Falco Tempo Unlimited Speed Glue

“Falco Tempo Unlimited” speed glue is one of the first VOC free glues on the market.

“The ITTF has recently announced that glues containing volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) will be banned as of January 1, 2008, in ITTF junior events and
as of September 1, 2008, in all other ITTF events (ITTF Announcement).

So people need to find a VOC free alternative. Read here about the procedure and review of the new glue Falco Tempo Unlimited review

NOTE: This is a LONG LASTING speed glue, the effects are reported to last between 1 to 3 WEEKS!

Gluing table tennis rubber onto your bat

For those of you wanting to take your game a step further, and willing to invest in a professional bat, where you purchase the rubbers and blade seperately, you’ll need to know how to cut and attach the rubbers to your blade. Here is a simple procedure for doing this, requiring only a the table tennis glue, a pen, a knife, a roller or bottle and some heavy books:

Gluing table tennis rubber onto your bat

JUIC ECOLO EXPANDER II

This is a fairly new product by JUIC Japan, which will no doubt become more popular as the speed glue ban  takes effect. Treatment of rubbers with this liquid offer a permanent increase in speed, and also makes the sheet more dynamic and flexible. It has many similarities to speed glue (although it’s not actually a glue), but not as strong an effect.

See the JUIC Ecolo Expander II description for more details, or read commnets from those that have used them in this table tennis forum. The Ecolo expander II can be purchased here: Buy JUIC Ecolo Expander II

Speed glue ban

The President of the ITTF released another statement regarding the ban of speed glues containing VOCs, shown below, after a player suffered serious health issue and this was blamed on the use of speedglue.

This seems another dubious decision made by the ITTF, and is the timing really helpful for the players? I’m not arguing with the decision to ban the glues, but they should be decisive about it. The decision to ban starting Sept 08 at least gave us a firm date, giving everyone time to adjust. How can you expect to adjust by an announcement that’s made overnight? How many of us are in the middle of a season, and have been training for some upcoming event? What are we supposed to do now?

Firstly as far as I know ITTF approval for glues is meaningless, as any glue is perfectly legal to use as long as it does not contain illegal substances (which are listed on the ITTF website somewhere (the new website design will probably make it impossible to find!). ITTF approval merely means the ITTF has test it and has given it the thumbs up. So crossing them off the list means nothing!

Secondly how silly is it to say that the glues are now illegal, but will not be tested till Sept 08. Is this just a way of covering their backsides, so that if another incident happens, they can’t be sued, because they have stated that gluing was illegal? I simply can’t see how an overnight decision can possible be to the benefit of players… after all gluing has been going on for a few decades already!

These people on the board of the ITTF seem way out of touch with reality, and certainly with the players at club levels such as most of us. I get the feeling that politics and money are at work here, with the interest of players coming second…

The improved scoring system (up to 11 instead of 21) was an earlier decision I did not agree with, and I know many see if my way. Was this done for the benifit of players? Has it really mad a difference to the game… I think not!
The new laws regarding friction levels of long pimple rubber seems to be another one where decisions are made without players having much of a say, but I won’t go into this here.

Unfortunately there seems to be very little players can do to make any changes at the top level… These people seem to be able to make decision overnight on any issue, without being accountable to the many players out there… If you know of a way of changing this, I would love to hear about… before these clowns completely destroy our sport!

By: Adham Sharara, ITTF President

5/26/2007

Based on a majority decision taken by the Board of Directors of the ITTF, Glues containing harmful volatile compounds are no longer approved by the ITTF effective immediately. Although it is felt by the Board of Directors that the current levels of volatile compounds in Glues used to affix rubber coverings to the table tennis blade are in very small quantities and if applied correctly in a ventilated area provide no serious health risk to the players, it is felt, however, that long term use of such glues may have negative health effects.

Therefore, as of immediate effect the ITTF informs all players to cease using glues containing volatile compounds (VCs).

It is, therefore, the responsibility of each player, or his/her parents in case of minors, to cease using glues containing VCs. Any player using such glues will be doing so at his/her own risk and the ITTF will not be held responsible of any consequences or ill effects resulting from the use of such glues.

All existing ITTF approvals of glues are WITHDRAWN effective immediately. This withdrawal applies to ALL glues currently on the market. The ITTF will cease to approve any type of glue effective immediately. However, the ITTF’s current “racket testing” programme and protocols will continue, which controls the amount of VCs in a racket in order to protect the health of the players.

The ITTF will publish and circulate widely a list of available glues that are free of volatile compounds. This list will be updated regularly on the ITTF’s website.

As of 1 January 2008 for ITTF Junior events, and as of 1 September 2008 for all other ITTF events, the ITTF will implement a new zero tolerance racket testing programme and protocol, using the “e-nez” and RAE instruments to ensure that all rackets used by players are VC free.

In addition, as of today, in the case that a proven severe health incident occurs and is confirmed by the medical authority recognized by the ITTF, then the ITTF would implement the new testing programme immediately (VC free) at that date (confirmation of the incident) and sanctions would be applied for failed tests. An exact legal announcement of this procedure will be made shortly by the ITTF.

The ITTF urges all parties involved, players, national associations, continental associations, manufacturers, and parents to act accordingly.

