Could some one give me some pointers as to buying a table tennis racket. Which rubbers to choose ? I visited butterflyonline.com and they were selling the blades and rubbers separately. Was wondering if getting a better racket will give me that little extra edge?
Good quality table tennis paddles are sold custom made. You get to select rubber on each side and the blade.
Rubbers come with TWO factors - speed and spin. The higher the rating (from 1 to 10) the higher the spin or speed. Depending on your style of game, you should select these parts.
A decent blade would cost you around $30, two rubbers (one for each side) would run you another $50. Assembling the paddle is free, so the complete paddle would run you around $70-$90.
An excellent site for US residents is at http://www.paddlepalace.com
This online shop is out of Portland, Oregon and has good prices. They also carry specials on pre-made paddles.
Lemme know, if you have any additional questions.
May I know where do you play?
1 advice: dont hold them as chinese do:smack:
well bad habits die hard..these ching chongs(chinese) are use to holding small things(u know what i mean..aik ankh marnay wala icon!)…so they hold their rackets like their small joe!
ping pong is such a boring game to play…( i was never good in forehand chops…always picked services on backhand --i guess it’s easier to nullify topspin..anyway i had butterfly racket..way back in my school..w/ 4ply handle..one side plain)..although i love watching women ping pong..w/ eurpoean players–esp- Finland (forgot her name)
aside from the rubbers themselves you ave to look at the blade. I ama ssuming you use teh shakehand grip since not many desis use the penhold grip in general. You have to look at several factors on the blade itself.
weight..depends heavily on the composition, type of wood, number of plies, carbon fiber layers etc.
speed- the composition of the blade will also affect the speed. identical rubber sheets on diff blades will demonstrate different speeds.
grip- straight, flared, anatomical etc. the feel is different and is a personal preference, although attacking players usually go for the flared ..but its not a univeral rule.
as far as rubber sheets go, aside from the speed/spin ratimgs of the rubber sheets, you have to look at the basic type of sheet as well, a smooth sheet is one option, referred to as pips in. the other is pips out which can be with or without the soft layer underneath, soem of these are anti spin sheets.
basically it depends on your style of play. I am guessing you are a novice, in which case I would recommend going for a pre-made racquet by JUIC, Butterfly or Stiga with medium speed and spin ratings, pips out both sides. as you develop your game further and develop a style you will be ina better position to pick and choose what works best for you.
Getting a better racquet may give you a temporaryedge over players at equal level, but if you exploit the capabilities of the racquet fully and integrate them into your game you will be much better off.
btw some ppl think that a sheet /blade combo that gives them more speed and spin is going to be good for them..well its a doiuble edged sword, it means harder control as well.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Funguy and Fraudz thank you for the detailed responses. Funguy I am not in states.I picked up the game in collage days, used to play regularly but these days occasionally when ever a few friends get together.
Competition (among friends …) forces me to be more of a defensive player than an offensive. Though I like to be an offensive player and generally play offensive. I have found out that chops help me win more. I do use the shakehand grip. I have always used pre-made racquets. I have found out that a racquets with medium speed and spin suits my game it give me more control and makes my chops more effective. But then my smashes are slow…
From the info you gave me I was just wondering. What if I used a faster blade but rubbers with more spin rating?
I have always used smooth rubbers, Fraudz why do you recommend pips out?
Thanks again for your response. In future if I have some questions I know who to contact .
thats rite! if u get a habit to play, you cannot change the style!
ahhh, those good old days of making own paddles 
. good info funguy/Fraudia :k: I used to make custom paddles for myself 
Originally posted by the_paindoo: *
**Funguy and Fraudz thank you for the detailed responses. Funguy I am not in states.I picked up the game in collage days, used to play regularly but these days occasionally when ever a few friends get together.*
Paindoo where are you now? Back in my teens when I played in karachi, I used to get the used sheets from arif khana nd farjad saif. these guys changed the sheets every few days, and although they were no longer good enough for their use, they were pretty good for me. Even now if you go to Islamia Club ior the National Coaching Center in Karachi, many of the top national players are there and you can get used equipment for a significant doscount. farjad was a great guy and gave the stuff away for free much of the time.
*Competition (among friends …) forces me to be more of a defensive player than an offensive. Though I like to be an offensive player and generally play offensive. I have found out that chops help me win more. I do use the shakehand grip. I have always used pre-made racquets. I have found out that a racquets with medium speed and spin suits my game it give me more control and makes my chops more effective. But then my smashes are slow… *
I can coach you just by giving you pointers and some basic drills, if you can get a practice partner, I can help improve your game noticeably in a few weeks by following the training approach used by the swedish national team. in the 90's I coached with the Stiga table tennis camps with Christian Lillerios, a swede, who later become the coach of the US national team. He helped me develop my offense game since until then i was a more of an allround player and moved to a defensive game to win many times. developing an offense or defense game is not a very tough thign to do, it just has to be a structured approach. as long as you are holding the racquet right and have the basic strokes right, i can help you develop your game. There are also some good tutorials out there now that can help your game a lot.
