Glue..........

[DaveR]

As we all know glue with any harmful a VC's (volatile compounds) is reccommended to be banned by the ITTF (http://www.ittf.com/) and closely followed by the ETTA (http://www.englishtabletennis.org.uk/index.cfm)due to certain events unfolding with a japanese player falling seriously ill whilst applying glue to his racket, although other factors were involved for example other health conditions and constitution so things arnt as clear cut as first thought................if we are to start testing with the correct equipment then maybe it should be done on a level playing field ie..........

the glue information is here

1st Jan 2008............Junior events
1st Sep 2008 ...........Senior events

why not start the testing or "ban" as from 1st for everyone ?

Well my opinion is we are ok as things stand, providing the rules in glueing are adhered to (no pun intended) the game has many things we could change and many have been already .............for the good not sure but thats a different debate !

[Powerhouse]

I would never have allowed the glue in the first place but there again hindsight ia a wonderful thing as we all know, strange rubbers would have also fallen into the same argument.

[DaveR]

Strange rubbers meaning ........something that maybe isn't of your particular liking or difficult to play against ?

The Glue debate is one that will run and run, the rubbers is quite a different subject given there are so many reasons for someone to change to something that maybe different to the "standard" red and black as we know today.

You first of all have to look at your reasons for not allowing so called strange rubbers, do they affect your game? are they difficult to play against ?

Many reasons it seems, my opinion would be to compete and rise above with intelligance and tactical play..........ponders

[SteveJ]

Leave well alone, i actually think the glue problem is blown out of context.

[JKC]

I personally think it should be banned immediately, not because it is dangerous but because I gave it up 6 months ago after using it for the last 10+ years and found it made little difference to my game and I would like to see the faces of the young glued up kids when they find it much more difficult to hit through my spin. I also spent a fortune on the stuff over the years for no reason at all.

[DaveR]

Actually although using it for the past 10 / 15 years myself also.......i agree im of the opinion its actually detriment to the new or younger players, with the strokes being slightly false with technique suffering in the long run.........i will however be shot down as ive used it far to long.

The ETTA should make the playing field level and ban either from jan or sep 2008 and not both dates, its strange why they have done this and would like an answer as to why ?

[Flicker]

Has anyone actually used Tibhar Nimbus speed glue effect TT rubbers? Well they are getting so close to heavily speed glued TT rubbers now and without all the fuss and mess and extra cost etc etc etc what is to moan about? They have nearly produced TT rubbers that do exactly the same thing already, Before the ban!!! I say stick to the ban BUT I would like to see normal glue stay around for long term attaching of rubbers, I don't see the health risks of using the normal glue once every few months to attach TT rubbers, They have far less solvents in them, No more harmful than painting a fence etc

[Powerhouse]

Im thinking of trying some new rubber to experiment over the next month or so, without the need to glue in preperation for the coming glue ban. There are so many new products on the go it's bewildering.

[Flicker]

Powerhouse have you considered the new Donic JO Waldner Silver TT rubbers a soft speed glue effect rubber there supposed to be a big improvement on last seasons JO Waldner Gold and at a reasonable price compared to most others. I have seen the new Tibhar Nimbus and Nimbus Sound TT rubbers in action and they are rapidly becoming very popular amongst players who have recently given up speedglue!

[Powerhouse]

Will check them out ASAP and will report back on how they react and respond.

[DaveR]

Im playing with Neos Sound and plays just as well without glue although the "cheap" points are slightly more workable

[FantasyCheeseBasin]

although the glue ban is coming into effect,is it legal to cover your blade in other gooey stuff such as varnishes and or coverings of a similar ilk,maybe experimenting in my paint cupboard may throw up some interesting solutions to the glue ban,ya never know......:pray:

[JKC]

Some of the tuners do a pretty similar job to glue and I have found another household cleaning substance which does a better job than the tuners. Just need to get hold of an ENEZ machine to find out how legal it is or how long you have to wait for it to drop within the limits.

[Tinykin]

Some of the tuners do a pretty similar job to glue and I have found another household cleaning substance which does a better job than the tuners. Just need to get hold of an ENEZ machine to find out how legal it is or how long you have to wait for it to drop within the limits.

Let me guess, Mr Muscle?:grin:

Yes it does have a big effect, but can kill your rubber very quickly.

[DaveR]

Ive tried the new water based stuff (optimizer) and works well actually quite fast so no worries...............HERE (http://www.tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=212)

[JKC]

Let me guess, Mr Muscle?:grin:

Yes it does have a big effect, but can kill your rubber very quickly.

Nearly, but Sticky Stuff Remover is much more powerful than Mr Muscle.

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:-Y2oPA_UcOAvhM:http://www.cucinadirect.com/imageLibrary/jpeg230/10523.jpg (http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cucinadirect.com/imageLibrary/jpeg230/10523.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cucinadirect.com/go/Product_6678.html&h=230&w=230&sz=6&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=-Y2oPA_UcOAvhM:&tbnh=108&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsticky%2Bstuff%2Bremover%26svnum%3D10 %26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN)

[Tinykin]

Looks interesting. I might just try it for educational purposes only.:happy:

[Spinmaster]

Hey ill try anything once:woho:

[JKC]

It comes out of the kleeneze catalogue and costs £5 or you can get it on Ebay.

I put about 5-6 thin layers on the sponge and then 3-4 on the topsheet to flatten it out (probably optional but it helps to stick it if it doesn't have a huge dome). I have only used it on Chinese rubbers though so I take no responsibility for any torn tensors or suchlike. My rubbers expand by up to 3/4" and the whole process only takes an hour or so.
As with the tuners, it doesn't go to well with normal glues as the tuners seem to be solvents for glue. The newer glues work best but I find that copydex is a pretty good substitute as long as you are careful and take your time when peeling the rubbers off again.

Suggest anyone who uses it tries it on old rubbers first as I don't want lots of complaints.

[Mousy]

Chinese rubbers are so damn hard you can use petrol on them, probably still wont soften the sponge !

[Spinmaster]

Playing with Rapid Dtecs and thats still a little harder than it was a year or so ago unless the companies are going towards sponge with a harder feel.

[Anth Barella]

i have not been glueing for roughly 8/9 months now and i have found that i am still winning matches if not more now than i ever did when i was glueing. i found again i adapted to not using it and found i had more control, but young people will now start to use the vc free glue which lasts for a certain amount of time, or they will buy the already speed glued rubbers (which i have now got) and they are really good.

So it doesnt really matter whether they ban glue becasue players will just buy the pre-glued rubbers anyway.

[DaveR]

Alan Cooke said.......

John Hilton, the British European champion in the early 1980s, used the same colour rubber on both sides - normal on one side and, on the other, one which imparted a different spin. He twiddled the racket and it was difficult for his opponent to see which side he used. Rallies became short as his opponents couldn't see the spin he put on the ball. Other players followed, and that was destroying any chance of developing the sport on television. To extend rallies two different surface colours have to be used, and the ball is slightly bigger - increased from 38mm to 40mm - to slow it down, but the most important factor is the speed glue.


A few words of wisdom in there with the link between rubbers being the same colour and imparting different spins making the sport less viewable, glue also mentioned but in a slightly positive way.

The full background is in the Player Profile page we have ...........HERE (http://tabletennistalk.co.uk/forum/index.php?pageid=profile)

[Spinmaster]

I'm with Cooky on this one in relation to rubber imparting different spins making the sport less viewable, which i may add has come to fruition so lets hope we are moving forward even if it means glue is banned or at least altered with no VC's.