Fast forward to the present, and once again table tennis has a number of problems which don't appear to be going away soon. Is it time for some more table tennis tough love?
Problem Number 1 - Advantage of the Serve
Despite many years of tinkering with the serving rules, the ITTF has still failed to solve the basic problem with serving in table tennis - the fact that the server has an huge advantage over the receiver.Suggested Solution - Receiver's Choice
If the receiver doesn't like the serve, he doesn't have to try to return it. Each serve is considered a let until the receiver attempts to return it (i.e. makes contact with the ball). This method is used in when serving in Liha table tennis (sandpaper table tennis in the Philippines), and appears to be quite effective.This method really appeals to me - it's simple to understand, easy to enforce, and at a stroke ends the dominance of the server. The receiver just waits until he gets a serve he can handle, and can safely ignore any tricky or difficult looking serves from his opponent. True, a receiver could wait for only really easy serves from his opponent that could be attacked strongly, but since his opponent could do the same thing, it's self-policing.
Problem Number 2 - The Racket Race
Table tennis has always been a sport where players and manufacturers have searched for new technologies to give competitors an edge over their opponents. First pimpled rubber, then sponge rubber, then long pips and antispin, then speed glue, then boosting, and now tensor and hi-tension technologies have all been developed to push the envelope of the sport a little further, and to increase the manufacturer's market share. With the ban of speed glue and boosting, the ITTF have introduced regulations which are very difficult to enforce without expensive equipment, and in the case of the frictionless long pips ban, almost impossible to enforce. How can we stop the insanity?Suggestion Solution - Remove the Manufacturers
This solution is also quite simple - the ITTF should produce their own ITTF certified equipment, and not allow any other equipment to be used in ITTF sanctioned competitions. That way, the ITTF don't have to worry about setting limits on equipment, they just produce the equipment that they want used. Of course, this would not be a popular solution with manufacturers (or many players!), but you can't please everyone. And if the ITTF sold its own equipment, this could lead to a solution to problem number 3.Problem Number 3 - Not Enough Prize Money
The lack of prize money in the sport is a common complaint from table tennis professionals, many of whom struggle to make a decent living during their career.Suggested Solution - Use Profits from ITTF Equipment Sales
If the ITTF decided to sell its own exclusive range of ITTF certified equipment, this problem would be neatly solved. The table tennis equipment market is a huge money earner, and the ITTF could use a percentage of the profits for providing prize money for its major tournaments.Problem Number 4 - Chinese Dominance
The Chinese are once again dominating the sport of table tennis - even the recent victory by the Singapore Women's Team at the 2010 World Team Championships was achieved with a team full of ex-Chinese players.Suggested Solution - Get Over It
Seriously though, I think the ITTF have done just about all they can with this problem. Rule changes over the last couple of years will prevent future repeats of the Singapore situation, since older Chinese athletes will not be able to leave China and simply slot into another country's team.But if I was going to suggest something radical, here's something off the top of my head - let's set up a system where the players who represent each country at the World Championships are selected at random from the country's list of registered players, just after the previous World Championships. Each country gets a list of perhaps 20 players, and they have two years to train them up for competition, and they can choose their 5 world championship players from that list. That way, we'll really see whether the Chinese are dominant because of their great coaching, or whether it's just because they are cherry picking champions from millions of participants.
Sound a bit ridiculous? Maybe, but compare the current system - it's not like there is a level playing field now. China, with its millions of players and state sponsored training system, is not going to be on an equal footing with a small country with a few thousand players and no government funding. So when China wins the World Team Championships, what exactly does that prove? That having nearly 2 billion in population to give you millions of players is a good thing? That government funded training centers make producing top players easier? That being able to burn out thousands of 12 year olds to produce a handful of elite players is the road to success? Forgive me, but I kind of thought we knew that already.
The Chinese dominate for a number of reasons, and will continue to do so until another country comes up with a way to give their elite players an edge, or until something breaks down in the Chinese system (such as the country switching to basketball as the national sport, or the government withdrawing funding). Neither option appears likely, so unless we are willing to interfere with how the Chinese produce their players, we can all look forward to many more years of Chinese rule.
