FAQ
- Why doesn’t a player just drop the ball short when his opponent is lobbing from the backcourt?
- These guys are so good. How come they miss their own serves?
- Why do players drag their hands across the table surface by the net?
- How fast does the ball spin?
- How fast does the ball fly?
- How much time does a player have to react?
- What's the difference between a professional racket and a recreational one?
- What's the difference between a professional table and a recreational one?
01. Why doesn’t a player just drop the ball short when his opponent is lobbing from the backcourt?
It's really hard to drop a lobbed ball low enough. If it bounces up, the lobber can see it happen and run forward in time to have an easy kill shot.
02. These guys are so good. How come they miss their own serves?
How come professional basketball players miss free throws? Under pressure, it's tough to have such precise muscle control. Serves are incredibly intricate motions ending with an explosive snap of the wrist for a split second tangential contact with the ball. Most people would not even make contact with the ball. Professional players miss maybe one out of a hundred serves.
03. Why do players drag their hands across the table surface by the net?
To dry their hand. They're only allowed to go to the towel every six points, and sometimes they need to improve their grip in between.
04. How fast does the ball spin?
A study by a Chinese university has measured it over 10,000 rpm
05. How fast does the ball fly?
It depends on where you measure the speed, since the ball decelerates quickly due to its low weight and high air resistance. At contact, it can be well over 100 km/h.
06 How much time does a player have to react?
They have to play the ball less than 3 tenths of a second after the opponent made contact. During that time they have to:
a) determine where it's going
b) judge the spin on the ball
c) read the opponent's strategic intention
d) move into position to return it
e) choose the best place to return it to counteract the opponent's strategy
f) watch the opponent's movement
g) execute a shot with a precision tolerance of less than a millimeter
07. What's the difference between a professional racket and a recreational one?
Same as a racecar and a family sedan. Professional rackets consist of blades and rubber. The blades are optimized to have a large sweet spot and they are tuned to players' preferences. Some provide a long dwell time that allows players to make adjustments to their stroke after contact. Others are super fast. The rubber is very grippy and stretches like a rubber band. When it snaps back with the ball still in contact, it imparts tremendous spin. The sponges are optimized to have a high restitution factor: The most of the incoming energy is put back into the ball. The average player will shoot a ball way past the table on their first attempt to hit a ball with a professional racket.
08. What's the difference between a professional table and a recreational one?
The top on professional tables is thicker, which makes for an even, predictable bounce throughout the playing surface. Cheap tables don't bounce high enough, and they don't bounce true.
