Everything you need to know about blades and rubbers

There are a large number of companies offering a larger choice of equipment than ever before, making purchases very confusing. Equipment with the ‘ITTF’ logo from an established company will generally be of higher quality and is required for national and international tournaments.

Blades

The ‘blade’ is the bat without the rubber. 85% of the blade must be natural wood and can be of any size, shape or weight providing the surface is flat and rigid. Thin layers of ‘carbon’ fibre are one substance that has been successfully used in blades, adding to the speed, but also to the cost.
In general, blades are categorised as follows:

• Defensive blade
  
• All round blade
  
• Offensive blade
  
• Carbon blade
  
• Soft wood harder wood

Faster blades tend to lose the ‘feeling’ required for touch shots such as short push. Most top players tend to choose all round or offensive blades, with faster rubbers to give them speed and feel.

Rubbers

‘Rubbers’ come in an incredible number of types and prices.
Rubber must be ‘ITTF’ approved for use in national or international tournaments.
Rubber can be divided into the following categories:

1. Short pimples
2. Long pimples
3. Reverse
4. Anti-spin

Rubber needs to be changed much more regularly than blades, but this depends on the amount you play and the level you wish to play at.

Rubbers come in various forms:-

Short Pimples

With ‘short pimples’, the pimples face outward and are short, wide and close together. Short pimples are often used on one side of the bat, usually on the backhand to:

1. Provide variation of spin and speed with the normal sponge rubber
2. Assist with block and counter attack strokes
3. Help players with a weaker backhand

Long Pimples

With ‘long pimples’, the pimples face outwards and are usually longer, thinner and further apart than short pimples. Long pimples will react as follows:

1. If the player A with normal rubber pushes the ball (backspin) and player B with long pimples return the ball with a push stroke, the resulting return will be slight topspin or no spin (instead of expected backspin).
2. If player A with normal rubber topspins the ball and player B with long pimples chops (backspin) the ball, the return will always be backspin. The faster the initial topspin, the heavier the backspin.
3. If you topspin or counter attack with long pimples, the blade must be more open and the ball will travel slower and have backspin relative to the same shot with sponge rubber. Sidespin is reversed on return.

Long pimples are difficult to play against in the beginning but also difficult to play with and alter significantly the technique. Not recommended for beginners or until good technique is established.

Reverse Rubbers

By far the most used rubbers are reverse rubbers. With reverse rubbers, the playing surface is flat and attached to a layer of sponge. Various combinations of sponge and the playing surface are available which will affect the spin, speed and control of the rubber. Generally soft sponge rubbers are slower than hard sponge rubbers, though the introduction of ‘speed glue’ (see ‘glues’) can alter that.

Anti-Spin

Anti-spin is a reverse rubber with little friction on the surface so that it does not impart any spin on the ball and negates spin.

Maintenance

Rubber should be maintained by:

• Cleaning with water at the end of the practise.
• Having a cover for your bat to keep it ‘dust free’.
  
• Keeping the bat out of direct sunlight and high temperatures.

Glues

Table tennis specific glues are available from all major manufacturers and allow for easy removal of the rubbers without tearing. ‘Speed Glue’ is a special type of glue that contains Volatile Organic Compounds, most top world players use it to increase the speed of their rubbers. ‘Soft sponge’ rubbers increase the effect of the speed glue. With speed glue the rubber is removed, often several times a day, with several layers of speed glue applied. This has the effect of expanding the sponge and making the rubber much faster.

The negative side is:

• It must be done every day.
• The effect lasts only a short time, especially in hot conditions.
  
• It reduces the rubber-life.
  
• It is expensive.
  
• Breathing glue vapours can be hazardous to the player’s health. Therefore speed glue is not recommended for beginners or cadets until they have mastered the basics or are training seriously.

Speed Glue Ban

The negative aspects of speed glue have proved too costly for the ITTF to ignore and following a meeting of the ITTF Board of Directors at the 2006 Liebherr World Team Championships in Bremen. It was agreed that Speed glues has to be banned. This will be carried out in a two phase process:-

1. U18 competition from the 1st January 2008
   
2. Complete ban following the Beijing Olympics 2008

To find out more visit the ITTF website

All manufacturers are now offering alternative to speed glues check out their website to find out their latest offerings.