OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I'm curious as to how many folks here played (as I did) with long pips/anti under the old rule when black/black rubbers were allowed on a combination bat, and what adjustments they made to their game once the rule came in about red/black rubbers being mandatory.

By way of background, I came back to TT after a long (30 year) break last year, and the first thing I noticed was that the 'new' red/black rule had completely changed the options available for LP/anti players. In the old days, for instance, you could get a lot of free points by twiddling on the serve, then following up with a 3rd ball attack, as it was much harder for opponents to detect the twiddle than it is now. With hindsight now, I can see that the old black/black rule made me a bit lazy as a player - you would win a lot of points by deception, and, for me at least, that caused me to neglect more fundamental techniques.

I'm still uncertain as to whether LP play is as viable as it once was with the red/black rule - especially if you don't chop as most of the current users of LP seem to these days. It seems that all the old combination bat attackers (like England's John Hilton, or NSW Gary Haberle) seem to have largely disappeared - is this correct? What adjustments were made/have to be made to use combination attacking these days?

Probably not many players would have experienced those days. I'm sure it would have made deception easier, although players were probably more focussed on it as well, having to listen to the sound of the ball onto the bat, and watch the ball on the table to determine the spin, would that be right?

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Yes it was a long time ago

re detecting deception, a footstamp covered the noise, especially on serve. Using sponged LPs also minimised the noise difference to inverted. Watching off the table is always possible, of course, but fast, deep shots make this harder (slow, short shots are/were easier to spot).

From what I can see, at a reasonable level of play it is now much more difficult to win points on pure deception, which is why I guess almost all the LP/anti players are defenders now. (although I saw a young German woman play with anti close to the table - interesting game)

PS I think the red/black rule was/is a good one, even though it means I can't play the way I once did :-/

Footstamping on serve was outlawed at the same time as the red/black came in, 1983 if memory serves. There was also a crackdown on timewasting between points and serving with your back to the table, all four rules directed subtly or unsubtly at the likes of Cai Zhenhua, whose career never recovered (although his post-playing career certainly did).
Your 'young German girl' was probably Amelie Solja, now playing for Austria as the Germans had no place for her style in the modern era. Her sister Petrissa fits their bill much more.

Footstamping was outlawed? I know a lot think its disrespectful but I don't recall a rule against it. Persoonally I value my knees too much but many people still footstomp. I'd love to know which rule rules it out to be able to quote it.

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John Hilton too I believe suffered a similar fate.

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Have a look here - http://www.ittf.com/museum/ColinEvolution.pdf

Scroll down to '1983', and read the boxes. Also you can see that the red/black rule came in in 1985 after a couple of years of the vague 'racket must be different colours each side'.

I did. And I did just as you describe above. Wasn't very good at it, though..

The biggest loser of the two color rule was probably Cai Zhenhua.

Anyone else remember Phantom 009? Talk about lack of control...

Iskandar

Though I was rated at sub-1000 in the early 80's I was campaigning a Hunter 7-ply blade with black Friendship inverted on FH, and black Butterfly Anti on BH. I arrived at this setup by cloning a top player's bat from my college recreation center where I did most of my playing in those days. Black electrical tape was my edge tape to make twiddles harder to detect. A notch filed in the thumb rest on the FH side let me know which side was which without looking. Utterly despicable..

Hilton won a European Open out of nowhere around 1980 or so, beating some of the top players, such as Gergely, in the process. The story I heard around that time was, once the different color rule was first suggested, many players at the tour event at the time were playfully teasing him "Nice knowing you, John!" as they knew he would struggle under the new rule.

Actually, by coincidence, there was a similar controversy in tennis around that time, with 'spaghetti strings', a form of stringing which enabled otherwise mediocre players to beat top players. The ITF moved quickly to ban it, however. It must be a tough call for administrators as to what constitutes legitimate innovation in equipment, and what undermines the sport

http://www.tennis.com/gear/2013/02/ques ... Uk7cpNcxRs

Ah, yes - thanks for the correction. It's confusing having sisters playing for different countries!

Yup.. the old spaghetti racket. Several rows of strings run through some latex tubing. Can't remember who he was playing against, but Ilie Nastase was playing with one and his opponent just sat down on the court in protest. For an hour. The balls were kicking forward like they would with a loop drive. Actually got a page in Time Magazine or Newsweek at the time.

Iskandar

Our forum conducted an interview with Amelie Solja, which you can read here: viewtopic.php?f=56&t=13722&p=148333

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Love it!

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Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Interesting interview - thanks. What I found most interesting is that she said she was using inverted on her forehand, yet her forehand is also very unconventional. Perhaps she got the stroke form from her use of medium pips, and was unable to adjust later.

I can't help but think her game would be stronger if she had a more conventional forehand e.g. had the option to spin as well as counterhit. In the short footages of her I have seen, I haven't seen her play many forehand loops.

Sorry to speak up for clueless officials , and acknowledging the substantial achievements of Amelie, but perhaps the German coaches were right to assess her game as having limited potential, due to its unconventionality on both wings. If you look at how Amelie's rating has developed since 2009 compared to that of her sister, Amelie has stagnated relatively speaking. Of course, what she would have done with the same coaching/etc as her sister is something of an unknown.