The birth of modern table tennis?

Not sure but it looks to be around 1972. To me their footwork still looks a bit old fashioned compared to Bengtsson.

New rubbers let you do some of what we could do with speed glue. Definitely more than we could do with Mark V or Sriver before speed glue and with old blades. Of course the 38 mm balls were light and fast compared to now but now composite blades are widely used.

It is hard to accurately bring back my memory of how it felt to play in those days.

As best as I recall, in the 60s and 70s, Mark V, Sriver, and Double Happiness (pips out) were the dominant rubbers, and I don't recall anyone treating them other than breaking them in. Some mushy rubbers were used by the blockers. There was differentiation in blades but not nearly as much as there is today. No question, speed glue had a tremendous impact on the alchemy of the game. Somewhere in the middle of this documentary , Marty Reismam of 50s fame bemoans the modern emphasis on equipment. There is some irony in the way he describes the modern game as full of trickery:

APW46 wrote: I think that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and seriously watching classic hard bat TT just does not turn me on, It seem s like every rally follows the same pattern, the rallies may be longer, but they are boring. Different set of skills and I admire them, but it does not do anything for me and If I were a junior player in the 1950's I would have stuck to football.

As a spectator sport it was monotonous and they even had to institute an expedite rule, which required a player to take the offensive, because matches were going on forever.

As a player though, it had its merits, since it did create more of a match if skill rather than alchemist chicanery. Rubber really makes this sport rather unique.

richrf wrote: As best as I recall, in the 60s and 70s, Mark V, Sriver, and Double Happiness (pips out) were the dominant rubbers, and I don't recall anyone treating them other than breaking them in. Some mushy rubbers were used by the blockers. There was differentiation in blades but not nearly as much as there is today. No question, speed glue had a tremendous impact on the alchemy of the game. Somewhere in the middle of this documentary , Marty Reismam of 50s fame bemoans the modern emphasis on equipment. There is some irony in the way he describes the modern game as full of trickery:

Edited by berndt_mann - 11/12/2017 at 4:13pm

I think everything about Reisman was ironic and I am not one of his admirers. I think his schtick was bad for the sport, even if it was good for him. I hold tnis opinion quite firmly.

By the way, one of my strong memories from circa 1972 (pre speed glue era) was a bunch of old guyss bitterly complaining that inverted rubber (only thing I had ever used) had ruined the sport. Guys with the same view as Reisman. (Those old guys then were younger than I am now, ironically). Even by then, the era of Bengtsson and Surbek, it was an anachronistic way to look at the sport. Now, 45 years later what is it? Best if I say no more.

...

Baal wrote: There has never been a time when players did not obssess about their equipment. The technical aspects changed. Anyway, this thread is about the birth of modern TT -- the evolution of techniques related to sponged rubbets, mostly inverted, and usually with an emphasis on offensive strategies, which includes emergence of defenders who can attack.

Edited by berndt_mann - 11/12/2017 at 10:39pm

Maybe it is time to end this thread? Usually when everything necessary has been said, things start going off in a tangent. Let's leave a very interesting thread intact for future additions. OK?

Thanks all for a remarkable discussion about modern table tennis history! I learned a lot.

Edited by richrf - 11/13/2017 at 9:35am

Also this, which features some early versions of Asian shakehand players (1971).  Interesting to compare what has changed since the previous video from ten years earlier.  Looks like more spin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejARJYbccFY

The Asian shakehand video was great. Very modern styling with what probably was just Sriver rubber or similar.

Over the table backhand looping...

Here is a list of the technical and equipment inventions and innovations by the General Adminstration of Sport of China. Extracted from the article "Philosophical Analysis of the Technical Progress for China Table Tennis Team" published in 2006.

表 1 中國人與外國人在桌球技術方面的創新與發明 中國人的技術創新與發明 1.容國團的正手轉與不轉發球(1958) 2.容國團的反手急下旋發球(1958) 3.徐寅生的正手奔球(1958) 4.庄則棟的直拍近檯兩面攻(1961) 5.李富榮的直拍近檯左推右攻(1961) 6.張燮林的長膠直拍削球(1961) 7.王志良的橫拍轉與不轉削球(1963) 8.林惠卿的長顆和平面不同性能削球(1965) 9.梁戈亮的長顆和平面球拍的/倒拍技術(1971) 10.梁戈亮的橫拍削攻(1971) 11.許紹發的高拋發球(1973) 12.刁文元的反手側上下旋發球(1973) 13.李振恃的正手快點技術(1973) 14.郗恩庭的直拍平面弧圈快攻打法(1973) 15.許紹發的快帶技術(1973) 16.郭躍華的推擠技術(1973) 17.李赫男的短顆小弧圈技術(1973) 18.葛新愛的長顆削攻推拱結合(1973) 19.謝賽克的直拍正手蓋打弧圈(1981) 20.曹燕華的反手高拋發球(1981) 21.蔡振華的橫拍防弧進攻型打法(1981) 22.鄧亞萍的橫拍平面與長顆進攻型打法(1993) 23.王濤的平面和短顆的全攻打法(1993) 24.丁松的橫拍削攻結合(1995) 25.劉國樑的直拍橫打(1995) 26.孔令輝的橫拍反手快撕技術(1997) 27.王楠的橫拍反手連續快拉技術(1999) 外國人的技術創新與發明 1.英國的顆粒膠皮球拍(1902) 2.匈牙利的橫拍兩面攻(1926) 3.匈牙利的橫拍削球打法(1930) 4.美國的那卡爾式發球(1931) 5.奧地利的黑色厚海綿拍(1951) 6.日本的直拍單面攻(1952) 7.日本的正反貼黃色海綿拍(1957) 8.捷克的下蹲式發球(1957) 9.日本的弧圈型上旋球(1960) 10.奧地利的防弧海綿拍(1970) 11.瑞典的橫拍快攻結合弧圈(1971) 12.匈牙利的橫拍兩面拉弧圈(1971) 13.瑞典的橫拍換握拍手指發球(1981) 14.韓國的直拍弧圈結合兩面攻(1988) 15.瑞典橫拍兩面沖、攻結合防的全面型打法(1989) 16.德國的橫拍正反手甩腕彈擊球技術(1989) 17.法國的橫拍凶狠型進攻打法(1991) 18.克羅埃西亞的橫拍反手蓋打弧圈直線(1998) 19.奧地利的橫拍側身正手右側旋發球(1999)

