Table tennis bats: Classification and brands - An overview

First one should differentiate between table tennis bats for hobby and bats for club use. These are different ...

Keep reading - All you need to know regarding table tennis bats

... not only in terms of the price or area of application, but also regarding their quality! Cheap TT bats for hobby and recreation are available starting at approx. 10 Euro, here at TT-SHOP.COM the price is 8.90 Euro. If you are planning on ordering bats for schools, as an example, we provide an additional quantity discount. An overview regarding the most popular articles for hobby and recreation can be found here. But for now, let´s have a look at table tennis bats for club players. This table tennis online shop is also specialized in these articles. Club players order their rubbers separately. Also, they attach their rubbers by themselves or by the specialist dealer. Advantages are that the bat perfectly fits according to the gaming properties of the player, and players can also mix different brands in an intelligent manner. This is what we also did with our bats, resulting in various high-quality best-sellers:

• Professional Allround Table Tennis Bat: Our recommendation when starting in a table tennis club!
• Table Tennis Bat for Kids: A smaller head of the bat and lees weight. Perfect for kids who want to start in a club!

The next reasonable classification of table tennis bats is due to the various table tennis brands. In principle, there are many, many TT brands. Also taking into account Chinese low-cost brands (which are commonly used worldwide, but not that often in e.g. Germany), there are at least 50 different brands available on the global market. Of course, this large numbers (and quality differences!) cause each shop to select only a certain range of products it offers. With respect to professional table tennis bats, the following brands are worth a recommendation. Hence, they were included into our product line and are available at TT-SHOP.COM:

The next reasonable classification of table tennis bats is due to the various table tennis brands. In principle, there are many, many TT brands. Also taking into account Chinese low-cost brands (which are commonly used worldwide, but not that often in e.g. Germany), there are at least 50 different brands available on the global market. Of course, this large numbers (and quality differences!) cause each shop to select only a certain range of products it offers. With respect to professional table tennis bats, the following brands are worth a recommendation. Hence, they were included into our product line and are available at TT-SHOP.COM:

• Joola table tennis bats
• Donic table tennis bats
• Tibhar table tennis bats

For each brand, there is a compilation of one product for each tactical orientation, plus a huge discount, respectively! These tactical orientations, also referred to as gaming systems, are:

• Offensive Plus/ Offensive Speed
• Offensive Minus/ Offensive Spin
• Allround
• Defensive

If this classification is not fine enough for you, you can use our Table tennis bat configurator in order to individually compile your bat!

But now, let´s get back to theory - Read further information regarding table tennis bats!

Table tennis bats - The structure

A table tennis bat mainly consists of 3 major parts: The handle, the head (commonly made of wood), and the rubbers (which are made of a plastic, in most cases (natural) rubber compounds).

The handle of a table tennis bat marks the direct contact between the athlete and the sporting equipment. The way the handle lies in your hand and feels is very decisive in terms of how you move the whole bat (control is very important, but also feedback). For this reason, it is very important that the handle feels comfy and very pleasant, since it provides feedback regarding the ball behavior at the bat. This is achieved by various receptors located in the skin and hand, which provide important information with respect to kind and intensity of pressures and movements. So if you want to buy a bat, please make sure to practice sufficiently. Just take the bat and do some exercises or a game to check whether the handle (and bat as a whole) may be some kind of slippery, unstable, or uncomfortable. You can also ask club mates or friends. Handles are commonly available in four different forms:

• straight
• flared - most players prefer this type
• anatomical
• conical

The head of a TT bat consists of various flat and wooden layers which are glued with each other. In some cases, there are also some layers made of plastics or proportions of plastics.

The type of wood used for TT bats

The properties of the table tennis head depend on the properties of the material that was used. In this regard, there are hard(er) woods, such as walnut or wenge; but also soft(er) and light(er) woods, such as abachi or balsa. These are cleverly combined with each other in order to adjust, adapt, and customize the properties of the bat according to the needs and gaming style of the table tennis player. As a result, there are fast, slow, or medium fast/slow blades which substantially influence the ball behavior at/after the ball-bat-contact. For each bat, there is an area of the head known to be optimal for ball contact - the so called sweet spot. In this area, the ball is optimally accelerated and behaves in a highly controlled and even manner.

