Table Tennis

[Buster Bakdorzin]

Does anyone play? It was one of my all time favourite activities as a youngster, Brilliant Fun! I figured Id take it up again, and hopefully find local club... One phone call later, there appear to be more than a dozen clubs locally which is good news.

Anyhooo, I figured the first step would be to get a bat
They are unlikely to cost the earth, so I thought Id just buy whatever is best - I remember they all had different surfaces though, does anyone have any idea which type one should go for or which is best?

[spikeyhead]

If you're buying the best you need to buy the bat, the foam and the rubber separately and glue them together. I can't be any more help than that, I suggest buying something reasonable and playing for a while before you decide what rubbers and foams you want to stick to what bat. Most players have different rubbers and foams on each sides of the bat so they can play back and forehands with different spin and touch levels.

[Buster Bakdorzin]

spikeyhead said:

If you're buying the best you need to buy the bat, the foam and the rubber separately and glue them together. I can't be any more help than that, I suggest buying something reasonable and playing for a while before you decide what rubbers and foams you want to stick to what bat. Most players have different rubbers and foams on each sides of the bat so they can play back and forehands with different spin and touch levels.

I suspected it might be as complex as that spikey, but didnt realise people put their own bats together. Id be inclined just to go for a ready made bat, whichever rubber offered the most grip/spin I suppose, my style was always to hit the ball as hard as I could from under the table and rely on spin to force the ball out of the air and back onto the table, so I figured the stickinesses of the bat was more or less the only or main criteria.

[spikeyhead]

Buster Bakdorzin said:

spikeyhead said:

If you're buying the best you need to buy the bat, the foam and the rubber separately and glue them together. I can't be any more help than that, I suggest buying something reasonable and playing for a while before you decide what rubbers and foams you want to stick to what bat. Most players have different rubbers and foams on each sides of the bat so they can play back and forehands with different spin and touch levels.

I suspected it might be as complex as that spikey, but didnt realise people put their own bats together. Id be inclined just to go for a ready made bat, whichever rubber offered the most grip/spin I suppose, my style was always to hit the ball as hard as I could from under the table and rely on spin to force the ball out of the air and back onto the table, so I figured the stickinesses of the bat was more or less the only or main criteria.

I've got no idea how common it is for people to glue their own bats together. I merely recall a conversation with someone who was multiple British champion. My "what have you been up to today?" yielded far too much information that has, until now, been useless.

[Buster Bakdorzin]

spikeyhead said:

Buster Bakdorzin said:

spikeyhead said:

If you're buying the best you need to buy the bat, the foam and the rubber separately and glue them together. I can't be any more help than that, I suggest buying something reasonable and playing for a while before you decide what rubbers and foams you want to stick to what bat. Most players have different rubbers and foams on each sides of the bat so they can play back and forehands with different spin and touch levels.

I suspected it might be as complex as that spikey, but didnt realise people put their own bats together. Id be inclined just to go for a ready made bat, whichever rubber offered the most grip/spin I suppose, my style was always to hit the ball as hard as I could from under the table and rely on spin to force the ball out of the air and back onto the table, so I figured the stickinesses of the bat was more or less the only or main criteria.

I've got no idea how common it is for people to glue their own bats together. I merely recall a conversation with someone who was multiple British champion. My "what have you been up to today?" yielded far too much information that has, until now, been useless.

Well, it made interesting reading

Looks rather like Im the only one here with an interest in ping pong too...

[foreright]

Buster Bakdorzin said:

spikeyhead said:

Buster Bakdorzin said:

spikeyhead said:

If you're buying the best you need to buy the bat, the foam and the rubber separately and glue them together. I can't be any more help than that, I suggest buying something reasonable and playing for a while before you decide what rubbers and foams you want to stick to what bat. Most players have different rubbers and foams on each sides of the bat so they can play back and forehands with different spin and touch levels.

I suspected it might be as complex as that spikey, but didnt realise people put their own bats together. Id be inclined just to go for a ready made bat, whichever rubber offered the most grip/spin I suppose, my style was always to hit the ball as hard as I could from under the table and rely on spin to force the ball out of the air and back onto the table, so I figured the stickinesses of the bat was more or less the only or main criteria.

I've got no idea how common it is for people to glue their own bats together. I merely recall a conversation with someone who was multiple British champion. My "what have you been up to today?" yielded far too much information that has, until now, been useless.

Well, it made interesting reading

Looks rather like Im the only one here with an interest in ping pong too...

Um.. I used to play county level table tennis as a junior and national league stuff up until a few years ago. You'll find that everyone at club level+ will assemble their own particular combination of bat/rubber themselves or have the shop do it. More advanced players will glue the rubbers to the bat everytime they play with "speed glue" to get much higher levels of speed and spin.

Best thing to do would be to go along to a club and talk to people - they will have guys who can tell you more than you'd ever need to know about what you might need. You may be able to borrow people's bats to get an idea of the differences. Check out somewhere like these guys - http://www.bribartt.co.uk/tt/index.htm - for some ideas of how much you can spend

Good luck!