For many beginners, the first step in playing table tennis is choosing a suitable racket. There are many different kinds of bats on the market, and the price varies greatly.

Also, we have to make sure that the ping pong paddle is highly customizable. So how to choose a racket at the right price and suitable for you? Let’s have a look at different ping pong blade types.

Tips of choosing table tennis blade for beginners

First of all, beginners should consider the form of holding the table tennis bats. As we have mentioned in the previous blog, there are shakehand grip and penhold grip. Once you get used to a certain grip, it will be difficult to change it in the future.

I recommend that you buy a ping pong blade that is compatible with your grip. For example, if you buy a straight racket but choose a handshake grip, it will be awkward. There is no need to worry about the shape of the handle, whether it is an oval or a square, as long as it is comfortable for you to hold.

Generally speaking, the flared handle is more comfortable for those who grip the bat a little more loosely. However, the straight handle suits players with a firm grip.

Secondly, you have to take into account your playstyle. Do you play offensively or defensively? Or are you willing to control the ball and move your opponents?

I suggest that you play a few games using the blades of others to figure out your style or preference. And then ask your friend, opponent, or coach to give you some advice.

Thirdly, with the information above, we could choose our paddle or blade. Actually, we can buy an RTG(ready-to-go) or choose DIY.

If you are just playing casually, you can totally choose an RTG that is rather cheap and can be purchased everywhere even in supermarkets like Walmart. However, if you plan to take it seriously, then better choose DIY.

Ping pong blade types

The table tennis blade can be divided into all-wood blade, carbon fiber, and titanium carbon blade according to its material. Also, it can be divided into 3 layers, 5 layers, or more according to the structure.

If you are an attacking player, you’d better choose a ping pong blade with 5+ layers and the one with carbon fiber can also accelerate the speed of the ball. Also, it’s better to choose the bat weighing from 80 to 100 grams as it’s comfortable to hand on.

However, if you are willing to play a defensive game, honestly speaking, an all-wood ping pong blade will suit you better as it can absorb the energy of the ball and slow down the rhythm so that you can control the game much better.

Rubbers

After the steps we have mentioned, it’s time to choose the rubber. For those beginners, I suggest that they should learn from reverse rubbers.

Neither short pimples nor long pimples are friendly to beginners as they cannot control it well. There are two factors that influence the performance of the rubber: thickness and hardness.

1.Thickness of rubber

Generally speaking, the thickness usually refers to the thickness of the sponge, which ranges from 1.5mm to 2.2mm. When you hit the ball, the sponge catches the ball and slows it down. In some cases like the pimples, the thickness of the sponge can be 1mm, 0.5mm o even without the sponge.

But well, as we said earlier, here we only give advice about reverse rubbers. Here we only need to remember an easy and quick rule, that the thicker the sponge is, the more offensive the play will be.

So for those who are willing to attack more, it is advised to choose 2.0mm or more. Likewise, those who prefer more “control” could choose 1.5mm to 1.9mm.

2.Hardness of rubber

On the other hand, hardness is also an important factor. It’s widely known that many things are made of rubber so make it clear, a rubber band might be 20 and a wheel tire could be 80 or 90. When it comes to the rubber sheet of table tennis, it varies from 30 to 45, normally.

So a simple rule is the larger the number, the more spin will be generated at a higher speed and vice versa. And another interesting thing is that Asian players tend to choose higher numbers while European players prefer smaller numbers.

But honestly speaking, beginners cannot feel a difference so it doesn’t matter choose whether 38, 39, or 40.

Conclusion:

For those beginners, they don’t need to care about too many things. The most important is to control the budget well. Generally speaking, 60-180 dollars is sufficient to buy a decent table tennis blade with two rubbers.

There are many brands they can choose from like a butterfly, Stiga, Donic, Yasaka, and so on. There are also some Chinese brands like 729, yinhe with rather a low prices but decent quality. And overall, here we give a formula about rubbers that you can make a reference:

1.8mm-2.0mm, 38-40° reverse rubber