Extreme Table Tennis
When anyone thinks of table tennis, the word extreme doesn’t come to mind. Even though it is a pretty exciting game with the speed and superb level of skill on display at major tournaments, yet it still isn’t extreme in any way. That is until now; a couple of guys from America have come together to invent and patent a new invention which they say will bring about a revolution to the game of table tennis, an extreme revolution. Ok hold on a minute this new invention isn’t going to be something so radical that it will turn table tennis into bungee jumping but it will make it more exciting to play according to the inventors of the product.
The invention is called X-Tops and it is basically an array of tabletop designs, which will extend the height of the table from the centre of it so the ends of the table will be at a normal height while the middle of the table will be raised. X-Tops come in 5 different designs and are intended to make the game more exciting. An article about this invention states that, “Five interchangeable, yet different accessory table tops have been patented. Placed on top of any existing table tennis table, each top offers a unique challenge to the player. Every shot, every angle, bounce, cut, lob or slam will be different, and yet, the same. You’ll still play regulation rules with X-Tops,” (http://www.pongworld.com/more/tabletops.php).
One of the designs is just a small raised extension in the middle of the table, while another goes a lot more crazy with an elevated area and a valley in the very centre of the raised area where balls can fall into if the players are not careful about it. What is interesting about this whole thing is that on the website where this article was posted, there is a comment section with many people offering up their views on the invention. This was the purpose of the two inventors to find out the reactions of a few table tennis fans to try and gauge what a wider reaction might be. Some of the reactions were positive while some were very negative. It seems these inventors have sparked a debate within the table tennis community.
It looks like this product might become very popular with the recreational players of table tennis. Unlike many families who buy a table, play on it for a few weeks then the table slowly becomes a collector of stuff and now no one can play on it anymore because of the amount of books and bags and clothes on it. The X-Tops probably weren’t for once in a blue moon players like us but maybe they would work for a family that play on and off once a week and want to get their kids interested in the game and need to find a novel way to do it.
By having some of the tops resemble the crazy things found on a mini golf course, it will probably make kids more interested in the game. It seems though that the inventors were finding it tough to try and get retailers and suppliers on board because the table tennis industry is still pretty conservative. It could just be that the two guys need to produce some prototypes and show their prospective buyers a game or two with the new tops. Maybe that way the buyers would find it a more worthwhile investment to put money into. If the inventors can actually demonstrate that their new tabletops actually make the game more fun for the average and amateur player than they will probably be onto a winner.
Whether you think adding things to the tables is sacrilege to the game of table tennis or not, one has to applaud the inventors for inventing something which looks like it would be a lot of fun to play on. For fans of playing table tennis, it seems like playing on something such as these table tops would be a lot of fun and it would certainly make them want to play the game over and over again. However that would probably last until that too got boring and one needs the next innovation in the game of table tennis to further excite them.
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