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Table 1 Chinese and foreign inventions and innovations in table tennis techniques

Chinese Technical Inventions and Innovations
1. Rong Guotuan's forehand spin and no-spin serve(1958)
2. Rong Guotuan's backhand fast backspin serve(1958)
3. Xu Yinsheng's forehand kick serve(1958)
4. Zhuang Zedong's penhold close-to-table double wing attacking(1961)
5. Li Furong's penhold close-to-table backhand blocking and forehand attacking(1961)
6. Zhang Xielin's penhold long-pips chopping(1961)
7. Wang Zhiliang's shakehand spin and no-spin chopping(1963)
8. Lin Huiqing's long-pips and inverted combination chopping(1965)
9. Liang Geliang's long-pips and inverted twiddling(1971)
10. Liang Geliang's shakehand chopping and attacking(1971)
11. Xu Shaofa's high-toss serve(1973)
12. Diao Wenyuan's backhand side-top/-under serve(1973)
13. Li Zhenshi's forehand "kuai dian"(1973) (TL's note: kuai dian, literally quick point, similar to the flick)
14. Xi Enting's penhold inverted looping plus fast-attack style(1973)
15. Xu Shaofa's "kuai dai" technique(1973) (TL's note: kuai dai, literally quick guide, basically an off-the-bounce drive by borrowing the incoming force)
16. Guo Yuehua's spin block technique(1973)
17. Li Henan's short-pips "little loop" technique(1973) (essentially a weaker version of the loop with inverted rubber)
18. Ge Xinai's long-pips chopping and attacking with a combination of "tui gong"(1973) (TL's note: the term tui gong is a type of blocking associated with long-pips.)
19. Xie Saike's penhold forehand flat hit against looping(1981) (TL's note: gai da in Chinese, literally cover strike, to flat hit through a slow loop with strong force to overcome the strong spin)
20. Cao Yanhua's backhand high-toss serve(1981)
21. Cai Zhenhua's shakehand anti-spin attacking style(1981)
22. Deng Yaping's shakehand inverted and long-pips attacking style(1993)
23. Wang Tao's inverted and short-pips all-out attacking style(1993)
24. Ding Song's shakehand with chopping and attacking combined(1995) (TL's note: modern defense)
25. Liu Guoliang's reverse penhold backhand(1995)
26. Kong Linghui's shakehand backhand "kuai si" technique(1997) (TL's note: kuai si, literally quick rip, an off-the-bounce backhand loop stroke used on backspin and topspin)
27. Wang Nan's shakehand consecutive backhand quick loop technique(1999)

Foreigners Technical Inventions and Innovations
1. UK's hardbat(1902)
2. Hungarian shakehand double-wing attacking(1926)
3. Hungarian shakehand chopping style(1930)
4. US's fingerspin and knucklespin serves(1931)
5. Austrian thick black sponge racket(1951)
6. Japanese penhold single-wing attacking(1952)
7. Japanese inverted/non-inverted yellow sponge racket(1957)
8. Czechoslovakian tomahawk serve(1957)
9. Japanese loopdrive(1960)
10. Austrian antispin racket(1970)
11. Swedish shakehand fast-attack plus looping(1971)
12. Hungarian shakehand double-wing looping(1971)
13. Swedish shakehand serve-grip(1981)
14. Korean penhold looping plus double-wing attacking(1988)
15. Swedish shakehand double-wing loopdriving and attacking plus defense all-round style(1989)
16. German shakehand forehand and backhand wrist-snap punch-flicking technique(1989)
17. French shakehand aggressive attacking style(1991) (TL's note: colloquially known as the reckless/irrational style in China)
18. Croatian shakehand backhand down-the-line flat hit against looping(1998)
19. Austrian shakehand reverse pendulum serve(1999)
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Additional info from my own research.

