iocTT.com :- The most advanced forum on table tennis

I was wondering if chidlren should be allowed to use hardbat or sandpaper rackets

Should USATT be running junior events for harbat & sandpaaper at US Nationals & US Open ?

If someone plays in a basement silly game of "ping pong" and have no clue about "table tennis" as a sport, they can use whatever they like no problem.

But if USATT wants to hold a national level event such as at US Open & US Closed and offer special events is hardbat & sandpaper for children, that borders on child abuse.

Why ?

Because developing youth players must focus on imprvoing their skills using smooth spinny rubbers on both sides of the racket first.
The strokes using spinny inverted rackets are generally different from those using hardbat or sandpaper.
The strokes are generally more closed & more forward using spinny rubbers (such as in loop & counter loop exchanges) .
The strokes are more open & more upward using hardbat & sandpaaper such as in flat hitting or blocking etc)

Of course someone as talented as Dan Seemiiler or Todd Sweeris or Jim Butler etc can switch back & forth between spinnt inverted & harbat / sandpaaper easily in the same tournament.
But for an inexpreienced junior (& less talented) junior player trying to develop their gsme using spinny inverted, hardbat & sandpaper ar totally unwanted distarctions & parents & coaches must keep their children away from hardbat / sandpaper events.

I personally have nothing particularly anything against hardbat / sandpaper. But sponge arrived more than 70 years ago in 1952 or 1952 & it is ridiculous to live in the past just because Marty Reisman wants to use Satoh beating him at the 1952 World Championships. Marty Reisan had plenty of chances both before & after 1952 world championships in Bomaby at many other World championships. And he even beat Satoh on Japan immediately after the 1952 Bombay loss. It is jsut too ridiculous to satrt a hardbat association just to satisfy his mispalced ego. Marty Reisman is one of the most charismatic champions & most colorful charaters ever in table tennis & I have two copies of his book "The Money Player".
And I think Richard Bergmann is a top 5 ever & I think Angelica Rozeanu is the lady GOAT. Hardbat was of course great in its era.

Yeas there are some very serious problems with sponge domain tabletennis. But trying regress to hardbat / sandpaper or trying to convert tabletennis into pickleball (because it is ever so popular now) by remving spins from tabletennis by deevloping lame sports like TTX to look like pickleball is really silly. Because generating & solving complex spins at the highest speed in a realtively smaller court is the most distinguishing trait of tabletennis compared to any other racket sport.