[igorponger]

THICKER SPHERE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

Yes, the plastic ball necessitates yet more physical exertion compared to celluloid products. Only sturdy guys can play the game. This all comes because of a different mass distribution inherent in the balls. Yes, the difference of mass distribution in the hollow spheres is to well acount for this effect. Yes, the sport is all about physics and missile ballistics.
Wanting for a spinny ball? Get the outer shell somewhat thinner. No brainer at all.

 

[NextLevel]

Just saw these on an old youtube channel - lots of other matches there for people who are interested:

 

[PickleRick]

All those videos bring back memories. Although I found it quite enjoyable in that time, table tennis was quite a terrible sport back then. It smelled like chemical glue everywhere. Many experimented with their own glue by adding acetone and other chemicals so that often you could barely breathe.

Not to mention the hidden serves. Being able to play tabletennis decently was hardly a requirement. At the national championships I regularly encountered players who stood with their backs to the table when they served and fired torpedoes at you. There was no way of knowing when they would come and what spin was on the ball. If you did manage to return a ball it was punished with a rocket of a forehand aided by the 5 layers of speed glue. Rallies didn't exist back then.

Although it was quite fun to fire unreturnable forehands with speed glue, I can say that table tennis has become a lot more fun now.

 

[Tyce]

Like smoking, rather than banning it completely it was first decreed you can't glue up inside the building... I bet some people really stank up their cars back then
But the ban was good. Not just the players themselves were huffing it, also the kids in the same dressing rooms.

I'm glad boosters are a lot less nasty

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

Just saw these on an old youtube channel - lots of other matches there for people who are interested:

DiogeTTTube has been a gold mine for content practically ever since I started playing in the early 2010's, I'm amazed that he still puts out high quality content

 

[beeray1]

I had this thought a couple weeks ago and said something in the daily thread. But I wonder how much we could improve the game by simply keeping modern plastic material and going back to 38mm ball size. I really do think it would be a positive across the board.

 

[Tyce]

I had this thought a couple weeks ago and said something in the daily thread. But I wonder how much we could improve the game by simply keeping modern plastic material and going back to 38mm ball size. I really do think it would be a positive across the board.

The celluloid ball was a big factor in spin generation. I don't know for sure, but my feeling is it also deformed less on impact than the current ABS counterparts.
A lot of energy seems to be lost in the material rather than kinetic energy, be it speed or spin.

I'd love to return to celluloid quality balls, whether it's 38 or 40.

What made table tennis absolutely brilliant at the time was speed glue though. The sound, the feeling, the sensation of taking a run of the mill rubber and making it such a powerful weapon...
Booster honestly doesn't do it the same. Soft sponged tensors are for me the closest sensation but they lack the elastic power that came from the VOCs.

Dan made a nice video with Werner Schlager last year

 

[beeray1]

The celluloid ball was a big factor in spin generation. I don't know for sure, but my feeling is it also deformed less on impact than the current ABS counterparts.
A lot of energy seems to be lost in the material rather than kinetic energy, be it speed or spin.

I'd love to return to celluloid quality balls, whether it's 38 or 40.

What made table tennis absolutely brilliant at the time was speed glue though. The sound, the feeling, the sensation of taking a run of the mill rubber and making it such a powerful weapon...
Booster honestly doesn't do it the same. Soft sponged tensors are for me the closest sensation but they lack the elastic power that came from the VOCs.

Dan made a nice video with Werner Schlager last year

Yeah I fully agree about the material making a difference. But 38mm to 40mm there was a direct substantial loss in spin with the same celluloid material. And even though I know the material matters a lot, I think there would still have to be a difference with a 38mm plastic ball compared to a 40+ plastic ball.

I miss celluloid as much as the next person, but the chances of returning to celluloid or speed glue are 0, while I don't think the idea of a smaller ball with plastic has really been considered at all. Not that I think it's ever going to happen, but it was just an appealing thought to me.

 

[olive-nguyen]

If we're on the topic of speed glue, here is another great match of European legends facing off-

Ahh the Gilbert cup.

Some crazy rallies there.

Kim Taek Soo was fire.

Still remember the green butterfly barriers and the stadium from seeing the vids. Quite something

 

[Tyce]

Amazon.com

Apparently they exist, 38mm ABS balls

 

[boretennis]

If we're on the topic of speed glue, here is another great match of European legends facing off-

such a pleasure to revisit games like this again. as much as i get stunned by modern rallys, the speed & sheer power, i find the classic matches with guys like grubba, joo sae hyuk, waldner, etc) much more enjoyable & inspiring and i much prefer the sober & adult overall presentation to the modern overloaded WTT wank fests. also i love how they had to run around and pick up the ball again.

 

[boretennis]

If we're on the topic of speed glue, here is another great match of European legends facing off-

are those the kind of games they wanted to slow down with the bigger ball and now we have shidong and lebrun?