Headis

HEADIS (Header Table Tennis) is a hybrid of soccer and table tennis. This sport uses a table very similar to that of table tennis, but with the players striking a 7-inch rubber ball with their head. The tactics of tennis and table tennis are involved, as well as soccer element, the header. In February 2010 HEADIS was one of the finalists of the world's largest start-up competition in the sporting goods industry, the ISPO brandnew Award from Munich.[1]

Two HEADIS Player in a HEADIS-tournament (University of Goettingen)

The Game, Rules

The rules are similar to those of table tennis, with a few exceptions. The HEADIS ball is 7 inches in diameter, weighs about 100 grams, and is made out of rubber. Volleys (striking the ball before it hits the player's own side) are allowed, as well as touching the table with any part of the body. Each game is played to 11 points and up to 2 sets, although a player must be ahead by two points to win each set.[2]

HEADIS can be seen as a hybrid of two sports. The rules and the table lead to the obvious relation to table tennis. The bigger ball, volley and touching of the table differ from table tennis. Physically, HEADIS is more comparable to badminton than to table tennis. The University of Saarland tested lactate values of HEADIS and compared them to common sports.[3] The first measures showed that HEADIS values are way higher than in table tennis and can be compared to badminton. With more than 8 mmol/l lactic acid HEADIS leads to complete exhaustion. Soccer is the other sport HEADIS uses elements of, the header to be precise. This is why soccer players think it's easy to start HEADIS. HEADIS can be a training tool for youth soccer players to introduce the header.

History

HEADIS is a hybrid of head and tennis and was invented in 2006 by René Wegner, a Saarbrücken sports science student at the time, at the "Wesch", a swimming pool in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The soccer field was occupied, and they started heading the ball back and forth at the table tennis table. During his studies he developed the idea with his fellow student and friend Felix Weins. In 2008 HEADIS became part of the sports program at the University of Saarbrücken. HEADIS then started to spread throughout Germany. HEADIS is easy to start, fun to play and simple. Participation is growing quickly. There is media interest (both print and TV) in HEADIS, and it was awarded as one of the finalist at the 2010 "ISPO brandnew Award" in Munich, the world's largest start-up competition in the sporting goods industry.

Tournaments

In 2008 the German wide tournament series was founded. There are around 10 -12 tournaments per year where men, women and youth compete for points and positions in the world ranking. At the end of the year the most successful player of the HEADIS-Cup series gets awarded.[4] Each tournament itself is ranked, depending on the size of the tournament from one to five stars. The number of stars multiplied with 40 equals the amount of points the winner gets. There is only one five star event each year, the HEADIS world championship, which was held for the fourth time in 2010 in Göttingen. In 2007, it took place in Kaiserslautern, and in 2009 at the University of Saarbrücken where more than 120 participants of 6 nations played. Top ranked players as well as qualifiers of the first day of the event qualify for the worldchampionship at the next day. The first worldchampion in 2007 was Felix Weins (Nickname: Fefe the Gripper) from Saarbrücken. Marvin Löscher (Nickname: Marvelous 96) from Barsinghausen (Hannover) and Cornelius Döll (Nickname: Headsinfakt) are the most successful players, each with three titles. .[5]

Year World Champion (men) World Champion (women)
2007 Fefe the Gripper Das Ponny
2008 Marvelous 96 Shorey
2009 Marvelous 96 Hoshi
2010 Lord Voldehead Hoshi
2011 Marvelous 96 Hoshi
2012 Heineken Hoshi
2013 Headsinfarkt Headi Bobics junger Tatapan
2014 Heineken Red Hot Chili Headers Missing Pepper
2015 Headsinfarkt Red Hot Chili Headers Missing Pepper
2016 Headsinfarkt Klausi

Players and Clubs

Since 2007 the number of players is constantly growing. From 60 participants 2007 there were more than 400 participants 2009 at the tournaments and a couple thousand recreationally.[6] At this time Germany is the dominant HEADIS nation but there are more players from Luxembourg, France, Spain and England. The first HEADIS club is "HEADIS United Saarbrücken" in Saarbrücken, which was founded in 2007. 1. HSC Minerva Dresden is the first east German club. There are also HEADIS departments at traditional clubs such as TV Fechingen 1895 e. V. (Saarbrücken), FC Brünninghausen 1927 e. V. in Dortmund and SpVgg Erlangen e. V.[7][8][9][10]

University sports

At the moment HEADIS is part of the university sports program at 15 universities in Germany. In 2009 the TU Kaiserslautern was the first University to hold the official Adh Trophy HEADIS.[11]

Trivia

A service fault is called "Murach", named after headis player Arne Murach (player name: Wurstverkäufer (sausage seller)).

References

  1. ↑ "ISPO BRANDNEW - Your stepping stone into the sport industry - ISPO". ispo-brandnew.com. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Official HEADIS-rules Archived 25 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ "Institut für Sport- und Präventivmedizin". sportmedizin-saarbruecken.de. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  4. ↑ HEADIS-Cup Worldranking Archived 25 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH. "Aktuelle Nachrichten online - FAZ.NET". faz.net. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  6. ↑ summary of previoust tournaments Archived 23 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ "Zur Information!". saarsportvereine.de. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Website of "HEADIS United Saarbrücken"
  9. ↑ Website of 1. HSC Minerva Dresden 09 e.V.
  10. ↑ Thomas Schem (Tischtennis). "SpVgg Erlangen". spvgg-erlangen.de. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Premiere von Headis im adh!". Allgemeiner Deutscher Hochschulsportverband. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.

Literature

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