OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I found it quite amusing:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/21/style/pickleball-tennis-courts.html?unlocked_article_code=O8hkHwXsqzvAEel9E7gR0eoiI_nSjkA2GWqVoMgKT8ATSfsZejt8Ws2M_p_InuRrdiMMfSY07CnlnqBf32VdX2jzAhu2XfjV3dYlr20RrOKYXP0-wLZITdxPcYKUTTi_45_TSuyu8xOAOzFtpdatxT1_8vGA46Kb8gbMUHoXu7G9iCKgnYJ679KmmsmA4hsNda0513Z2amAF4K7JrjVUgydTcuaL3uISaTF_kdOuFVk4-QSpCm8nZwHK_YuehiFopqTlD9zhxJMhDdyE35FJufTSGMKCU8dRp9bcZyoRiqVZMA_X-cUAnWbEtq7TcOMpZNkYW-DSXwLZZSeaGo0oUg&smid=share-url

Remember TTX? I suppose if it caught on in a big way - you know, tournaments, money, etc., some of us would be up in arms too, and all the table tennis forums would be in a constant state of uproar. At least it wouldn't be competing for tables or space...

It wouldn't be difficult to overshadow regular table tennis - it turns out that organized Beer Pong "tournaments" give out more prize money than any of the big table tennis tournaments do.. even the world champs prizes are in the small thousands of Euros..

Iskandar

It feels like TTX was an attempt to emulate the burgeoning popularity of pickleball. Not least with crappy no-spin rackets that traditional players don't like.

Having said that, I've been thinking about trying pickleball, because it gives off a "how hard can it be?" vibe. It might end up feeling as satisfying as playing table tennis with a clipboard -- which to me is "not very", although I know some people enjoy that and are quite good at it.

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"Once you get past a certain threshold, everyone's problems are the same: fortifying your island and hiding the heat signature from your fusion reactor." –Doctor Impossible

I see TTX is yet one more attempt to come up with an alternative to "regular" table tennis that involves less spin and is more public-friendly (try giving someone off the street a sponge bat and see if they can prevent the simplest balls from flying off into the stratosphere). There have been many attempts at this - hardbat, large-ball leagues, sandpaper - I suppose you might also include the plastic ball, but that was for another reason. The reason we as a group don't like it is that it's seen as a dumbing-down of the sport, which it admittedly is, but it's not really aimed at us. The problem, of course, is if it became successful and started attracting major sponsors or money, that fact alone would tee a lot of us off.

Iskandar