Timo Boll Illegal Serve

[Mr. RicharD]

Lol again with the funny angles. Blame it on the telephoto lenses guys. Sorry but this service is completely legal. It's an optical illusion that from this angle makes it seem like it's in front of the base line. The definition of a line is very unclear in this case because technically the baseline is .75 inches thick when in fact a line has no thickness. But that's besides the point. The definition of the line could be at the point which white meets blue and would therefore give a little leeway to where the ball must start stationary. However from the angle at which he is palming the ball you can clearly see that the angle is from behind the table meaning the camera is a good 20 or even 30 feet away from boll and zoomed in. This is a telephoto effect and what it does is skew distance. 2 inches from a skewed telephoto lens could be anywhere from 2 feet to 2 yards depending on the lens. If you've ever watched a movie and seen the heroes jump out of the way from an exploding building they actually use a lens that makes it look like they're closer to the building than they really are. It may look like 10 feet, but it's actually a good 500 yards.

It's very deceptive. And the number one reason why I hate how they film Table Tennis in general. Although the rally shots of the ETTC were really done well excluding the semis and finals.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Lol again with the funny angles. Blame it on the telephoto lenses guys. Sorry but this service is completely legal. It's an optical illusion that from this angle makes it seem like it's in front of the base line. The definition of a line is very unclear in this case because technically the baseline is .75 inches thick when in fact a line has no thickness. But that's besides the point. The definition of the line could be at the point which white meets blue and would therefore give a little leeway to where the ball must start stationary. However from the angle at which he is palming the ball you can clearly see that the angle is from behind the table meaning the camera is a good 20 or even 30 feet away from boll and zoomed in. This is a telephoto effect and what it does is skew distance. 2 inches from a skewed telephoto lens could be anywhere from 2 feet to 2 yards depending on the lens. If you've ever watched a movie and seen the heroes jump out of the way from an exploding building they actually use a lens that makes it look like they're closer to the building than they really are. It may look like 10 feet, but it's actually a good 500 yards.

It's very deceptive. And the number one reason why I hate how they film Table Tennis in general. Although the rally shots of the ETTC were really done well excluding the semis and finals.

I am not quite sure what you are looking at or talking about. Timo Boll is standing at the side of the table. His whole torso is next to the side of the table. His whole forearm is completely over the table. His hand and the ball are over the table. When you pause it at 45 seconds the only part of his hand that is not over the table is a small part of his pinky and ring fingers. Everything else is over the table. It is not an issue of an inch or inches. It is not an issue of a line in geometry or the thickness of the white line. His hand is over Green Table. And the rule indicates that the ball has to be behind the end line which means behind the back edge of the table.

Again, I personally do not think he is gaining anything from this. I do not think he is using it to gain an unfair advantage. I do not think it would change anything in his serve if he stepped back 5 or 6 inches so that his hand was behind the back edge of the table. So I do not think this should be called by a referee. But from a technical standpoint, the serve is against the rules.

 

[thepongcast]

Yeah, I don't know how this isn't technically illegal. There's no doubt about it. I also don't think he gains much advantage compared to if he moved his hand an inch behind the line, but the rules are the rules. My guess is he prefers doing this because you can measure a very consistent spot to start every serve.

I've noticed quite a few pros do this, but I can't remember off the top of my head because I saw it quite a bit and just assumed it was another one of those 'pros get leeway' situations.

 

[Mr. RicharD]

See that's what you aren't understanding. The table is clearly at an angle. Therefore the cameraman is behind Timo and approximately a good 20 feet away. The way a telephoto lens works is that it magnifies an image to the point where distance is skewed. 2 inches could actually be 2 feet (in an exaggerated sense) Here in this video I believe that the ball and hand are actually behind the end line, but look as if they are above it.

If you pay attention to the table you can see that it is not completely perpendicular from the table therefore the camera must be behind Timo based on the angle. Think of it this way. When you look at the behind the table perspective and we all have arguments on the illegal or legal service of a player we're biased because we do not see the angle from which the opponent can see the ball. So it would be the exact same in this situation because even though it may look as if it's over the endline it could be in fact behind the end line.

Now that isn't to say that it's not possible that his hand could be over the table. But just judging from the lenses and angles I don't think that's the case. I'll try and upload some videos if I can borrow a good zoom lens from some friends to show my point.

Hope this is a bit more clear at where I'm coming from.