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World Diversity Table-Tennis Federation (WdTTF)
Players > Get excited !!!!! Diversity-Table-Tennis (dTT) & new
rating system is here. (See
table towards middle first)
Coaches > Free Certification & grandfathering. WdTTF launch date still
pending (till Sept 2022 or earlier) but you can still submit your coach
credentials so that it can be grandfathered into WdTTF coaches list
PERMANENTLY, so you stop paying hefty certification & licensing &
yearly renewal fees to ITTF affiliates like USATT, DTTB, TTAustralia,
CTTA etc
Don’t forget to check out the cool WdTTF approved racket
coverings (rubbers) table to be added later, to see if your favorite ITTF
banned rubber is included (If not write
to WdTTF to see if it can be added) !! dTT (diversity Table-Tennis) is the name of WdTTF’s version of the sport of table-tennis. iocTT is the name of the activity for the
IOC’s ITTF’s version of table-tennis.
Unlike ITTF, WdTTF’s rules focus
on strong
emphasis on diversity & inclusion of ALL playing styles & ages
and not just pro athletes, with unique set of rules for tournaments (&
leagues) that are almost identical to ITTF but more diverse for the all age
events of tournaments & are additionally distinctly different for youth
(ages 18-), All-ages, Veterans (ages 40+)
& Para players.
WdTTF’s rules
& regulations are almost identical to ITTF’s except for few critical
differences such as for racket (coverings). You can read the details by
clicking on the various links at the top of the page for Rule, Tournaments,
Leagues, Youth, Women,
ITTF uses a “one size fits all’ method for rules &
regulations & changes meaning that what is good for pro athletes should
also be equally valid for all ages & playing styles. This may work in most
other (racket) sports but in table-tennis it had been a total disaster (for
reasons that won’t discussed here). WdTTF solves this
major problem by creating slightly different playing conditions for various
groups as explained below :-
1.
All-ages events :- WdTTF rules
for all-ages events are almost identical to ITTF rules except 2 items explained
here.:-
(i)
Currently,
overwhelming majority of pro players secretly speed-glue & or boost in
violation of ITTF’s totally unnecessary (reasons not discussed here) fake
speed-glue ban (1995) & fake booster bans (2008.) Safe speed-gluing & safe boosting will therefore be legal
in any & all WdTTF tournaments & leagues.
(ii)
Additionally
defensive players can use long pips rubbers that were made illegal by ITTF for
no technical reason before 1998 (This makes rubbers upto
Aspect Ratio of 1.3 legal in WdTTF & rubbers such as Feint Long (Classic)
which was used by almost all top & other defenders before 1998 will now be
legal in WdTTF. Additional new Long Pips
rubbers with Aspect Ratio upto 1.5 but with minimal
disruption will also be allowed). Please note
that the low aspect ratio rubbers (AR less than 1.1) that were released after
1998 have become totally
useless in the 40+ plastic ball domain to defensive players due to 3
more rule / regulation changes by ITTF after 1998 & these changes
have rendered defensive chopping style play all but extinct
2.
Youth events :- WdTTF rules are almost identical to ITTF
rules except 2 items explained here.:-
(i)
Safe speed-gluing & safe boosting will be legal in any & all
WdTTF tournaments & leagues.
(ii)
Players ages under 18 can benefit from
special WdTTF rules for junior play to
develop proper strokes & tactics since ONLY spinny inverted rubbers are
allowed in youth events
. Youth will also be allowed safe speed-gluing & safe
boosting under adult / parental supervision.
Note :- However youth can still use any other rubbers allowed in all age
events of a tournament if they
choose)See pips & league pages for league rules
3.
Veterans (Age 40 & over) events :- Rules for ages
40+ events are identical to all age events of WdTTF rules (item 1 above) with 2 exceptions
below :-
(i)
Newly
manufactured rubbers will be allowed a maximum allowed aspect Ratio of 1.8 as
long as they have minimal disruption
(ii)
(ii)
Additionally, all rubbers that were
banned by either the 1998 Durban Aspect Ratio regulation & the 2008 frictionless
pips ban (such as most Dr.Neubauer rubbers, Butterfly Resilon
etc) will be immediately allowed as
legal.
Note :- Veteran players can use these additional
rubbers ONLY in Veterans events and not in Aall-age
events of a tournament. See pips & league pages for league rules
4.
Note
:-
WdTTF is sort of a “virtual” organization,
in the sense that neither a player nor a club (or organization) is required to
have an WdTTF membership. All a club (or organization such as schools,
colleges, community center etc) need to do is run tournaments or leagues using
WDTTF rules , explained in the rules page of this website (Click on link at the
top) & that is it. That immediately gives the players
1.
Free membership with WdTTF for your
organization (clubs, schools, colleges etc)
2.
