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| Boll about ball https://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=29316 |
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| Author: | Pipsy [ 03 Feb 2016, 22:29 ] |
| Post subject: | Boll about ball |
Recently, an interview with Timo Boll has been published in the German paper "Der Spiegel": http://www.spiegel.de/sport/sonst/tischtennis-timo-boll-wirft-der-konkurrenz-manipulation-vor-a-1074917.html About the plastic ball: "The quality of the game suffers from it, because the players are feeling insecure. The rallies have gotten worse and with less spin". The 34-year-old Boll, and also Ovtcharov, don't understand the patience of ITTF with the producers: "Nothing happened for months, and we are told each time it is impossible to do better than this. I don't understand why ITTF doesn't act, when they are receiving low quality products for their money. The associations should provide the best balls at their events and not the ones with the highest license fee. The players would be happy about that" He also mentions that 80% of the pro's treat their rubbers with chemicals to increase catapult effect. He suggests severe controls (rubbers should be analyzed by a lab) but ITTF thinks this is unrealistic. |
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| Author: | haggisv [ 04 Feb 2016, 11:04 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Boll about ball |
Thanks Pipsy!  Pipsy wrote: He also mentions that 80% of the pro's treat their rubbers with chemicals to increase catapult effect. I wonder if the plastic ball introduction has increased this number, as people try and find new ways to compensate for the shortcoming of the balls? |
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| Author: | Cobalt [ 04 Feb 2016, 12:20 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Boll about ball |
Cycling got a bad name due to drug cheats. Can't see much difference if 80% are using chemicals illegally. Cheating is cheating........isn't it ? Or if everyone is doing it then maybe its ok? |
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| Author: | haggisv [ 04 Feb 2016, 13:00 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Boll about ball |
Cobalt wrote: Cycling got a bad name due to drug cheats. Can't see much difference if 80% are using chemicals illegally. Cheating is cheating........isn't it ? Or if everyone is doing it then maybe its ok? Personally I think there is a BIG difference. Putting drugs into your body is definitely cheating and unethical which is obvious to everyone. Using chemical to modify your equipment, something that poses no health issue and which the manufacturer can do perfectly legally for sponsored players or those that can afford it, can be seen as leveling the playing field. Modifying your equipment is only cheating because the ITTF says it's cheating, even though they allowed it for decades (speedgluing), and still allow it (tuning) when it's done by the manufacturer. This does not mean I do it, encourage or endorse it... but I just don't think it can be compared to doping. |
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| Author: | Cobalt [ 04 Feb 2016, 20:38 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Boll about ball |
Its certainly a very interesting topic and I'm sure there are many varied views. I've gone over this post a few times as to make sure that I'm not appearing to start an argument and my wording doesn't appear aggressive as I'm not really that fussed about it. Sorry if it doesn't appear the case.  I do however find it a little odd that 80% of players are breaking a rule set by the governing body and nothing is being done. Whether or not the rule is fair or makes sense I think is a separate issue. I wonder if 99% of players were conforming and there was only perhaps Ma Long or the entire Chinese team boosting, whether it would be different, though perhaps even moreso it would be ignored. A better example might be if only the German team were boosting. If 80% of players are boosting, then either change the rule or enforce it. Allowing it to continue just encourages further breaches and a lack of respect for the rules. Without rules there is chaos and I find it quite disturbing that firstly Professional athletes are blatantly breaking the rules but also it is a worry the governing body is not enforcing it. Although boosting and doping might appear miles apart, I'm sure that the first cases of doping weren't full blood transfusions, just a 'little' pill. I'm convinced that in cycling at the time Lance was winning, that most of the peleton were doping and he just did it better than everyone else, and on top of that probably worked harder and was a better cyclist. I've probably watched nearly every stage of the Tour de France for the last 12-15 years. I'm actually not a Lance Armstrong fan and never have been but despite all that has come out I'm still prepared to say he was the best of his era, albeit a drug fuelled era. I'm really happy that he has been brought to account but at the same time find it a little unfair that many others have probably got away with it because they weren't as successful. In the paper today was the case of a female cricketer who put a bet on a