everything about table tennis aka ping pong!

I remember an incident in a tournament a while ago. It was in Europe, and the match was between Ma Lin of China and Jorgen Persson of Sweden. The game was halted for at least 45 minutes before it was resumed. I found out later that the reason was a fluorescent light at a spot in the playing arena was disturbing Ma Lin. Let us keep aside that big complaint. Being a recreational or semi-professional player, lights can cause troubles. A large number of clubs in the United States have these problems. We all have gone through this problem once in a while. The spots where there is glare, a player wont be able to make a judgment to make the next stroke.

Glare:

This is the number one enemy. The clubs with windows having light coming inside and poor lighting inside the building invite glares from outside. In such situations, closing the windows with dark or possibly black cloth or paper will help.

Poor light:

The rooms with poor lighting can cause the same troubles as a room has glare. In such situations, increasing the luminance of the light will help.

Distribution of light:

The lack of distribution of light through the entire tables can cause trouble sometimes. This is where positioning of the light the tables are very important. A set of falling lamps from ceiling not centered on a table will not give equal distribution of light.

Although we can complain about the conditions of the clubs about lighting, our own eyes are culprits sometimes. Everyone’s eye receive the light differently. I have poor reception of places in a dark set up. For my eyes to have proper reception to my brain, I prefer very high brightness. The same brightness can be disturbing to a different person. Our computer screens are made of switches and we can adjust the brightness that is pleasing to our eyes. That is not possible in clubs where we see a large number of players playing. So, we have to adjust to the conditions.

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