Is Bigger Better in Table Tennis?

By Steve Nelson
Santa Cruz Sentinel Staff Writer

SANTA CRUZ, California - Oversize is king in sporting equipment these days, normally with the intent to hit the ball harder, faster or longer.

But in table tennis, some people believe bigger is better in order to slow the game down.

Ever see world-class table tennis players on television? Every four years you might catch a glimpse of them in the Olympics mashing the ball in a blur of speed and power, where long rallies are the exception to the rule.

In Japan, a bigger ball has been gaining popularity, primarily among senior players, because it slows down the game and allows for longer plays for points.

Nittaku has been manufacturing its "large balls" in Japan since 1988. The company sent over one if its employees, Junichi Toda, for a Bay Area tour to promote the balls in hopes they might catch on in the United States. They're 44 mm instead of the standard 40 mm.

Toda flew over from Tokyo and arrived here Thursday, and the Santa Cruz Table Tennis Table Club at Portuguese Hall was the first stop on his week-long tour.

"As a player, it's more exciting," Toda said of playing with the bigger ball. "For them (recreational players), table tennis is just a hobby, not a profession, so for them this type of table tennis is more fun."

His host for the tour is Judy Hoarfrost, a U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Famer who played on four world championship teams. Now the co-owner of Paddle Palace Table Tennis Company in Portland, Ore., Hoarfrost was a 15-year-old on the U.S. national team that went to China in a diplomacy tour in 1971. She's proud to say her team beat Richard Nixon to China by a year.

"There was some form of serendipity in it," she said of the trip to China, which earned her team national media attention. "We ended up being the means to diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China moving closer."

Thursday's gathering brought together other interesting folks. Club member Jim Langley purchased a $2,000 robot to practice with at home when he's not at Portuguese Hall. He was one of the first locals to try out the bigger ball.

"It's a different game, more athletic," said Langley, who has been playing for 30 years. "You have to run around a lot more. You can't finish a point with those big shots. If you can keep the ball on the table longer, that's a good sign."

Santa Cruz club president Richard "Willie" Williams started the club some 14 years ago, in part for financial reasons. He started playing table tennis as a young man in the Navy and once placed second in an All-Armed Forces tournament in Europe, then put his paddle away when he moved here and couldn't find anywhere to play.

Eventually, he found a club in Cupertino, but his wife would drop him off for his table tennis fix and spend the time shopping.

"It got costly," he said.

The Santa Cruz club plays twice a week at Portuguese Hall. Among the club's regulars are Bill and Harriet Brin, who make the 45-minute drive from Hollister. Bill is 81 and Harriet is 76, and both are active in national tournaments.

The club's top players are Allan and David Rudesill of Santa Cruz, both of whom were nationally ranked junior players. David, now 24, is contemplating a trip to China to hone his skills after gathering some rust while in college.

He's not too sure the big balls will catch on in the States. The "big ball" game is also supposed to be played with rubber, pimpled paddles, not the wood ones or smooth rubber kind used with the smaller ball.

"I think it's naive to assume they would take to a specialized racket and ball when they haven't taken to the sport already," David said. "Table tennis in America has been something you do at barbecues, at the YMCA or for beer pong in college."

Rudesill said he'd love to help change that perception of table tennis in America.

"Table tennis offers the opportunity for a greater spectrum of players at the grass roots level," he said. "You can be young, old, in a wheel chair, it doesn't matter. It's a lot less intimidating."

The Santa Cruz Table Tennis Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday nights at Portuguese Hall from 7-11. Players of all levels are welcome, and the club has three certified coaches on hand for assistance. Admission is $4. Call 684-1753 for more information.