January 8, 2016

Three Biggest Problems in USA Table Tennis
While there are many problems in our sport, I believe the following are the three biggest ones currently faced by USA Table Tennis.

  • Grow the Sport. USATT membership is in the 9000 range, just as we were in the 1990s, though I hear we may be approaching 10,000 or so. Alas, at the various "Strategic Development" meetings we've had over the years we've had a good name for our membership totals: they are a "round-off error" for what membership should be in a country this size, which should be in the hundreds of thousands. (How can all those little countries in Europe have memberships that dwarf ours??? Let's not even talk about Asia.) I believe when membership grows, many of our other problems will be resolved, such as money problems (from membership fees), turning the U.S. Open and/or Nationals into premier events (more players and money available), and so on.

    How do we fix this? It comes down to having a product that the masses will join in. In Europe, that means lots and lots of regional team leagues. In the U.S., it'll likely be the same, whether it's team or singles leagues. USATT's historic focus on tournaments simply hasn't worked, and neither has the culture at the club level of "winner stay on." When the focus is on leagues – as it is in nearly every successful sport all over the U.S. and the world – membership will begin a long and steady increase. But it's going to be a long and slow process creating such an infrastructure. Here are the plans for regional team leagues; already there has been interest in a number of new regions, as I've blogged about previously.

  • Develop a Professional Class. There is no such group of players in the U.S., though there are players who rely on sponsors to eke out an existence. Nearly all high-level players in the U.S. have to make a living separately, whether by coaching or an outside non-table tennis job. And without such a professional class, and a corresponding professional league or circuit, there is little prospect for up-and-coming players to become professionals in this country, and even less for the masses to take the sport seriously as the Olympic sport that it is.

    How do we fix this? I've been in on discussions on this; I think 2016 is the year we take the first step. More on this later. Ultimately we need to both develop U.S. players and develop some sort of professional league or circuit where they can make a living, and there are plans for both right now. (I will be able to blog about at least one of them next week.)

  • Change the Culture of Cheating. I've blogged about this many times. We're so used to elite players openly breaking the rules by illegally hiding their serves that it's barely taken seriously – because we are used to it and practically expect it. But it's a growing scandal that's going to erupt at some point. There are just too many players who play by the rules who are getting cheated out of national titles and teams by players who serve illegally (i.e. cheat), and when they or their coaches complain about opponent who openly cheat them out of matches, the complaints aren't taken seriously with any action. Because of this culture of cheating, most umpires will not fault elite players for illegally hiding their serve, often arguing that they aren't sure that the ball is hidden, even though the rules say that they should call serves if they are not "sure" the serve is legal, and that it is the responsibility of the player to serve so the umpire can see that the serve is legal.

    For the second year in a row, nearly every major event at the Nationals was decided by hidden serves, and by umpires not calling them. I blogged about this on Dec. 28.

    I hope this problem is addressed before it blows up in our faces. It's not just USATT that's facing problems with this scandal; think about all the elite kids who train and train, and then discover they can't compete with their rivals unless they too openly cheat. There are a lot of frustrating discussions on this all over the country between these kids, their parents, and their coaches. As I've blogged before, the problem has escalated dramatically the past year, where such illegal serving has spread to nearly all our top cadet players, few of whom like doing it, but feel they have little choice, since umpires are allowing their opponents to do it.

    How do we fix this? Before the next major USATT tournament (Open or Nationals), let the players know well in advance that the service rules will be enforced, including the rules against hiding the serve. The tournament referee must then let the umpires know in advance that the service rules must be enforced, that the players have been warned, and that if they all enforce the rules, then they won't be stuck as the only ones doing so, as often happens right now. If the tournament referee is not willing to do this, then he should not be the referee.

    The ITTF meets at the next Worlds, starting at the end of February. There will be serious discussions of this problem there – they are quite aware of it, and I've been in discussions with several. I'm hoping they will address this issue either by a new emphasis on enforcing the rules, changing the rules to make them easier to enforce, or (as a last but unfortunate straw) simply changing the rules to allow hidden serves, since that will at least level the playing field for those who do not cheat and for those who feel humiliated because they are forced to do so to compete fairly. 

History of U.S. Table Tennis, Volume 17, Day Three
Yesterday Tim Boggan and I did pages 46-86 (41 pages), which puts us about halfway through chapter 5 of the 27 chapters planned. Along the way I cleaned up and placed another 127 graphics, about 3.1 per page. So far we've done 88 pages (including the covers), with exactly 299 graphics. Below are the running totals. The latest chapter covers lots of regional tournaments. The last photo I placed yesterday? A picture of future USATT president Sheri Soderberg Pittman, holding the second place Under 1300 trophy she won at the Butterfly Open on July 15, 1989, in Wilson, NC – she lost the final to Brent Galloway, who would also win Under 1500 – ringer!

Day 1: Pages 1-20 (plus covers, so 22 pages total), 42 graphics
Day 2: Pages 21-45, 25 pages, 131 graphics
Day 3: Pages 46-85, 40 pages, 126 graphics
TOTALS: 87 pages, 299 graphics, 3.44 graphics per page

Judith Kaye RIP
On Wednesday night, Judith Kaye, 77, longtime New York State Chief Justice and mother of USATT CEO Gordon Kaye, passed away. I never realized just how an illustrious career she had until I read the below. Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered that flags on all state government buildings be flown at half-mast today (Jan. 8).

Table Tennis on FOX News in Greensboro, NC
Here's the video (4 min) from Wednesday, with 3-time U.S. Men's Singles Champion Timothy Wang and USATT CEO Gordon Kaye. They talked about the upcoming U.S. Olympic Trials and numerous other topics.

Message from President, Successful Year Completed, More Successful Year Ahead
Here's the message from ITTF President Thomas Weikert.

Quadri Gets Colourful Reception in U.S
Here's the article.

Squad Nails the Science of Table Tennis
Here's the article.

USA Nationals Pictures from Nick Beymer Photographer
Here's the photo page.

Perfect 2016 World Team Table Tennis Championships About to be Drawn
Here's the ITTF press release.

Superb Forehand by Zhang Jike in the 2016 China Trials!
Here's the video (13 sec).

International Table Tennis
Here's my periodic note (usually every Friday) that you can great international coverage at TableTennista (which especially covers the elite players well) and at the ITTF home page (which does great regional coverage). Butterfly also has a great news page.

MDTTC is an Animal House
Yesterday the Maryland Table Tennis Center welcomed our newest member, Barry the Bear. He joins Froggy the Frog (don't call him a toad!) and Don Iguana as the non-human members of the club - we welcome players of all species at our club. (Barry is the property or sibling – I'm not sure which – of Willie Shi. The photo is care of Stefano, Giovanni, Alessandro, and Adriano Ratti.)

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