Umpiring Fiasco, tennis, etc....                                                      by John Pahl

"With the 2006 US Open still fresh in many of our minds, the issue of umpiring,
specifically pertaining to the servive rule enforcement was addressed. During
opening orientation, Referee John Pahl explained expected requirements:
Attempt to serve legally tossing the ball in the air without imparting spin so
your opponent can see the entire motion. The key was to focus on intent.
Either you are making an effort to serve legally, or you are serving illegally
for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage. If you toss the ball 12cm instead
of 16, it is not an infraction that will draw a complaint from opponent or umpire.
If you toss the ball 4-5 cm (pretty much right out your hand) because that's the
only way you can accomplish your top/side serve which is giving your opponent fits,
you can expect to get called on it. Umpiring purists will argue in favor of strict
rules, either your serve is legal or it isn't. The other 99.9% of us disagree with
the direction this strict stance is taking the sport. Prize money & trophies are
nice, but most of us play for the sheer fun & competition, not to satisfy an
overbearing umpire. Needless to say, we had no service rule problems all day."

This excerpt from an October 2006 tournament review is typical of a lot of
conversations going on concerning the sate & future of table tennis in the USA.
Those in authority have adopted the same attitude as our representatives in
government: when in doubt create a new rule (tax). Instead of allowing a
little scab to heal, they have picked & clawed at an insignificant problem
resulting in the infected festering wound that is the official USA table tennis
guide to serving correctly. Not only have they obsessed about every nuance of the
serve motion, they have granted the power & encouraged umpires to disrupt play
without regard for the spirit of the game. Bad enough it has gotten to this point,
to make matters worse they do it with no consistency. One might call you, they next
might not. One is known for being strict, the next is just happy to be out on a
day pass from the old folks home. The purpose of umpiring should not be to enforce
overbearing rules disrupting the players & audience, it should be to take care of
problems & assist the players: Service should never be addressed by an umpire until
there is a complaint from the opponent. A player should raise a finger, call a let,
ask the opponent to throw the ball higher, or whatever the problem may be. At this
point the umpire should take note & after a few serves call the serve acceptable or
not. If it is not acceptable, the umpire can opt to enforce the rule by issuing a
warning & then awarding points. Simple for the players, simple for the umpire.
If there is any room for interpretation, it will always default to intent.
Players sometimes complain about serves when they have trouble returning them.
This will always be, & making the rules more lenient will cut down on the whining
as well.

Service in tennis is much more important than table tennis. The tennis player has
more of an advantage when serving. The new rules in table tennis were designed to
take away the servers advantage in an effort to provide longer rallies & less
confusing game disruptions for the spectator.
Making the service more complicated did not accomplish this, & was actually
counterproductive. The essence of our game & what makes it interesting & challenging
is the varied styles we encounter & see. Making everyone serve exactly the same
like a robot & penalizing them for an insignificant infraction is stupid. Imagine a tv
viewer trying to understand why a player was faulted for a microcosmic variance that
didn't affect or offend the opponent. Keep it simple! Less is more!
As long as the tennis player stands behind the end line, he can serve how he wants.
Simplifying our service rule would only help. Obsessing over the position of the ball
resting in the flat palm of the hand versus between the 2 middle fingers 1 inch away
is pure insanity. In fact, it is not just the rules themselves but how umpires are
encouraged to enforce the extreme limits of the rules. The most important aspect of
this discussion is to honor & encourage participation in the spirit in which the rules
were made. Every week we have new players eager to join our club. During routine
orientation explaining club rules, fees, etiquette, etc we also do a coaching session
to aid in the transition from recreational to club lavel play. Proper strokes,
footwork, spin & equipment are topics they find useful & helpful.
Developing a safe serve & serve return are probably the most important elements to
work on early, as this will help them stay in the game & keep from getting too
frustrated & quit.
While all of this is a lot to take in, they are usually enthusiastic. Until the service
rules are mentioned. This is the one aspect of our game that will put off a new player.
Even though we stress proper service is encouraged but not required for practice,
(only for tournaments), many would rather go back to their basement than spend
the hours it takes to develope good proper serves.
It just takes the fun out of it. Read again: It just takes the fun out of it.
Bottom line: the service rule as it stands is an obstacle in furthering table tennis
in the USA.