The rubbers of a table tennis bat

Eventually, each bat also has its rubbers being glued onto the blade. Hence, the rubbers are the connective link between the blade (or head) of the bat and the ball, and have a major impact on the jump and flight behavior of the balls. In terms of the regulations, at least one side of the bat must have a glued rubber, the other side may be without a rubber, or exhibit an alternative material, such as cork. Furthermore, the rubbers must be red at one side, and black at the other. In the past, this rule did not exist like this: Back then, both sides could be of equal color (but not white). Later on, this rule became a real problem. Many table tennis players had one single color for both sides (forehand and backhand), but the properties of both (optically identical) rubbers were very different. During the game or match, the players turned their bats back and forth, so that the properties of the ball were not traceable and not identifiable for the opponent anymore: The rotation (spin) was misinterpreted, and the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) judged that table tennis games became too unattractive. Hence, from January 1st in 1984, there was a new rule: Both sides of the bat had to exhibit different colors. From July 1st in 1986, this rule was extended: Only clear red and black colors were allowed for table tennis rubbers. Prior to this, some color combinations were simply too hard to be differentiable, e.g. some orange-red combinations.

The rubbers are divided into two large sections: Pimples out and pimples in. The former type are further classified into short (shorter than 0.9 mm, =approx. 0.035 in), medium length (0.9-1.3 mm, =approx. 0.035-0.051 in), and long (1.3-1.8 mm, =approx. 0.051-0.071 in) pimples. The most common form of pimples is pimples in. Both groups commonly exhibit a sponge (glued onto the blade), a carrier layer, and the pimples. Only ITTF-approved table tennis rubbers may officially be used.

Table tennis bats - Blades and wood

Next to rubbers, table tennis blades are also a very important part of the TT bat. When hearing the word blade, some of you may think of the handle or the head of the bat. Interestingly, blade refers to both, handle and head. These parts are mainly made of various woods (at least 85%), but they may also contain other materials, such as plastics. This article mainly focuses on the head of the bat.

Blades of the bat - Core and veneers

Many of the more recent table tennis bats do not consist of a single board made of wood, but rather are based on 5-7 thin layers of wood combining several types of wood. The centrally located piece of wood is called core veneer. Various other veneers surround the core veneer, and eventually, there is one outer (also called finishing) veneer (one at each side) on which the rubbers are attached.

The veneers will be flatly glued among themselves. This, plus a good quality of the veneers, has to be done very thoroughly in order to avoid a future warping of the bat. This is very important, especially when there are changing environmental conditions, such as humidity or temperature. In this context, there are so called fineline-veneers. These are glued with each other and subsequently sliced into thin discs, resulting in optically nice stripe pattern (only 0.5-1 mm (0,0197-0,0394 in) thick). Such fineline veneers are very resistant to warping and exhibit high ball control.

Blades of the bat - the sweet spot

The Sweet Spot corresponds to the optimal area where the ball should hit the bat. At this spot, balls will be accelerated perfectly, also exhibiting high control. The sweet spot, however, is not easily or exactly locatable. As a general rule, it is located approximately in between the bat´s center of gravity and the geometric middle point of the bat´s head. It is always the aim to enlarge the area of the sweet spot so that the optimal zone becomes larger as well. In some bats, this is achieved by integrating other materials in between the wooden veneers: For example, carbon fibers, Kevlar fibers, glass fibers, or even metal films. This also results in severely reduced ball-contact times. Also, the swinging behavior of the bat (vibrations) are decisive for the feeling for the ball and the properties of the ball during gaming. Blades which swing/vibrate at higher frequencies cause more intensive accelerations of the ball. Smaller heads and larger "bars" at the bat (this is the part of the head which is not covered by the rubber or handle), in turn, swing/vibrate at higher frequencies. The material used also plays an influencing role regarding swing/vibration behavior.

table tennis bats - Optimization of the properties

Recently, the handle of a bat also provides more and more room to improve and optimize the properties of a table tennis bat. For example, adjustable inlays of varying masses, the integration of cavities (plus subsequent foaming of that areas located within the handle), or reinforcing elements, such as carbon rods or rubber-based vibration dampers, are tested and provided by different manufacturers.

