Physics of ETT

The simulation of physics in ETT is generally agreed by casual and competition players alike to be the best in VR table tennis games. Competition table tennis players have generally been able to achieve very high rankings in ETT, and some players who have learned table tennis in ETT have found success in transitioning to real life table tennis competition. In addition, a scientific paper studying the transfer of skills between VR and real sport used ETT as a basis and found that playing ETT in virtual reality subsequently improved beginner players' real life table tennis skills.

Bat-ball contact
The spin, speed and direction of the ball after contact with the bat is determined by apparent orientation, speed and direction of your virtual paddle relative to the ball (as determined by your paddle orientation, controller's motion and tracking quality), the ball's incoming direction, speed and spin, and the properties of your paddle surface (bounciness, spin and throw coefficient).

Ball flight
A ball in a weightless vacuum will always travel in a straight line. A ball in a vacuum but with uniform gravity acting on it will travel in a perfect parabola, only dependent on the ball's speed and the strength and direction of the gravitational field. However, when moving through the medium of air, drag and the magnus effect cause the ball to deviate from that shape, both of which are simulated in ETT.

Ball-table contact
Per ITTF rules, a ball when released from 30 cms above a table should rise 23 cm on its first bounce. Stub - please write something Roman!

Table-bat contact
Due to the nature of playing table tennis without the limitations of a physical table, some players have gotten used to being able to pass the bat through the table. This allows some players to do stronger swings at short balls that in real life would require a "flick" shot, and thereby gain an advantage. Without the point loss, pain and potential damage to bat and hand, players have no reason to learn otherwise unless they wish to be authentic or try real table tennis.

As such, simple table-bat physics will be added where swinging the bat through the table will make the bat get stuck on the original side temporarily, and the bat leaning into the table will make it deflect off it at an angle.