OOAK Table Tennis Forum

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"So long, and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this" Sung by the dolphins in The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

Even if a defensive player never won a world championship for the next 50 years, there's no question in my mind that a variety of styles being represented at the top levels of the game is a boon for table tennis and ultimately makes the game more entertaining, and it's short-sighted to change rules to make such styles more difficult to play. Who can argue with the fact that, for example, an offensive player vs. a chopper makes for incredibly entertaining television? Perhaps an offensive player vs. a close-to-the-table-blocker isn't as dramatic, but that's only when you don't understand what's going on, and it's really not that hard to learn. Ultimately, also, if the ITTF is worried about the entertainment value of the game in terms of how it comes across on t.v. (in those countries where it's actually televised), what they need is intelligent commentary and slow-motion replays, just like other sports have.

For instance, in baseball, most of us would have no idea what kind of pitch was just thrown and why the batter missed it if we didn't have the commentators telling us that was a four-seam fastball (whatever that means) or a sinker or knuckleball and showing it to us in slow motion and explaining how it tails away from the batter or whatever. And we still often don't REALLY understand the physics of what's going on, but if the commentators didn't explain these things and show the pitch to us in slow motion, the game would seem a lot more one-dimensional, coming down to a question of whether the batter hit the ball or not. Without such commentary or a lot of training, we wouldn't understand what's going on because it's just too fast for us. Now, if baseball authorities took the ITTF's approach, they'd just ban all pitches other than fastballs, but of course, they haven't done anything like that.

As in baseball, if you didn't understand how frictionless long pips work, all you'd see is one player running around looping the ball and the other player catching it right off the bounce and controlling those loops exquisitely and sending the ball back low at uncomfortable angles, which isn't boring by any stretch. But if you add intelligent commentary and replay points and zoom in to show the ball's rotation, etc., then viewers could gradually get the hang of it. It's the job of commentators to educate the viewing public over time rather than having the powers-that-be take the approach of dumbing down their sport and making it one-dimensional to make it easier for casual viewers to understand what's going on.

Along similar lines, the argument that kids get turned off from the sport because of the presence of frictionless long pips is like saying that kids get turned off from baseball because of the presence of pitches other than fastballs. Kids start out at a point where they have a lot to learn, and intelligence, touch and experience can often defeat pure athleticism. This isn't a fact unique to table tennis.

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I. Re-Impact Tachi Plus 2019; FH: Nittaku FastArc G-1 1.4mm; BH: Saviga 77 Monster OX
II. Re-Impact Turbo; FH: Spinlord Sandwind 1.5mm; BH: DMS Kamikaze OX
III. Re-Impact Smart; FH: TSP Spinpips RED 2.1mm; BH: Dr. Neubauer Gangster OX
IV. Sauer & Troger Firestarter; FH: Spinlord Waran 1.8mm; BH: Giant Dragon Snowflake OX

Well as TTman has said, claiming long pimples cause young players to stop playing is just down right silly.

By the way, if FLP was so great and would/could/might have already made players world champions why weren't they good enough to even be in the pro tours before the FLP ban?

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Personally I always feel a world top-20 FLPs player would be a real treat to watch, like a modern 21st Century super-charged Lo Cheun Tsung...

RR, my chosen Asian language is Korean, (not Chinese, sorry) and I have not been around this sport but for a few years. Help me by explaining his distinguishing characteristics and contributions to the game. I'm not asking in a sarcastic way, just asking, serious. Although I am 2x attacker style, I am as pissed off as the next guy at the extinguishing of different styles, even if they gave me trouble, as that only served to make me better at the game. I would like to know your historical perspective and it is obvious you have been around the game over a decade.

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter

Also see: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=8454

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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

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Wow, great vid, thanks for posting MNNB, the rally starting at 1-27sec was stunning and Lo's winner was awesome!

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Think, before you drink, before you write!

Nice how Adam ignored the 3 ton elephant in the room-the ****poor showing of the USTTA and the total failure of the ITTF to market table tennis in North America. A nation that has tremendous financial resources, tremendous media resources (Hell-you can't find table tennis on ESPN!), a huge populace-care to address that one champ? Didnt think so!

(not that I'm bitter or anything...)

Ian

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I was at Korea Open finals last year and saw LIVE the final Men's Singles between Joo S H and Samsinov. Every time Joo choped back a blast from Samsinov, the crowd OOHed, then went crazy when Joo went on Offensive. crowd went bonkers WAY more than they did between Boll vs RSM, who are near the top of the list of OFF powerhouse players. Modern defensive play is clearly enjoyable to watch and appreciate. WTF do ITTF try to find ways to mess this up?

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Goof-off chopping bat
Gambler All Rosewood
Aurus Soft / Gambler GXL .6 sponge

Status - Out of Business Janitor/Babysitter