A
table tennis racket is an important investment that is crucial to
your
table tennis game performance. Use
Every Game Room's guidelines
to help decide which
table tennis racket and
rubber
is best for you.
Do you want a table tennis racket,
paddle, or
blade?
Racket,
paddle, and
blade are three terms that can often be used interchangeably.
The detail to watch for is whether the
racket,
paddle, or
blade includes
rubber.
Blades are regularly listed without
rubber included, while
rackets and
paddles may or may not include
rubber.
If you are seeking a
racket that arrives preassembled and ready for
play, try out one of the many recreational and preassembled
rackets
we have available. If you are seeking to customize your
table tennis
experience by choosing a
blade and a
rubber
that suits your personal preference, read on for some key terms that will aid in your decision.
Choosing Your Racket:
Rackets, blades, and paddles are available with a variety of handle
styles. The handle that is best for you is purely based on personal preference.
Anatomic Handle – A handle
style that is tapered at the neck and is broader in the middle. The area between the base and the middle of an anatomic handle
(AN) is slightly concave.
Flared Handle – The popular
handle style that is wide at the base and concave in the center.
Penhold Handle - A type of
grip that gives the best possible forehand but the most awkward backhand of the conventional grips. Penhold is most popular in
the Asian community.
Straight Handle – A handle
style without any deviation in construction. The straight handle (ST) is uniform from neck to base.
Choosing Your Rubber:
Just as there are several
table tennis racket handle options available, so too are there a
variety of
table tennis blade rubber options.
Inverted or Pips-In Rubber - The most common
table tennis racket covering
and consists of a sheet of pips out
rubber
on top of a layer of sponge. The pips point inward, leaving a smooth surface.
This is the opposite of pips-out sponge, where the pips point outward. This surface gives the most spin of any surface.
Pips-Out Rubber – The second most common type of
table tennis rubber,
pips-out rubber has a layer of sponge on the
table tennis racket that
is covered by a sheet of "pimpled"
rubber.
The pips point outward, and this
rubber
is the best surface for all-out hitting.
Long Pips Rubber –
A type of pips out
rubber
where the pips are long, thin, and bend on contact with the
table tennis ball.
Long Pips is used mostly for defensive play. A
table tennis racket with long pips returns the
ball with whatever spin was on it at contact and is very difficult to
play against if you are not used to it.
Antispin Rubber -
An inverted
table tennis rubber
sheet that is very slick so that spin does not take on it. Antispin usually has a very dead sponge underneath the
rubber
and is used mostly for defensive shots.
Antispin rubber
is often used by players with the Seemiller grip.
Hard Rubber - A classic surface, this pips out
rubber
covers the
ping pong paddle with no sponge underneath. Often
referred to as "hardbat," this was the most common
table tennis racket covering
for many years until the development of sponge
rubber. Hard
rubber
is an
all-around
surface, but is usually at a disadvantage against the spin and speed of a sponge surface.
