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New Rule Might Lead to More Backhand Service, Says Chinese Coach
The new service rule adopted by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the sport's world governing body, might lead to more backhand services in the future, according to Cai Zhenhua, head coach of the Chinese national team.
The new rule, which will come into force on September 1, 2002, requires a player not to "hide" the ball during the service. That means at the moment of the service, the player must have nothing between the ball and the net so that the opponent could see the ball clearly. This rule change aims at lessen the power of service and to make rallies longer and more exciting.
Cai, a former world champion himself, is here to watch the table tennis finals for China's 9th National Games. He said that the new rule "sounds right theoretically but is hard to apply or comply". "It is hard to make a swift and just judgement on whether the ball is visionally blocked at that blink moment. It is estimated that 90 percent or more players prefer forehand service, as it gives more advantage to the next attack than the backhand service. But the problem is when you serve forehand, you just can't remove your arm, your hand, part of your body and T-shirt, completely and absolutely," he said.
The 40-year-old Chinese coach estimated that about 70 to 80 percent of players are not favor of the rule change, saying that it almost make service "impossible."
Cai suggested that the ITTF works out a detailed supplement to the new rule that fully and exactly defines what kind of service is infringement and what is not, as soccer's world ruling organization the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) is doing for the "off-side" rule. And this supplement must be clear enough for players and coaches worldwide to master.
The ITTF could also rule that in the future, players have to make service backhand to avoid rule infringement, Cai said.
In a recent article issued on ITTF's web site, Colin Clement, Chairman of the ITTF Rules Committee, noticed a greater proportion of backhand services during the early competition at this year's world championships in Osaka, Japan. The players did so because they didn't want to risk being penalized. Although later competition saw a mix of forehand and backhand services.
And the result of a survey carried out by the ITTF committee on the rule change showed a split response, from both players and coaches. A bit more than half of those surveyed said the new rule would be no more difficult to apply or comply, according to Clement.
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