concerning Chapters 1 and 2 of the ITTF Handbook (1. Constitution, 2. Laws of the Game), or by the Board of Directors for Chapters 3, 4 and 5 (International Competitions, World Championships, Anti-Doping code). Propositions are received by a deadline from National Associations or ITTF Committees. Therefore, to make a change to the current rule regarding coefficient of friction for pimpled rubber, a proposition must come from either the committee involved (Equipment Committee), which is unlikely, or from a national association. All other efforts to make a change to this rule, although noble and appreciated, are actually a waste of time and will not affect the regulation in any way.
Therefore, I meant that to change an ITTF rule, your best bet is through your national association and not through me or any e-mail campaign.
As you noted very correctly, the Board of Directors includes more than 50 persons, of which I only have 1 vote, exercised only in case of a tie. Of course the President of any federation does have influence, but before any rule is changed a proposition must be made as explained in the previous paragraph.
2. Defensive Style
By your own admission, and the admission of many who have written me, the so-called "slippery long pimples" have not really produced any defensive players of note and it is very easy to play against.
Therefore, this type of rubber is not the solution to produce or protect the defensive style of play, nor does it seem to be of any use, according to you and others, in abating the offensive style.
Therefore, the real reason for being against the new rule must be for other motives. I believe I understand the real reasons. Many players may find that the rubber they use is no longer legal and they must change it. This is very annoying, and this reason I fully understand.
All the arguments about the defensive players, the defensive style, etc., do not hold water for me. They are just excuses. The real reason I accept is that many players who use this type of rubber because they like it may have to change if their rubber becomes illegal. I am very sorry about this, but that is what happens when we must implement a regulation, there is always a minority that may suffer. But my role as ITTF President is to look at the bigger picture. We definitely need a regulation regarding the coefficient of friction in order to give proper guidelines to manufacturers and also the necessary tools for our Umpires to judge the legality of rackets.
I also understand that some manufacturers, one in particular, may lose a chunk of business if their product is no longer legal. Again, I am sorry about this, but this same manufacturer will be able to sell new products replacing the illegal ones. So, over a long term period, players will adjust, manufacturers will adjust and this new rule will be fully accepted.
Please feel free to post this answer on your web-site. I have spent a lot of time on this matter, more than it deserves, but I was touched by the sincerity and concern of our players and felt it important to respond to each one of them on a subject that is dear to their heart.
But this is my LAST correspondence on this subject, so I wish you and all your colleagues all the best, and I sincerely hope that you will all find a positive solution regarding your equipment and that you will continue to enjoy our beloved sport.
Over and out.
Adham Sharara
ITTF
At 1:41 +0200 2/10/06, Christian Moser wrote:
Dear Mr. Sharara,
To start with let me thank you very much for the time you are spending in answering the questions and concerns from many players around the world on the minimum friction level issue for pimpled out rubbers.
A national association can indeed make changes to the rules, thank you also for mentioning that. However it should be pointed out that the national association can only interact within the national rules that
are applicable to any national event.
The players have to stick to the rules of the ITTF for any international event.
As to the issue about frictionless long pimpled rubbers the proposal of preparing, establishing and introducing a minimum friction level has been made by the ITTF Equipment Committee.
The ITTF Board of Directors has thereafter given an official mandate to the Equipment Committee to conduct studies, gather information and finally implementing a minimum friction level later.
The Board of Directors is an ITTF committee consisting of various national representatives.
However it should be noted that it is an ITTF directory.
According to the ITTF website (section "Directories") the Board of Directors is composed of the following members:
* Executive Committee (7)
* Continental Vice Presidents (6)
* Continental Representatives (32)
* Committee Chairmen (Co-opted)
In that regard being the president of the ITTF and its widely acknowledged leader you do have the possibility to encourage and give guidelines to its members for any decision making.
Mr. Sharara, you have greatly influenced the setting up and implementing of all major changes in table tennis over the past few years. Many of these changes have been overall successful, the best example being the new scoring system up to 11 points which has certainly been beneficial to the attractiveness and TV coverage of our sport.
However the new pimples out rule will neither affect the TV or press coverage nor help table tennis in gaining even further professionalism at the top level.
It will only deprive a great number of players at the base of our sport of their favourite equipment which is - ironically - the only material used in table tennis that is totally and entirely predictable since it cannot impart spin on the ball by itself quite unlike reversed rubbers.
As to the number of defensive players who use frictionless long pimpled rubbers let me point out that there exists a large and increasing figure especially in lower leagues all over the world. Taking away their equipment would further penalise them. Due to the introduction of the 40mm ball, the reduced aspect ratio of 1.1 and the ever increasing speed and spin of blades and rubbers defensive game has become less and less effective over the last years.
Frictionless long pimples allow to return heavy topspin balls with a good backspin (albeit if the attacking player plays intelligently and just lifts the ball it will not help much either if at all). Looking at the ITTF world ranking (top 500) one cannot make out even one defensive player - among those few that are being left -who uses frictionless long pimples.
So in conclusion a frictionless long pimpled rubber is definitely not an unpredictable weapon in the hand of choppers or blockers.
I look forward to hearing from you
Best regards
Christian Moser
PS: This open letter will be published in various table tennis forums for discussion. We should like to get input especially from players who play with inverted rubbers. We do know that many attacking players love to play against frictionless long pimpled rubbers since they consider it being an advantage for their own game.
We shall keep you posted
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