Yasaka invented/commercialized the first inverted rubber, Soft Rubber, now known as Original, in 1951. A non-inverted version of Soft Rubber followed in 1953.

http://world-tt.com/ps_maker/yasaka/001/page.php

いわゆる「裏ソフトラバー」が誕生したのは1951年で、ヤサカが発売した 『ソフトラバー 』 （現在の 『オリジナル 』 ）が第一号。当時の主流だった一枚ラバーにはない強い回転力が評判となり、それにともないループドライブという新技術が流行したことで、裏ソフト使用者は日本を中心に世界中で増えていった。そして、1969年にさらなる高性能をひっさげて発売されたのが高弾性高摩擦裏ソフトの 『マーク V 』 。

(So-called "inverted soft rubber" was born in 1951, Yasaka released "Soft Rubber" (now known as "Original") was the first model. With the reputation of strong spin not available in pimpled rubber which was mainstream at the time, as the new technique called loopdrive became popular, users of inverted rubber were mainly in Japan and increased around the world. And in 1969 the high-elasticity, high friction inverted rubber 'Mark V' with higher performance was launched.)

Inverted Version


Non-inverted Version



Butterfly first inverted rubbers, Comet, came in April 1960, shortly followed by
Allround D13 and Tempest D13, came in June 1960 and 1962, respectively.

Comet(inverted on left and non-inverted on right)



Allround D13(inverted) and C4(non-inverted)


Tempest came with a topsheet made of 2 layers - a layer of high-performance rubber on top of a layer of control-oriented rubber.

http://amakurareiichi.blog60.fc2.com/blog-category-30.html



Gergely, Jonyer, and Klampar, known collectively as the three musketeers in China, are credited for the double-wing looping style.

Waldner is often credited for the shakehand serve-grip.

Gatien and Saive are often credited for the reckless style.

A polish player, known as 布熱夫斯基, is commonly credited for the invention of reverse pendulum serve in the late '90s. I tried matching the name against the ITTF database(before it was taken down) but couldn't pinpoint the player.

Edited by zeio - 04/21/2018 at 3:37pm

When I started out as a kid in '95, Sriver and Mark V were still king for grippy rubbers. I saved up and bought my first Mark V in '97. There were a few other choices, but those two were the go-to models. Then, Bryce got released in '97 with a ridiculous price tag, and the ESN Tensor opened the floodgates around Y2K.

Oh, never noticed the omission of speed glue. There are many versions of the speed glue story, but there is no doubt the Hungarians were the first to use it at the WTTC.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all of the great new finds!

I received a message from Coach Bengtsson's club that he would be happy to answer any questions we may have. I propose that we create a list of questions, interview style, and present it to him. I would be happy to compile the list, but I believe that it has such great historical importance, that possibly one of the senior members of this forum with more historical knowledge than myself, compile and edit the questions. This is a great opportunity for all of us to document and understand the transition into modern table tennis. Let's make the most of it! How would everyone like to proceed especially the forum moderators?

Hi everyone,

I prepared a preliminary set of questions fir Coach Bengtsson. How do they sound to you? We can add, subtract and edit. I suspect he may not be able to answer all of our questions, so I'll leave it up to him to pick and choose. Feedback?

1) You won the singles at the World Table Tennis Championships 1971, 3 World championships, 7 European championships and 65 International championships. Your contribution to the world of table tennis was immortalized when a bronze statue of the legendary Swede was raised in his hometown, Falkenberg, in 2006. What were the circumstances that inspired you to become a professional table tennis player?

2) Which coaches had the greatest impact on the development of your techniques and style?

3) Some on this forum credit you with introducing modern table tennis to the world. Notable was your fast, modern footwork, quick, short and powerful backhand and forehand techniques utilizing whole body torque, and unique services. How and why did you develop this style?

4) Your 1971 World Championship victory over the great Shigeo Itoh shocked the table tennis world. Did you feel entering the tournament that you had a good chance of winning? How did you prepare for the tournament?

5) Would you like to share with us some personal experience of yours with your playing partner throughout the 1970s, the late and great Kjell (The Hammer) Johansson?

6) There was a great rivalry between the Swedish, Hungarian, and Yugoslav teams. Can you describe it to us and how the rivalry if these teams expedited the development of modern table tennis?

7) Can you tell us something about the history of speed glue which elevated the 1970s style of play to a whole new level of modern table tennis techniques in the 1980s?

8) ‎We know that you have been involved with the development of many great players including Jorgen Persson, Jan-Ove Waldner, Peter Karlsson, Erik Lindh, Michael Maze (Denmark), Steffen Fetzner (Germany), Colum Slevin (Ireland). This is an extraordinary list of great champions. It certainly makes you one of the most accomplished coaches in table tennis history. What is it about your coaching style that is was able to develop so many champions?

9) Can you share with us some thoughts about modern table tennis as it was introduced in the 1970s and how it compares to today's standards?

10) Can you tell us about what you are doing today to help develop future great table tennis players?


Edited by richrf - 11/13/2017 at 7:59pm