Another option is to have a graduated system: under 2000 & over 2000.
Players under 2000 are still developing the skills the over 2000 posess.
Why not allow them leniency on the service rule? In real life the opposite is true:
Referees rarely call faults on high profile players in important matches for fear
of offending the players (& big time tournament directors).
Imagine if Karakasevic was faulted during the US Open Final.
Yet 1500 level players like myself (and many, many more) were routinely faulted
for insignificant offences. Do they really think this elitist offensive attitude
will prompt players to work on their serves? The end result more often is that it
discourages players form participation & competition.
While cheering on one of our juniors in the U1200 at the 2006 US Open, we were
becoming upset with the adult opponent serving illegally. It was your typical
heavy sidespin right out of his hand, no toss at all. Our junior was taught to
serve legally & did, but could not handle the illegal serve, one reason being
he was never coached or taught on illegal serves, the other inexperience.
This was a close match all the way, except when the adult served illegally.
With the fathers permission,  a let was called & I asked the offending player
to either serve legally or an umpire would be brought in. He said get the umpire.
The adult player ended up winning based on the lead he accumulated serving
illegally. The rules did not help or create a level playing field, the umpire
was of no use either. It is this type of situation thet loses us juniors & gives the
sport a bad name. (& speaking of giving sports a bad name, Deepak Somarapu
might consider reevaluating his sense of fair play).
It also didn't help that the umpire took forever to show up & resume the match.
The ideal situation would be to have umpires assigned to a group or row of tables
at big tournaments to create a presence of authority & easy access. This would
deter intentional bad behvior.
Do not confuse promoting umpire presence with wanting less umpire interference.
There are times when umpires are necessary. At the 2006 US Open we had the worst
of both worlds, with umpires unnecessarily disrupting play & never around when
you need them.
Do not confuse promoting umpire presence with wanting less umpire interference.
There are times when umpires are necessary. At the 2006 US Open we had the worst
of both worlds, with umpires unnecessarily disrupting play & never around when
you need them.

It is no secret table tennis in the USA is lagging way behind the rest of the world.
Our players can not compete with the top 100 in the world, our tournaments are
substandard by all aspects most important being prize money & conditions.
The recent 2006 US Open in Charlotte NC is a shining example of what is wrong with
american table tennis & why we will not progress:
15 of the top 20 american players did not bother to play the US Open!
1st place prize money was a mere $2800.00!
USA table tennis have no major sponsors!
Most people I interviewed would not go back under the same conditions/circumstances!
How did this happen? Who do we blame?

USATT is a small business that is adequately run.
They are not in a position to make the leap to big business which would propel
american table tennis to international status. This would require hiring expensive
personnel experienced in procuring corporate sponsorships.
Right now USATT's main focus is Elite players including youth to satisfy their
biggest financial sponsor &  anti-growth anchor, the USOC (Olympic comittee).
While this may be a noble cause, it is not the direction most usatt members feel
we should be heading. It may even be true that most members don't care about
direction at all having been ignored for so long.

Tennis is the sport most closely associated with table tennis. USTA boasts more
players, more events, sposorships, a tennis channel on top of great tv coverage,
innovations as well as the US Open (tennis) which is a premier event in the world
always drawing the top players for millions in prize money.
1 person is mostly responsible for this success. A few years ago Arlen Kantarian
was hired to help promote & improve the image of tennis in the USA.
He is responsible for procuring huge corporate sponsors allowing the US Open to
offer over a million dollars for 1st place. The tennis court color changed to blue
to improve spectator & tv visuals as well as break from the old days.
Tennis now has a digital replay system to help track line balls.
They are considering putting a retractable roof on Louis Armstrong stadium &
the grandstand court. The old guard may mumble about the changes, but the
benefits far outweigh the alternative that we face now, medocrity.

Table tennis has in its ranks hard bat fans, 80's style players preferring the
small ball & 21 point games, those who think speed glue ruined the game, those
who think junk rubber ruined the game, as well as an assortment of players
finding fault & placing blame on usatt for all our ills.
At some time we need to make up our collective minds what we want from this game.
If you're happy playing in a local club & tournament, fine.
If you want usatt to become more than it is, more like tennis with the corporate
sponsors & international events, be prepared to make concessions to get there.
Either way the splinter/fringe groups we posess need to suck it up & get on
board. The effort people put into promoting their own personal favorite brand
of table tennis could go a long way directed at a common good.

Support the change for the service rule:
contact usatt executive director: ed@usatt.org
& usatt rules committee: pong35@mindspring.com
let them know what you think.