OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I wish Adham and his supporters would concentrate on doing things to get people actually playing table tennis - not watching it.


I think you know why Debater, TV rights for one. It usually has something to do with $$$.

I do not see any serious sign of them being obsessed with making it a spectator sport.

The first thing would be a good presentation on the screen, but the camera angles has been bad. Sharara refused to change it.

The well known equipment rules changes can not make it "a spectator sport" even on the theoretical level. Actually, with "slower" equipment the game would be played closer to the table thus possibly becoming even faster.

I do not see any reason for those changes other than squeezing more money out of players worldwide. The recent "celluloid ban" lie fits the pattern. There were other claims before, like "shaved blades" or "people asking for authorisation of shoes".

So, who is obsessed with what really?

You're entitled to your opinion. But just because you don't see doesn't mean it's wrong.

I don't like what the ITTF is doing to a sport I play but as far as who is obsessed with what really - I won't even go there with you "smartguy". Signing out of this thread.

ps if you think celluloid is a big deal for table tennis - have a read of this on the Fountain Pen Network Forum http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum ... celluloid/
Some intersting information on it about celluloid and different countries attitudes to it's use.

Apologises smartguy, somehow I seem to have edited your post.

Moderators please reinsert smartguys post in full if you can - what you see is only part of it.

Smartguy, Debater, from what I can read here: you guys are on the same side? Why are you fighting each other?

Well, this thread seems to have killed any chance of Adham replying again. While I agree with the criticisms of the new balls, and that Adham's replies are lacking; the tone of comments were unnecessarily harsh. The fact that he's doing an answer thread goes beyond what most leaders of international organizations would do, so we should try to at least try to maintain a respective tone so he'll be more inclined to keep doing these posts.

I don't know how well these new balls are going to function, and it doesn't look like anyone else, including Adham, know for sure. So my question is, why aren't the change to these new balls more transparent? I think there ought to be a longer transition period between using celluloid balls and these new plastic ones because these new balls are basically of unknown quality. The new balls aren't widely available right now so why not transition off of celluloid balls more slowly until the community can give feedback on them. For example, wait until after the 2016 Olympics, to switch for sanctioned ITTF events. I'm worried that the switch in material is going to drastically alter the sport way more that the size change from 38mm to 40mm did; causing a crisis due to the sudden shift.

_________________
I want to try Galaxy Moon next!
Shakehand: Blade: Galaxy T-11+, Forehand: Red Palio CJ8000, Backhand: Black LKT XP Pro
Penhold: Blade: Yuguan??, Forehand: Red 729 802 Mystery, Backhand: Black 729 Cream Transcend

Very true, and we try hard to keep it this way, but as you can see throughout the 3 threads, it's not easy.


Yes I agree completely, we need more time.
The trouble is though that the ITTF has already informed the manufacturers that they will change to the new balls, and the date on which this will occur. I believe the manufacturers have already stopped making the celluloid balls, so by the time the new balls come in, we'll probably have no choice but to change over, whether they're any good or not!

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Latest info from Larry Hodges on a new Japanese version of the plastic ball (from his blog on tabletenniscoaching.com, April 3, 2013)

ITTF Coach John Olsen was able to try them out this past week. Below is his report, and here's the picture he took of the "new" plastic ball, where you can see the seam (for link to picture go to above mentioned blog on site)

I recently attending the March 2013 Stellan and Angie Bengtsson training camp at the Willamette Table Tennis Club in Salem, Oregon. The subject of the new plastic balls came up, and Stellan had a surprise for us. Not only did he have one of the plastic balls passed out at the 2012 Worlds, there was also a new one he had received from Japan just a couple of months ago.

First up was the "old" plastic ball. The first thing you notice is that this ball is seamless. There were no markings on it, but Stellan said it had come from DHS. As others have described, the sound it makes when it bounces was just awful, like it was badly cracked. The surface was very smooth, similar to how a Nittaku will get after much playing. Stellan couldn't remember if it was just worn or had always been that way. The ball was also fractionally larger than the current balls, what we play with now is just under 40 mm and Stellan said these plastic balls are slightly over 40mm. We didn't have any way to measure them accurately, but if you held a regular and a plastic ball in your hand, you could see a small difference in size. Hitting with the seamless ball felt like playing at high altitude, spin had significantly less effect on bringing it down. I couldn't tell if it was the size difference, the lack of texture or some other factor like weight that was causing the lack of spin effect. It also felt slower, but this could just be a subjective opinion on my part. One surprise was that, even with the terrible sound, it did bounce higher. We did some side-by-side drop tests, and the "old" seamless ball had a significantly higher bounce than a regular ball. I can't comment on how fragile it was, I mostly hit medium speed loops against a block.

The "new" plastic ball has a seam! There were no markings on this ball either, and Stellan did not know which company in Japan had manufactured it. Both plastic balls appeared to be the same size. The "new" one had a much more normal texture on the surface and sounded similar to a normal ball. The new plastic ball played closer to a celluloid ball than the seamless did, but still seemed to have less spin and felt a little slower. We didn't do a bounce test, but I didn't notice anything unusual when I was hitting, unlike with the seamless ball.

Se(a)ms like thing are improving a bit.....

_________________
All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
sun tzu

That sounds a little more promising, thanks hopper!

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

I totally agree with you: It's ok to be critical, but let us please maintain a respectful tone when directly communicating with Sharara.

_________________
Exclusive OOAK-Interview with Joo Saehyuk | Masato Shiono | Panagiotis Gionis

Or he could ask himself why some people aren't respectful anymore towards him and in extension towards the ITTF. A good leader would do that and try to answer those people, even if they are disrespectful. A good leader would try to win them over.

Although I'd rather criticize him with a sense of humor and sarcasm (which is still respectful), I understand why people are upset, even angry. It's up to him to stand up to those he harmed the most with the rule changes and to give a rationale of why he did it. Respect is something you earn and not something you get as a bonus of a certain status. It's up to him. He's still welcome here and we love to hear him explain his actions, but no more lies, hidden messages or non-answers to our questions.

Igorponger, all I can say is if the ball moves too fast and with too much spin for you, learn to play better. Stop proposing idiocies.

_________________
Butterfly Viscaria Black tag
2.2 mm Nexy Karis M on FH and BH

Somebody make a great point on myTT. If the ITTF is so concerned about the spectator viewing, why is the video quality on the itTV webcasts so subpar? I also might add, why can't itTV videos be delivered in a format that's compatible with iPads and iPhones? Not being critical. I love itTV and want to make it better.

Adham, if you're still monitoring this thread, can we get your take on this?

_________________



The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics

Indeed he is, and here is his response:

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Hi Adham, I wanted to wish a happy holiday to you and everyone at the ITTF.

Also I have a question. The latest version of the T-9 document has omitted the following section:


Just curious why this section was removed. Is this no longer part of standard racket testing procedures?

_________________



The MNNB Blog has had some pretty amazing stuff lately. Just click this text to check it out. | My OOAK Interview
Table Tennis Video Links: itTV | laola1.tv | ttbl | fftt | Challenger Series | mnnb-tv

My whole set-up costs less than a sheet of Butterfly Dignics