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Twiddler wrote: on Monday February 05 , 2024
Table tennis is not that much fun. The learning curve, the spin and countless different materials make it very difficult to play.

I don't mean to be disrespectful to you as you are a living legend of US tabletennis & an exceptional athlete not just in table tennis but it seems rather strange to me that you have used anti all your life but now seem to be complaining about countless different materials (unless you consider anti to be not one of those "undesirable" material)

I am not saying this (I actually disagree with that strongly) >>> but I have read in 100s of places in table tennis literature where Europeans & Asians whine about how you & Eric were not really that good and were only ranked high because of your weird Ameican basement style & your anti spin rubbers.

In fact was this even not part of the reason (the other parts being John Hilton & Cai Zhenhua) why the two color rule of 1983 was even passed ?

Which materials should be banned now then, in your opinion ?

Anti maybe ?

Knowing what you know now & what you complain about countless different materials now , would you (& Eric) still have used anti in your prime youth 40 years ago ? Or would you have considered it as one of the material that should have been banned ?

Would you have just used hardbat only ?
Or you would have used just spinny inverted only and not used anti ?

Or may be just only ban long pips ?

Just saying

The basic trait of table tennis is a sport of spin.
Pickleball by design has removed all spin. Nothing wrong with that & people should do what they enjoy
But table tennis players PRIMARILY stay in table tennis because of spin. Yes they also enjoy the speed but primary reason is spin.
Are there some problems with this ? Of course there is.
But trying to turn table tennis into pickleball by reverting to hardbat is crazy moronic.

Table tennis is not for everybody. If you do not enjoy creating & solving complex spins & do not actually the long frustrating process (at least years) of attempting to get there (few have done it....twiddler is one of them) , then table tennis is not the sport for you. Simple as that.

Chester Barnes in his book says that twiddler in his prime had the fastest loops (top spins) in the sport. Maybe twiddler should not have used spinny inverted rubbers & stayed with hardbat.

When I go to gym and watch 100s and 100s of people walking or jogging I always wonder why they are not taking up a racket sport any racket sport in addition or instead of limiting themselves to walking or jogging, Most of these people whom probably have good athletic skills. But most of these people don't even consider table tennis as a exercise worthy sport & most of these sadly won't last in table tennis for a week, not because they do not have the physical & athletic skills (they do) but they do not have mentally what it takes to learn to enjoy let alone succeed in table tennis .

Yes basement ping pong is an easy mindless "game" anyone can master in minutes. But it is a far cry from table tennis & ITTF and its affiliates should stop spreading lies about how easy table tennis in desperate attempts to compete with other racket sports like pickleball , whose objectives are very different but also successful.

Twiddler wrote:Why do so many people play Pickleball?

1. Because it is FUN- that's 1 and 1A.

2. Because it is simple.

3. It provides a nice physical workout.

Table tennis is not that much fun. The learning curve, the spin and countless different materials make it very difficult to play.

Hardbat TT is the equivalent of Pickleball. It provides all 3 of the above. Fun, simple and good exercise.

Table Tennis growth will stay stagnant forever without this part of the sport flourishing.

Lightspin wrote: Have to agree with Twiddler. Table tennis is just too complicated, especially for the average person who is looking for something fun to do in their free time. I know a lot of people who picked up playing pickleball as adults and are loving it. Table tennis? Not so much.

I am not so sure if hardbat is the answer but something should be done so people can actually rally in the game and not just serve their opponent into oblivion. Table tennis is one of the few sports where practice looks better on video and is more fun than playing the game itself.

How can you be agreeing with Twiddler, if he says he wants Hardbat to flourish but you say you are not sure hardbat is the answer

Lightspin wrote: I am not so sure if hardbat is the answer but something should be done so people can actually rally in the game and not just serve their opponent into oblivion.

LOL
I agree with you.
Hardbat definitely is not the answer
But these third ball & fifth ball attack comedy of errors in most (I did not say all) matches must definitely be addressed at the very least.

Truly banning all glues & boosters and reducing the maximum rubber thickness from 4.0 mm to 3.5 mm would be a good start for sure

Lightspin wrote: I am not so sure if hardbat is the answer

Hardbat definitely is NOT the answer . In fact it would only be a big problem

Table tennis will never be big in Americas until it becomes an official sport at schools & an NCAA sport undergraduate colleges.

This is a difficult challenge because only Asian (& few European) children take up this sport in schools.
Black, white & Hispanic / Latino children have lot more glamourous individual sport options like tennis , figure skating, gymnastics etc. and then even more glamourous options in team sports