men's cricket match between Australia and NZ. Her bet was $15.50 and she is now banned from cricket for 6 months. Is this particular case any worse then pro players boosting? A decent female cricketer being rubbed out for having a friendly bet on the men? Not sure it is but can see the importance of not allowing gambling to protect the integrity of the sport. Just look at what is happening with tennis right now. And once again, she broke the rules and was punished. Fair enough. Doping, gambling and boosting are perhaps miles apart in the severity of rule breaches however there is still a common theme of breaking the rules of the governing body which I believe should not be allowed to happen. It should be a serious issue though maybe the real issue is more a lack of enforcement of the rules......and why? |
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| Author: | mynamenotbob [ 04 Feb 2016, 21:06 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Boll about ball |
Something even more troubling Boll brings up is the ITTF selling out the sport and using inferior balls purely for greed. Also the 80% of players boosting comes from another ITTF money grab when they banned independent boosting, but still allowed manufacturers to custom boost rubbers for elite players. The 80% is more like evening the playing field. The ITTF should ban ALL boosting or allow it. No loopholes or half-measures. |
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| Author: | Cobalt [ 04 Feb 2016, 22:02 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Boll about ball |
mynamenotbob wrote: Something even more troubling Boll brings up is the ITTF selling out the sport and using inferior balls purely for greed. Also the 80% of players boosting comes from another ITTF money grab when they banned independent boosting, but still allowed manufacturers to custom boost rubbers for elite players. The 80% is more like evening the playing field. The ITTF should ban ALL boosting or allow it. No loopholes or half-measures. Agree. Annoys me when positions of power are too soft to make a tough decision. Like at the Australian Open tennis last year with 4 days over 42 degrees and up to about 45 degrees and they wouldn't suspend play until the last hot day. They really had to then otherwise their hands were tied by indirectly saying it would never get called off as it was never going to get hotter than that. |
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| Author: | Baal [ 11 Feb 2016, 23:08 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Boll about ball |
Regarding the 40+ balls, Ovtcharov mentioned in a recent interview that players very much liked the ball used at the European championships (which turns out to be the Nittaku Premium 40+). I can attest that it is like light and day compared to balls made by DHS. Nevertheless, in most ITTF events, they still have to use the crappy Chinese seamed balls. |
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| Author: | Intu Net [ 03 Mar 2016, 08:41 ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Boll about ball |
Made in China, made in Germany, made in LEGO land with or without a seem, they're all the same to me. If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck and moves through the air with the grace and speed of an over-sized overweight duck, then it's a duck, and a lame one at that. And, yes, I've tried every one of these fat ducks in the hope of returning to the game we knew and loved. Have you folks tried this one yet?  They've been around for ages now and all the ones produced so far have been terrible. So, the ones to come aren't going to be any better, not even the black ones:  The old ball was not broken, literally, and did not need to be fixed, especially by a bunch of corrupt overbearing bureaucrats who can only be relied upon to spoil such operations through incompetence and clumsiness whilst lining their pockets. My God! They could not even insure there was enough of these lame ducks for the top players to train with, much less those of us lower down the food chain, who were forced, through their power and authority, to use them. And where I live they are STILL not available in sports stores, the place where the game has its grass roots. The ITTF sure know how to add insult to injury. The insult was in telling us that all this was for the good of the game. The injuries? well...many players, coaches and doctors believe that the plastic ball/duck/buck is a factor in the recent spate of injuries. And some players have had to go under the knife as a result. I've heard of PLASTIC surgery, but this is ridiculous! Perhaps the next generation of tables will double as operating tables. I fear it is only a matter of time before China and other powers within the game refuse to put up with anymore of the governing body's antics and folly (and it's not just the new ball that's creating tension). And from what I've seen, the divisions are already forming. If this game does get split down the middle, I fear that both halves will wither and die. And if more people do not stand-up to the ITTF and their meddling ways, their hypocrisy and their rhetoric, then I fear they will lead our precious game into the abyss... |
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