At the end we want to provide you some information regarding various veneer materials, sorted by their hardness (the larger the values, the harder the material). Hard and quite hard veneer materials are, for example (Janka hardness):

• walnut (720)
• mahogany (700)
• beech (730)
• koto (950)
• santos (1780)
• anegre (750)
• ebony (3220)

Soft and softer veneer materials are, for example (Janka hardness):

• balsa (88)
• willow (330)
• birch (490)
• poplar (320)
• kiri (250)
• basswood (300)
• limba (400)

Table tennis bats - Rules and historic information

When considering a table tennis bat, there are -of course- many rules. These must comply with the official rules according to the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB) (or with the ITTF when globally looking at it). For Germany, as an example, there is a rulebook, and section 4 states the following (extract, from January 1st 2009, translated into English):

• Size, form, and weight of the table tennis bat are arbitrary. The head of the bat, however, must be even and inflexible (rigid).
• At least 85 % of the head (considering its thickness) must be made of natural wood. The layer of glue within the head of the bat may be reinforced by fiber materials, such as carbon-fiber, glass-fiber, or compressed paper. The initial glue layer must only account for 7.5 % of the overall thickness, or max. 0.35 mm (=approx. 0.0138 in, depending on what is less).
• To hit the ball, one side of the head must be covered either with a regular rubber with pimples (Pimples out. Overall thickness including glue: Max. 2 mm, =approx. 0.079 in), or with sandwich-rubber (pimples in or out, overall thickness including glue layer: max. 4 mm, =approx. 0.157 in).
• A regular rubber with pimples is a single layer made of non-cell-containing (this means neither sponge nor foam) natural or synthetic rubber with pimples. Pimples must be evenly distributed over the surface, with at least 10 and max. 50 pimples per square centimeter.
• Sandwich-rubber is defined as a single layer made of cell-containing rubber (this means sponge or foam), covered with a single, outer layer made of regular rubber with pimples. The overall thickness of the rubber with pimples must not exceed 2 mm.
• The rubber material must completely cover the whole head, however, it must not reach out beyond the edge/margin. The area of the head, which is closest to the handle and reached by the fingers, may be uncovered or covered using any material (Note: The ITTF referee´s rulebook allows a tolerance of ±2 mm for protruding or too small rubbers).
• The head itself, every layer within the head, and every rubber or glue layer must be continuous and of an even thickness.
• Both sides of the table tennis bat - regardless of the presence of a rubber - must be dull / matt, and bright red at one side as well as black on the other side.
• The rubber material should be used as it is approved by the ITTF. This means: No additional physical, chemical, or other treatments which may change gaming properties, such as friction, appearance and looks, color, structure, surface, and so forth.
• Slight departures from the completeness of the rubber or from the evenness of its color, which may be caused by random damage, wear and tear, or fading, may be permitted provided that the surface properties do not change significantly.
• Prior to any game, and each time when changing the bat during a game, a player has to show his/her bat (which will be used) to the referee and to his/her opponent. The player also has to tolerate if the referee or his/her opponent wants to examine his/her bat. Note: Changing the bat or rubber(s) during the game is basically forbidden. Exception: The bat was damaged during the game. However, damaging the bat intentionally and purposely is not included in this exception!

Also table tennis bats exhibit a long lasting history. The first bats were made of simple wood, around 1900. The wood was covered with fur, leather, parchment, cork, or abrasive paper. But also uncovered bats made of pure wood were used. In 1902, the rubbers were available. In this context, there is an interesting legend: Supposedly, the Englishman E.C. Goode went to a pharmacy to buy some headache pills. In the pharmacy, he dropped some coins onto the table. This table was covered by rubber, and the coins jumped upward. Goode was quite surprised, so he took such a rubber layer and affixed it on his bat. As a consequence, he played very well with it! The only thing is that already in 1901, the sports good manufacturer Frank Bryan requested a patent for a "bat, covered with a thin layer of caoutchouc rubber".

The history of table tennis bats has another important date in 1926, when the foundation of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) occurred. At that time, almost all table tennis bats were approved and licensed: "THE RACKET: The racket may be of any material, size, shape or weight, provided it be not white, light-coloured or reflecting." In the 1950s the sponges were discovered as rubber material, but pretty soon there were some discussions regarding the legitimacy of these materials. Eventually, in 1957, also the DTTB followed this prohibition: "As a rubber, only rubbers with pimples can be used, with an overall height of the rubber material not exceeding 2mm. The pimple-rubber must be affixed directly on top of the wood of the head / blade. Furthermore, the pimples must be in or out and must not exceed the number of 50 per square centimeter. Also, there must not be less than 10 pimples per square centimeter." Since then, the rules were clearer and more restrictive, but also more uniform concerning the properties of the table tennis bats.