Plastic Ball reviews from professionals

[Tinykin]

It just flashed in my head so I maybe wrong. Tim is the only player to have reached world elite (top 20?) in the 21 game/Speed-glue/hidden serve/38mm era, yet he's still there fighting. As an elite player, he has seen more major changes than anyone else. I think.

 

[mahomedy13]

samsonov was there too

 

[Tinykin]

samsonov was there too

Very true, long before Boll, too.

 

[Hucks]

I would have thought that the ball being less spiny and maybe slightly slower (I thought it was supposed to be slower as the ball is slightly bigger) that this would help older players. Guess time will tell.

 

[Tinykin]

I personally think it will simply help better players separate themselves from the masses.
Think about it, with less spin and speed what are you going to bring to the party to surprise a better player? out push him? unlikely. Out hit him? very unlikely. Fancy serves? hah!

 

[Dan]

I personally think it will simply help better players separate themselves from the masses.
Think about it, with less spin and speed what are you going to bring to the party to surprise a better player? out push him? unlikely. Out hit him? very unlikely. Fancy serves? hah!

This is a good point @Tinykin Another thing what a lot of pro's are saying about the ball currently is that it will make the game more physically demanding. I think it could cause a lot of injuries in the long run if physical attributes will have a bigger impact on the game.

I remember Jean Michel Saive said in an interview once that he was injured just after the speed glue ban due to the game slowing down. But it seems he has adapted.

It will be interesting in five years time to look back at all the quotes from various members here on TTD to see who predicted things right etc hehe. Lets hope the change won't be to much.

Having less spin/speed may also help weaker players to improve quicker also... but still i'm unsure..

 

[TableTennisDaily]

Liam Pitchford is currently training with the new balls and told TableTennisDaily his thoughts, "I've found that there is a bit less spin, not a major difference though. Also been finding that the bounce is a bit truer than the old ball so could work out to be more rallies as the ball is sitting up a little bit. Had a few broken ones but I think the quality will get better in the next few months!"

 

[malizator]

I don't like that ITTF does everything to make the game look more clearly for laymen. At first banning pimples, then new material balls. These balls are completely without spin. Spin is the most important aspect in table tennis!

The worst thing is that we can't do anything. ITTF could decide to make balls twice bigger and we would have to use them or stop playing table tennis