Table Tennis is striving to gain viewer popularity so that young kids will think its cool and start to play. That is a good goal and one we should all share.

Part of achieving that goal is to make TT viewable on TV and attractive when viewed. The 40 mm ball was designed to be more visible and provide for longer rallies. It is unarguably more visible for cameras.

Making TT attractive when viewed has been a task in the works for some years. The adoption of a standard color red flooring, blue table tops, matching glue barriers and artistic tables is also part of the TV evolution. TT looks better now on YouTube clips than it did when it was green tables.

The frictionless long pimples ban is also driven by the desire to make TT appear more skillful and cool to the lay observer. While there is skill involved in even getting your racket on a ball, most lay observers are unlikely to be impressed with standing at the table and putting the blade in front of the ball versus the active attacker or classical chop defender. The athleticism is visually lopsided and reinforces negative stereotypes about TT being a parlor game and not a sport.

I believe that Sharara, like any reasonable observer, can see this and the actions taken seem reasonable. Why do so many people get so upset?

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