TT Ball change after 2012 Olympics!

[UpSideDownCarl]

I doubt this is to make money for the equipment companies. I don't know that junking old equipment, designing new equipment for the making of the new ball, hoping to sell out of the old product while producing the new, none of it sounds like it would really benefit the companies. And people who have the old balls will probably use them until they are gone. I guess, the only thing is that we can hope that the new ball is as good or better than the old ball. My guess is that when they switched from cork to celluloid there was an improvement in play. Hopefully they are not doing this to make a ball that is worse.

I guess the thing that gets people up in arms is the fact that the new product is, as of now, an unknown variable. Will it be slower, will it be faster, will it play significantly differently, will it be more durable, will it break more easily? We won't know the answers to any of these questions until we get to try the new ones. I do still like the 38mm ball but the 40mm ball is fine. Hopefully the change will be less of a difference than that, or a noted improvement.

However, until we try them, we will not know, and the gloom and doom speak is really just an understandable fear of the unknown but it is probably not based on the reality of the situation.

 

[ttmonster]

Agree with you Carl on the part "fear of the unknown " . Also having been a student of Statistics and looking at the press release the new conformation parameters look like nothing more than a more precise description of the "tolerance limit" . Infact , just calling it 40 mm today does not mean that it does not have variability in size. Just that we are not able to make it out with our sense.If prices go high and the overall $/no of hits does not change or if it changes and makes up for the quality of the ball it is all good. However , the reason I put some dirt on the "motive" is because I love table tennis and believe it should be a more popular game than it is today. Normally a game becomes more democratic once you reduce the base price of the equipment else it will stay "elite" , the case in point being "tennis" ... ( think of less richer coutries than US ) . Soccer is the most popular because 1. it is cheap and 2. the quality of television coverage is good . I believe ITTF has a lot left to do in this regard yet , and has displayed a consistent lack of will .
Recent example , reflex media taking down highlight videos in youtube and the live transmission left a lot to be desired in terms of no. of camera and camera angles.
So my point is ... instead of focussing on the equipment , try to make the sport more "view-er friendly" , popular and rewarding for the players. The rest will follow suite .

 

[olvarox]

I've heard rumours the tables at the Olympics will get modified by 2cm in lenghth and 1 cm width. The net heighth will supposedly increase by 0.4-0.6 cm

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[azlan]

its a shame !!! ITTF just needs to concentrate on making the game more popular than how to make manufactures richer !

I totally agree with TTmonster, I'm a strong advocate in making TT more accessible, friendly and affordable. Fiddling with the rules just ain't gonna cut it.

 

[scylla24]

Does the change actually affect how the ball bounces and gameplay? Or is it just changing the material without changing the physics of the ball and game?

 

[azlan]

Does the change actually affect how the ball bounces and gameplay? Or is it just changing the material without changing the physics of the ball and game?

I certainly think so. Just look at football, years ago we use to have footballs that are stitched between the seams, but now its all seamless. You can see how much the ball moves in the air. Now that TT balls are gonna be seamless too, time will only tell when the TT players figure out how to hit the TT balls to make it move unpredictably through the air.
Also with the increase in size (I've mentioned months earlier) no matter how minuscule it is, the spin will be lesser.

 

[YosuaYosan]

Changing the ball without changing the physics of the game is very hard to achieve.

 

[Bollforte94]

azlan is talking about "knuckle balls" in football but spin fortify the trajectory. as long as you are able to produce spin with the ball there will be no ball which moves in the air unpredictable

 

[YosuaYosan]

Haha unless football players have long pimpled shoes
Eh.. I think the sole of a football shoes is long pimpled, maybe people could make a wobble ball from kicking the ball with the sole of their shoes !

 

[YosuaYosan]

If you look, the ball actually makes a strange flight path.
I assume that is a knuckle ball..

 

[azlan]

Excellent video buddy.. basically it shows the opposite of spin comes back to you after hitting the pimple rubber. Knuckle ball is actually a no-spin ball. Well said Bollforte..I was implying on the no spin ball, and most probably players playing with long pips will have greater advantage.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

So my point is ... instead of focussing on the equipment , try to make the sport more "view-er friendly" , popular and rewarding for the players. The rest will follow suite .

I agree with this 100%.

 

[YosuaYosan]

Yeah, its actually an almost-perfect spin reverse..
However dont you think its able to kill the spin on the ball nearly 100% using long pips with the right technique to produce knuckle balls ?
It happened sometimes to me. I 'punch' through the ball to kill the spin and suddenly the ball gone wild and awry

 

[YosuaYosan]

Heard the ball's friction is even worst against air, making the game not only slower but having LESS SPIN 0_0
Bad news for defenders Good news for hitters..

 

[YosuaYosan]

The good news for all is that the ball will be more durable and for the companies it is more safe to produce..

 

[Rhydian]

Well, ITTF should think about how making table tennis more popular in Europe and America... They won't get to that result just by changing the ball and so on..
I hope that it will still be able to put a lot of spin in the ball and that the defenders will have a little bit more advantage and not the hitters... I don't like hitters... The game isn't spectacular...
I hope for the best!!

 

[Stian]

Why do they need to change balls? i dont se the point in it, if the balls will be bigger everyone will lose their feeling

 

[Bollforte94]

So to clean all rumours!:
Ittf didn't change to make table tennis more media friendly, to stop the chinese dominance or to make manufactures richer ........
There will be a celluloid ban in several countrys ans so they have to change the material of the ball
chinese professional players already tested the new ball and they were content.
in some countrys it can happen that the players play with the old ball and with the new ball at the same tim because the difference between the old and new one is so small

 

[YosuaYosan]

Will never know until we try it ourselves but thanks for the clarification BollForte
I think the reason of the material change is only about safety and durability..

 

[Rhydian]

I think so too YosuaYosan. And maybe it's cheaper for them, who knows
Thanks for the explanation BollForte94
When does the ball come out in Europe? (After the Olympics?)
And why are the Chinese the first to practice with the new ball? ^^ Are they the testers? And if they can't play well with the ball then the ball is rubbish or what?