November 24, 2015

Ma Long Serve - the Illegal Elephant in the Room
Yesterday I linked to this video (5:18), "Ma Long - King of Epic Shots," and asked, "Notice anything strange about the serve he does at the start? Watch the slow motion replay starting 12 seconds in. I'll blog about this tomorrow."

The strange thing is that the serve, the standard motion for most top players, is so illegal it's mind-boggling that the world #1 player can get away with serving like this over and over, very publicly where all can see, without it getting called. Most of his opponents do it just as much – it's the norm at the higher levels. It's like the proverbial elephant in the room that everyone pretends isn't there. As I've blogged before, cheating is rampant in our sport at the higher levels, even among cadets under age 15.

The problem, of course, is that the serve is hidden, something I've harped on many times here. Here is a five-picture sequence of the serve. In pictures one and two, using the pole that's just above his head, you can see how he's thrown the ball backwards while thrusting his head forward, and the two meet in picture three, where the ball completely disappears behind his head as he's about to contact the ball. In picture four you can just see the ball reappearing below his head by his throat. His contact is while the ball is behind his head, where the receiver cannot see. (Below I'll go over the serve and show five rules being broken, and then give my solution.)

Let me emphasize here that an umpire's job is not an easy one. Many people complain and boo when an umpire correctly faults a player for serving illegally. (It says something about sportsmanship that so many people are this way, not understanding that the standard response to a fault of "Let them play!" is the same as saying "Let the player cheat!") Having said that, we also have to remember that the primary purpose of the umpire is to make sure the players are playing by the rules, and if a player cheats, he should be penalized.

When a player cheats and is not penalized, then the umpire is not doing his job, the cheating is rewarded and thereby encouraged, and the player who plays fair is cheated. Most championship titles these days are won by players who cheat, with the non-cheaters usually losing out in the early rounds so by the time you get to the "big" matches, everyone is cheating. (It's sort of a level field at that point, but it means we are encouraging cheating from all players, even kids – and that's exactly what's happening.)

So how many rules are being broken here? Let's find out. (Bolds are mine.)

2.06.04: From the start of service until it is struck, the ball shall be above the level of the playing surface and behind the server's end line, and it shall not be hidden from the receiver by the server or his or her doubles partner or by anything they wear or carry. 

Broken rule #1: He's hiding the ball from the receiver. This is the key one.

2.06.06: It is the responsibility of the player to serve so that the umpire or the assistant umpire can be satisfied that he or she complies with the requirements of the Laws, and either may decide that a service is incorrect. 

Broken rule #2: It's the player's responsibility to serve so the umpire can be satisfied that he's serving legally, and he obviously is not doing that, and the umpires are allowing this.

2.06.06.01: If either the umpire or the assistant umpire is not sure about the legality of a service he or she may, on the first occasion in a match, interrupt play and warn the server; but any subsequent service by that player or his or her doubles partner which is not clearly legal shall be considered incorrect. 

Broken rule #3: The umpires obviously cannot be sure that this serve is legal, and aren't calling it. This is a key thing that many forget – even if a serve is visible, but done in such a borderline way that the umpire can't tell, it's illegal. When an umpire says that he didn't call a serve because he wasn't sure if it was hidden, that's exactly the same as saying the serve was illegal. And of course if the serve was hidden, there's no way an umpire can then claim that he was "satisfied" that the serve was visible – at most he can say he can't tell, i.e. the serve is illegal.

2.06.02: The server shall then project the ball near vertically upwards, without imparting spin, so that it rises at least 16cm after leaving the palm of the free hand and then falls without touching anything before being struck. 

Broken rule #4: The ball has been tossed sideways and backwards. That, along with thrusting the head forward, is how the ball ends up behind the head. Players do it this way to create the illusion that the ball might be visible since it's visible until just before contact.

2.06.05: As soon as the ball has been projected, the server’s free arm and hand shall be removed from the space between the ball and the net. The space between the ball and the net is defined by the ball, the net and its indefinite upward extension. 

Broken rule #5: Until almost the end Ma keeps his free arm in the area between the ball and the net. Ironically, he doesn't do this to hide his serve, but as a distraction to the umpire – while the umpire is watching to make sure the ball is not hidden by the free arm, he misses the head thrusting forward to hide the ball. It's a basic magician's trick that top players have adopted.

As I've also blogged about, this is now the normal serve even at the cadet boys' level (under 15) in the U.S. and worldwide, where nearly every title is now won by players who cheat with their serves. At the upcoming USA Nationals, as it was last year and at this year's U.S. Open and North American Team Championships, most of the major events, even boys' events, will likely be dominated by players who hide their serves but are not called on it. Nearly all of them will use the very technique shown here by Ma Long, world #1. (So far the top cadet girls don't seem to hide their serves, but it's only a matter of time.)

Pointing out a problem without offering a solution doesn't help, but as readers here know I've proposed a solution, the Net Visibility Rule. (This includes a gallery of illegal serves from the North American Championships and other tournaments.) USATT officials don't seem interested in it, but I've discussed it with certain ITTF officials who are. Whether they adopt this rule, some other rule, or simply get referees to make it a priority to make sure umpires apply the rules, it doesn't matter as long as the problem is fixed. I'm tired of trying to explain to parents and kids that to compete, they must cheat. (And those watching will note that few if any of the MDTTC juniors hide their serve – we're rather backward in this, i.e. our top juniors don't cheat, but it costs them in tournaments.)

There are other simpler proposals, such as requiring only backhand serves or versions that require that the body be facing the table throughout the serve. The problem with such extreme changes is that they have zero chance of getting passed. We need to find solutions that can pass, not pie-in-the-sky ones that won't.

One argument against most fixes is that it doesn't matter what the rules say, umpires won't call it. After all, the argument goes, they aren't enforcing the current service rule, so why would they enforce any new rules? While there is some merit to this argument – and is why any rule changes need to coincide with a new emphasis on not allowing cheating (I can't believe we have to even emphasize that), but there is a difference. How is it different?

The current problem is mostly with umpires who don't call a serve because they aren't sure if it is legal or not. By definition, that is an illegal serve, but most umpires don't want to call the serve unless they can clearly see that it was hidden, when the rule is the opposite - it has to be clearly legal (i.e. visible) or it is illegal. By changing the rule to make it blatantly obvious that the serve is directly illegal, i.e. hidden from the net or net posts in my proposal, it becomes a lot easier for an umpire to call the serve. He may not call Ma Long's serve under the current rules because, from his angle, he's not sure if the ball is hidden or barely visible, but in order for Ma to serve so that it's hidden from the receiver, he has to serve so that it's obviously hidden from at least one of the net posts. And so the umpire has a much easier call to make – "Fault!"

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