OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I've been thinking a little bit more about this. What would this 44mm game be for? Is it an alternative table tennis for the less athletic (ha! hang around a regular TT club for a while, there will be quite a few non-athletic types who play at pretty high levels and who can beat 75% of the people who play there..), something for ab-initio beginners and for the elderly, or is it something else (like Soft Tennis)? If it's something else - an alternative, slower form of table tennis that is still very competitive, what would be its characteristics?

As someone pointed out earlier, sure, deceptive spin's not going to be nearly as effective. Then again, those returns which get smacked would be easier to get back because the ball won't be travelling near as fast. So if you use the long pips for close-to-the-table blocking and pushing, yeah, it'd be bad, but if you're a chopper? I think you'd actually be better off. So this 44mm game would be more balanced in terms of offense vs. defense - closer to hardbat, perhaps, than to the modern sponge game with the 40mm ball. The main effect would be longer rallies.

And those special rubbers for the 44mm game - there may be more to that than meets the eye - on one hand, perhaps they WERE designed to be more effective with the 44mm ball than regular rubber would be. The OTHER possibility - they might be rules-limited. We don't know what the 44mm rules are - maybe they only allow 44mm approved rubber - maybe there are some limits imposed that we don't know about. 1.5mm sponge only? No long pips? Pips out only?? Are there special service rules? If this is the case, the reason for them all would be the same - promoting longer rallies and limiting the advantage of deception (rallies that end with a serve return in the net are, after all, one stroke long).

I'd dearly love to know how and when this game came to be. And why. Remember, it predates the 40mm ball - I've seen the 44mm balls in catalogs back in the 80s. Was it pre-war? Pre-sponge (in which case it would have been around when hardbat was the dominant equipment)? Pre-1959? I'm inclined to think it started sometime in the late 60s or 70s, when the sponge game became dominant - and too offense-weighted for the likes of some people. This was probably a reaction to that. The Hardbat movement started in the US sometime in the 90s IIRC, and is gaining momentum around the world, perhaps this was Japan's solution to the same "problem". As was, if you think about it - the 40mm ball.

I'll be buying a half dozen tomorrow, and I'll sneak one into a game and see what happens..

Iskandar

Large Ball Table Tennis Rules

Large Ball Table Tennis is played according to the international table tennis rules. However, the following special rules apply:

1. The height of the net is 17,25 cm.
2. The ball size is 44mm and weight is 2,2 – 2,4 g. The colour is orange.
3. A match shall consist of the best of 3 games up to 11 points.
4. At a score of 12:12 the next point decides the game.
5. Only short pimples out rubbers with sponge are allowed

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

Heh..

http://www.nittaku.com/products/largeball/

(If you don't see English text, you can change the language top right.)

Looks pretty serious to me. Lots of stuff available, training balls, even a PLASTIC ball, robots.. and types models of blades and rubber. This isn't for geriatrics or beginners.

As has been pointed out - all the rubber is pips-out. The 4mm rule applies.

Iskandar

SUPER BIG BALL TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION (SBBTTA)--44mm

The Super Big Ball Table Tennis Association was organized in the fall of 2014 here in the United States. SBBTTA uses the 44mm ball and all the official rules for the 44mm game.

The SBBTTA has already had 12 sanctioned tournaments and now has a membership of 43 active players from both here in the United States and in other countries. There is an official rating system in place and also an official website with all the pertinent information about the 44mm game.

The 44mm game is very popular in Japan and is growing in parts of Europe. Plans are being made to expand the sport in the United States with regional and national tournaments.

Please visit the official website: http://floridatt.com/bigballtt

If you are interested in having a SBBTTA Tournament, there are NO sanction fee and NO rating fees of any kind. There are NO membership charges to join the SBBTTA.

You can contact : [email protected]

How about a video of some of the better players?

Aha... so this is the "new form" of table tennis mentioned elsewhere, perhaps. I suppose there's already hardbat, this would be another similar alternative. Slower than hardbat, with a similar limit on spin.

Iskandar

Interesting. There seems to be some variance about the rules when it comes to rubber. I've come across European rules, now there's the Florida rules. And the original Japanese rules. In all cases, only pips out (and I assume this means short pips only) rubber is allowed. However:

1) In the European rules I've seen, sponge is limited to 1.5mm (I wonder if thinner is allowed).

2) In the Florida rules, no sponge thickness restriction (though I suspect the 4mm thickness rule still applies) but the same rubber is to be used on both sides of the racket if two sheets are used.

3) Perusing the Nittaku large ball website - I see several rubbers available in a variety of sponge thicknesses, up to Max thickness. Might be OX available as well. These are all special 44mm sheets (though, since they're all listed on the ITTF website, they're legal for use in 40mm competition as well). AND I see combos for sale with different rubbers on forehand and backhand. So neither (1) nor (2) apply in Japan! An interesting variety of rubbers - Moristo Large and Narucross Large are made in Germany (probably ESN non-Tensors since there's no Tensor logo). There's two sheets that have "Active Charge" (made in Japan), and four others (all made in Japan).

No idea if there's a two color rule in this game.

Iskandar