Adham Sharara
President

Table tennis forums – a wealth of untapped information

 

Table tennis forums are a great source of information, but most players or coaches don’t know about them. This article outlines some of the main table tennis forums, with the benefits that each one offers.

If you’re a table tennis player or coach you’ll know how hard it is to find information on new equipment. The manufacturer’s information on the back of the packaging makes it sound like each product is going to make you a world champion. Also each manufacturer uses a ratings system that often changes as they bring out new products to allow for even higher ratings. To make matter even worse, the ratings between manufacturers cannot be used to compare between products, as manufacturers use their own ratings system. All these factors make it very hard to decide what new equipment might suit your style and level.

So how can you find out more about what rubber or blade suits your game? Well there is no substitute for the advice of a coach or experienced player that knows your game and has good knowledge of equipment. But many don’t have access to people like that, or prefer to do their own research, which brings us to table tennis forums. Table tennis forums are one of the greatest sources of information, because not only can you read about a wide variety of equipment and opinions, you can actually ask questions and get people’s opinions on equipment and what might suit your game…and best of all it’s free! Although the posts in forums are only opinions, and you often don’t know how knowledgeable the person is that you’re chatting to, the information is usually unbiased. Most people in the forums are players just like you, who enjoy the game, and like chatting about it, and discuss different opinions on equipment. As you participate more in the forum, you get to know people and you learn whose opinions are more credible than others…

The good thing about forums is that they are anonymous! Anyone can just read the forum, and you only need to register if you wish to post your own views and ask questions. Even then you can choose any name, and it usually only requires a valid Email address, which is not visible to any other members. So there’s no need to be afraid to ask questions, even if you think they may be a little silly, since no one knows who you are! Just don’t be a nuisance in your posts, or the moderators will delete your posts, or worse will delete your account.

Below I’ve summarised some of the main table tennis forums, and what their main strengths / weaknesses are.

Denis’ Table tennis world: www.tabletennis.gr/forum
This forum was started and is run by Dimosthenis E. Messinis (Denis), a player who grew up in Greece and played at the top levels of table tennis, and is also the author of a book called “Table Tennis: From A to Z”. This is a well-run forum, with a member base of over 3000 from all over the world. Virtually every topic you can think has been covered at some stage. Although the forum is very big and general, after you spend a few weeks participating in the forum you’ll get to know some of the regulars. This is one of my favourite general forums.

MyTableTennis.net Toronto Table Tennis Super league: www.mytabletennis.net/forum
This forum seems to be run by the Toronto table tennis club, although the specifics are unknown. This is no doubt the biggest forum in terms of membership, over 17,000 members! If you want some specific information and you need a quick answer, this forum will be your best chance of getting it, since the membership base is so huge. It can be hard to get to know people there, although after some time you’ll get to know some of the regulars.

About.com: tabletennis.about.com/mpboards.htm
The table tennis forum here is a sub-section of the huge about.com website. The table tennis forum is run by Greg Letts, a well respected and high level Australian player and coach. This too is a quite a big forum, although the actual number of members is unknown. Although it has some very knowledgeable people there who are very helpful, the layout of the site and some the adds and pop-up windows does not make it a little harder to navigate. Still it’s well worth visiting and has some great threads and information. Greg also runs his own forum here: www.gregsttpages.com/ttforum, but this is not that active any more especially since Greg now focuses on the about.com forum.

One of a Kind Forums: forum.oneofakindtrading.com.au
This forum was initially created as a support forum for the One of a kind Trading online shop, but over time it’s developed into a specialist pimple rubber forum. It is run by the author of this article and a group of very knowledgeable friends. Although it covers all types of topics, if you need information on long pimple rubbers or other pimple rubbers, this is the place to be.

Tennis de table.com: www.tennis-de-table.com
A large and popular forum from France. This appears to be another active forum with quite a large membership base, but you’ll need to be able to read French to participate.

Noppen-test.de forum: www.noppen-test.de/forum
A German forum specialising in pimples rubbers. You need to be able to understand German to participate

Tennis-Tavole.com: www.tennis-tavolo.com/forum
An Italian forum for table tennis. This appears to be another active forum with quite a large membership base, but you’ll need to be able to read Italian to participate.

There are no doubt some other forums out there that have not been covered here, particularly non-English speaking ones. New forums come and go all the time, but the main ones are covered here. Many online shops also run their own forums, but these are often mainly intended to support the shops only, and references to other shops may not be appropriate. Nevertheless these can be very useful to find further information on goods that the shop sells.

In conclusion, forums are a great source of information, and freely available to anyone. If you need information on equipment or strategies to improve your game, they are well worth checking out. Check out a few of the forums mentioned above, join in as a member if you enjoy them or wish to post… No need to be shy, it’s anonymous, so no-one knows who you are!

Where to buy table tennis equipment

If you in looking to buy some professional table tennis equipment, check out the online shop at ” One of a Kind Trading” here: Table tennis equipment online It has a wide range of high quality and professional Chinese and Japanese blades, rubbers and accessories. It also has a small range of Badminton equipment online

You can find a huge number of Table tennis equipment reviews there with information and people’s reviews.

Table tennis bats – what’s right for you?

Choosing a table tennis bat can be very hard, particularly if you don’t have access to the advice of experienced players or a club. Here is an article that outlines the choices you need to make, to get the a good bat for your level, without paying rediculous prices:

Table tennis bats – choosing between pre-made and customs setups