Bouncing the ball before points

I noticed that in videos from the 80s and before, players tended to bounce the ball off the floor before points like tennis players do. In contrast, players today tend to bounce the ball on the table, if at all.

I wonder what caused this change. Was a rule created against bouncing it off the floor to prevent the ball from being damaged? Or was it just a trend that went away in time?

Hi B G,

Interesting observation.  I think the main reason is that they use a rubberised flooring now which makes it harder for players to bounce the ball on the floor.  Previously most matches were played on wooden floors.