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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, Para, Veterans etc, to understand the differences clearly.       WdTTF does not use phrases juniors, seniors or adults as it leads to different interpretations in different countries. Instead WdTTF uses the phrase Youth, All Ages  & Veterans.  

              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.      Para  events :- Rules for event will be identical to Veterans events but also including All-age Para events & Youth Para events:-

                  Note :- Para players  can use these rubbers ONLY in Para events & not in all age non-Para events of tournaments. See pips & league pages for league rules

 

     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)

Para (All ages)

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 Durban AR will be allowed back in all age, Vet & Para events

3. All old (frictionless) pips rubbers banned in 2008 will be allowed back in Vet /Para events

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 / Para events

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 / Para rules are player oriented and not spectator presentation oriented

10. For leagues, individual organizations set own their rubber rules based on their demogarphics etc

11. Rubbers limited only for Veteran / Para events cannot of course be used in all age events

12. In Para events youth (18-) players can use all pips / anti that are allowed in Veterans events

13. Except Para, any 2 rubber color combinations OK as long as both sides are clearly different.

14. For Para, one side must be black. Other side any color, except green (worst combo for color blind)

          

        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 USA. Then there is Ratings Central started by another disgruntled former USATT associate. Yet another disgruntled USATT employee started a competing table-tennis magazine 2 days after he was fired (as editor) by the USATT & he was probably fired (or quit) more times than George Steinbrenner fired & hired Billy Martin. Then every street corner in Florida, USA seems to have its own association now such as Sandpaper TableTennis Association, some clipboard Table tennis Association, a separate ratings group in Florida and then there is the http://USTTAA.org .  And there probably are similar ones in other countries such as 44 mm ball table-tennis in Japan ( Surprise …there is a similar one Florida).Then there is LIHA in Philippines. 

 

For any questions, suggestions, complaints, corrections, compliments etc., please contact WdTTF at : ttDiversity@gmail.com