The Rackets

Rackets
Players are equipped with a racket composed by a wooden blade covered with rubber on one or two sides depending on the grip of the player.

Recent years have seen an advancement in technology of table tennis blades. Materials of different properties may be combined with the wood in the blade to enhance its playing performance. Many blades today feature one or more carbon layers within them to enhance their 'sweet spot', and to give the player a greater margin of error when playing powerful shots. Materials incorporated into table tennis blades today include kevlar, titanium, arylate, aramid, and aluminium.

The rubber coating may be of pimpled rubber, with the pimples outward, or it may be a rubber that is composed of two materials, a sponge layer, covered by a pimpled rubber, with the pimples pointed inwards or outwards. Some rackets are not covered with rubber at all, because a "naked" racket is believed to be more resistant to a spin however it is illegal to use these types of rackets in competition as they are not approved by the ITTF. Some types of racket rubbers are also not approved. Approved rubbers have the ITTF emblem on the base of the rubber.

Players have many choices and variations in rubber sheets on their bat. Although bats may be purchased with rubber by the manufacturer, most serious tournament players will create a customized racket. A player selects a blank blade (i.e. a bat without rubber), based on his playing style. The type of wood and synthetic layers used to make up the blade will provide a slower or faster blade. The player can choose from different types of rubber sheets which will provide a certain level of spin, speed and specific playing characteristics.

Normally, a sheet of rubber is glued to a blade using rubber cement and not removed until the rubber wears out or becomes damaged. In the 1980s, a new technique was developed where the player would use a special glue called speed glue to apply the rubber every time he played. The glue would help provide more spin and speed by providing a "catapult" effect. This technique is known as "regluing" and has become a standard technique for top players.

Table tennis is the only racket sport that allows different surfaces on each side of the bat. The different types of surfaces provide various levels of spin or speed, or in some cases, nullifies spin. For example, a player may have a rubber that provides much spin on one side of his bat, and no spin on the other side of the bat. By flipping the racket in play, different types of returns were possible. To help a player distinguish between different types of rubber used by his opposing player, international rules declared that one side must be red while the other side must be black. The player has the right to inspect his opponent's bat before a match to see the type of rubber used and what color it is. Despite high speed play and rapid exchanges, a player can see clearly what side of the racket was used to hit the ball.

Different types of rubber sheets
Inverted (non-Chinese): This is the most widely used rubber type. The surface is smooth, with the pimpled side facing inwards toward the blade. This enables the player to generate high levels of spin and speed. Spin is mainly generated not by the action of the topsheet alone, but also by the ball sinking into the sponge and allowing greater surface area to contact the ball. Inverted (Chinese): Chinese rubbers typically have stickier (or "tackier") topsheets. Spin is generated mainly by the topsheet, as opposed to the sponge, which is relatively more condensed and firmer. The result is usually a far better short game and potential power capabilities than normal inverted. Short pimples (or "pips"): Short pimples-out rubbers are usually used by close-to-the-table hitters (for example, Liu Guoliang). They do not generate as much spin as inverted rubbers, but also make the user less susceptible to the opponent's spin. Speed generated from a short pip rubber is generally faster than the inverted with the same sponge. Depending on the thickness of the sponge it is also possible to play a chopping game with short pimples (an exponent of this style would be Ding Song) by varying the spin of the return. Whilst blocking and attacking a "dead ball" effect is often noticed. Long pimples (or "pips"): Long pimples-out rubbers carry relatively long and soft pips. They do not have the ability to generate any real spin of their own, but feed off the opponent's spin, to allow the user to confuse the opponent and upset their rhythm. Long pips are not very susceptible to the opponents incoming spin, and tends to "return" the opponents spin back upon impact, as the pips bend and slide. They are usually used by close-to-the-table blockers, or choppers. They are usually only used on the backhand side, as they offer very limited attacking capabilities. Depending on the grippiness of the sides of the pimples and the thickness of the sponge it is also possible to play an aggressive game with long pips, though with not much spin capability. Anti-spin: Anti-spin, like long pimples, cannot generate any real spin, but just allows the user to produce a no-spin ball. Anti-spin is also not very susceptible to the opponents incoming spin, due to the low coefficient of friction of the rubber's surface. This is also used to confuse the opponent, and is not widely used at international level.