Free memberships for players who play in
your club’s leagues or tournaments.
(However only clubs etc , who are NOT affiliated with ITTF or its
Associates such as USATT, DTTB, TTAustralia,TTEngland,
JTTAA etc are eligible for WdTTF memberships, since ITTF does not enforce ANY
safety protocols at lower levels of play & only partially at even
professional levels, though ITTF (not WdTTF) had claimed over & over since
1995 that certain practices by players are very unhealthy. Unlike ITTF, the
health of ALL players is critically important in WdTTF, not just professional
players)
3.
Free
vastly improved worldwide rating system (that encourages players to play in more
tournaments & leagues and not avoid playing after reaching their highest
rating) with
separate individual ratings and also doubles ratings & mixed doubles
ratings for tournament players which players can use to play in tournaments
worldwide. WdTTF
will process your results for FREE to calculate ratings.
4.
Free worldwide ratings processing for all
league players (totally separate from tournament ratings) in your club that you
can use in leagues worldwide
5.
Free website for your club or organization
with frequent almost unlimited updates (if you already have a website you can
you can still get additional one for more publicity and promotion)
Free coach certification & classification (Existing coaches in
all countries can be grandfathered in unlike new coaches who need to go thru WdTTF
certification process & your name can be directly added to current WdTTF
list of coaches. No need
to pay high certification or licensing fees in your country to ITTF
affiliates like USATT or TTAustralia or DTTB
WdTTF Rubber Type allowed in each
Player Divisions |
||||
WdTTF Rubber Type |
Youth (Age 18 & under) |
All age events |
Veterans (Age 40 & over) |
|
Spinny Smooth (Pips-In) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Safe Speed Gluing |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Safe Boosting |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Any Pips or Anti-Spin |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Sandpaper / Liha |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Hardbat |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Anti-Spin Smooth (Pips In) |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
2008 Pip Friction Limit |
Not relevant as pips /
anti not allowed in youth events |
Yes |
No |
|
Maximum Allowed Pips Out Aspect Ratio (AR) |
1.5 |
1.8 |
||
Maximum Pip Density |
Set back to pre-2003
value of 50 from the current 30 pips / square cm |
|||
Black rubber one side mandatory |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
||||
Notes |
||||
1. Youth (18-) cannot use
pips / anti only in youth events but they can use them in all age or para
events |
||||
2. All old pips rubbers
banned by 1998 |
||||
3. All old (frictionless)
pips rubbers banned in 2008 will be allowed back in Vet / |
||||
4. Rubbers banned from 2008
Frictionless Pips Ban are still banned in all age events |
||||
5 Future pips rubbers must
still meet 2008 friction limits in all age events but not in Veteran / |
||||
6. Maximum allowed pip
Density set back to pre-2003 level of 50 from current 30 pips / sq.cm |
||||
7. Youth rubber rules are
developmental / grassroots oriented |
||||
8.All age events rules are spectator
(presentation) oriented (pro / high
level amateur) |
||||
9. Veteran / |
||||
10. For leagues, individual
organizations set own their rubber rules based on their demogarphics
etc |
||||
11. Rubbers limited only
for Veteran / |
||||
12. In |
||||
13. Except Para, any 2 rubber
color combinations OK as long as both sides are clearly different. |
||||
14. For |
Please click here to see full
excel list of WdTTF approved rubbers for each of above categories
You need to tab thru each excel sheet in above
file by clicking tabs on the bottom.
You may want to bookmark this link as it also
includes current ITTF LARC (April-June 2022)
The above file also includes just a listing of all new colorful rubbers
available
For more details, please visit the
rules page, ratings page and other age specific pages of this website of this
website by clicking on links at the top of this page
Contrary to popular myth, clubs or
other organizations (such as schools, colleges, recreation centers etc) are NOT
required obtain any permission from ITTF (or IOC) or their national affiliates
such as USATT, CTTA, JTTAA, TTAustralia,
DTTB(Germany), etc to run their own
tournaments using dTT rules instead of
iocTT rules, since the sport of dTT is not associated with ITTF’s activity of
iocTT. It is a well known fact that 100s of tournaments are run in
places like China and Korea without affiliation to national affiliates of ITTF
& ever increasing number of so called unsanctioned tournaments are becoming
very popular in places like USA
BTW , a new association is
not some revolutionary idea in any sport
& certainly not in table-tennis. There are scores of example in
other sport. Even within ITTF there is a confusing segment called WTT. And then there is the sad sport of TTX by ITTF, to turn table-tennis into a spinless sport. One
vindictive (yet a great & charismatic nonetheless) champion with a 50 year
grudge against sponge domain table-tennis managed to con some players to start
a Hardbat Association in
For any questions,
suggestions, complaints, corrections, compliments etc., please contact WdTTF
at : ttDiversity@gmail.com