What does "40+" plastic ball ONLY era" mean ?

[Geng Pin]

I keep reading about "40" plastic ball ONLY era" in many posts
What does this really mean ?

Why does it say ONLY ?
What is the + sign with 40 ?

[Roujaniw]

I keep reading about "40" plastic ball ONLY era" in many posts
What does this really mean ?

Refers to the current era of table tennis starting with 2014 when the 40+ plastic ball was introduced in addition to tht 40 celluloid ball

[Sarthebe]

What is the + sign with 40 ?

The ball size with celluloid ball before the 2014 change was slightly less than 40 mm in diameter & is actually 39.6 mm
So it is sometimes referred to as the 40- ball
The plastic ball after 2014 is lightly larger than 40mm in diameter & is actually 40.4 mm
So the plastic ball is refrerred to as the 40+ ball

[Stina]

Why does it say ONLY ?

In 2022 , ITTF passed a rule that made the previous 40- celluloid ball no longer legal.
Before 2022 , you can use either 40+ plastic ball or 40- celluloid ball in ITTF events though almost all events have switched to 40+ palstic ball.

This rule was passed to ensure that tournaments will not revert to 40- celluloid ball and giving back the back spin lost by choppers when plastic ball became the de facto official ball. The robotNazi controlled ITTF wanted to be sure of this though they used the lame excuse that they were saving the planet from celluloid.