Change method

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The alternation method - often also called time game - is a rule in table tennis which is intended to limit the duration of a game.

description

If a set is not over after ten minutes and both players have less than 18 points in total, then the exchange method applies: the right to serve changes after each completed rally. Up to and including the first 12 ball contacts of the receiver, the "normal" rules apply, according to which points are won. If the returning player succeeds in returning the ball 13 times, he receives the point. During the rally, an assistant referee counts the number of successful returns audibly for both players and the referee. According to this method, the sentence is played to the end. Each subsequent set of the game is played with the alternation method from the start.

A game using the alternation method often comes about when two pure defenders meet, who for safety reasons do without “risky attacks” and only pass the ball back into the opposing half of the table. Since a point must be won within 26 ball contacts during the exchange method, the players are forced to change their passive safety game.

Theoretically, despite the alternation method, a sentence can be dragged out at will if, for example, the players take turns to score.

Formulation in the rules

The change method is defined in the table tennis rules A 2010/11 in paragraph 15:

15.1 With the exception of the stipulation in 15.2, the switching method is introduced after 10 minutes of playing time in a set or, at the request of both players or pairs, at any time.
15.2 The alternation method is not introduced in a sentence if at least 18 points have been achieved.
15.3 If the ball is in play when the time limit is reached, the umpire interrupts play. Then the same player who served in the interrupted rally serves. If the ball is not in play when the exchange method is introduced, the receiver of the immediately preceding rally will serve first when the game is restarted.
15.4 Each player then serves alternately for only 1 point until the end of the set. If the returning player or pair succeeds 13 returns in a rally, the receiver scores one point.
15.5 The introduction of the exchange method does not change the order of service and return as defined in 13.6.
15.6 Once the alternation method has been introduced, it must also be used in all subsequent sentences.

history

The rules for the time limit and the change method have been changed several times in the past.

No time limit before 1937

In the early days of table tennis, there was no time limit. Therefore, there were occasional mammoth matches, which were unattractive for the spectators and very physically demanding for the players involved. Two cases became known during the 1936 World Cup . The game between Poland Aloizy Ehrlich and Romanian Farkas Paneth lasted two hours and twelve minutes ( detailed description ). The game between Vasile Goldberger-Marin (Romania) and Michel Haguenauer (France) was canceled after seven hours and 30 minutes. A few weeks later Dieter Mauritz won against Helmuth Hoffmann at the West German Championships in Hagen after about three hours.

From 1937 time restriction

Immediately before the 1937 World Cup , a time limit was first introduced. Games with two winning sets could not last longer than an hour, games with three winning sets could not last longer than 105 minutes. A single sentence could last a maximum of 30 minutes. This rule was also applied: The final in the women's singles between Ruth Hughes Aarons (USA) and Trude Pritzi (Austria) was stopped in the third set at 19:16 because the 105 minute limit was exceeded. The game was not rated and therefore no new world championship title for women was awarded. At the same World Cup, the match between Sergey Senekovic (Yugoslavia) and Abou Heif (Egypt) was rated as a draw because the maximum playing time of 30 minutes was exceeded in the first set. In the encounter between Helmuth Goebel (Austria) and Farkas Paneth (Romania), both were disqualified for exceeding the time limit.

In autumn 1937 the world association ITTF tightened the regulation. A sentence was now only allowed to last 20 minutes. After 20 minutes the game is interrupted and the player with the most points is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the next rally, which can last a maximum of five minutes, decides. if no points are won after these five minutes, the set is counted as a draw. If it is the deciding set, both players will be suspended for two years from all competitions as a penalty. For example, in 1960 a game between Werner Korten (DJK Rheinland Ruhrort) and Werner Quay (Adler Fintrop) ended after three sets with 4: 3, 1: 0, 0: 0, the game was not scored.

From 1961

Since October 1, 1961, the 15-minute rule has been in effect, which was decided by the European table tennis association ETTU and the DTTB sports committee. A set that was played up to 21 at the time could not last more than 15 minutes; then the alternation method continues. For the following sentences, the changeover method starts after just 10 minutes.

An example of this regulation was the final of the national German championship in 1965 between Eberhard Schöler and Martin Ness . After 15 minutes the first set was 16:16. From then on it went into the switch method. Ness won 22:20. In the second set, after 10 minutes, when the score was 11:10 for Schöler, the switching method began. Schöler won 21:19. In the third set it was 11: 7 after 10 minutes for Schöler, who brought home the lead. With a score of 4: 2 for Schöler, the 10 minutes were over in the fourth set; Ness won 25:23. The last set saw the score of 0-0 after 10 minutes. Schöler won with 21:16.

From 1966 current regulation

From January 1, 1966, this rule was changed so that when the alternation method occurs, all following movements are played according to the alternation method from the start. This essentially corresponds to the current regulation.

When the sentences were shortened to 11 points in 2001, the ITTF reduced the maximum duration of a sentence to 10 minutes. The switching method does not start if both parties have scored at least nine points.

In 2010 this regulation was changed slightly: If both parties have achieved a total of at least 18 points, the switching method does not apply. This is also the case with 10: 8.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ quoted from a contribution by Hans Wilhelm Gäb in the newspaper Der Mittag - 75 years WTTV - anniversary issue of the West German Table Tennis Association, 2006, publisher: West German Table Tennis Association, Duisburg
  2. ↑ DTS magazine , 1961/18 issue West p. 1 + p. 14
  3. ↑ DTS magazine , 1965/22 West issue p. 14
  4. ↑ tischtennis magazine , 2010/6 p. 22