Weight

Table tennis blades weight generally varies from 70grams up to 90grams. Generally lighter blades tend to be slower and suit all-round or defensive playing styles. Heavier blades tend to be faster and suit offensive attacking players. Lighter table tennis blades can usually be swung more quickly, but heavier blades have more mass to use when hitting the ball.

Stiffness

The stiffness of the blade refers to the amount of elasticity or flex the blade has. A stiffer table tennis blade will generally be faster but less spiny than an elastic blade. It is very important to consider which table tennis rubber you use when choosing your table tennis blade. Our equipment experts at Topspin find that a very effective combination is with soft sponge rubbers to choose a stiff fast blade and with hard sponge rubbers to choose a more elastic blade.

Balance

The balance of a blade refers to whether the centre of gravity of the blade is closer to the handle or the top of the head. Topspin and counter attackers tend to prefer head-heavy blades which help them generate that little bit of extra spin and speed, while blockers and defenders often prefer blades with the centre of gravity towards the handle, which can increase the feeling of the ball. Bare in mind that the weight of your rubbers can also effect the centre of gravity of your table tennis blade - heavy rubbers will tend to move the centre of gravity out towards the top of the racket head.

Speed

It is very important to choose the right speed of your blade to suit your playing style. Generally faster blades tend to be used by the more aggressive players and slower blades by the more defensive. Each blade is graded for speed and control on our website - the higher the number rating the faster the blade. Players often like to choose the fastest blade possible but don’t forget that with an increase in speed you also sacrifice control. You may be an offensive player who likes to hit the ball very hard but if you find the ball shooting off the end of the table tennis table you may want to choose a slightly slower blade. For example many of the best players in world hit the ball incredibly hard but don’t use the fastest possible blades – Dima Ovtcharov current world no. 7 uses the DONIC Ovtcharov Senso V1 Blade which is only 7th fastest in our range of blades.

Head Size

The difference in air resistance between large headed table tennis blades and smaller headed blades is very small. The main difference is that larger rackets require more rubber to cover the surface, which makes the bat heavier and also tends to move the centre of gravity of the blade away from the handle.

Handle Type

The three main handle types are straight, concave or pen-hold. Which handle type you choose is mainly down the players own preference. The exception is combination players who like to twiddle their bat between points with smooth or pimple surface, who tend to prefer a straight handle bat as they are easier to flip!

Layers/Plys

There are two things to consider when talking about the layers of your table tennis blade. The first is the number of layers in the blade, and the second is what the layers are made from. The number of layers in the blade can vary from 1 to usually a maximum of seven. Three and five ply blades are also popular.

According to rules of table tennis at least 85% of the blade thickness must be natural wood. The other 15% of the blade can include layers made of such material as carbon fibre, aralyte, or glass fibre.

The effects of these materials are that:

• Carbon strengthens and stiffens the blade, while also increasing the speed and the size of the sweet spot of the blade.
• Aralyte is meant to also increase the size of the sweet spot, but is supposed to dampen vibration and give a softer feel than carbon.

Your Level

Try and choose a blade that suits your level of play.

Topspin has a range of bats in our pre-made up bat range suitable for all types of playing styles and playing levels from beginner up to professional level.