Nothing beats having a coach who can observe how you react to diff game styles or how you play, posture, positioning, strokes etc. So if there is someone local where you are who is a pretty good player, ask him to give you feedback and coach you a bit.
*From the info you gave me I was just wondering. What if I used a faster blade but rubbers with more spin rating? *
the composite effect would be that you will have a racquet with a fast speed and high spin. great for attacks, pretty bad for defense for the more defensive players because it requires much more control.
*I have always used smooth rubbers, Fraudz why do you recommend pips out? *
there are 3 types of pips out , short, raw (no sponge underneath the top sheet), and long. I was suggesting the long pips. when you block a topspin using a long pips sheet the return turns into back-spin (chop) and similarly if you return a backspin (chop) of your competitor with an open angle racquet push your return will turn into top spin. If the people you are playing against have not had a lot of experience with this, it messes up their game, and they have to adapt, which gives you the upper hand.
ahhh but then just like there is a catch 22 with high speed- high spin sheets i.e. it works against you in some ways just as it works for you in other ways. When you return a simple pushed volley with a push, or lower intensity topspins with a chop stroke you will notice lesser control than a regular inverted-pips in sheet. Thesew sheets are slower in general as well.
another option for a defense style is having one anti-spin sheet. very easy to return offensive top or backspins..however hard as anything to use this sheet to create a spin of your own.
My suggestion for a good racquet, and some game advise..become more of an allround player than defensive, which i think you kind of are right now. Get a med weight, fast blade with an anti spin or pips out on backhand and a 1.7mm or 2.0mm thickness medium spin sheet on forehand. As you develop your offensive, move up to a 2.2mm sheet with a higher spin rating.
funguy
chicago has a table tennis league starting up in late July. check out www.killerspin.com
Pir Sahab, there is league TT played in Schaumburg three times a week. Lemme know if you are interested.
I think its not called Racket. Its called a Table Tennis Bat.
But my thinking might be wrong. (mostly it is)
Fraudz thanks once again.
I am in Bahrain. Really appreciate the time and effort you have taken to provide excellent information. Never knew about the pip outs and how they can affect the game. Also do appreciate your offer to give me pointers and drills as to improve my game. It would be very useful if you could give me a link to a website with drills.
Plus another thing that came to my mind. I might be wrong but from my personal experience I feel as the rubber grows older, the spin improves, and the rubber tends to soften? Is that why the pros change the rubbers so frequently? If not why do they?
Also was wondering what level did you play Table tennis? How many championships you have Pir Sahib? It seems to me you have achieved at least a certain level in the world of Table Tennis?
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*Originally posted by funguy: *
Pir Sahab, there is league TT played in Schaumburg three times a week. Lemme know if you are interested.
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funguy
I know. I have not played much in years due to a job that required me to travel Monday-Thursday. The only day I could really come in was for friday open play. Now that I am in town, I should stop by.
Finally changed the sheets on my racquet which had been sitting on a shelf for last 5 years so am good to go.
still cant get used to the new game system, i.e. one serve each and the different diameter of the table tenis balls.
Originally posted by the_paindoo: *
**It would be very useful if you could give me a link to a website with drills.*
My former coach Chritian Lilliroos had written a series of articles which may be on the paddle palace website, but I will track some down for you.
*Plus another thing that came to my mind. I might be wrong but from my personal experience I feel as the rubber grows older, the spin improves, and the rubber tends to soften? Is that why the pros change the rubbers so frequently? If not why do they? *
actually for competitive play, a sheet life is 40-60 hours of play. Not for people like you and I, but for the professional level players. the professional players sometimes change sheets on a daily basis.
*Also was wondering what level did you play Table tennis? How many championships you have Pir Sahib? It seems to me you have achieved at least a certain level in the world of Table Tennis? *
I played competitive Table Tennis in my early teens in Pakistan and although I did not qualify to be a part of the national junior team, I had been part of the national junior team training camp as an alternate but then moved out to the US. Here I played mostly on college level and played in US National collegiate championships in early nineties. continued playing in USTTA tournaments until 93. Then I played for City of London team in UK. after that the time I had to give for my first sport, soccer, took more time since I played in a semi-pro league team. Still played in Philadelphia city championships, won a few, lost a few. and basically have not played much since I finished my masters. I just changed the sheets for teh first time in 5-6 years just recently.
Thought so, I had a feeling you are not one of the Fraudia Pirs of Table Tennis… :k: