Table Tennis Racquets

Finding the right table tennis raquet to fit your needs begins with what your goal is in playing table tennis.  Table tennis racquets can be divided into two main groups, High Performance and Recreational.  Within the High Performance group there are a plethora of options, as you might expect, to explore and try out while the Recreational group is rather limited to your very basic types of table tennis racquets.

Recreational Table Tennis Racquets

These basic racquets can be found in pretty much any sporting goods store.  They are pre-assembled, the blade (aka wood part) and rubber bonded as one unit and your options are very basic.  With the recreational racquets you’ll have two different colored sides (like virtually all table tennis racquets) and they will either come with a smooth, rubber surface or a bumpy (for more grip on the ball) rubber surface.  Other than that option the only other real option given to the recreational player is the thickness of the padding between the rubber and wood of the paddle.  Most often the smooth rubber surfaces have a little more thickness (softer bounce, more control) while the bumpy rubber surfaces have a thin layer of padding (relying on the bumps for control it gives the player more power).  Options are not plentiful, but the prices are good.  Most recreational racquets can be purchased in the $20 range, with your top end rec table tennis racquets running right around $39.99.

High Performance

These racquets are for the serious table tennis player and can cost as much as $599.99.  With a high performance table tennis racquet you can find the right combination of specialized rubbers and blades (wood) to best compliment your swing motion.  Speed control and spin control are very advanced and light years ahead of a recreational table tennis racquet.  Unique graphite and wood teamed with replaceable rubber (for quick adjustments/style changes) make the High Performance racquet a must have for anyone wanting to compete in table tennis.

Here are a few High Performance options:

Top End:

Stiga Ultra/Butterfly 7285 - $599.99

Mid-Range:

Killerspin RT6-Diamond TX - $174.99

Economical:

Killerspin Attack - $62.95

All of these table tennis racquets will give you better speed/spin control and an immense advantage over a recreational racquet.  However, you do get what you pay for, the top end Stiga/Butterfly racquets are expensive for a reason.  They will give you the most a racquet can, after that it’s all up to you.